685 results about "Marine propulsion" patented technology

A transmission for a marine propulsion system uses a cone clutch in such a way that, when in a forward gear position, torque is transmitted from an input shaft, or driving shaft, to an output shaft, or driven shaft, solely through the cone clutch. When in forward gear position, driving torque between the driving and driven shafts is not transmitted through any gear teeth. When in reverse gear position, torque is transmitted through an assembly of the bevel gears.

Machines useful for wind turbine and ship propulsion purposes include a wind turbine generator or a ship propulsion motor with two concentric air gaps. In one embodiment, the machine includes a rotor with an inner rotor core and an outer rotor core; and a double-sided stator with an inner stator side and an outer stator side. The double-sided stator is concentrically disposed between the inner rotor core and the outer rotor core.

The calibration procedure allows an upward maximum limit of tilt to be automatically determined and stored as an operator rotates a marine propulsion device relative to a marine vessel with a particular indication present. That indication can be a grounded circuit point which informs a microprocessor that at calibration procedure is occurring in relation to an upward trim limit. When the ground wire is removed or disconnected from the circuit point, the microprocessor knows that the calibration process is complete. During the rotation of the outboard motor or marine propulsion device in an upward direction, both the angular position of the outboard motor and the direction of change of a signal from a trim sensor are stored.

A method and system for defining a program to control the trim position of a propulsion unit mounted on a watercraft for a desired utility mode. Also, a method and system for controlling the trim position in a given utility mode by using the defined program. In defining the program, a first utility mode is defined and the watercraft is operated in the defined mode as in normal operation. Multiple trim positions are selected throughout the course of operation in the defined mode. For each selected trim position, an operational parameter of the watercraft is sensed. Multiple values of the same parameter may be sensed and measured for a single trim position. After the parameters have been sensed for each trim position, a correlated data set is created. A correlated data set is saved to a memory device for each selected trim position of the defined utility mode. In controlling the trim position, the watercraft is again operated in the first utility mode. A current operational parameter is then measured. Having measured the current operational parameter, the correlated data sets are recalled from memory so that the current operational parameter may be compared with the stored parameters in the data sets. The trim position is then selected and set based on the comparison of the current parameter with those stored in the data set.

A method for controlling the movement of a marine vessel comprises steps that rotate two marine propulsion devices about their respective axes in order to increase the hydrodynamic resistance of the marine propulsion devices as they move through the water with the marine vessel. This increased resistance exerts a braking thrust on the marine vessel. Various techniques and procedures can be used to determine the absolute magnitudes of the angular magnitudes by which the marine propulsion devices are rotated.

Wireless transmitters are integrated with manual marine-propulsion implements associated with small watercraft (paddles, oars, poles, and the like). The transmitters are controlled by hand-operated actuators. The actuators are designed to be manipulated without looking and positioned within convenient reach of an operator's normal hand position on the implement. A corresponding wireless receiver on a target device enables the transmitter signal to control the device. Thus, an operator of a small watercraft can control a useful target device without first shipping or otherwise securing the manual implement, and may simultaneously continue to manually propel or steer the watercraft with the implement. Application examples include a propulsion-assist motor on a stand-up paddled (SUP) surfboard.

A method of steering a watercraft propulsion device mounted to a transom plate and having a steering drive unit which allows the watercraft propulsion device to rotationally move about a swivel shaft. The method can include calculating a steering control amount for the steering drive unit in accordance with the degree of operator's steering wheel displacement and a predetermined steering system response performance, and operating the steering drive unit based on the calculated control physical quantity, in which the predetermined steering system response performance can be selected from a plurality of plurality of predetermined steering system response performance options.

An engine control strategy for a marine propulsion system selects a desired idle speed for use during a shift event based on boat speed and engine temperature. In order to change the engine operating speed to the desired idle speed during the shift event, ignition timing is altered and the status of an idle air control valve is changed. These changes to the ignition timing and the idle air control valve are made in order to achieve the desired engine idle speed during the shift event. The idle speed during the shift event is selected so that the impact shock and resulting noise of the shift event can be decreased without causing the engine to stall.

