Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited

Takaaki Oshima

Takashi Matsunaga

Shinichi Sato

Satoru Ishikawa

Ryo Nakajima

Mitsuo Onoue

An amphibious vehicle, which enables wave making resistance upon traveling on water to be reduced and propulsive performance of its vehicle main body to be improved, is to be provided. An amphibious vehicle of the present invention includes: a vehicle main body that is movable on water and on land; a rear portion flap having a front end portion fixed to a rear portion of the vehicle main body; and end plates respectively provided at both side end portions of the rear portion flap.

Amphibious vehicle

A rear flap configuration for an amphibious vehicle includes a vehicle body, a pair of crawlers disposed on both right and left sides with respect to a traveling direction of the vehicle body, and a rear flap connected to a rear part of the vehicle body. The vehicle body has a rear surface including a departure angle surface which extends obliquely upward from a lower edge of the rear surface as the vehicle body extends rearward. The crawlers have upper surfaces positioned above the lower edge, lower surfaces positioned below the lower edge, and rear edges projecting rearward from the lower edge. The rear flap includes a flap body part having a facing edge which faces the lower edge between the crawlers and is vertically rotatably connected to the vehicle body so as to allow the facing edge to come into contact or close proximity with the lower edge.

Rear flap configuration for amphibious vehicle

An amphibious vehicle according to some embodiments includes a vehicle body, a plurality of wheels disposed on each of both sides of the vehicle body, a crawler disposed on each of both sides of the vehicle body so as to surround the plurality of wheels, and one or more wheel covers mounted to an outer side or an inner side of at least one wheel of the plurality of wheels so as to cover a side surface of the wheel.

An amphibious vehicle that can reduce wave drag at the time of hydroplaning and can improve propulsion performance of the vehicle body. The amphibious vehicle includes a vehicle body capable of moving on water and on land, a front flap with a rear end being fixed to a lower end of the vehicle body, a rear flap with a front end being fixed to a rear part of the vehicle body, and a pair of keels provided along a travel device provided on both sides of the vehicle body on a bottom surface of the vehicle body.

The objective of the present invention is to provide an amphibious vehicle and a method of controlling the attitude of the vehicle body of an amphibious vehicle, with which it is possible to reduce the fluid resistance when traveling on water and to improve the propulsion performance of the vehicle main body. An amphibious vehicleaccording to the present invention is characterized in being provided with: a vehicle main bodycapable of moving on water and on land; a rear flapB provided at the rear of the vehicle main body; a drive unitwhich drives the rear flapB to vary a flap angle &#x3b8;between the vehicle main bodyand the rear flapB; a detecting unitwhich detects a trim angle of the vehicle main body, a vehicle speed and the flap angle &#x3b8;; and a control unitwhich controls the flap angle &#x3b8;on the basis of the trim angle, the vehicle speed and the flap angle &#x3b8;detected by the detecting unit

Amphibious vehicle and method of controlling attitude of vehicle body of amphibious vehicle

Provided is an amphibious vehicle capable of maintaining stable vehicle posture by pitching control during cruising on water and also reducing wave drag caused by waves on water. The amphibious vehicle according to the present invention is characterized by being provided with: a vehicle body () capable of moving on sea and land; a front flap (A) with one end portion secured to a lower end portion of the vehicle body () in such a manner that a principal surface is inclined with respect to a front surface () of the vehicle body (); and a rear flap (B) with one end portion secured to a lower end portion of a rear surface () of the vehicle body ().

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Tokyo, Japan

Takaaki Oshima