Underwater watercraft

11691,706

17/326715

May 21, 2021

An underwater watercraft including a passenger compartment and an ingress/egress port in which the watercraft has buoyancy and center of gravity adjusted to maintain a generally level or other desired attitude when submerged, and an optionally angled attitude at a water surface for ingress/egress. The attitude is also adjustable via the placement of ballast and optionally including a movable ballast that adjusts the location of the center of gravity as desired. The ingress-egress port optionally includes an entry elevated from a main passenger compartment and including a riser and optionally removable or concealable handrails. The ingress-egress port has an angled orientation in a submerged mode, and an optional orientation generally parallel to the water surface or angled but above the surface in a surface mode.

IS Engineering Design LLC (Upland, CA, US)

IS Engineering Design LLC (Upland, CA, US)

1. An underwater watercraft comprising: an attitude adjustment system configured to move the underwater watercraft in at least two operational modes including: a submerged mode defining a submerged mode center of gravity; and a surface mode defining a surface mode center of gravity, wherein the surface mode center of gravity is closer to a front and a bottom of the underwater watercraft in relation to the submerged mode center of gravity, and one or more tow points for attaching a tow line to the underwater watercraft, the one or more tow points proximate to a rear of the underwater watercraft, such that in the surface mode, the underwater watercraft is towed in a reverse direction to prevent submersion of the underwater watercraft.

2. The underwater watercraft of claim 1 , further comprising: a compartment defining an interior space; and a port positioned on the compartment, providing human access to the interior space and having a hatch assembly comprising: an openable hatch cover; and a riser positioned between the compartment and the openable hatch cover, wherein the riser is mounted at an angle relative to a water surface plane in the surface mode, and wherein a riser height is proximate to a plane of a top of the compartment, thereby providing a lower height of the hatch assembly for storage of the underwater watercraft.

3. The underwater watercraft of claim 2 , wherein the openable hatch cover is configured to open to a side of the hatch assembly and operates as a handrail to facilitate human access to the compartment.

4. The underwater watercraft of claim 2 , further comprising one or more retractable handrails to facilitate human access to the compartment.

5. The underwater watercraft of claim 4 , wherein the one or more retractable handrails extend when the openable hatch cover is open, and retract when the openable hatch cover is closed.

6. The underwater watercraft of claim 4 , wherein the one or more retractable handrails extend and retract based upon a control signal.

7. The underwater watercraft of claim 1 , wherein the attitude adjustment system comprising one or more ballast tanks and one or more trim weights.

8. The underwater watercraft of claim 7 , wherein the one or more ballast tanks comprise: one or more lower ballast tanks mounted below a horizontal midline of a compartment and configured to remain at least partially submerged below a water surface plane in the surface mode; and one or more upper ballast tanks mounted above the horizontal midline of the compartment.

9. The underwater watercraft of claim 8 , wherein the one or more upper ballast tanks comprise an open top and a valve assembly, wherein, in the surface mode, the valve assembly is configured to empty the one or more upper ballast tanks, and, wherein, in the submerged mode, the valve assembly is configured to fill the one or more upper ballast tanks via the open top.

10. The underwater watercraft of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the one or more upper ballast tanks comprises an elongated housing around a hatch assembly.

11. The underwater watercraft of claim 1 , wherein the surface mode center of gravity and the submerged mode center of gravity are defined to adjust an angle of operation of the underwater watercraft in relation to a water surface plane.

12. The underwater watercraft of claim 11 , wherein the angle of operation of the underwater watercraft in relation to a water surface plane is further adjusted by moving one or more trim weights.

13. The underwater watercraft of claim 2 , wherein the compartment comprises a transparent material, and the compartment includes one or more fans to circulate air against the transparent material.

14. The underwater watercraft of claim 2 , wherein the compartment comprises one or more seats, each seat having a seat that is angled such that a passenger's knees are situated above their hips in both the surface mode and the submerged mode.

15. The underwater watercraft of claim 2 , wherein the hatch assembly comprises one or more ladder steps, the one or more ladder steps configured to be substantially parallel to the water surface plane.

16. A method of operating an underwater watercraft, the method comprising: operating an attitude adjustment system to operate the underwater watercraft in one of (a) a submerged mode defining a submerged mode center of gravity, and (b) a surface mode defining a surface mode center of gravity, wherein the surface mode center of gravity is closer to a front and a bottom of the underwater watercraft in relation to the submerged mode center of gravity, and attaching, via one or more tow points, a tow line to the underwater watercraft, the one or more tow points proximate to a rear of the underwater watercraft, such that in the surface mode, the underwater watercraft is towed in a reverse direction to prevent submersion of the underwater watercraft.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the attitude adjustment system comprises one or more ballast tanks and one or more trim weights, the method further comprising: in the submerged mode, filling the one or more ballast tanks with water; and in the surface mode, draining the one or more ballast tanks.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising adjusting an angle of operation of the underwater watercraft in relation to a water surface plane by moving one or more trim weights.

19. An underwater watercraft comprising: an attitude adjustment system configured to move the underwater watercraft in at least two operational modes including: a submerged mode defining a submerged mode center of gravity; and a surface mode defining a surface mode center of gravity, wherein the surface mode center of gravity is closer to a front and a bottom of the underwater watercraft in relation to the submerged mode center of gravity; a compartment defining an interior space; and a port positioned on the compartment, providing human access to the interior space and having a hatch assembly comprising: an openable hatch cover; and a riser positioned between the compartment and the openable hatch cover, wherein the riser is mounted at an angle relative to a water surface plane in the surface mode, and wherein a riser height is proximate to a plane of a top of the compartment, thereby providing a lower height of the hatch assembly for storage of the underwater watercraft.

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