Surface vehicles with venturi attachment

Claim 2

A surface vehicle having a body portion and means supporting the body portion for movement of the vehicle over a ground surface, said body portion having affixed thereto an attachment to assist in maintaining the vehicle upon said surface, said attachment comprising a member secured to the underside of the body portion and having a lower surface which extends downwardly from a forward edge thereof to a lower portion thereof and thence upwardly to a rear edge whereby to define, between the attachment and said surface, a venturi, said attachment being secured to the body portion for pivotal movement about a generally longitudinal and intermediate axis, and actuating means being provided for effecting tilting of the attachment about this axis and in the opposite sense to roll rotation of the vehicle body portion about its longitudinal axis produced during turning of the vehicle means for said effecting rotation comprising two pairs of links, one to either side of the vehicle, one link of each pair being pivotally connected to the underside of the vehicle to opposed lateral sides thereof and the other link of each pair being connected pivotally at one end to the free end of the associated link and at the other end pivotally to the attachment at the same lateral side thereof as the associated link is attached to the vehicle, said pairs of links being pivotal in generally transverse planes and being urged so that the connecting points between links of each pair are disposed outwardly of lines passing through the points of connection of the associated links to the vehicle and attachment.

Claim 3

A surface vehicle having a body portion and means supporting the body portion for movement of the vehicle over a ground surfacE, said body portion having affixed thereto an attachment to assist in maintaining the vehicle upon said surface, said attachment comprising a member secured to the underside of the body portion and having a lower surface which extends downwardly from a forward edge thereof to a lower portion thereof and thence upwardly to a rear edge whereby to define, between the attachment and said surface, a venturi, said attachment being secured to the body portion for pivotal movement about a generally longitudinal and intermediate axis, and actuating means being provided for effecting tilting of the attachment about this axis, and in the same sense as, but additional to, roll rotation of the vehicle body portion about its longitudinal axis produced during turning of the vehicle, said means for effecting rotation comprising two pairs of links, one to either side of the vehicle, one link of each pair being pivotally connected to the underside of the vehicle to opposed lateral sides thereof and the other link of each pair being connected pivotally at one end to the free end of the associated link and at the other end pivotally to the attachment at the same lateral side thereof as the associated link is attached to the vehicle, said pairs of links being pivotal in generally transverse planes and being urged so that the connecting points between links of each pair are disposed inwardly of lines passing through the points of connection of the associated links to the vehicle and attachment.

Claim 4

A surface vehicle having a body portion and means supporting the body portion for movement of the vehicle over a ground surfacE, said body portion having affixed thereto an attachment to assist in maintaining the vehicle upon said surface, said attachment comprising a member secured to the underside of the body portion and having a lower surface which extends downwardly from a forward edge thereof to a lower portion thereof and thence upwardly to a rear edge whereby to define, between the attachment and said surface, a venturi, said attachment being secured to the body portion for pivotal movement about a generally longitudinal and intermediate axis, and actuating means being provided for effecting tilting of the attachment about this axis, and in the same sense as, but additional to, roll rotation of the vehicle body portion about its longitudinal axis produced during turning of the vehicle, said means for effecting rotation comprising two pairs of links, one to either side of the vehicle, one link of each pair being pivotally connected to the underside of the vehicle to opposed lateral sides thereof and the other link of each pair being connected pivotally at one end to the free end of the associated link and at the other end pivotally to the attachment at the same lateral side thereof as the associated link is attached to the vehicle, said pairs of links being pivotal in generally transverse planes and being urged so that the connecting points between links of each pair are disposed inwardly of lines passing through the points of connection of the associated links to the vehicle and attachment.

Claim 5

A surface vehicle having a body portion and means supporting the body portion for movement of the vehicle over a ground surface, said body portion having affixed thereto an attachment to assist in maintaining the vehicle upon said surface, said attachment comprising a member secured to the underside of the body portion and having a lower surface which extends downwardly from a forward edge thereof to a lower portion thereof and thence upwardly to a rear edge whereby to define, between the attachment and said surface, a venturi, said attachment being pivotally secured at a forward portion thereof to the vehicle body portion and rearwardly secured to moving members of the vehicle suspension mechanism thereby to cause rotation of the attachment generally about the longitudinal axis of the vehicle during roll of the body portion produced during turning of the vehicle.

Claim 6

A surface vehicle having a body portion and means supporting the body portion for movement of the vehicle over a ground surface, said body portion having affixed thereto an attachment to assist in maintaining the vehicle upon said surface, said attachment comprising a member secured to the underside of the body portion and having a lower surface which extends downwardly from a forward edge thereof to a lower portion thereof and thence upwardly to a rear edge whereby to define, between the attachment and said surface, a venturi, said attachment being pivotally secured at a forward portion thereof to the vehicle body portion and rearwardly secured to moving members of the vehicle suspension mechanism thereby to cause rotation of the attachment generally about the longitudinal axis of the vehicle during roll of the body portion produced during turning of the vehicle.

Claim 7

A surface vehicle having a body portion and means supporting the body portion for movement over a ground surface, said body portion having affixed thereto an attachment to assist in maintaining the vehicle upon said surface, said attachment comprising a member secured to the underside of the body portion and having a lower surface which extends downwardly from a forward edge thereof to a lower portion thereof and thence upwardly to a rear edge to define, between the attachment and said ground surface, a venturi, said attachment being secured to said body portion for pivotal movement about a generally longitudinal and intermediate axis, and actuating means being provided for effecting tilting of the attachment about this axis so as to control the direction of force resulting from the venturi.

Claim 8

A surface vehicle having a body portion and means supporting the body portion for movement over a ground surface, said body portion having affixed thereto an attachment to assist in maintaining the vehicle upon said surface, said attachment comprising a member secured to the underside of the body portion and having a lower surface which extends downwardly from a forward edge thereof to a lower portion thereof and thence upwardly to a rear edge to define, between the attachment and said ground surface, a venturi, said attachment being secured to said body portion for pivotal movement about a generally longitudinal and intermediate axis, and actuating means being provided for effecting tilting of the attachment about this axis so as to control the direction of force resulting from the venturi.

Claim 9

A surface vehicle as claimed in claim 4 wherein said actuating means comprises means for effecting rotation additional to, and in the same sense as, roll rotation of the vehicle about its longitudinal axis produced during turning of the vehicle.

Claim 10

A surface vehicle as claimed in claim 4 wherein the last-mentioned means comprises means for effecting rotation of the attachment in a direction opposite to roll rotation of the vehicle about its longitudinal axis produced during turning of the vehicle.