Patent ID: 6371041
Filing Date: 2002-04-16
Classification: B63G

Abstract:
An undersea vehicle having a buoyancy, glide and control system for underwater operation comprising:an outer hull of airfoil-like configuration, a variable buoyancy chamber in said hull longitudinally offset from the center of gravity of the vehicle, said chamber having a pair of axially aligned cylinders including a piston in each cylinder, with said pistons being axially connected in spaced relation, a face of one of said pistons being open through said hull to the sea, an operating system for actuating the other of said pistons, a control system for said piston operating system thereby to regulate the position of said pistons and the buoyancy of said chambers by admission or expulsion of seawater from the cylinder having said one piston, and thereby said vehicle as said pistons are moved, whereby the vehicle may ascend, descend, or hover in accordance with the relative buoyancy of said chamber and resultant change in the center of buoyancy of the vehicle.