Sail device

Details Sail device Sail device

1999-07-27

2001-03-06

Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)

Ships

Sail or control means therefor

Having means to vary shape of sail

C114S102240

Reexamination Certificate

active

06196149

ABSTRACT:

The present invention relates to an arrangement for a sail enabling its form to be varied and comprising battens extending between the fore-leech and the after-leech.
The sail is influenced directly by the wind when sailing, which gives rise to pressure of varying magnitude on the surface of the sail. The heeling of the craft results in displacement of the keel from its vertical line, and the position of the crew on board also influences the sail so that the pressure upon it increases as the craft increases its heeling. So-called battens are generally used to stiffen sail, and previously disclosed battens consist of horizontal strips of plastic or wood which are flexible in an essentially horizontal direction when the sail in question is supported by a mast on the craft. These previously disclosed battens exhibit an even form viewed in a vertical direction along horizontal inelastic channels in the sail, into which the battens have been inserted from the edge of the sail. The battens are allowed to flex and adjust the sail to the intended form in a lateral sense, although when viewed in a vertical direction the sail is not so arranged as to be capable of altering its form, even if this would be desirable in order to increase the effect of the sail on desired occasions when tacking between different winds or when the sail is subjected to some other influence.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,864
This patent is restricted to masts that are without shrouds and is restricted as such to surfboards or a small number of special boats.
Concerning the increase in the effect provided by this patent, this is only dependent on a commonly occurring front ampleness in the form of the sail, whereas the other technical details do not influence the effect in any respect other than they entail friction and an increase in weight.
In consideration of the ability of this patent to withstand deformation and wear, a change occurs here when the sailboard changes tack.
When changing tack, the spring embodied in this patent can remove the curvature of the sail and become compressed in a horizontal sense.
When changing tack, the curved profile will disappear,
FIG. 3
, with the consequence that it is lying in the direction of the wind for about a second and is not subjected due to the compression of the spring.
This spring mechanism is active for between 0.5 and 1% of the active part of the voyage and as such influences the wear for between 0.5 and 1% of the time.
It should be pointed out that this patent cannot use its spring to change the aerodynamic or three-dimensional form of the sail.
This patent is a static construction with the exception that, when the form of the sail changes side (change in tack), it relieves compression loadings of the battens on the spring.
The principal object of the present invention is, therefore, in the first instance to solve the aforementioned problem by simple and efficiently functioning means.
Said object is achieved by means of an arrangement in accordance with the present invention, which is characterized essentially in that the sail is divided into parts and is formed from a number of segments, with connecting devices situated between the segments acting as battens which extend in an elastic fashion across the longitudinal extent of the connecting devices.
This proposal is inspired by organic life forms and the everyday solution of aerodynamic problem in wing profiles.
The proposal is extremely variable and flexible and is exceptionally easy to handle and hard-wearing.
The proposal permits a considerably higher effect under varying conditions and permits extremely simplified handling during that period.
The proposal permits simplified manufacturing both at the design stage and in the workshop.
The proposal permits a more effective form for types of boats and rigs.
The proposal involves a choice of considerably cheaper materials.
The proposal has an incomparable capacity to withstand shock-loads and wear.
The proposal is superior with regard to the simplification of repairs and maintenance.
The battens, which are positioned in pairs, can be two in number for a small sail and up to six in number for a large sail.
The fact that the sail consists of detachable segments permits the simple replacement of segments for the installation of advertising or decoration.
This simple technical solution is completely concealed and gives the sail an attractive, traditional appearance.
COMMON BACKGROUND
The following is a brief description of the background to the development of the present invention.
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this area is to create a sailboat concept that is efficient when heeling from 0-25 degrees and in the most varying wave resistance at these heeling angles.
The primary problem of how to take advantage of the self-righting power of the keel, but without forfeiting its hydrodynamic properties, is also encountered at these varying heeling angles.
Today's designers are naturally obliged to give very careful consideration to whether these fundamental forces can create the most favourable synthesis with the multiplicity of other parameters, and in the majority of cases they usually produce a design that reaches its ideal heeling at an early point in the wind register.
We must now address the sensitive problem of a design which reaches its ideal heeling at an early stage, but which is subsequently exposed to wind velocities capable of reaching such high levels that they have a devastating effect on all known designs.
We can now observe the actual results of these severe problems in the market, and we can see that today's materials are very extreme and were originally developed within the space industry.
The space materials of today have enormous properties when exposed to the specifically envisaged loads, but they lose these properties in the face of varying or random loads.
The construction of a sailing boat differs fundamentally from that of most other high-technology means of transport in the sense that it lacks an energy input that is capable of being influenced directly, and one is very probably obliged to take account of the fact that it is supplied continuously with new energy from the surroundings.
This surrounding potential energy is extremely rich in variation and is capable, like all other energy, of producing a devastating effect in the absence of an understanding how to control its inherent unique properties from outside, and the problem is complicated considerably when these properties must be harnessed and harmonized to a very sensitive human devices.
This variation-rich energy has until now been controlled in the majority of designs by the use of extremely static materials, in which this static character has been capable of variation to some extent by human influence.
The fundamental character of the designs has nevertheless remained static in the face of the variation-rich energy-flow, with the consequence that the majority of the potential energy sources have passed the craft with incomplete efficiency.
The unavoidable consequence of this knowledge and experience is the quest for a material and a design which conform as closely as possible to these variation-rich force-flows and which, through their flexible and sensitive nature, allow these forces to act freely without causing unexpected material failure through static brittleness.
The following problem now arises with regard to how to determine the limits within which this new material should be dynamic, and what parameters influence its dynamic properties.
These problems are so complex, when combined, that it is extremely difficult to produce a useful summary for an overall solution.
One possible way to address these problems is to examine living organisms and to establish how the constraints of evolution have caused them to adapt dynamically in accordance with this complicated network of different forces.
Closer examination of these organisms reveals that they resist forces not only through their dynamic features, but that they can also go beyond their maximum dynamic limits and therea

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