1. Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed herein relate generally to bow thrusters for marine vessels, and more particularly to novel methods and apparatus for incorporating bow thruster tunnels, motors and related equipment into boat hulls during the manufacturing process. The instant inventions eliminate the need and use of conventional glass tubes for such a process and the undesirable modifications to standard hulls through drilling and cutting of hull, as well as provide superior structural support for the thruster electrical and mechanical components.
2. Description of Related Art
Typical bow thruster installations require relatively large holes to be drilled through the hull, after the hulls original manufacture, and thereafter fiberglass tubes to be glassed in and finished to commercial standards. Such a process interferes with the structural integrity of the vessel, is inefficient, costly and time consuming. Additionally, this process can interfere with proprietary technology and methods for manufacturing boat hulls, such as that disclosed in Applicants' U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,865, Entitled COMPOSITE MATERIAL FOR VEHICLE HULLS AND HULL MOLDING PROCESS. Drilling large holes to create hull tunnels, for example 8 inches or larger, through the hull, laminates, structural components and layers would compromise the patented foam core. There is significant labor associated with the glass work and finish work associated with this type of conventional hull modification and thruster installation. It is very incompatible and unfriendly to the manufacturing environment due to the various multiple skill sets that need to be involved in the installation process to compensate for the separate requirements for subsequent modification of the hulls. These include the necessity for finishers, laminators, and experienced detail personnel for trim work, grinding procedures and the like. Eliminating the use and necessity for separate glass tunnels to be placed within a hull to receive power thrusters, and the concomitant relatively complex procedures and finishing work required, are key features of the instant inventions.
An example of a conventional bow thruster found in the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,822 issued to Aron on Jan. 4, 2000, entitled “Bow or Stern Thruster”. The '822 patent discloses a steering device for large commercial vessels. A multi-component gearbox houses a vertical shaft which drives two horizontal shafts for props, and a pair of propellers are disposed in a cylindrical pipe defining a tunnel placed transversely across either the bow or stern of the vessel. The pipe may be made of any corrosion resistant material. The diameter of the tunnel may vary.
A further example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,088 issued to Thulin on Jun. 2, 1970, entitled “Bow Thruster”. This patent teaches a thruster having a bulb with a partially spherical front end and an essentially cylindrical body portion merging into the ship's hull. There are two openings provided in the side walls of the cylindrical portion located diametrically opposite to each other. In the bulb proper, a tunnel structure enclosing a propeller is located. The tunnel structure is pivotably supported in the bulb and in the bulkhead and swings about a horizontal axis.
European Patent Application Publication No. 0,328,499 A1 issued to Pichl discloses a Propulsion Device for Steering a Boat, and Method of Producing a Hull, in which a hull is produced with a recess toward the bottom of the keel. The recess receives a gear/flywheel type motor, propeller aggregate assembly, the assembly being housed within a separate tunnel and cover unit of custom “V” shaped design to receive the propellers and provide flow chambers. The tunnel has an internal housing which accepts the propeller assembly, and transitions to the flow tunnels. This is a convoluted mechanical and structural design and method of manufacture, and impractical by current standards.
The prior art generally relates to conventional thrusters which use fiberglass tube inserts which are secured within cylindrical cavities drilled through the boat hulls. The tubes provide the water channels for flow when the thrusters are activated and switched on. The hulls are manufactured using a multitude of multi-layer composites, laminates and structural components of various materials and cores, as well as bow thruster designs per se.
Applicants' inventions herein eliminate the use and necessity of invading the integrity of the hull, use of separate glass tunnel, cylindrical or pipe inserts, and substantial labor and finishing work required by current and common techniques in the marine industry.
Applicants' inventions relate to boat bow thrusters which are mounted within specially molded cavities in the boat hull. The instant inventions eliminate the need for separate auxiliary tubes or channels and finishing work, and integrate the thruster tunnels being molded into the hull in the initial process of manufacture. A separate complementary and molded “keystone” insert is secured and bonded to the hull to complete the tunnel and the hull bottom. The keystone insert can be unitary, or can comprise distinct sections.
