{
  "patent_number": "US 3321037",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Hovercrafts Use Flexible Skirts to Ride on Air",
  "original_title": "Gas-cushion vehicles",
  "summary": "This patent describes a gas-cushion vehicle, or hovercraft, that uses a specific arrangement of flexible walls to contain a cushion of pressurized gas and separate foreign matter from the escaping air.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent outlines a vehicle body supported by a cushion of gas. It features an inner flexible wall structure, with its upper part fixed to the vehicle and its lower part hanging freely, which helps contain the gas cushion. Crucially, there's an outer 'wall means' spaced from this inner flexible wall, forming a vertical chamber. This outer wall also has a flexible part that hangs down, reaching at least the same level as the inner flexible wall. Gas is supplied directly into the space beneath the vehicle. As gas escapes from the cushion, it flows upward through this chamber, allowing foreign matter like water spray or dust to separate and settle within the chamber, as described in claim 1.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover air-cushion vehicles that lack the specific 'wall means' creating an upward-flowing chamber for foreign matter separation.",
    "Does not cover hovercraft designs where the outer flexible wall does not extend downward to substantially the same level as the inner flexible wall.",
    "Does not cover vehicles that use rigid skirts or walls instead of the described flexible wall structures.",
    "Does not cover hovercrafts where the escaping gas does not flow upward through a chamber designed to separate foreign matter."
  ],
  "filed": "1965-05-24",
  "granted": "1967-05-23",
  "expires": "1985-05-24",
  "status": "expired",
  "holder": "Hovercraft Development Ltd",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/hovercraft-development-ltd",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Cockerell Christopher Sydney",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/cockerell-christopher-sydney"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 2,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "aerospace",
    "mechanical",
    "transportation"
  ],
  "abstract": null,
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/3321037/hovercraft-cockerell",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/3321037/hovercraft-cockerell/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US3321037",
  "relatedPatents": []
}