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US 8,668,533 B2Granted
Waterjet propulsion system and method for a marine vehicle
AssigneeTwin Disc, Incorporated
InventorPhilip Rolla
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A waterjet based propulsion system and method that utilizes more than one waterjet outlet port and controls the selective application of power to the waterjets with a splitter gearbox thereby improving the efficiency of the marine craft at low and high speeds.
Claims16
A drive for a marine craft comprising:
- a power source;
- a gearbox;
- a plurality of waterjet propulsion units having a nozzle section, a cross-sectional diameter, and a waterjet engagement apparatus configured for transmitting power from the gearbox to the waterjet propulsion unit;
- wherein at least one of the waterjet engagement apparatuses are engaged thereby providing propulsion to the marine craft;
- wherein the plurality of waterjet propulsion units include a first waterjet propulsion unit having a first nozzle section having a first cross-sectional diameter, and a second waterjet propulsion unit having second nozzle section having a second cross-sectional diameter;
- and
- wherein the waterjet engagement apparatus includes a first waterjet engagement apparatus configured for transmitting power from the gearbox to the first waterjet propulsion unit, and a second waterjet engagement apparatus configured for transmitting power from the gearbox to the second waterjet propulsion unit;
- and
- wherein at least one of the first waterjet engagement apparatus and the second waterjet engagement apparatus is engaged thereby providing propulsion to the marine craft;
- and
- wherein the drive further comprises one of:
- A) a user operable control to selectively engage the first waterjet propulsion unit and/or to selectively engage the second waterjet propulsion unit;
- B) an automatic control to selectively engage at least one of the first waterjet propulsion unit and the second waterjet propulsion unit dependent upon one or more of a marine craft speed and a marine craft resistance;
- and
- C) an automatic control to selectively engage at least one of the first waterjet propulsion unit and the second waterjet propulsion unit dependent upon one or more of a marine craft actual direction, a commanded steering direction, and a commanded reversing direction.
12 more elements
A drive comprising:
- a marine craft;
- a power source;
- one or more splitter gearboxes;
- one or more transmission elements connected to the power source configured for transmitting power to the one or more splitter gearboxes;
- one or more pairs of waterjet propulsion units wherein each pair comprises a first waterjet propulsion unit and a second waterjet propulsion unit wherein each waterjet is selectively engagable;
- the first waterjet propulsion unit comprising:
- a first pump section;
- a first waterjet engagement apparatus configured for transmitting power from at least one of the splitter gearboxes to the first waterjet propulsion unit;
- a first impeller in communication with the first waterjet engagement apparatus;
- a first nozzle section having a first cross-sectional diameter;
- and
- a first intake section;
- and
- the second waterjet propulsion unit comprising:
- a second pump section;
- a second waterjet engagement apparatus configured for transmitting power from at least one of the splitter gearboxes to the first waterjet propulsion unit;
- a second impeller in communication with the first waterjet engagement apparatus;
- a second nozzle section having a first cross-sectional diameter;
- and
- a second intake section.
17 more elements
A method of driving a marine craft comprising steps of:
- providing power from a power source;
- transmitting power from the power source to at least one splitter gearbox;
- communicating power from at least one splitter gearbox to two or more waterjet propulsion units wherein the waterjet outlets for a given pair of waterjet propulsion units are vertically arranged;
- selectively engaging one or more selected pump sections of the waterjet propulsion units so as to provide propulsive force from water exiting at least one waterjet propulsion unit nozzle outlet sections so as to drive the marine craft;
- and
- wherein the one or more selected pump sections are engaged based upon one or more of a marine craft speed, a marine craft resistance, a user selected speed, a user selected gear, a speed higher than a predetermined threshold mode, a speed lower than a second predetermined threshold mode, and one or more nozzle outlet section configurations.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.