US1778467A - Boat structure for seaplanes - Google Patents

Description

' Oct. 14, 1930.

P. G. PETTERSEN BOAT STRUCTURE FOR SEAPIINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 28, 1928 Oct. 14, 1930. P. c. PETTERSEN 1,778,467

BOAT STRUCTURE FOR SEAPLANES Filed Jan. 28, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet Patented Oct. 14, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IBOA'I STRUCTURE FOR SEAPLANES Application filed Ianuary 28, 1928. Serial No. 250,143.

This invention relates to improvements in boat structures for seaplanes.

With airplanes and seaplanes as heretofore constructed, long distance flights over water 6 are highly hazardous, for the reason that the floating structures as heretofore constituted are not adapted to stand buifeting of rough seas for any considerable length of time where forced landings upon the water are necessary.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of a boat structure for seaplanes adapted to remain afloat indefinitely and to automatically right itself in the event 1 that it should be overturned in an unusually rough sea.

Another object is the provision of means for ballasting the boat and so arranging the ballast that it shall be difficult to overturn the boat, and that the boat will automatically right itself under such conditions.

A furtherobject is the provision in a boat of this character of a series of fluid tight compartments beneath the deck of the passenger carrying section of the boat, whereby the buoyancy of the boat will not be greatly impaired by any local staving in of the bilge plates.

Anotherobject is the provision of an -en-' 3 tirely enclosed water-tight hull of suflicient strength above the water line to render the boat sea-worthy and substantially non-sink- 7 able when over-turned as well as in upright position. v StiIlanOther objec-tisthe connection of the wing struts-to the boat structure below the deck within the confines of water-tight compartments, whereby damage to the boat through strains put upon the struts will be confined to areas enclosed between watertight bulkheads beneath the deck.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with the description of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings,'in which Figure l is a plan view of a seaplaneboat 9g structure embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same.

Figure 3 1s a longitudinal view of the structure, principally in vertical section, a

portion of the inner sheathing being removed to more clearly disclose the frame work, and some of the parts of the structure being i1- lustrated more or less diagrammatically.

Figured is a front elevation showing the arrangement of wing struts.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the hull of the boat, taken substantially on the line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is another cross-sectional view of the hull taken substantially on the line 66 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a detail sectional view illustrating' a form of sealing and fastening which may be employed upon the hatches of the boat.

In the drawings I have illustrated a flying boat of the monoplane type, although the invention is equally well adapted to use upon biplanes or other types of air craft. The boat structure is indicated generally by the reference character A and the wings by the reference character B. Any number of propellers and driving motors may be employed, three being here illustrated at G, D and E. The wings are braced by inclined struts F, which are attached to the boat structure in a manner to be described hereinafter. The empennage assembly is diagrammatically indicated at J.

The material employed in the construction of the boat is principally metal, preferably an aluminum alloy of a high strength-weight ratio, and one that is resistant to the corrosive action of salt water and salt air. The specific makeup of the frame work is of no particular moment so far as my invention is concerned, but by way of example I have shown a series of longerons 10 of double angle or T section, and a series of ribs 11 intersecting the longerons and secured thereto, the ribs being of single angle form. To the outer sides of the frame work I rivet, weld or otherwise secure sheet metal plates to completely enclose the hull, being careful to keep all joints water-tight.

In shape, the boat structure may approximate roughly a torpedo, this form affording low resistance to the air during flight. It is divided by a transverse partition 12 into a forward or passenger carrying section G and an aft section H which may be utilized for the storage of freight, mail, etc, and may carry a fuel tank 13. In the forward section of the boat I provide a deckla'whi'ch is watertight, and is connected tothe sides of'thebo'at by water-tight joints. The deck-14; is located well down towards the bottom of the boat at a height near the widest patter the boat and also near the water line. The

space between the deck 14' "and the bi'lgeplate's may vary considerably, but for a boat de-. signed to carry twentyzor thirty peoplea maximum depth below the deck of approxi mately one foot is at present preferred. The space belowthe deck is divided up into a series of water-tight, and preferably airtight compartments, by means of. a longitudinal'cent'ral bulkhead 15, extending up wardly from the keel ofthe boat and a series of transverse bulkheads 16. At its forward end the deck 14'is preferably deflected upwardly, as indicated at 17, so as to provide a water tight compartment in the bow of the boat also. r

Light'for the passenger section of the boat may be admitted through a seriesof port holes 18 in the side walls and other port holes 19 inthe top wall. The windows for? the port holes are preferably permanently set in V their-closed position: Ventilation is provid ed by two or more ventilators 20, havingmoi able cowls that canbe turned horizontally into position to'admit-and discharge the desired amount'of air. These ventilators may be closedor opened atwillby means of'sliceing valves 21. Preferably the ventilator cowls and ventilator valves are connectec for operation from the pilots seat, and: this may be done in any suitable manner, a lever' '1. and linkage 22 for the" forward valve beingillustrated by way of example in Figure 3.