Each thruster motor is mounted inside the hull on a flat, stabilizing inner liner which provides structural support. A shaft protrudes into the thruster tunnel to mate with and control the propeller.
Unique procedures are utilized to complete the installation process, including alignment and guide tools, securing the structural components and installing the keystone insert. Because the integrity of the hull is not breached, and a superior design is utilized for the thruster motor supports, an enhanced system is achieved in manufacturing and performance, as well as eliminating undesired vibration, noise and maintenance.
This invention provides a clean and clever solution to the problems set forth above, is seamless in terms of integrating the system into conventional boat construction and manufacturing techniques with minimal valiance, is financially sound, and easy to service.
In accordance with the instant inventions, it an object thereof to provide an improved method and apparatus for installing bow thrusters into marine vessel hulls, which eliminates the process of cutting the hulls, drilling cavities within the hull or hull core, or otherwise modifying the hull to accommodate separate or auxiliary components for thruster installation.
It is a further object of the instant invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for installing bow thrusters into marine vessel hulls which incorporates a superior mechanical and electromechanical design, is operationally efficient, and is easy to maintain.
It is a further object of the instant invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for installing bow thrusters into marine vessel hulls which is cost-effective and of a superior manufacturing design.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for manufacturing and installing bow thrusters into marine vessel hulls which includes all of the above mentioned features and objects to provide a substantially superior design, eliminating the problems encountered by prior methods and devices, and generally solving problems associated with incorporating bow or stern thrusters into hull without interfering with the primary hull design, function or materials.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of Applicants' inventions will become clear as this description proceeds hereinafter. The inventions accordingly comprise the features of construction, manufacturing methods, engineering designs, materials and components, the interrelationship thereto, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the description set forth hereinafter.
In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant inventions will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.
As further illustrated in
The present inventions also completely eliminate the need for separate auxiliary tubes or pipes, discrete cylindrical channels, and related finishing work, as the thruster tunnel sections are integrally molded into the hull in the initial process of manufacture and tunnels are completed with the novel keystone inserts.
As mentioned, the thruster motor is mounted directly above the molded-in tunnel section and mounted to the inner hull liner. It is secured directly to the hull structure providing an extremely strong and reliable installation, as opposed to, and instead of, a separately glassed in tube. The thruster motor and propeller assemblies then operate with much less vibration than traditional bow thruster installations, resulting in less noise and maintenance. Furthermore, as holes are not drilled through the boat hull to receive a separate thruster tube, the hull composite materials, bottom laminates, coatings and fiberglass are not breached or compromised thereby eliminating weak areas or potential fault zones, and is also more tolerant of manufacturing variations and necessary changes.
The transom area 38 of the hull is set forth in
The generally assembly of the instant inventions are illustrated in
It is to be appreciated that the keystone insert 14 is described as a generally wedge-shaped unit to fit snuggly and securely with the relatively angled walls of hull tunnel 28. In one embodiment, the angled relationship of the interfacing components and unit walls facilitates a tight fit and the bonding process, as well as cosmetic finishing of the bottom hull along the seam lines. However, other geometric shapes for the keystone insert can be readily incorporated into the instant inventions, for both the complementary shapes of the keystone insert and molded hull tunnel sections.
The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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3515088 | Thulin | Jun 1970 | A |
3531809 | Hegg | Oct 1970 | A |
4294186 | Wardell | Oct 1981 | A |
4685889 | Nystrom | Aug 1987 | A |
5152240 | Fontanille | Oct 1992 | A |
5666902 | White et al. | Sep 1997 | A |
6009822 | Aron | Jan 2000 | A |
6363874 | Griffith, Sr. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
6726865 | Mielke et al. | Apr 2004 | B2 |
7146921 | Fontanille et al. | Dec 2006 | B2 |
7191727 | Buzzi | Mar 2007 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
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0328499 | Aug 1989 | EP |