Hydro-air cushion vessels

Claim 1

LARGE, OCEAN-GOING, HYDRO-AIR CUSHION VESSEL HAVING A HULL WITH BOW AND STERN ENDS AND INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPACED VERTICAL SIDE WALLS, A HORIZONTAL FLOOR EXTENDING BETWEEN THE WALLS AND SPACED FROM THE LOWER EDGES OF THE WALLS A SUFFICIENT DISTANCE SO THAT THE VESSEL WHEN FULLY LOADED AND SUPPORTED BY COMPRESSED AIR WILL FLOAT WITH SUCH FLOOR ABOVE THE WATER, A TRANSVERSE SERIES OF SKID MEMBERS LOCATED AT THE BOW OF THE HULL, AND A TRANSVERSE SERIES OF SKID MEMBERS LOCATED AT THE STERN OF THE HULL, SAID SKID MEMBERS BEING INDIVIDUALLY PIVOTALLY MOUNTED AT THEIR UPPER ENDS ADJACENT TO THE UNDERSIDE OF THE FLOOR AT THE BOW AND STERN OF THE HULL AND DEPENDING FROM SUCH PIVOTAL MOUNTING TO A POINT ABOVE THE LOWER EDGES OF THE WALLS, SAID SKID MEMBERS IN EACH OF SAID SERIES AT THE BOW AND STERN ENDS OF THE HULL HAVING FLAT SIDE WALLS AND BEING ADJACENT TO ONE ANOTHER AND EXTENDING BETWEEN THE WALLS TO FORM SUBSTANTIALLY AIR-TIGHT DOORS, SAID SKID MEMBERS, WALLS AND FLOOR FORMING AN AIR CHAMBER FOR SUPPORTING THE VESSEL ON AN AIR CUSHION, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING AIR INTO THE CHAMBER TO FORM AN AIR CUSHION, AND SAID SKID MEMBERS BEING OF LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AND REARWARDLY FROM THE PIVOTAL MOUNTINGS THEREOF SO THAT THEIR LOWER ENDS TRAIL DURING THE MOVEMENT OF THE VESSEL, SAID SKID MEMBERS HAVING A WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THEIR THICKNESS AND SUCH THAT THE SKID MEMBERS MAY BE PIVOTED IN THE DIRECTION OF THEIR WIDTHS RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE AND STILL OVERLAP ONE ANOTHER TO MAINTAIN THE AIR CUSHION IN SAID CHAMBER, EACH OF SAID SKID MEMBERS INCREASING IN WIDTH FROM THE UPPER PIVOTED END THEREOF TO THE LOWER FREE TRAILING END THEREOF AND HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY TRIANGULARLY-SHAPED WATER ENGAGING END PORTION, THE APEX OF WHICH IS DISPOSED DOWNWARDLY AND IS LOCATED IN SPACE TRAILING RELATION TO THE PIVOTAL MOUNTING OF SAID SKID MEMBER, THE FORWARD EDGE OF EACH SKID MEMBER BEING CONVEXLY-SHAPED AND OF SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER RADIUS OF CURVATURE THAN THE EDGE OF THE APEX IN THE TRIANGULARLYSHAPED END PORTION, AND MEANS FOR REGULATING THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID SKID MEMBER DURING THE OPERATION OF THE VESSEL, SAID REGULATING MEANS INCLUDING MEANS CONNECTED TO THE HULL OF THE VESSEL AND TO THE REAR EDGE OF EACH SAID SKID MEMBER AND AUTOMATICALLY OPERATIVE TO CUSHION THE REARWARD AND UPWARD MOVEMENTS OF SAID SKID MEMBER ABOUT ITS PIVOT AND TO TEND TO RETURN THE SAME TO NORMAL POSITION.