Water craft with new configuration of active hulls and stationary hulls for better hydrodynamic performance, greater stability and increased versatility

Abstract

Water craft achieving better hydrodynamic performance, greater stability and increased versatility. The improvement over the water craft in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,815 is achieved by the use of a new configuration of the active hulls and the stationary hull, the modification of the active hulls and the stationary hulls and the addition of a pair of the modified active hulls.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear view of the water craft.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the water craft

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the water craft.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the supporting structure of the water craft.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the four rotatively driven active hulls attached to the supporting structure.

FIG. 6 is Section A-A of FIG. 2, showing the detailed construction of the active hulls and the system that drives them.

FIG. 7 is View G of FIG. 6, showing the assembly of the central shaft that drives the active hull,the electric motor and the belt drive that connects the central shaft and the electric motor.

FIG. 8 is View H of FIG. 6, showing the detailed construction of one of the rotatively driven active hulls.

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the two stationary hulls attached to the supporting structure.

FIG. 10 is Section B-B of FIG. 2, showing the shape of the two stationary hulls.

FIG. 11 is Section B-B of FIG. 2, showing the components of one of the water jets and its drive system and the components of one of the jet deflectors and its actuation system.

FIG. 12 is View F of FIG. 10, showing the water jet outlet with its deflector, the water turbine with its shaft and the electric motor with its belt drive.

FIG. 13 is a modified side view of the water craft, showing the right water jet system.

FIG. 14 is View E of FIG. 12, showing the right water jet system in details.

FIG. 15 is View C of FIG. 10, showing the water jet outlet, the deflector and the cable which eventually connects to the operating handle.

FIG. 16 is View D of FIG. 10, showing the deflector's cable drive and the handle that operates both the right and left jet deflector for the steering of the water craft.

FIG. 17 is a rear view of the water craft equipped with an outboard motorized ducted propeller.

FIG. 18 is a side view of a water craft similar to the water craft described in figures above except that a platform is shown bridging over the two stationary hulls and that a cabin is erected above the platform.

FIG. 19 is an isometric view of the water craft described in FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 is a rear view of the water craft described in FIG. 18.

FIG. 21 is an isometric view of the immersed portion of the water craft in U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,815.

FIG. 22 is an isometric view of the immersed portion of the water craft in this invention.

Claims

1) A water craft comprising: a front pair of rotatively driven active hulls being of frusto-conical configuration,with a planar bottom wall and a conical top closure, a rear pair of identical rotatively driven active hulls located straight behind said front pair of rotatively driven active hulls but with allowance of an adequate space for the placement of a pair of stationary hulls between said front and rear pair of rotatively driven active hulls, a pair of stationary hulls, each stationary hull being constructed for buoyancy and being shaped to incur no frontal drag when the water craft is in motion by having its lateral surfaces shaped to follow the contour of, but without making contact with, the conical surface of its adjacent rotatively driven active hulls and by having its four longitudinal surfaces consisting of one tilted flat surface coplanar with the planar bottom of its adjacent rotatively driven active hulls, one vertical flat surface spanning, but without making contact with, the outermost part of the conical surface of its adjacent rotatively driven active hulls, one horizontal flat surface that is the bottom of the stationary hull and one horizontal flat surface that is the top of the stationary hull and finally a set of lateral structural members connecting said pair of stationary hulls together with longitudinal and diagonal strengthening members to form a supporting structure for the mounting of said two pairs of rotatively driven active hulls, each of said rotatively driven active hulls being constructed to provide additional buoyant force to said pair of stationary hulls, and each of said rotatively driven active hulls having an axis of rotation positioned approximately forty-five degrees relative to the horizontal and projected laterally from the center of the water craft in such an orientation that the large planar bottom wall of each of said rotatively driven active hulls is near the center of the water craft.

2) A water craft in accordance with claim 1, further comprising at least one additional pair of stationary hulls as described in claim 1 and at least one additional pair of rotatively driven active hulls as described in claim 1 with the requirement that said additional pair(s) of stationary hulls be sandwiched between two pairs of rotatively driven active hulls and that the water craft ends with a pair of rotatively driven active hulls. The supporting structure as described in claim 1 being expanded to connect said additional pair(s) of stationary hulls and to support said additional pair(s) of rotatively driven active hulls.