Variable pitch marine propeller system

A variable pitch marine propeller system comprising:

• two removable propeller blades with cylindrical bases each having a drive lug attached proximate the driving edge of the point of attachment of each blade,
• a sliding block activated by drive means mounted between the bases of the propeller with vertically aligned slots into which the drive lugs are inserted to align and hold said blades by the bases to simultaneously rotate the pitch of said blades in equal and opposite directions in response to movement of the sliding block;
• a hub sub-assembly encasing the sliding block and into which the bases of the blades are journal mounted to allow said blades to pivot and assume a forward or rearward pitch in response to the movement of the sliding block, and having a front end, and a rear end capable of mounting onto a drive shaft;
• and locking means associated with the coupling means to lock the pitch of the propeller blades at a predetermined pitch selected by a user.

A variable pitch marine propeller system comprising:

• two removable symmetrical propeller blades with cylindrical bases each having a drive lug attached proximate the driving edge of the point of attachment of each blade,
• a sliding block activated by drive means mounted between the bases of the propeller with vertically aligned slots into which the drive lugs are inserted to align and hold said blades by the bases to align and simultaneously rotate the pitch of said blades in equal and opposite directions in response to movement of the sliding block;
• an openable hub sub-assembly encasing the coupling means and sliding block and into which the bases of the blades are journal mounted to allow said blades to pivot and assume a forward or rearward pitch, and having a front end, and a rear end capable of mounting onto a drive shaft;
• inert friction reducing bearings mounted within cylindrical grooves around the bases of the propellers and the hub sub-assembly grooves to enable said bases to turn when subjected to load stresses, and prevent said bases from corroding or fouling within the groove, a spring mounted in the hub sub-assembly and associated with the sliding block to initially position said sliding block in a rearward position and hold said blades in a rear pitch configuration until overcome by the force applied by a piston;
• an hydraulically activated piston associated with the sliding block to provide a predetermined fixed pressure on said coupling means to alter the spring pressure and move said sliding block to a position which causes the blades to assume the desired forward or rearward blade pitch,
• a nose cone constructed of a shock absorbing material attached to the front end of the housing, and
• an adjustable pressure regulator associated with the hydraulic cylinder to prevent the pressures within the hydraulic lines from exceeding a predetermined limit.

A variable pitch marine propeller system comprising:

• two removable propeller blades with cylindrical bases each having a drive lug attached proximate the driving edge of the point of attachment of each blade,
• a sliding block activated by drive means mounted between the bases of the propeller with vertically aligned slots into which the drive lugs are inserted to align and hold said blades by the bases to simultaneously rotate the pitch of said blades in equal and opposite directions in response to movement of the sliding block;
• a hub sub-assembly housing encasing the sliding block and into which the bases of the blades are journal mounted to allow said blades to pivot and assume a forward or rearward pitch in response to the movement of the sliding block, and having a front end, and a rear end capable of mounting onto a drive shaft, said hub sub-assembly housing having a plurality of holes corresponding to holes in the sliding block along the loci of the path of the sliding block;
• and
• a removable pin sized to be inserted in aligned holes of the coupling means and hub sub-assembly housing to secure the sliding block in the desired position set by a user and thereby fix the position of the blade pitch.