Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The invention relates to an apparatus for
the artificial production of an air stream for the
purpose of suspending persons in air.
It is known to produce an artificial airstream,
in a stationary installation, for the purpose of sus-
pending persons in air. In such a case, the airstream
is circulated in a fully enclosed structure. Since
the air is circulated, an installation of this kind
must be considerable structural height, requires a
considerable investment and is costly to maintain.
One particular disadvantage of an installation of
this kind is that the circulated air has to be cooled
by means of s~ecial equipment.
It is an object of the present lnvention to
provide an apparatus of the type mentioned heretofore,
by means of which an artificial airstream, for the
purpose of suspending ~ersons in air, can be produced
at a considerable lower cost, using less material and
taking up less space. More particularly, the apparatus
according to the invention enables to dispense with the
cooling of the air.
According to the invention, this above object
may be achieved by means of a collapsible and transport-
able supporting frame which is designed to be set up
on a flat base and comprises an air accelerating unit,
more particularly a propellor, and a associated flow
rectifier. The wind tunnel is preferably in the form
of a cylinder or a truncated cone.
According to the invention, a stretched net
is arranged above the flow rectifier, while the external
parts of the supporting frame are extended upwardly
above this net and are partly or wholly surrounded
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by a restricting net. This enclosed space serves as
the suspension area which, for the sake of sa~ety,
is closed off at the top by a roof restricting net.
It is desirable for the latter to comprise a central
layer which is impermeable, or almost impermeable,
to air. The air stream produced by the propellor im-
pinges upon this layer from below, thus causing the
said roof net to arch upwardly. In order to ensure
that there is adequate room for floating, as compared
with the length of the supporting frame below the net,
the length of the parts of the said supporting frame
extended beyond the net is approximately 1 : 1 to 1 :
0.5.
In order to provide insulation against noise,
the supporting frame may be lined with a noise insulating
wall from the flat base to the level of the horizontally
stretched net, the said wall comprising one or more
nolse insulated air inlet apertures arranged at a level
below that of the propellor. In order to prevent the
entry of foreign bodies, the said air inlet apertures
are preferably covered with a grating or a net. As
seen in plan view, the supporting frame may be circular
or polygonal, and the whole floor area may be covered
with a noise insulating layer.
According to a preferred embodiment of the
invention, a peripheral resilient layer is arranged
in the form of an annular disc on the same level as
the horizontally stretched net, the said disc being
preferably in the form of a layer of air cushions divided
into individual independent sectors. The design selected
for the supporting frame makes it possible to surround
it, at no great expense, with a stand for spectators,
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the said stand also providing access Eor persons proceed-
ing to the air stream and accommodating a control- and
switching cabin. In view of the purposes for which
the said stand is intended, it will start approximately
at the same level as the horizontally stretched net.
The apparatus according to the invention
may easily be erected and dismantled at any desired
location. It allows persons to float safely and, at
the same time, to be observed. Also the maintenance,
erection and dismantling are extremely economical,
especially since the necessary cooling of the air is
eliminated.
The invention is illustrated in the annexed
drawings which represent a preferred embodiment
thereof and is described hereinafter in greater detail.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a vertieal seetion through an appa-
ratus according to the invention, and
FIG. 2 is a horizontal seetion through the
same apparatus.
The apparatus according to the invention
which is illustrated in the drawings comprises a collap-
sible and transportable supporting frame 4 designed
to be set up on a flat base 6. As may be gathered
from Fig. 2, the vertical supports of frame 4 are ar-
ranged in a circle. A cylindrical wind tunnel 1 contain-
ing a propellor 2 which produces the air stream is
located centrally of the apparatus. The propellor
is connected to a drive 8 through a gearbox 16 and
a cardan-shaft 17. A flow rectifier 3 is arranged
above propellor 2, in the wind tunnel 1. The top
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of the said wind tunnel is closed off with a horizontally
stretched net 5 which may be made of steel wire or
plastic. There is thus no danger that persons floating
in the air stream will slide down into the wind tunnel
1. ,,
In order to reduce the noise arising from
the propellor 2, supporting frame 4 is lined with a
noise insulating wall 7 from the flat base up to the
level of the horizontally stretched net 5, the said
wall containing a plurality of noise insulated air
inlet apertures 8 which are arranged below the level
of propellor 2 and are covered externally with gratings
or the like.
Above the horizontally extending net 5 there
is provided outside the area of the wind tunnel 1 a
peripheral layer of air cushions 9. The outer parts
of the supporting frame 4 extend upwardly above the
net 5 and carry a restricting net 10. The extension
of the supporting frame 4 is larger than the supporting
frame 4 under the horizontally extending net 5. As
an upper closure of the suspension area l9 there is
provided a roof restricting net ll which has a central
impermeable layer 12. By means of this impermeable
layer 12 the roof restricting net 11 will be arched
upwardly by means of the air stream generated by the
propellor.
It is possible to provide the apparatus with
a peripheral stand 13. On this stand there can be
provided a seating arrangement 20 for the spectators
as well as a control and switching cabin 15 for the
equipment. In addition this stand 13 is used as an
entry to the suspension area 19. For security purposes
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as well as for the spectators, and also for the persons
suspended in the suspension area the stand 13 for the
suspension area 19 is provided with a transparent lining
made of Plexiglas TM The stand 13 is covered with
a roof 21.
