Marine propulsion system with a closed coolant loop
AssigneeFreedom Outboard, LLC
InventorThomas Charles Coller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A marine propulsion system with a closed coolant loop is described. The marine propulsion system has a starboard heat exchanger and a port side heat exchanger that provides improved cooling and increases engine life compared with traditional open loop cooling systems, particularly in harsh environments such as salt water, brackish water, swamp, shallow or sediment and debris rich water. The two discrete heat exchangers are mounted to the lower unit of the marine propulsion system and also serve to improve hydrodynamic performance of the marine propulsion system.
Claims20
A marine propulsion system with a closed coolant loop, the marine propulsion system comprising:
- an outboard motor comprising a power head and a submerged drive unit;
- coolant passageways within the power head of the outboard motor;
- a starboard heat exchanger and a port side heat exchanger each having a leading edge and a trailing edge, wherein both the starboard heat exchanger and the port side heat exchanger are each discretely mounted on the submerged drive unit of the outboard motor and in closed fluid communication with the coolant passageways within the power head of the outboard motor;
- a coolant reservoir mechanically attached to the marine propulsion system;
- and
- a water pump configured to circulate coolant between the coolant reservoir, the starboard heat exchanger and the port side heat exchanger, and the coolant passageways within the power head of the outboard motor.
A marine propulsion system with a closed coolant loop, the marine propulsion system comprising:
- an outboard motor comprising a power head and a submerged drive unit, wherein the submerged drive unit comprises a propeller hub;
- coolant passageways within the power head of the outboard motor;
- a starboard heat exchanger and a port side heat exchanger each having a leading edge and a trailing edge, wherein both the starboard heat exchanger and the port side heat exchanger are each discretely mounted on the submerged drive unit of the outboard motor and in closed fluid communication with the coolant passageways within the power head of the outboard motor;
- a coolant reservoir mechanically attached to the marine propulsion system;
- a water pump configured to circulate coolant between the coolant reservoir, the starboard heat exchanger and the port side heat exchanger, and the coolant passageways within the power head of the outboard motor;
- and
- a surface drive extension comprising an elongated drive tunnel, a skeg having an upper section and a lower section where the upper section is joined with the elongated drive tunnel, a skeg foil attached to the lower section of the skeg, a mounting fin attached to the elongated drive tunnel, and a driveline within the elongated drive tunnel wherein the driveline comprises a drive shaft coupling configured to receive a drive shaft from a marine propulsion system and an extension shaft configured to receive a marine propeller;
- wherein the drive shaft coupling of the surface drive extension is mechanically coupled to the propeller hub of the submerged drive unit and the surface drive extension is structurally coupled to the submerged drive unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.