Propeller for a Marine Propulsion System

A variable pitch propeller for a marine propulsion system, comprising:

• a propeller hub having a plurality of openings, and a hub surface surrounding each opening;
• a propeller blade having a propeller base mounted in each of the openings, each base having a base surface for engaging the hub surface of the respective opening;
• a pitch adjusting mechanism for adjusting the pitch of each of the propeller blades about an axis perpendicular to a rotation axis of the hub, the mechanism including a plurality of generally radially extending arms, each arm carrying a finger, a pivotal coupling between the finger and the respective radially extending arm for allowing pivotal movement of the fingers with respect to the arms;
• and
• the arms being coupled to the propeller blades so that upon longitudinal movement of the arms in the direction of the axis of rotation of the hub, the pitch of the propeller blades is adjusted.

A variable pitch propeller for a marine propulsion system, comprising:

• a propeller hub;
• a plurality of openings in the hub, each for receiving a respective propeller blade;
• a hub ring for each of the propeller blades, the hub rings each forming a part of a respective said opening and having a hub surface;
• a base ring on each propeller blade and having a base surface for engaging a respective hub surface;
• a slide member having a load surface;
• a locking and unlocking mechanism for unlocking the propeller blade by transferring load from the base surface and hub surface to the base ring and load surface to unlock the blades and for locking the blades by retransferring load to the base surface and hub surface after the propeller blade has been adjusted in pitch;
• and
• a pitch adjusting mechanism for rotating the blades about transverse axes with respect to the axis of rotation of the propeller when the propeller is in the unlocked condition and the load has been transferred to the base ring and load surface.