Patent Application
20190389550
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The disclosure and prior art relates to propulsion devices and more particularly pertains to a new propulsion device for protecting marine life.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a tube that is coupled to a hull of a marine vessel. The tube has a front end and a back end that are open. The front end is circumferentially larger than the back end so that the tube is tapered. An impeller assembly is positioned in the tube. The impeller assembly is operationally coupled to a drive shaft of the marine vessel. A power plant of the marine vessel is positioned to rotate the impeller assembly concurrently with the drive shaft to increase a pressure and a flow of water through the tube to generate thrust to propel the marine vessel. A grate is coupled to a front perimeter of the tube so that the grate covers the front end. The grate is configured to deter entry of a marine organism into the tube.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
An impeller assembly 26 is positioned in the tube 12. The impeller assembly 26 is operationally coupled to a drive shaft 28 of the marine vessel 16, as shown in
The impeller assembly 26 comprises an impeller 32, which in turn comprises an inner ring 34, an outer ring 36, and a plurality of vanes 38. Each vane 38 is coupled to and extends between the inner ring 34 and the outer ring 36. The plurality of vanes 38 comprises from eight to thirty-six vanes 38. The number of vanes 38, as well as the size and pitch of each vane 38 and the tapering of the tube 12, would be selected based on the size and function of the marine vessel 16.
A plurality of blades 40 is coupled to and positioned within the inner ring 34, as shown in
A drive gear 46 is coupled to the impeller 32. An opening 48 positioned in a top 50 of the tube 12. The drive shaft 28 extends through the opening 48 into the tube 12 so that the drive shaft 28 is gearedly coupled to the drive gear 46. The power plant 30 of the marine vessel 16 is positioned to rotate the impeller assembly 26 concurrently with the drive shaft 28 to increase the pressure and the flow of the water through the tube 12 to propel the marine vessel 16.
The drive gear 46 comprises a bevel gear 52 that is coupled to an outer surface 78 of the outer ring 36. The present invention also anticipates the drive gear 46 being crown gear type. Water passing between the outer ring 36 and the tube 12 serves as a water bushing to facilitate rotation of the impeller assembly 26 within the tube 12.
A grate 54 is coupled to the front perimeter 22 of the tube 12 so that the grate 54 covers the front end 18, as shown in
A baffle 56 is coupled to and positioned in the tube 12 proximate to the back end 20. The baffle 56 is configured to selectively control the flow of the water through the back end 20 of the tube 12 to adjust a speed and a direction of the marine vessel 16.
The baffle 56 comprises a plate 58 and a baffle actuator 60. The plate 58 is semi-circularly shaped to define a straight edge 62 and a curved edge 64 of the plate 58. The plate 58 is coupled to and extend between the back perimeter 24 of the tube 12 so that the plate 58 is substantially perpendicular to the hull 14 and so that the straight edge 62 protrudes from the back end 20 of the tube 12. The baffle actuator 60 is coupled to the tube 12. The baffle actuator 60 is linear-type. The baffle actuator 60 is operationally coupled to the plate 58.
The baffle actuator 60 is positioned to selectively urge the plate 58 from an open configuration to a closed configuration, as shown in
Each of a pair of deflectors 66 is hingedly coupled to a respective opposing side 68 of the tube 12 and extends from proximate to the front end 18 past the back end 20 of the tube 12. The deflectors 66 are substantially semi-conically shaped.
Each deflector 66 comprises an apex section 70 that is fixedly coupled to the tube 12 proximate to the front end 18. A medial section 72 is hingedly coupled to the tube 12. The medial section 72 extends from the apex section 70 past the back end 20 of the tube 12. A base section 74 is fixedly coupled to and extends arcuately from the medial section 72 distal from the apex section 70.
Each of a pair of deflector actuators 76 is coupled to a respective opposing side 68 of the housing adjacent to the back end 20. The deflector actuators 76 are linear-type. Each deflector actuator 76 is operationally coupled to an associated deflector 66.
The deflector actuator 76 is positioned to selectively urge the associated deflector 66 from a stowed configuration to a deployed configuration. In the stowed configuration, the deflector 66 is positioned adjacent to the respective opposing side 68 of the tube 12, as shown in
In use, the impeller assembly 26 provides the thrust to propel the marine vessel 16 through a body of water. The grate 54 is configured to deter entry of the marine organism into the tube 12, thereby helping to prevent contact of the marine organism with the impeller assembly 26.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
