Screw drive vehicle

A screw drive vehicle comprising:

• a main housing having a forward end and an aft end, first and second lateral sides and a central longitudinal axis extending through the forward and aft ends;
• at least one electric power source supported by the main housing;
• a first pontoon assembly having a central longitudinal axis;
• a first support arm connecting the first pontoon assembly to the first lateral side of the main housing;
• a second pontoon assembly having a central longitudinal axis;
• and
• a second support arm connecting the second pontoon assembly to the second lateral side of the main housing;
• each pontoon assembly including:
• a rotatable housing supported for rotation by the support arm and having at least one screw thread extending generally radially outwardly from an exterior surface of the housing;
• and
• a reversible, electrically powered pontoon drive motor operably coupled to the at least one electric power source and operably coupled with the rotatable housing so as to rotate the housing with the at least one screw thread together in a selected rotational direction, each pontoon driver motor being operable separately from the other pontoon drive motor,
• wherein:
• each support arm further includes a forward end and an aft end, the forward end being fixedly connected to a forward pontoon end cap and the aft end being fixedly connected to an aft pontoon end cap;
• each rotatable housing is rotatably supported between the forward and aft pontoon end caps;
• and
• each pontoon drive motor is supported within the rotatable housing.

A screw drive vehicle comprising:

• a main housing having a forward end and an aft end, first and second lateral sides and a central longitudinal axis between the forward and aft ends;
• at least one electric power source;
• a first pontoon assembly having a central longitudinal axis;
• a first support arm connecting the first pontoon assembly to the first lateral side of the main housing, the first support arm capable of moving the first pontoon assembly from a position parallel to the main housing to a non-parallel position;
• a second pontoon assembly having a central longitudinal axis;
• a second support arm connecting the second pontoon assembly to the second lateral side of the main housing, the second support arm capable of having the second pontoon assembly from a position parallel to the main housing to a non-parallel position;
• at least one pontoon drive motor operably coupled with at least one of the first and second pontoon assembly;
• and
• a steering motor supported by the main housing and operably coupled to the at least one electric power source and with the first and second support arms,
• wherein:
• the steering motor pivots the first and second support arms from a first operating configuration wherein the longitudinal axes of the first and second pontoon assemblies are generally parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the main housing to at least another operating configuration wherein the longitudinal axes of the first and second pontoon assemblies intersect;
• each pontoon assembly includes a rotatable housing supported for rotation by the support arm and having at least one screw thread extending generally radially outwardly from an exterior surface of the housing;
• and
• each pontoon assembly includes a reversible, electrically powered pontoon drive motor fixedly and non-rotatably supported within the rotatable housing operably coupled with the at least one electric power source and operably coupled with the rotatable housing so as to rotate the housing with the at least one screw thread together in a selected rotational direction, each pontoon driver motor being operable separately from the other pontoon drive motor.