US3027708A - Apparatus for the propulsion, translation, support and static stabilisation of a movable medium in a fluid - Google Patents

Description

April 3, 1962 G. LINI APPARATUS FOR THE PROPULSION, TRANSLATION, SUPPORT A SATION OF A MOVABLE MEDIUM IN A FLUID STABILI Filed Jan. 6, 1960 TESTO ND STATIC 3 Sheets-Sheet l 7% f v I oo o *5 Z I I OOO 9 H12 I I 19 1 20 22 I; '23 Fbgl. 34 I 1 r t AWL-W70? 470mm 7 5m Apnl 3, 1962 G. TESTOLINI 3,027,708

LSI N, SUPPORT AND STATIC STABILISATION OF E MEDIUM IN A FLUID Filed Jan. 6, 1960 APPARATUS FOR THE PROPU ON, TRANSLATIO A MOVABL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 HIV 5 M w F A TTORIVE) April 3, 1962 G. TESTOLINI 3,027,708

APPARATUS FOR THE PROPULSION,

TRANSLATION, SUPPORT AND STATIC STABILISATION OF A MOVABLE MEDIUM IN A FLUID Filed Jan. 6, 1960 3 Shets-Sheet 5 qlomw/ 72570 A TTORA/EY United rates Patent U APPARATUS FOR THE PRUPULSHDN, TRANSLA- TTON, SUPPURT AND STATEC STABILESATION OF A MGVAELE MEDlilJM TN A FLUID Giovanni Testoiiini, Merino, Italy Filed inn. 6, 1969, Ser. No. 8555 Claims priority, application Switzerland Oct. 29, 1%9 4- Claims. (Cl. ell-35.5)

The present invention relates to an apparatus, based on the principle of the venturi tube, for the propulsion, translation, support and static stabilisation of a movable means in a fluid, by utilising the thrust of the ambient fluid on the apparatus, in the interior of which a static lowering of pressure is produced by means of fluid flowing in it.

The said apparatus, in a first form of construction, limited to propulsion from the bottom of the top and vice versa, essentially consists of a venturi tube, that is to say, a tube comprising three parts, the top part being convergent and the bottom part divergent, connected together by a cylindrical central part constituting the contraction; the walls of the curvilinear convergent part and of the rectilinear central part are provided with apertures, at suitable distance apart and communicating with a cylindrical chamber having flat bases and surrounding the two parts in such a way as to form a chamber which is hermetically sealed with respect to the surroundings at rest; the free end at the bottom of the divergent part being provided with a fan of which the function is to draw in by suction the ambient fluid, through the mouth of the convergent part, expelling it from the divergent part and creating a lowering of pressure, with respect to the surrounding medium, in the cylindrical chamber, by means of the aforementioned apertures, which constitute static flow-intakes.

In another constructional form, of which the purpose is to bring about not merely the propulsion from the bottom to the top but also the translation of the movable medium to which the apparatus is applied, the said apparatus is provided with two fiat-based cylindrical chambers, of which the upper one surrounds the convergent part, while the lower one, which is rotatable about its axis in order to deflect the thrust in all the directions at right angles to the axis, surrounds the cylindrical central part and has radial apertures in its walls, which apertures communicate with the surrounding fluid and can be gradually closed by means of a movable screen, in order to vary the intensity of the thrust; the free end of the divergent part can be provided with two coaxial fans rotating in opposite directions, each one being surrounded by a flywheel and operated by a motor, or else separated by the coupling of two devices for the purpose of neutralising the reaction-couple.

In a third form of construction, for the purpose of providing an apparatus capable of exerting a braking and withdrawal action, the divergent part has apertures which communicate with the cylindrical chamber which is situated below the others and which surrounds it, and both the said apertures and those provided in the convergent part have movable screens of which the purpose is to open or close the said apertures or static intakes.

The second and the third form of construction render it possible to arrange the apparatus so that its axis of propulsion is horizontal, in such a way that what was originally a propulsion thrust becomes a translationthrust, and vice versa.

According to an alternative arrangement, the curvilinear convergent part and the rectilinear central part, both surrounded by a cylindrical chamber with a flat base and communicating with it by means of the apertures, as

3,0217% Patented Apr. 3, 1962 already mentioned, can be flexible with respect to the divergent part situated underneath; in this case the base is provided with apertures, or static intakes, of which the closure can be regulated so that the propulsion-axis can be deflected.

