| 摘要 |
1,003,211. Air cushion vehicles. WESTLAND AIRCRAFT Ltd. Nov. 13, 1962 [Nov. 21, 1961], No. 41543/61. Heading B7K. An air cushion vehicle has a rigid base provided with flexible downwardly extending skirting or air trunking which may be retracted so that the vehicle can be used as a boat, or lowered on to a hard standing, by drawing the free or lower edge thereof towards the base so as to be distorted in a predetermined manner from its shape when extended, avoiding indiscriminate crumpling. Fig. 1 shows a section through an annular trunking 5 attached to a rigid buoyancy platform 3 and the outer wall 1 of a peripheral curtain-forming duct 4. The trunking is composed of outer and inner annular walls 6, 7, of rubber, rubberized fabric, or plastic, releasably attached to wall 1 and platform 3 by hinge and drawpin assemblies 9 (see also Fig. 3). Shaping and strengthening diaphragms 18, 19 connect the walls 6, 7, and impart a rearward component of velocity to the air in the curtain to effect propulsion (see Fig. 2). Cables 15 within the duct 4 are attached to wall 7 at points 17 by inverted Y ties 16. When the cables are pulled, the trunking assumes the section shown in broken lines in Fig. 1, with folding of wall 7 at 13. Where the periphery is curved, as is seen in Fig. 3, the trunking must contract in the peripheral sense, and the ties 16 effect contraction of alternate sections 12 as at 14, sections 11 remaining taut. Cork blocks 21 maintain the nozzles close to the water surface so that a cushion is formed correctly when the vehicle is to rise from the water after use as a boat. Flexible stabilizing keels may be similarly retracted.
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