Ships – Boats – boat component – or attachment – With wheeled buoyant landing or launching aid
Patent
1990-10-31
1993-01-05
Sotelo, Jesus D.
Ships
Boats, boat component, or attachment
With wheeled buoyant landing or launching aid
114270, B63C 1300
Patent
active
051760983
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to retractable wheels and particularly but not exclusively to a steerable wheel for use in amphibious craft such as a boat adapted to be driven on land. In such a craft the wheel would need to be retractable or easily adjustable for height between a lowered position in which it would engage the ground for land use and a retracted position.
Whilst amphibious vehicles are not new, most are in the form of amphibious motor cars (or armoured vehicles). One of the main problems with this configuration is that the volume of the car is small in relation to its weight, consequently when in water the vehicle will be deeply immersed. Having little freeboard the vehicle can easily be swamped in any kind of rough water. There is also an insecurity for the occupants in being so low in the water. The design of a car is not appropriate for water travel and a speed of only approximately 5 mph is possible in use. They are nearly always cumbersome on land and sea, are very slow, and are often designed for military use.
If an amphibious craft is to perform well on water and at higher speeds it must have a hull profiled to make this possible. This will necessitate the provision of a larger movement of the wheel between the raised position for stowage and the lowered position for road use than has hitherto been catered for.
The object of the invention is to provide a retractable wheel design capable of being applied to provide such a wheel movement.
According to the present invention there is provided a vehicle having a steerable wheel and a mechanism for retracting the steerable wheel into a compartment in the vehicle, wherein the mechanism comprises a pillar pivotally mounted to the vehicle within the compartment, a steering arm connected to rotate the pillar about its own axis, a collar slidably mounted on the pillar but rotationally fixed relative thereto, the wheel being attached to the collar so that it can be raised and lowered in use by sliding the collar on the pillar and steered by movement of the steering arm to rotate the pillar.
Arrangement can be made for the wheels to be steered in any position of the collar on the pillar.
Preferably the pillar and collar are of cooperating non-circular section so that rotation of the pillar automatically moves the collar without the use of keyways, splines, or guides. Advantageously the collar supports a pair of wheels. In an amphibious craft these may be arranged one on each side of the longitudinal centre line of the craft. Usually the steerable wheel will be attached to the collar via wheel supports.
In one embodiment the orientation of the wheel supports is altered from an upright position when the wheel is in the lowered position to a substantially horizontal position when the wheel is raised for stowage.
The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a side view of an amphibious craft according to the invention having a profile with a deep-V configuration,
FIG. 2 is a schematic section view in plan of the craft of FIG. 1
FIG. 3 is a schematic front section showing one embodiment of a front wheel retraction mechanism and
FIGS. 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d, are schematic partial views of a second retraction mechanism for the front wheels.
The drawings illustrate an amphibious craft in the form of a boat having a hull with a deep-V cross-section below the water line. The boat is convertible so as to provide a means of driving the boat on land on wheels. The operation of the boat in water is substantially unimpaired other than due to the extra weight carried. The profile is unaltered and the drag is not substantially increased.
The boat in water is driven either by a large inboard motor normally in an aft position (such as shown at Y in FIG. 2) or by an outboard motor (not shown). Where an inboard motor is used it could also power the wheels for use of the craft on land. If an outboard motor is used on the boat, a secondary motor such as that shown at X would have to be provided to dri
REFERENCES:
patent: 2231710 (1941-02-01), Ford
patent: 3236324 (1966-02-01), Levratto
patent: 3421472 (1969-01-01), Oberg
patent: 3755835 (1973-09-01), Boersig
patent: 3755838 (1973-09-01), Dunagan
patent: 3858260 (1975-01-01), Hanser
patent: 4008679 (1977-02-01), Bozzano
Anna Stephen P.
Cardox Limited
Sotelo Jesus D.
LandOfFree
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