The attached drawings are schematic diagrams of certain possible forms of construction, and in these drawings:

FIG. 1 is an axial-longitudinal section of the first form of construction;

FIG. 2 is a similar section of the second form of construction;

W8. 3 is a section along the line aa of FIG. 2, with the walls thickened.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate certain parts of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are axial sectional diagrams of the ends of two divergent parts coupled;

FIG. 8 is a similar axial section of a third form of construction;

FIG. 9 represents, again in axial section, a possible alternative form which can be adopted for the upper part of the apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view, on a larger scale, of part of FIG. 9.

With reference to FIG. 1, the apparatus consists of a venturi tube, comprising three parts: convergent and curvilinear 1, central and cylindrical 2, divergent 3. Parts 1 and 2 are provided with apertures 4, or static intakes, suitably spaced out and arranged, and communicating with the chamber 5, which consists of a cylindrical envelope 6 with flat bases 7 and 8. To the lower end of the divergent part 3 is afiixed a fan 9, operated by the motor iii.

Assuming the existence of the necessary fluid in which the apparatus is required to move, the operation of the latter is as described below:

The stream of fluid flowing in the tube and attracted by the fan 9, owing to the efiect of the reduction in section, in accordance with the contraction of central part 2, increases in speed, producing a lowering of pressure with respect to the surroundings; this lowering of pressure is communicated via the static intakes 4 of the convergent part 1 to the tight chamber 5, in which there will be a maximum lowering of pressure at the base 8, increasing as the area of the said base increases and the thrust thus becomes greater. The apparatus is thus, as it were, sucked back into the fluid in which it is immersed, because the frontal resistance is reduced by the lowering of pressure, and a posterior thrust is at the same time imparted by the fan, in accordance with the arrow P.

Since the magnitude of the thrust of the apparatus is in direct proportion to the lowering of pressure and this in its turn is in direct proportion to the speed of the liquid in the contracted part, the production of a strong thrust necessitates the adoption of considerable speeds in the contraction or central part 2. The fluid in the contraction will thus acquire high kinetic energy, so that from Bernoullis equation it may be deduced, in view of the great magnitude of this force with respect to the other terms of the said equation, that the kinetic energy is almost exactly equal to the lowering of pressure. It follows that with the system of propulsion provided by the invention, and in view of the ratio between the power supplied and the efiective thrust obtained, extremely satisfactory rates of efliciency are provided, which are far superior to those obtained with the present systems.

With reference to the second form of construction (FIG. 2), parts 1 and 2 are equipped with apertures 43, communicating with the chambers 11 and 12 formed by the cylindrical envelope 13 and the rotating ring 14 interposed between the flat bases 15 and t6; the upper envelope 13 surrounds the convergent part 1, and the lower ring 14, which is rotatable about its axis, surrounds the central cylindrical part 2 and is provided on its surface with radial apertures 17 which communicate with the surrounding fluid and can be gradually closed by means of a movable screen 18, in order to obtain different trans lation-speeds. The envelope 14 is a ring rotatable about its axis, so that the movable medium to which the apparatus is applied can be adjusted in all the directions at right angles to the axis in accordance with the arrow T, and the rotatory movement takes place as shown in FIG. 4.

The free end of the convergent part is equipped with two fans 19 and 20, which are coaxial, rotate in opposite directions and each surrounded by a flywheel 2.1 and 22, capable of supplying energy during the interval of time between the moment when one motor 23 is shut off and the other motor 24 comes into operation and also of assisting the rotation of the fans in cases where the apparatus is started up with the motors shut Oh. The inclination of the blades of the said fans is reversible (FIG. so that during the descent the automatic rotation takes place in the same directions as previously. The said fans, instead of being coaxial, may also be made independent, and aflixed to units of apparatus arranged in pairs, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and may be rotatable in opposite directions.

FIG. 8 shows a further form of construction, in which, in addition to the means adopted in the previous case, the divergent part 3 is provided with apertures 25, which communicate with a cylindrical chamber 26, situated underneath the rotatable ring 14, surrounding the divergent part 3 and enclosed by the envelope 27. Apertures 4 and 25 of the convergent and divergent part respectively are equipped with movable screens 28 and 29 of which the purpose is to open or close them.

In the alternative form shown in FIG. 9, the curvilinear convergent part 1 and the rectilinear central part 2, both surrounded by the cylindrical chamber 11, which has the fiat base 15 and which communicates with them by means of the apertures 4, as already stated, are rendered flexible in respect of the divergent part 3 underneath, by means of the Cardan joint 30.

