US3162162A - Torpedo steering system - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 22, 1964 H. H. HAMLIN ETAL TORPEDO STEERING SYSTEM Original Filed July 16, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.2

INVENTORS HALLEY H. HAMLIN ALFRED L.W.W|LLIAMS ATTORN EY Dec. 22, 1964 H. H. HAMLIN ETAL 3,162,162

TORPEDO STEERING SYSTEM Original Filed July 16, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS HALLEY HIHAMLIN 0 ALFRED L.W.WILLIAMS FIG .5 U? 2.4;

ATT'oRNEY Dec. 22, 1964 H. H. HAMLIN ETAL TORPEDO STEERING SYSTEM Original Filed July 16, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IEIEI' ///1;'////// 11% INVENTORS HALLEY H. HAMLIN ALFRED L.W.W|LLIAMS ATTORNEY United States Patent (I) 3,162,162 TORPEDQ STEERING SYSTEM Halley H. Hamlin, Lyndhurst, and Alfred L. W. Williams, Cleveland, Ohio, assignors to Clevite Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Continuation of application Ser. No. 827,663, July 16, 1959. This application Aug. 6, 1962, Ser. No. 214,879

7 Claims. (Cl. 114-43) The instant application is a continuation of our previous application Serial Number 827,663 filed July 16, 1959, assigned to the same assignee and now abandoned.

This invention relates generally to torpedoes and more particularly, concerns the steering system thereof.

It is recognized that the steering surfaces of conventional torpedoes operate in an area of highly disturbed cavitational water flow. The unit area efiiciency of such steering surfaces is therefore rather low. The total steering surface that is required is so large that the rudders and elevators must extend beyond the outside diameter of the main torpedo body. Such a construction of the rudders and elevators has numerous disadvantages, for instance in that these structures interfere with the normal diameter of the launching tubes so that these tubes must be especially adapted which results in a loss of space and a gain in weight. These factors are, of course, prime considerations in submarine torpedo launching equipment.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a steering shroud which encircles the torpedo body and operates in an area of undisturbed water flow to improve the effectiveness of the steering surfaces per unit area thereby enabling a reduction in the total steering surface.

It is another object of this invention to provide a steering system in which a steering shroud encircling the torpedo body has an outside diameter not greater than the outside diameter of the main torpedo body whereby disadvantages inherent in devices of the prior art are eliminated.

It is another object of this invention to provide a device in which the torpedo steering control surface areas are materially reduced compared to comparable conventional torpedoes, with the result that drag and water entry factors are appreciably improved.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a unique hydraulic system to actuate the steering control surfaces.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: 7

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the torpedo;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the tail end of the torpedo with portions broken away and shown in section;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged end view of the torpedo and particularly of the steeiing shroud and the actuating system connected thereto;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of the steering shroud taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, view of FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a longitudinal View in lenoid mechanism;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE'Z illustrating a modified device; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, view of FIG- An aspect of the present invention resides in the prosection of the sovision of a torpedo having an elongated body with a tapered tail end and includes an annular shroud member 3,162,162 Patented Dec. 22, 1964 encircling the tail end in uniform spaced relationship. The shroud member has an outside diameter not greater than the outside diameter of the elongated body, and at leastportions of the shroud member are angularly movable relative to the central axis of said body. A support member is provided between the body and the shroud member, and an actuating member is located within the body engaging the shroud member for angularly moving at least portions of the shroud member. Q

1 7 Another aspect of the present invention resides in the provision ofan actuating mechanism for a fixed volume hydraulic circuit which includes a tubular sleeve member having a central passageway, one end of the sleeve memher being connectable to the circuit. A solenoid coil encircles the sleeve member, and an end member is sealingly connected to the coil adjacent to the other end of the sleeve member. A magnetically responsive plunger is disposed Within the passageway and is movable between the end member and approximately the axial center of the coil in response to energization of the coil. A piston body is located within the passageway and engages the plunger. A spring is operably positioned within the sleeve member between the circuit and the piston, said spring biases the piston'against the plunger to force the plungernormally against the end member. The piston has a fluid conduit therethrough'in fluid communication ing a tapered tail'end. A shroud ring 12 encircles the tail end in uniform spaced relationship and is secured to the body by four connecting chords 50. The shroud ring 12 has an outside diameter not greater than the outside diameter of the elongated torpedo body 10 and four equidistantly spaced movable control surfaces 19, 20, 22 and 24 are. arranged in circular array along the trailing edge 16 and disposed in recesses 14, formed in the ring 12. These control surfaces are of similar construction and are identified and hereafter referred to by reference character 18. The surfaces 18 are pivotably mounted in the recesses 14, and the contourof the surfaces is such that when they are in normal position the surfaces are flush with the ring 12v and establish a substantially continuous and streamlined surface.

