Laterally and vertically controllable underwater towed vehicle
First Claim
1. A vehicle for movement underwater, said vehicle being connectable to an end of a tow cable extending away from a towing vessel and comprising:
- a main body;
means for stabilizing said main body;
planing surfaces positioned on said main body for enhancing controlled lateral and vertical movement of said main body when said vehicle is being towed; and
means for interconnecting said main body with the end of a tow cable extending away from a towing vessel; and
control means for effecting relative horizontal and vertical movement between the means for interconnecting and the planing surfaces to thereby vary forces exerted on said main body by the tow cable and effect horizontal and vertical movement of the vehicle with respect to the towing vessel, the relative movement between the means for interconnecting and the planing surfaces resulting in changing the point of attack of the towed vehicle on water flowing past the vehicle whereby said planing surfaces present an increased frontal area to the water thereby moving the vehicle with respect to the vessel towing the tow cable.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A towed underwater vehicle that is laterally and vertically movable with respect to a towing vessel connected by a tow cable to the vehicle. Such movement of the vehicle is obtained by the interaction of a horizontally and vertically movable point of attachment of the tow cable to the vehicle, horizontal and vertical planing surfaces provided on the vehicle, and appropriate stabilization of the vehicle. Such stabilization is obtained by adding buoyant materials to upper portions of the vehicle, ballast to lower portions of the vehicle, use of adjustable ailerons or adjustable horizontal and vertical planing surfaces, or a combination of the preceding. When the point of attachment between the cable and the towed vehicle is changed, the forces exerted by the cable on the vehicle are changed so that the planing surfaces of the vehicle present an increased frontal area to water flowing past the vehicle. The increased frontal area struck by the water results in movement of the vehicle to minimize the frontal area. Such movement of the vehicle carries with it the point of attachment to the two cable and varies the position of the towed vehicle with respect to the towing vessel. Such movement is in lateral, vertical, or in both directions.
34 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A vehicle for movement underwater, said vehicle being connectable to an end of a tow cable extending away from a towing vessel and comprising:
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a main body; means for stabilizing said main body; planing surfaces positioned on said main body for enhancing controlled lateral and vertical movement of said main body when said vehicle is being towed; and means for interconnecting said main body with the end of a tow cable extending away from a towing vessel; and control means for effecting relative horizontal and vertical movement between the means for interconnecting and the planing surfaces to thereby vary forces exerted on said main body by the tow cable and effect horizontal and vertical movement of the vehicle with respect to the towing vessel, the relative movement between the means for interconnecting and the planing surfaces resulting in changing the point of attack of the towed vehicle on water flowing past the vehicle whereby said planing surfaces present an increased frontal area to the water thereby moving the vehicle with respect to the vessel towing the tow cable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A towed underwater vehicle laterally and vertically movable with respect to a towing vessel connected by a tow cable to the vehicle, said vehicle comprising:
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a main body; horizontal and vertical planing surfaces connected to said main body; means for stabilizing said main body including buoyant materials positioned in an upper portion of said main body and ballast positioned in a lower portion of said main body; an at least partially arcuate shaped member encompassing a forward portion of said main body and connected planing surfaces and having a central portion extending forwardly of said main body, end portions of said shaped member extending towards each other through horizontally coplanar portions of planing surfaces located on sides of said main body to thereby connect said shaped member to said planing surfaces, at least a portion of said horizontal and vertical planing surfaces being positioned fore of the regions of the planing surfaces receiving said end portions of said shaped member; means for raising and lowering the central portion of said shaped member with respect to said main body; a block guided for movement along said shaped member, said block including means for connecting an end of a tow cable thereto; means for controlling movement of said block along said shaped member; and controlled movement of said vehicle with respect to a towing vessel being obtained by moving the end of the tow cable connected to said block by movement of said block along said shaped member, by vertical movement of the central portion of said shaped member, and by conjoint movement of said block and said shaped member, moving of the end of the tow cable changing the point of attack of the vehicle on water flowing past the vehicle to thereby increase the frontal area of the vehicle struck by the water whereby the vehicle moves with respect to the towing vessel to minimize the frontal area struck by the water. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A towed underwater vehicle laterally and vertically movable with respect to a towing vessel connected by a plurality of tow cables to the vehicle, said vehicle comprising:
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a main body; horizontal and vertical planing surfaces connected to said main body; means for stabilizing said main body including buoyant materials positioned in an upper portion of said main body and ballast positioned in a lower portion of said main body; said plurality of tow cables being arranged in a first pair of cables connected to laterally spaced portions of the main body and a second pair of cables being connected to vertically spaced portions of the main body, the cables of each pair being interconnected to each other so that when one of the cables of a pair is lengthened the other cable of the same pair is simultaneously shortened; and means carried by the towing vessel for controlling the lengths of the cables forming each pair of cables, control of movement of said vehicle with respect to the towing vessel being accomplished by changing the relative lengths of at least one of said pairs of cables so that the angle of attack of the planing surfaces of said vehicle is changed with respect to water flowing past the vehicle thereby increasing the frontal area of the vehicle struck by the water whereby said vehicle moves with respect to the vessel to minimize the frontal area struck by the water, said means for stabilizing cooperating with planing surfaces struck by the water to control movement of said vehicle.
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Specification