USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Richard K Knutson

Stephen Paul Ebner

John W Johnston

Norman Lee Owsley

David B Coakley

David M Pickett

Robert D Vanasse

Peter P Rispin

Bruce L Webster

David A Newborn

Roger C Norris

Charles W Sieber

William VonFeldt

John F Law

An unmanned hydroplaning water surface vehicle having a gondola housing with external midway lift and control foils that allow the unmanned surface vehicle to provide lift and control in water at sufficient speed. A superstructure trimaran hull serves as a stable operation platform during low speed maneuvers or at rest. The superstructure hull encloses command and control systems capable of remote, semi-autonomous or fully autonomous control and navigation and vehicle attitude control. A plurality of mission specific payloads and sensors are positioned within the superstructure hull and gondola housing to allow for various types of missions. A strut connects the gondola housing and the superstructure hull above the waterline, as well as to provide for the passage therebetween of a plurality of transmission and control lines. The strut also mounts a rudder above propeller at the stern end of the gondola housing.

Hydroplaning unmanned surface vehicle

Components of a flexible fairing shroud are attached adjacent their leading edges to bushings through which the fairing shroud is angularly displaced about a protectively surrounded structure exposed to a fluid medium. Inflow of the fluid medium is thereby accommodated in a direction resulting in inflation of the fairing shroud to a desired streamline shape established and maintained between leading and trailing edges during flow of the fluid medium to substantially reduce vibrations otherwise induced by such flow.

Inflatable vibration reducing fairing

A lateral force device for displacing a towed underwater acoustic cable piding displacement in the horizontal and vertical directions having a spool and a rotationally mounted winged fuselage. The hollow spool is mounted on a cable with cable elements passing therethrough. The winged fuselage is made with the top half relatively positively buoyant and the bottom half relatively negatively buoyant. The winged fuselage is mounted about the hollow spool with clearance to allow rotation of the fuselage. The difference in buoyancy between the upper and lower fuselage maintains the device in the correct operating position. The wings are angled to provide lift in the desired direction as the fuselage is towed through the water.

Lateral force device for underwater towed array

A paravane includes an elongated fuselage; a wing section of spaced wing bers attached to an intermediate portion of the fuselage; stabilizer fins for maintaining the paravane lined-up with the direction of tow; a depth control flap positioned adjacent the wing section and having a pivot axis extending closely adjacent to the towing point; and depth control means for controlling the position of the control flap. The wing members have a straight leading edge portion, a straight trailing edge portion and a curved intermediate portion wherein the wing members are arranged such that the chord lines extend at oblique angles with the longitudinal axis of the fuselage and such that the resultant hydrodynamic lift force vector acting on the wing section passes through the tow point.

Paravane with automatic depth control

A streamlined fairing comprises an elongated leading edge tension member, elongated trailing edge member of flexible material integrally bonded to the leading edge member, and a flange member secured to the leading and trailing members for preventing relative displacements therebetween and for improving the shape stability of the fairing. The flange member has a cross-sectional width which is between about 10% and about 50% of the maximum width of the fairing and a cross-sectional length which is between about 5% and about 20% of the chord length of the fairing.

Integrated faired towline with integral locking feature

An underwater noisemaking device that is self-driven for use in towed undater acoustic minesweeping or as a decoy countermeasure device. It comprises a cambered and slotted disc mounted in a frame so as to be free to rotate about a horizontal, transverse axis within its plane when being towed or is in a flow stream. The disc auto-rotates rapidly causing intermittent cavitation, resulting in the emission of loud 'clapping' acoustic noise. It may be incorporated into other towed underwater acoustic minesweeping and decoy devices.

Growing community of inventors

Germantown, MD, United States of America

Richard K Knutson