A pair of pivots 27 secures the surfaces 18 to thering, as above noted, to permit angular movement of the eontrol surfaces relative to the central axis of the torpedo body. A set screw 40 mounted in each control surface, see FIGURE 5, .adjustably limits the freedom'of angular movement thereof.

The control surfaces 18 are operated by a magnetohydraulic actuating system which includes a solenoid mechanism 58 located in the main body 10 of the torpedo, and a hydraulic conduit system connecting the solenoid with the control surface's'18. I 1

Referring now to FIGURE 6, there is shown a solenoid coated with a suitable varnish; a right end wall64 suitably mounted to the housing 60; an intermediate partition wall 61 enclosing the left end side of the housing '60 and partly press fitted thereinto; and a left end wall 62 contiguous to I r intermediate wall 61 and having a plurality of countersunk bores 67 extending parallel with the central axis'of the housing 60. A machin'escrew 68 in each bore 671* serves todetachably connect wall 62' to the intermediate fpartitionwall'ol.

Within the tubular housing 60 there is disposed a hollow cylindrical winding constituting a solenoid member 70. The central opening of member 70 is lined with a suitable insulating material 71, such as varnished cambn'c oil insulation cloth glued in place with a suitable cement.

The mechanism 58 has a central passageway 72 formed by a central aperture 65 in wall 64, the central opening formed by the solenoid member 70, a central aperture 66 in intermediate wall 61, and central bore 69 in wall 62, all of which are axially aligned; the passageway 72 terminates on the one end with abutment 63 of left end wall 62.

A tubular sleeve 74 is suitably disposed within the passageway 72, one end of the sleeve is externally threaded and extends through central aperture 65 and connects to a pipe adapter 86; to hold the sleeve in adjustable position a hexagon nut 85 is threadedly mounted above sleeve 74 and abuts end wall 64. The sleeve has one end 77 formed as the inverse of a frustum of a right circular cone. This end is located proximate to the axial center of the solenoid member 70. An elongated plunger 80 is slidably disposed within passageway 72, the plunger has a configuration which is complementary to end 77 of sleeve 74.

A reciprocable piston 90 and a compression spring 96 are carried end to end within the tubular sleeve 74. The piston 90 is, generally, cylindrically shaped and provides a T-shaped fluid conduit system 93, including conduit 94 extending coaxially with passageway 72 and connecting with a radially extending conduit 95. The piston has an annular recess to seat an O ring 97 which sealingly engages internal surfaces of the sleeve 74 as shown. An annular recess at the other end of the piston provides a shoulder 92 to seat the spring 96. The spring biases the piston in the direction of the end wall 62 to engage plunger 80 and the other end of the spring reacts against an internal shoulder 89, of opening 88, in pipe adapter 86.

One solenoid actuating mechanism 58 is connected to each control surface 19, 20, 22 and 24 by means of a piping system 100 which contains a suitable hydraulic fluid. One end of the piping system connects to the threaded male portion 87 of piper adapter 86, see FIG- URE 6, and the opposite end of the piping connects to a pipe adapter 102 secured in chord 50, see FIGURE 2.

A fluid conduit 101 provided in each chord 50 connects to adapter 102 and terminates at opposite end, see FIG- URE 5, contiguous to a small chamber 105 formed Within chord 50 in which a piston 104 is slidably disposed. The piston is in direct contact with the fluid in conduit 101 while the front end 106 of the piston 104 engages a control surface at a point located opposite the trailing edge 16.

To confine the fluid in the conduit 101, a rubber O ring 110 is placed around the piston 104; the O ring is suitably seated in an annular recess 52 in chord 50 to permit the ring 110 to slide on the piston 104 when the piston moves back and forth within the chamber. To prevent sea water from entering into chamber 105 and ultimately into conduit 101, the piston extends coaxially through an annular brass bushing 114 threadedly secured in chord 50 proximate to the water exposed area 55 of the chord. The bushing 114 has a close but sliding fit around piston 104 and an annular groove in the bushing is adapted to receive an O ring 116 to sealingly surround the piston 104.