A cooling system for a marine engine having a turbocharger provides for the flow of coolant through heat emitting objects prior to flowing through a coolant jacket of the turbocharger itself. This avoids the potentially disadvantageous circumstance of directing cold water directly from a body of water through the cooling jacket of the turbocharger. Both open loop and closed loop versions of the invention are illustrated and described.

A propulsion system for watercraft for personal enjoyment that incorporates human power with electric motor assistance, energy storage and optional solar power to achieve increased watercraft speeds and / or reduced pedaling effort. Control electronics enable operator-adjustable electric motor assistance to the propulsion, thereby providing flexible pedal cadences and efforts and enjoyment for a wide variety of operators. An optional photovoltaic solar panel augments the power generation to extend travel time with motor assistance, and recharges the energy storage system. This invention enables a pleasure watercraft that is simultaneously lightweight, low cost, low maintenance, environmentally friendly with zero pollution, ultra-low noise, and thrilling to operate, while simultaneously providing a means of enjoyable exercise for operators of nearly all abilities.

The invention discloses a test bed for simulating longitudinal vibration of a marine propulsion shafting. The test bed comprises a movable loading module (1), a base (12), a fixed loading module (3), a transmission shaft (4), a split coupling (6), a thrust bearing (7), an elastic coupling (8), a gearbox (10) and a frequency conversion motor (11). The fixed loading module (3), the transmission shaft (4), the split coupling (6), the thrust bearing (7), the elastic coupling (8), the gearbox (10) and the frequency conversion motor (11) are arranged on the base (12) in turn. The movable loading module (1) is connected with the fixed loading module (3) through an ejector rod (2) and used for supplying longitudinal alternating exciting force for simulating a propeller. The fixed loading module (3) is connected with one end of the transmission shaft (4). The other end of the transmission shaft (4) is connected with a thrust shaft of the thrust bearing (7) through the split coupling (6). The other end of the thrust shaft is connected with the output shaft of the gearbox (10) through the elastic coupling (8). The gearbox (10) is connected to the frequency conversion motor (11). The test beddisclosed by the invention has the advantages of compact structure, convenient operation, safety and reliability and can satisfy practical application requirements for teaching and researching.

The invention relates to the field of superconducting technologies and the field of motor technologies, and particularly relates to a high-temperature superconducting motor. The motor comprises an electromotor and a generator, an armature winding is manufactured by winding a high-temperature superconducting wire, and a current passing through the armature winding has an alternating component. A refrigerating Dewar vessel of the motor is placed on the outside of a stator core, and cools a high-temperature superconducting coil in a contact conduction refrigerating mode. No heat insulating layer is arranged between a stator and a rotor of the motor, and an inner cavity of the motor is pumped as a low-vacuum cavity, so that no heat convection and no heat conduction are formed between the stator and the rotor. The torque transmission between the inside and outside of the vacuum cavity is realized through a magnetofluid sealing part. Stator windings are distributed in a centralized winding form. The coil adopts a runway coil or a rounded square coil, and no space mutual-interference situation occurs at the end part of the coil; a low-frequency alternating current is used, so that the loss is reduced; and due to the low-frequency characteristic, the motor is especially applicable to the fields such as wind power generation, marine propulsion power, and the like.

A method of integrating, optimizing and combining in a marine hybrid system, the operation of one or more variable speed high voltage direct current (HVDC) generator(s), one or more energy storage units and a combination of one or more HVDC parallel hybrid and serial hybrid propulsion systems through use of an Energy Management Computer. One aspect of the invention involves the application of logic programming to automate the optimization and the operation of the Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) so that whenever the system requires their usage, they are operated at optimum efficiency conditions. For an ICE to operate at peak efficiency a combination of a large energy storage unit used as a buffer combined with a mixture of both a serial and a parallel hybrid system is used.

An outboard motor incorporates a driveshaft and a propulsion shaft driven by the driveshaft. The driveshaft carries a pinion. The propulsion shaft carries forward and reverse gears. The pinion always meshes with the forward and reverse gear and drives the forward and reverse gears in opposite directions relative to each other. A hydraulic forward clutch mechanism couples the forward gear with the propulsion shaft. A hydraulic reverse clutch mechanism couples the reverse gear with the propulsion shaft. A shift actuator selectively operates the forward clutch mechanism or the reverse clutch mechanism to provide forward, reverse and / or neutral running conditions for the outboard motor.

