Patent ID: 7290738

Claim:
An apparatus for use in association with a fluid foil having a pair of opposite foil surface sections, a pair of opposite foil edges, a chamber bounded by said opposite foil surface sections, and a gap between respective ends of said opposite foil sections, said opposite foil surface sections being a first foil surface section and a second foil surface section, said opposite foil edges being a leading foil edge and a trailing foil edge, said gap extending along at least a portion of said trailing foil edge and communicating with said chamber, the apparatus comprising a structure and at least one support member, said structure including a flat partition section and a bulbous edge section, said at least one support member associating said foil surface sections and said structure, said flat partition section defining a geometric plane and being characterized by a thickness perpendicular to said geometric plane and by a cross-bleed conduit extending through said thickness at a location between said trailing foil edge and said at least one support member, said flat partition section and said bulbous edge section meeting at a junction defining a geometric line that lies in said geometric plane, said bulbous edge section being characterized by a cylindroid shape and by a diameter perpendicular to said geometric plane that is greater than said thickness, said geometric plane symmetrically dividing said cylindroid shape into two equivalent semi-cylindroid shapes on opposite sides of said geometric plane, said structure being situated in said chamber so that said bulbous edge section unsnugly fits in said gap and so that said geometric plane passes through said gap, said partition section dividing said chamber into a first plenum and a second plenum, two slots being formed that are parallel to said geometric plane and to each other, said slots being a first slot and a second slot, said first slot communicating with said first plenum and being demarcated by said first foil surface section and said bulbous edge section, said second slot communicating with said second plenum and being demarcated by said second foil surface section and said bulbous edge section, wherein when pressurized fluid is fed into said first plenum via an inlet provided in said first foil surface section, simultaneously a first portion of said pressurized fluid exits said first plenum through said first slot and a second portion of said pressurized fluid exits said second plenum through said second slot, said first portion of said pressurized fluid flowing unimpeded between said inlet and said first slot, said second portion of said pressurized fluid entering said second plenum through said cross-bleed conduit and flowing unimpeded between said cross-bleed conduit and said second slot, said cross-bleed port thereby determining said second portion of said pressurized fluid.