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US 5,176,547 AGranted
Water jet propulsion unit
AssigneeYamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsNoboru Kobayashi, Yoshiki Futaki
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AssigneeYamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsNoboru Kobayashi, Yoshiki Futaki
Estimating the term…
A water jet propelled watercraft having a hull defining a downwardly facing water inlet opening and a jet propulsion unit contained within the hull and having a water inlet opening portion through which water is drawn, an impeller portion containing an impeller for drawing the water and a discharge nozzle portion through which the water pumped by the impeller is discharged for powering the watercraft. The jet propulsion unit is supported for pivotal movement within the hull about a transversely extending horizontal axis. The water inlet opening of the jet propulsion unit water inlet portion and a corresponding portion of the hull water inlet opening are defined by mating flanges that lie in a plane that contains the horizontal pivotal axis to minimize sealing pressure variations on the seal therebetween. A screen is positioned over the water inlet opening of the jet propulsion unit and tapers and curves downwardly to end at the undersurface of the lower side of the hull so that foreign material separated from the incoming water by the screen can easily flow backwardly along the bottom of the hull for removal during movement of the watercraft. The jet propulsion unit is also rotatable about a longitudinally extending axis and the defining flange of the water inlet portion is narrower at the front than the rear to permit rotational movement with a minimum of clearances.
A jet propelled watercraft having a hull defining a generally downwardly facing water inlet opening in a lower surface thereof, a jet propulsion unit having a water inlet portion having a downwardly facing opening through which water may be drawn, an impeller housing for supporting an impeller for drawing water through said water inlet portion, and a discharge nozzle portion through which water pumped by said impeller is discharged for powering said watercraft, means for supporting said jet propulsion unit for pivotal movement relative to said hull about a generally transversely extending horizontal axis between a lowered position and a raised position, said jet propulsion unit and said hull having facing surfaces adapted to be sealing engaged when said jet propulsion unit is in its lowered position, said surfaces being generally upwardly inclined toward the front thereof.
A water jet propelled watercraft having a hull defining a generally downwardly facing water inlet opening in a lower surface thereof, a jet propulsion unit having a water inlet portion having a downwardly facing opening through which water is drawn from the body of water in which the watercraft is operated, an impeller housing containing an impeller for drawing water through said water inlet portion and a discharge nozzle portion for discharging water pumped by said impeller to power said watercraft, said jet propulsion unit water inlet portion and said hull said water inlet opening meeting along an inclined surface, and screen means affixed across the inlet opening of said jet propulsion unit water inlet portion for removing foreign material therefrom, said screen means terminating at its rearward end at a horizontal plane substantially coincident with the plane at the rear edge of the hull water inlet opening for permitting foreign materials separated from the water drawn into said water inlet portion to flow rearwardly along the underside of the said hull.
A water jet propelled watercraft having a hull defining a generally downwardly facing water inlet opening in a lower surface thereof, a jet propulsion unit having a water inlet portion having a downwardly facing opening through which water is drawn from the body of water in which the watercraft is operated, an impeller hosing containing an impeller for drawing water through said water inlet portion and a discharge nozzle portion for discharging water pumped by said impeller to power said watercraft, means for mounting at least said water inlet portion for movement from a downwardly facing position to a raised position, said water inlet opening of said jet propulsion unit water inlet portion being described by an outstanding flange that is narrower at one end thereof than at the other thereof for facilitating clearance of said jet propulsion unit during movement between said positions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.