Tuned Vented Hull

• US 20080110388A1
• Filed: 08/10/2007
• Published: 05/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Michele Palladino
• Original Assignee: Michele Palladino
• Inventors: Palladino, Michele
• Granted Patent: US 8,196,540 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 114/288
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 1/32 Other means for varying the inherent hydrodynamic characteristics of hulls
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 70/10 Measures concerning design or construction of watercraft hulls

Abstract

A harmonic apparatus designed to affect the performance of waterborne vessels. The vibratory generator is tuned with respect to the fundamental frequency of the vessel at the onset of planning, the various wave patterns generated by the moving vessel and the kinematics of the vortex sheet. As the vessel moves through water, vibrational reactions occur that assist the performance of the vessel. The harmonic apparatus can be reconfigured to operate on several different modalities.

Claims

1. A harmonic apparatus facilitating the performance of a vessel comprising:

at least one vibratory generator; and

means of transmitting the vibrational information from the vibratory generator proximate to the vessel.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising:

at least one air intake baffle;

at least one inner plenum;

at least one air duct connecting the air intake baffle to the plenum;

the vessel has a top, a bottom, a bow, a stern, a starboard side, a port side;

at least one tuned runner port to vent air from the plenum to the bottom of the vessel; and

the vibratory generator that is operationally connected to the plenum and at least one tuned runner.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, whereby the vibratory generator generates a vibration with respect to the moving vessel.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the vibratory generator is a whistle tuned to emit an overtone frequency, whereby the overtone frequency is calculated based on the fundamental frequency of the vessel at the onset of hydroplaning.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, whereby the plenum is cylindrical with hemispherical ends designed to focus the sound waves into the tuned runner port.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, whereby the parameters of the plenum such as parametric properties, plenum volume, airflow streamlines, and acoustic properties are optimized to maximum airflow, and the effectiveness of the vibratory generator.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, whereby the tuned runner port has parametric properties, such as a circular cross sectional area, a port length that are in accordance with the frequency of the whistle, and are designed to increase sonic effect and air mass flow to the bottom of the vessel.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein at the runner port operates as a waveguide.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, whereby the air intake baffle has a conical cowl with an upward slope distal-proximate to the waterline that minimize the possibility of water entering the air intake;

and a trap that stops water from entering the air duct.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the vessel has a stepped hull that forms a concavity from the exit of the runner port to the stern.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, whereby the concavity of the vessel forms a baffle conducive to the transmission of sound wave.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, where the concavity blends into longitudinal sides to form guides along the starboard and port length of the concavity;

thereby assisting in improving the acoustic properties and airflow of the apparatus.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the improvement comprises:

at least one resonator operationally connected to the vibratory generator with means for maximizing the effectiveness of the vibratory generator.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein there is a plurality of Helmholtz type resonators, parametric properties of the resonators such as aperture geometry, resonator volume, neck length and the placement of the resonators are determined using vibratory analysis.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, whereby the resonators apertures open onto the bottom of the hull and their placements and quantity are determined by vibratory analysis.

16. A tuned hull, comprising:

a vibratory generator, wherein vibratory information such as frequency, frequency spectra, wave patterns and harmonics emitted by the vibratory generator are adjustable, a transmission medium wherein the vibratory information from the vibratory generator propagates, the transmission medium is operationally connected to the hull of a vessel;

a fluid flow is generated by the moving vessel, the vibratory generator produces vibratory information based on the characteristics of the fluid flow, thereby facilitating the performance of the hull.

17. An adjustable vibratory apparatus operably connected to a body exposed to external fluid flow, means of transmitting the vibratory output of the vibratory apparatus to the fluid flow, a control apparatus, at least one sensor that determines the characteristics of the fluid flow whereby the sensor send feedback to the control apparatus, the control apparatus contains a control algorithm that varies the output of the vibratory apparatus based on the characteristics of the fluid flow.