, Entrance to and exit from the passenger compartment are 7 had through a hatch 23 which is arranged to be fastened from the insideofthe boat, watertight-joints being provided.

througha hatch 24:, which is also arranged to be fastened and unfa'stened from the'forward section Ga Access to the storage section H of thejboat' may be had through a hatch 25,

whichc n befastened and unfastened from below. In the bottom of the' 'boa t I provide an additional hatch 26 which is of consider- Communication between the two sec-; tions G- and H of-the boat maybe had" be upturned and fail for any reason to right itself.

Along each side of the keel I preferably attach wear strips 27 to the outer surfaces of the bilge plates. The wing struts F are secured to the bilge of the boat between adjacent transverse bulkheads 16, so that if unusual strains upon the struts break the-m loose from the boat and damage the bilge'plates i'if'sodo'i'ng, the resulting leak will affect only the water tight-f compartments surrounding the attachment points of the struts.

' resi n-re 7 I have illustratedone means for sealing and fastening the hatches of the boat, but'ofcour's'e', any other suitable means may beemployed, Int-hisfigure have shown an annular soft rubber; gasket 28 against which the hatch is pressed by means ofa fasteningclamp 2 9. v In Figure 21 have illustrated, diagrammatically a series of valves in the bilge plates of the boat, arranged upon opposite sides of the center bulkhead 15, there being one valvefor each compartmentb elow the deck, except those at the bow which are above the waterline. Any suitable means may be employed for opening and closing these valves from, the passenger compartment,

either individually or collectively or. in

to hold the boat into the wind, 'b'uoyancy would become secondary lin importance to stability- Under such circumstances'someor Y allof'the valves 30 would be opened until the correspondingv compartments filled with water, and would then-be closed again. The

ballast/thus provided would-tendto prevent capsizing. As a precaution against possible capsi'zing the I ventilators 20? and all hatches would be" tightly 'closedi Nowf-shouldgthe boat be rolled over temporarily the f'ac't that its; center of gravity, due'tothe ballast, is"

considerably above its centerof buoyancy, wouldcause the boat to right itself immediately. 1 v 7 It will, of course, be appreciated that instead'ofwater ballast I' may,-ifdesired, employ some part of the necessary load of the plane, as for instancegfueloi baggage freight. In that event such load will be introduced into or removedfrom the water tighticompart-merits through; the openings .31, above mentioned. 1

and foregoing description I have explained more or less in detail a specific embodiment of the invention, I desire it to be understood that such disclosure is primarily for the purpose of illustration and should not be construed as a limitation of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1'. In a seaplane, a boat structure, a deck therein, an enclosed compartment above said deck, a wing arranged transversely of said boat structure, a wing strut extending from said wing diagonally downward and secured to the bilge of the boat, and a water-tight compartment within the bilge above the attachment of said strut, occupying a fraction only of the space between the deck and bilge.

2. In a seaplane, a boat structure, a wing arranged transversely of said boat structure, a deck within said boat structure, a wing strut extending from said wing diagonally downward and secured to the bilge of the boat beneath said deck, and a watertight compartment between said deck and bilge extending forwardly and rearwardly beyond the attachment of said strut.

8. In a seaplane, a boat structure, a wing arranged transversely of said boat structure, a water-tight deck within said boat structure, a series of water-tight bulkheads between said deck and the bilge of the boat dividing the space beneath the deck into a series of water-tight compartments, and a wing strut extending from said wing diagonally downward and secured to the bilge of the boat between adjacent bulkheads.

4. In a seaplane, a boat, two wings extending laterally from the upper portion of said boat, braces extending downwardly at an angle from said wings and attached to the lower portion of said boat, said boat being widest substantially at the water-line and gradually decreasing in width toward the top thereof and having its greatest vertical dimension above the waterline, said boat being entirely enclosed, and a deck within the boat substantially at the water-line thereof.

5. In aseaplane, a boat, two wings extending laterally from the upper portion of said boat, braces extending downwardly at an angle from said wings and attached to the lower portion of said boat, said boat being I widest substantially at the water-line and gradually decreasing in width toward the top thereof and having its greatest vertical dimension above the water-line, said boat being entirely enclosed, and being provided with a water-tight deck spaced from the bottom of the boat, said deck being near the kwater-line and near the widest portion of the oat.

6. In a seaplane, a boat, two wings extending laterally from the upper portion of said boat, braces extending downwardly at an angle from said wings and attached to the lower portion of said boat, said boat being widest substantially at the water-line and having its greatest vertical dimension above the water line, said boat being entirely enclosed, and being provided with a water-tight deck spaced from the bottom of the boat, said deck being near the water-line and near the widest portion of the boat, the space between said deck and the bottom of the boat being divided into water tight compartments.

7. In a seaplane, a boat, two wings extending laterally from the upper portion of said boat, braces extending downwardly at an angle from said wings and attached to the lower portion of said boat, said boat being widest substantially at the water-line and having its greatest vertical dimension above the water-line, said boat being entirely enclosed, and being provided with a water-tight deck spaced from the bottom of the boat, said deck being near the water-line and near the widest portion of the boat, the space between said deck and the bottom of the boat being divided into water-tight compartments, and valves in the bottom of the boat below said compartments for the admission or the discharge of water.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

PETTER G. PETTERSEN.

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