USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

John A Schwemin

Paul E Moody

Paul J Lefebvre

Michael R Ryerson

Stephen A Jordan

Richard H Baker

James M Sowle

An inflatable sealing device is used to seal a door, such as a shutter door in a submarine, when the door is closed. The inflatable sealing device includes a seal retainer positioned around the opening through a structure, such as a submarine hull or other type of wall. An inflatable seal is positioned with a retainer cavity within the seal retainer. The inflatable seal includes a seal periphery and a seal tip extending from the seal periphery. The seal periphery preferably has an elliptical cross section in a deflated state and a circular cross section in an inflated state such that the seal tip extends into a gap to seal the door when the inflatable seal is pressurized and inflated. The seal tip retracts into the seal retainer when the inflatable seal is deflated. A pressure actuator, such as a bellows, is used to pressurize the inflatable seal using an actuating fluid. The bellows can be compressed using a door arm coupled to the door such that the seal is automatically actuated to seal the door as the door reaches its fully closed position.

Inflatable sealing device

A facility for permitting launch performance tests to be conducted on an erwater vehicle, such as a torpedo, includes a housing having an opening therethrough defining a tubular chamber for receiving a vehicle therein. A piston is also positioned within the tubular chamber. A link disposed between the piston and the vehicle has a pair of opposing end portions connected with the piston and the vehicle, respectively. A channel is positioned adjacent to the housing and has water flowing therein at a predetermined velocity. The water within the channel communicates with the tubular chamber to allow water flowing within the channel to enter the tubular chamber and surround the vehicle with the vehicle at its rest position. A drive device is operable to move the piston through the tubular chamber a preselected distance sufficient to move the vehicle and the water surrounding the vehicle out of the tubular chamber and into the channel. The link is connected with the piston and the vehicle to permit the vehicle to move both laterally and in rotational fashion within the tubular chamber with the vehicle at its rest position and as the vehicle moves through the tubular chamber in response to hydrodynamic forces acting on the vehicle generated by the flowing channel water and also to stop the advancement of the vehicle after the piston has moved its preselected distance.

Underwater vehicle launch performance test facility

The launching of a vehicle having front and back ends, from the submerged ll of a vessel that is moving forward through water by allowing the vehicle to pivot outboard clear of the hull, preferably from a launchway cavity, into the flow stream where it is released to move under its own propulsion and/or buoyancy forces. A first mechanism is carried on a submerged exterior surface of the hull and connected to the front portion of the vehicle, for initially supporting the vehicle front portion adjacent to the hull in the direction of hull travel, and then selectively releasing the front portion of the vehicle from the hull so that the front portion can move laterally away from the hull into the flow stream. A second mechanism is connected between the hull and the back portion of the vehicle, for initially providing stationary support to the back portion of the vehicle adjacent to the hull while the first mechanism supports the front portion, and then providing pivoting support to the back portion as the vehicle front portion thereby swings away from the hull. Structure is provided to cooperate with the first mechanism, for urging the front portion of the vehicle laterally away from the hull as the front portion is released by the first mechanism.

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Middletown, RI, United States of America

John A Schwemin