The details of this universally movable joint are seen more clearly in the enlarged view of FIG. 10. The base 15 carries an annular member 32 the wall of which is part-spherical and which is seated in a correspondingly part-spherical recess 33 formed in the upper end of the part 3. It will be appreciated that if the parts 11 and 3 are moved relatively about the common axis of their respective part-spherical member 32 and recess 33, the member 32 can ride into the recess to a greater and lesser extent and provide continuity between the Parts 2 and 3 irrespective of their relative positions within limits. In order to make the member 32 an hermetic sliding fit in the recess 33, there are provided annular grooves 34,, 35 in which are seated resiliently-compressible rings 36 which press onto the member 32 to form an air-tight seal but permit same to move when required. Movement of the part 3 with respect to the part 2 alters the relative axis of the thrust exerted by the fluid passing through the part 3.

The advantages offered by the use of the apparatus in which the invention relates are as follows:

(a) High rate of performance combined with low operating-costs and a high weight-power ratio;

(11) Simplicity of the apparatus and thus of operation, with low rotation-speeds for the fan (the Only rotating organ) and less likelihood of damage;

(a) Elimination ,of guiding, braking and transmissionorgans;

(a') Absence of jets of fluid at high temperatures;

(2) Possibility of equipping each movable medium with one or more units of apparatus;

The possibility, for aerial media, of moving in any direction in the ambient fluid, of taking off and landing vertically, even in limited spaces, of performing complicated movements at any height or speed in safety, and of being converted from an aerial medium into a land medium without any appreciable modifications;

(g) Stability of land and marine media, with the possibility of dispensing with the large masses of which the purpose is to ensure adhesion and render the moving medium stable;

(h) The possibility, for land media, to move over any terrain, adhesion no longer being required;

(i) The possibility, for aerial and marine media, to change direction and also to rotate about their own axis.

It is obvious that the apparatus may differ from that described and illustrated, in order to take account of the various practical applications, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for propulsion and support in a fluid, comprising a venturi-like tube open at both ends and including a convergent portion and a constriction portion and a divergent portion, the convergent portion and the constriction portion having apertures in their respective walls, means arranged in the tube for drawing fluid through the tube so as to produce a lowering of pressure in the convergent portion and constriction portion, first chamber means surrounding the convergent portion and in communication with the interior of the convergent portion through the apertures in the wall of the latter, whereby the lowering of pressure produced in the convergent portion is transmitted to said first chamber means, second chamber means surrounding the constriction portion and in communication with the interior of the constriction portion through the apertures in the wall of the latter thereby to transmit the lowering of pressure produced in the constriction portion to said second chamber means, said second chamber means including apertures in its wall, and shutter means movably arranged on the Wall of the second chamber means for closing a selected number of the apertures of said wall, thereby to obtain controllable radia-l intake of fluid.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second chamber means is rotatable about the axis of the venturi like tube, to permit positioning of the apertures in its wall in a predetermined direction.

3. Apparatus for propulsion and support in a fluid, comprising a venturi-like tube open at both ends and including a convergent portion, a substantially rectilinear portion and a divergent portion all of which portions having apertures in their walls, means arranged in the tube for drawing fluid through the tube so as to produce a lowering of pressure in the said portions, first and second and third chamber means respectively surrounding the convergent, constriction and divergent portions of the venturi-like tube and each in communication with the interior of said tube through the apertures of the respective portions, whereby the lowering of pressure produced in the tube is transmitted to said chamber means, the second chamber means including apertures in its wall, shutter means movably arranged on the second chamber means for selectively closing a number of said apertures, and another shutter means movably arranged on the convergent portion and on the divergent portion of the venturilike tube for selectively closing a number of the apertures forming a communication between said portions and their respective chamber means.

4. Apparatus for propulsion and support in a fluid, comprising a venturi-like tube including a convergent portion, a constriction portion, and a divergent portion, the convergent portion and the constriction portion including a plurality of apertures in their wall, means in the tube for drawing fluid therethrough, and chamber means surrounding the convergent portion and constriction portion and in communication with the interior of said portions through the aperturing in their wall, and a universallymovable joint forming a coupling between the assembly,

consisting of the convergent and constriction portions and 1,957,896 their surrounding chamber means, and the divergent por- 2,811,828 tion of the venturi-like tube. 2,922,277

References Cited in the file of this patent 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 654 344 1,873,505 Stipa Aug. 23, 1932 5 Marguglio May 3, 1934 McLafierty Nov. 5, 1957 Bertin Ian. 26, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS France Jan. 13, 1951

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