Westinghouse Electric Corporation

George A Hritz, Jr

Luciano Veronesi

A system is provided for deploying a propulsor unit from the hull of a water vehicle, such as a submarine. The system comprises an opening in a submerged portion of the hull that leads to a chamber for storing the propulsor unit, a cover for covering the hull opening to render the surface of the hull substantially continuous and fluid-dynamic, the cover having first and second sides, each of which conforms to the contour of the hull and the propulsor unit being mounted on the second side of the cover, and a pivotal mounting that hingedly connects the cover and the propulsor unit attached thereto across the opening in the hull for allowing the propulsor unit to move from a first stored position within the storage chamber to a second deployed position in the ambient water surrounding the hull. A drive assembly is provided for pivotally moving the cover and its attached propulsor unit between stored and deployed positions. Finally, a steering assembly is provided that includes a rotatable mounting between the propulsor unit and the cover, and the combination of a spur gear and a worm for rotatably moving the propulsor unit to a desired angle with respect to the hull of the submarine.

Deployment system for secondary propulsor unit

A system is provided for deploying a propulsor unit from the hull of a water vehicle, such as a submarine. The system comprises an opening in a submerged portion of the hull that leads to a chamber for storing the propulsor unit, a cover for covering the hull opening to render the surface of the hull substantially continuous and fluid-dynamic, the cover having first and second sides, each of which conforms to the contour of the hull and the propulsor unit being mounted on the second side of the cover, and a pivotal mounting that hingedly connects the cover and the propulsor unit attached thereto across the opening in the hull for allowing the propulsor unit to move from a first stored position within the storage chamber to a second deployed position in the ambient water surrounding the hull. A drive assembly is provided for pivotally moving the cover and its attached propulsor unit between stored and deployed positions. Finally, a steering assembly is provided that includes a rotatable mounting between the propulsor unit and the cover, and the combination of a spur gear and a a worm for rotatably moving the propulsor unit to a desired angle with respect to the hull of the submarine.

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Cheswick, PA, United States of America

George A Hritz, Jr