The sequence of operation is as follows: When the solenoid 70 is energized, the plunger 80 is electromagnetically attracted and overcomes opposing spring 96 and begins to move toward the center of the magnetic fielddisplacing the piston 90 until the front end of the plunger abuts frusto-conical portion 77 of sleeve 74. While the plunger and the piston are in the process of moving toward the center of the electromagnetic field, the fluid within the passageway 72 is forced into the piping system 100 until that system is completely filled. Excess of any fluid in the piping system 100 can escape through conduit 93 into the passageway 72 until the conduit 94 moves past the end portion 77 of sleeve 74 and thereafter sealingly engages the sleeve whereby the port openings of conduit 94 are closed. The O ring 97 peripherally surrounding the piston 90 serves to prevent any liquid intercourse. This arrangement establishes a substantially fixed volume fluid system so that a linear displacement of the fluid within the system can take place. Thus, as the plunger moves on, a column of fluid is displaced and moved toward one of the control surfaces 18 to displace piston 104 in chord 50. The piston 104, in turn, engages one of the control surfaces, and angularly moves the control surface relative to the central axis of the shroud ring 12 about pivots 27. FIGURE 5 outlines the extent of this movement and also indicates that when the piston 104 engages the control surface, upon energization of the solenoid, the trailing edge of the surface points somewhat toward the center of the device for reasons which will hereafter become more apparent.

When the solenoid is de-energized, the spring 96 causes the piston to move the plunger 80 toward end wall 62 until the plunger abuts the wall. The fluid can now escape into passageway 72 thus creating a partial vacuum in the piping system and causing the piston 104 to be slightly retracted and removed out of contact with the control surface so that the control surface is freely pivotable and the position of the control surface can be dictated by the flow of the water passing on both sides 23, 25 of the shroud ring 12 as shown in FIGURE 5. This establishes a dynamically efiicient torpedo surface.

It should be noted that when the trailing edge 16 of the control surface, e.g., 19, is moved inwardly about the pivots 27, and using FIGURE 3 as a point of reference, a high lift area above the shroud is created which urges the tail end of the torpedo into a relative upward position and the nose of the torpedo is urged downward. This causes the torpedo to move downward at a predetermined angular rate of turn to the horizontal plane. When the aforementioned conditions are applied to the bottom control surface, e.g., 20, the reaction is oppositely similar. Thus, when the trailing edge of the control surface 20 is urged inwardly, a high lift area is created below that section of the torpedo and the tail end is urged downward and the nose section of the torpedo is biased into an upward position. Corresponding reactions are experienced by the operation of the left side control surface 22, or the right side control surface 24, as they are arranged in FIGURE 3.

When the device is to be operated substantially above or below atmospheric pressures, a pressure balancing means for the system is required. A resilient pressure equalizing diaphragm may be suitably provided, not shown, one side thereof is exposed to the fluid medium and an opposite end thereof is so interconnected with the piping system to compensate for the pressure differentials.

FIGURES 7 and 8 of the drawings show a shroud steering system generally similar to the one illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 6.

In this modification the total perimeter of the shroud ring 120 is utilized as a movable control surface. The shround ring 120 is disposed about a shaft 122 in a manner to provide a universal swiveling action. The angular movement of the shroud 120 is established by the electromagnetic hydraulic actuating system aforedescribed.

More particularly, the shroud ring has an inner and an outer annular race 126, concentrically disposed in spaced relation and connected by radially extending chords 124 between the races. The outer race 130 constitutes the steering control surface. The inner race 126 is mounted to the main shaft 122 of the torpedo device by means of a swivel bearing 128 coaxially interposed between the inner surface 127 of race 126 and the shaft 122. The inner surface 127 has a substantially concave contour and bearing 128 has a complementary coroperating outer surface of a convex curvature to enable swivel action between stationary swivel bearing 128 and movable shroud 120 about their common axis.

The inner race 126 is formed with two recesses 129 equidistantly arranged, the circumferential length thereof approximating the axial width of the bearing 128 to facilitate insertion and removal of the hearing. The recesses extend, approximately, from the axial center of the inner race 126 to the outer edge thereof, andthe depth of the recesses is such that the maximum diameter between the recesses substantially equalsthe maximum diameter of the bearing with the greatest depth in the recesses being located at a point proximate to the smallest inside diameter of the inner race 126.

A piston 104' disposed in the main torpedo body, in a fashion similar to piston 104 in chord 50, has a rod extension 131 ending with a swivel ball 132. The inner race 126 is formed with a plurality of longitudinally extending bores 133 of varying diameter adapted to receive the rod 131. The rod and ball are inserted through larger diameter bore 134 against which ball 132 abuts. A set screw 138 in bore 134 prevents forward movement of the piston assembly 104.

