USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

John E Ducote

James Sovel

Hal Rhea

A ramp restraint apparatus for a vehicle includes an elongate, rigid restraint bar having one end rotatably attached to the ramp and a free end having a notch and a roller at its tip. The restraint bar travels over a bar support on a lock/release assembly mounted to a vehicle bulkhead. The bar support is shaped at one end to receive the notch of the bar and hold the bar in place when the ramp is fully deployed. A release arm has a cam follower that pushes up on and releases the restraint bar when the release arm is rotated, allowing the ramp to close. When the ramp is fully closed, a storage bracket receives and holds the inboard end of the restraint bar.

Vehicle ramp resistant apparatus

A flexible skirt-cell system is provided for a hovercraft having a propulsion system mounted to interface with water and a flexible skirt having an upper flexible panel section and a lower flexible finger section. The panel section extends around the bow, stern and two sides of the hovercraft hull and the finger section extends around the hull below the panel section and is connected to the panel section from a forward-abeam location and forward along the two sides and across the bow. Fans create pressurized air that is fed through air ducts to form a pressurized air cushion that supports the hovercraft. Interconnected flexible cells are connected between the panel and finger sections from the forward-abeam locations rearward to the stern. Additional air ducts pass pressurized air from the fan units to inflate the cells, thereby elevating the stern and raising the propulsion system above the water.

Waterjet drive hovercraft with adjustable trim system

A hybrid craft can operate as a high speed SES in open water and deploy a retracted flexible skirt to operate as a hovercraft across beaches and overland. A downwardly extending boundary structure on a hull periphery reaches through the surface of water. The boundary structure has thin rigid side-walls extending downward from lateral sides, a forward seal wall extending downward from a forward portion, and an aft seal wall extending downward from an aft portion. Machinery creates a pressurized air cushion under the hull inside of the boundary structure to support and transport the hull. A flexible skirt system on said hull inwardly of and adjacent to the boundary structure can be retracted to a first position above the boundary structure and the water and extended to a second position below the boundary structure and the surface of the water to transit beaches and overland on the air cushion.

Hybrid SES/hovercraft with retractable skirt system

A low profile deck clamp and cargo or deck equipment anchoring system which tilizes a removable, keyed deck clamp in association with equipment or cargo entity-provided attachment flanges, and also with preexisting deck sockets formerly used with other known prior art tie-down systems. The clamp in a more preferred form has a horizontal planar slotted body member disposed above deck, and a double offset unique key portion which downwardly depends from its forward end as a generally below-deck portion. Attachment flanges are initially or subsequently formed to the base of each cargo or equipment entity. An angular form of attachment flange with a planar base portion disposed parallel upon the deck, is provided with adjacently disposed key-passable clearance holes and a plurality of strategically placed threaded holes to manually and collectively cooperate with the deck sockets, the clamp's keyed portion and a plurality of anchoring bolts passing through the slots of the clamp's planar body member. In an alternate embodiment in which the below deck key portion is essentially the same, the above deck body portion is non planar, upright and rectangular in form with transverse mounting apertures through the opposed flat vertical faces, for bolting directly to cargo or equipment items having only vertically disposed attachment flanges engaging the deck. Both forms aptly provide a low profile cargo securing system in lieu of more space consuming cable tie down systems of the prior art.

Growing community of inventors

Panama City Beach, FL, United States of America

John E Ducote