Aerodynamic drag reducing apparatus

摘要

A substantially flat fronted vehicle (10) such as a truck is provided with adjustable air deflector blades (24A-24D). The air deflector blades (24A-24D) provide upper (24A 24C) and lower (24B 24D) air deflector blades vertically mounted above one another and providing a gap (32) around the windscreen (8). The air deflector blades (24A-24D) are arcuate sheets in form and each supported by support arms (26) comprising vertically hinged first (38) and second (40) connected spring loaded arms that are urged to spring open but are held a selected angle and distance from the vehicle (10) front face (22) by wire rope length selection means and are thusly adjusted to promote least aerodynamic drag. Use on rail vehicles is also included. The apparatus has the unexpected effect of actually reducing forward vehicle aerodynamic drag in the presence of crosswinds.

主权项

1. An apparatus for reducing aerodynamic drag experienced by a substantially flat fronted vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
an upper left hand air deflector blade and a lower left hand air deflector blade which are mountable vertically substantially one above the other with a vertical gap therebetween to a left hand side of a front face of the vehicle, wherein said upper left hand air deflector blade and said lower left hand deflector blade cover portions of the substantially flat front of the vehicle above and below a windscreen of the vehicle; an upper right hand air deflector blade and a lower right hand air deflector blade which are mountable vertically substantially one above the other with a vertical gap therebetween to a right hand side of the front face of the vehicle, wherein said upper right hand air deflector blade and said lower right hand deflector blade cover portions of the substantially flat front of the vehicle above and below the windscreen of the vehicle; and an adjustment mechanism attachable to the front face of the vehicle and configured to attach the upper left hand air deflector blade, the lower left hand air deflector blade, the upper right hand deflector blade, and the lower right hand air deflector blade to the front face of the vehicle, wherein when attached to the front face of the vehicle, the adjustment mechanism is adjustable to cause the upper left hand air deflector blade, the lower left hand air deflector blade, the upper right hand deflector blade, and the lower right hand air defector blade to be positioned at a selectable angle to and at a selectable distance from the front face of the vehicle to reduce aerodynamic drag when the vehicle is in motion.