A resilient but normally spaced relationship is maintained between the shroud 120 and the main body of the torpedo by a retainer member 140 having a shoulder 145 securely seated in torpedo body 10 coaxial with rod 131, the rod extending through center aperture 142 of member 140 and a helical coil compression spring 146 coaxially mounted about rod 131 engages the retainer 140 on one end and the other end of the spring engages the shroud 120 and is operably confined in an annular recess 148 of the shroud.

Preferably a plurality of actuating pistons 104', each connected to a solenoid mechanism 58, are disposed in circular array around and in operable engagement with shroud 120. Four pistons 104' spaced 90 apart will transmit a satisfactory response.

In operation, upon energization of the solenoid 70 the shroud 120 is angularly moved by the axial motion of the piston assembly 104', the precision and variability of angular displacement being limited only by the number of actuating components acting upon the shroud ring.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a torpedo having an elongated body with a tapered tail end comprising: annular shroud means encircling the tail end in uniform spaced relationship, said shroud means having an outside diameter not greater than the outside diameter of the elongated body, said shroud means including a plurality of steering control surfaces movably mounted along the trailing edge of said annular shroud means and being normally substantially flush therewith, said control surfaces being angularly movable relative to the central axis of said body for steering the torpedo body; and support means between said body and said shroud means.

2. A torpedo according to claim 1, wherein fourcontrol surfaces are equidistantly spaced along said trailing edge.

3. In a torpedo having an elongated body with a tapered tail end comprising: annular shroud means encircling the tail end in uniform spacedrelationship, said shroud means having an outside diameter not greater than the outside diameter of the elongated body; support means between said body and said shroud means; means for tiltingly mounting said shroud means to said body; said shroud means being angularly movable relative to the central axis of said body for steering the torpedo.

4. In a torpedo having an elongated body with a tapered tail end comprising: shroud means having an inner and an outer ring concentrically disposed, said outer ring encircling the tail end of the body in uniform spaced relationship and having an outside diameter not greater than the outside diameter of the body support means between said inner and outer ring; universal mounting means interposed between and operably engaging said inner ring and said body'for moving said shroud means angularly relative to the central axis of said body to steer said torpedo.

5. An actuating mechanism for a fixed volume hydraulic circuit comprising, in combination: tubular sleeve means having a central passageway, one end of the sleeve means being connectable to the circuit; a solenoid coil encircling said sleeve means; an end member sealingly connected to the coil adjacent to the other end of said sleeve means; a magnetically responsive plunger disposed Within said passageway and movable between said end member and approximately the axial center of said coil in response to energization of said coil; a piston having a piston body within said passageway engaging said plunger; a spring operably positioned between the end of said sleeve means connected to said circuit and said piston, said spring biasing said piston against said plunger to force said plunger normally against said end member; said body having a fluid conduit therethrough in fluid communication with the circuit when said solenoid coil is de-energized and said conduit sealingly engaging said sleeve means for disabling said fluid communication when said coil is energized so that upon energization of said coil a fixed volume liquid will be displaced when said plunger moves said piston.

6. A device according to claim 5, wherein said sleeve means includes an inner and an outer tubular sleeve concentrically arranged, said outer sleeve having an axial length at least approximating that of said coil and being encircled by said coil, said inner sleeve projecting ap' proximately halfway into said passageway, said piston being movably disposed within said inner sleeve while said plunger having an outside diameter greater than the inside diameter of said inner sleeve is movably positioned within said outer sleeve.

7. A device according to claim 6,-wherein said piston body has a T-shaped annular conduit with the longer portion of said conduit being substantially parallel to said passageway.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner. SAMUEL FEINBERG, Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,162,162 December 22, 1964 Halley H. Hamlin et a1.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 13, after "body" insert a semicolon.

Signed and sealed this 18th day of May 1965.

(SEAL) Allest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER 4 EDWARD J. BRENNER Alu-sting Officer Commissioner of Patents UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3.162, 162 December 22, 1964 Halley H. Hamlin et a1.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 13 after "body" insert a semicolon.

Signed and sealed this 18th day of May 1965.

(SEAL) A nest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER 7 E EDWARD J. BRENNER Altesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

Claims (1)

1. IN A TORPEDO HAVING AN ELONGATED BODY WITH A TAPERED TAIL END COMPRISING: ANNULAR SHROUD MEANS ENCIRCLING THE TAIL END IN UNIFORM SPACED RELATIONSHIP, SAID SHROUD MEANS HAVING AN OUTSIDE DIAMETER NOT GREATER THAN THE OUTSIDE DIAMETER OF THE ELONGATED BODY, SAID SHROUD MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF STEERING CONTROL SURFACES MOVABLY MOUNTED ALONG THE TRAILING EDGE OF SAID ANNULAR

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