Keel drive assembly for propelling and maneuvering a boat
AssigneeMainstream Engineering Corporation
InventorRobert P. Scaringe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A unitary hermetically sealed device is disclosed for providing self-contained electric propulsion drive power to a motor boat or sailboat, where the entire propulsion system is contained in a separable pressurized hermetic enclosure attached to the underside of the vessel and also acts as a keel of the vessel, and which simplifies production, provides improved safety from high voltages, and prevents drive system maintenance or repair when the vessel is located in the water. The rigid hermetically sealed device functions as a skid-plate to avoid damage to the softer typically fiberglass hull when running the vessel aground or when running up onto or off of the beach or onto or off a trailer.
Claims34
An electric drive system for a boat that is completely encapsulated inside a hollow keel, attached to the underside of a marine vessel, wherein the keel is hermetically sealed and the electric drive system components are inaccessible while the boat is located in the water, comprising:
- propeller propulsion system;
- battery storage;
- power electronics;
- control electronics;
- and the hermetically sealed keel system is filled with a fluid, wherein the fluid is used to:
- improve the heat transfer between the components inside the hollow keel and the water
- surrounding the keel,
- indicate any leaks in the hermetic seal, and
- prevent combustion inside the system.
A hollow keel forming a void therein and which the keel is completely sealed and any internal components in the keel are un-accessible when the keel is mounted to the boat with an access opening that is only exposed when the boat is removed from the water, and the keel is removed from the boat;
- wherein the hollow keel is filled with all the necessary electric drive and regenerative energy capture components including but not limited to battery, motor, power electronics, and control electronics, and wherein the void inside the hollow keel is filled with a fluid.
A hollow keel forming a void therein and which the keel is completely sealed and any internal components in the keel are un-accessible when the keel is mounted to the boat with an access opening that is only exposed when the boat is removed from the water, and the keel is removed from the boat, wherein the void is filled with a dielectric liquid.
A hollow keel forming a void therein and which the keel is completely sealed and any internal components in the keel are un-accessible when the keel is mounted to the boat with an access opening that is only exposed when the boat is removed from the water, and the keel is removed from the boat, wherein the void inside the keel is filled with a mixture of a liquid and a gas, wherein the mixture is pressurized to a pressure at or above atmospheric pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.