The invention relates to the adaptation of a Mazda RENESIS rotary engine to use as a marine vessel propulsion system. It is an object of present invention to enhance the power and torque bands of the rotary engine and shift them to the midrange of engine speeds that are most applicable in direct drive systems. Peak torque of 300 ft-lbs. at 3750 rpm and Peak power of 325 hp at 5800 rpm have been realized. The invention comprises various engineering developments to increase performance. These developments include modifications to standard engine components such as intake and exhaust manifolds as well as addition of customized performance tuned components including a turbocharger, an aftercooler, an oil cooler, and an engine control management system. Improvements to engine mounting and power transmission mechanisms are also described.

In a hybrid type marine propulsion device including a main engine and a motor, low fuel consumption is realized by a compact configuration and highly efficient drive control.A marine propulsion device includes a clutch 7 provided on an input shaft 6 of a main engine, a horizontal input / output shaft 8 connected to the clutch, a vertical shaft 11 connected to the input / output shaft through an upper bevel gear 9, a horizontal propeller shaft 13 connected to a lower end of the vertical shaft through a lower bevel gear 12, and a propeller 14 at the other end side of the propeller shaft, in which the propeller is revolved around the vertical shaft to set a propulsion direction, wherein a motor generator 20 is mounted on a floor 3, and connected directly to the other end side of the input / output shaft. In a low rotation region, motor propulsion is performed, and in a high rotation region, hybrid propulsion in which the main engine is assisted by the motor is performed.

A marine propulsion device is provided with a turbocharger that is located above all, or at least a majority of, the cylinders of an engine. The exhaust gases are directed to one side of the engine and the compressed air is directed to an opposite side of the engine. The turbocharger is located at a rear portion of the engine behind the crankshaft.

A fuel container for a marine propulsion system is provided with a pump and a hose connected to an outlet of the pump and disposed within the cavity of the fuel container. The hose is provided with an opening, formed through its wall, through which a fluid can flow under certain circumstances. The opening is disposed in an ullage within the container and allows gaseous elements to be purged from the container when flow is induced from the container back to a fuel reservoir.

The thrust load of an outer shaft (11) is received by a contra-rotating thrust bearing (40) provided in a boss (13a) of a front propeller (13) and transmitted to an inner shaft (12). The combined thrust load of the outer shaft (11) and the inner shaft (12) is received by an inner thrust bearing (41) provided on the bow side of the power transmission unit (20A) and transmitted to a ship body (2). The rotational force of an outer output shaft (24) is transmitted to the outer shaft (11) via a flexible joint (19) (gear coupling (19A)). Thus, the thrust load of the outer shaft (11) is transmitted to the ship body (2) only via the inner shaft (12) without being directly transmitted to the ship body (2), and the axial displacement and angular displacement are allowed by the gear coupling (19), so that it is possible to eliminate the influence of the change of hull deformation on the shaft center of the outer shaft (11).

A tie bar arrangement uses a rod end cartridge assembly that provides relative rotatability between an associated rod end and a coupler tube. The provision of a connecting link and steering arm adapter associated with the rod end cartridge assembly also provides relative rotation about first and second axes which allow sufficient flexibility to avoid placing the tie bar arrangement under excessive stress when one marine propulsion device is tilted relative to another marine propulsion device.

A method is provided for controlling a marine propulsion trim system under two distinct modes of operation. A first mode operates hydraulic cylinders at a slower speed when the associated marine vessel is being operated at a speed above a predetermined threshold. For example, when the marine propulsion device is under load, such as when the marine vessel is operating on plane, the first mode of operation is used and the trim / tilt cylinders are operated at a slower speed. A second mode of operation is used when the marine propulsion system is being operated below a predetermined threshold. In other words, if the marine vessel is operating at a slow speed, the faster mode of operation is used. Similarly, if the marine vessel is being prepared for transport on a trailer, the very slow or non-existent speed of operation of the engine is used as an indicator which causes the second mode of operation to be employed.

A water cooling apparatus in a power transmission system of a boat propulsion system includes a transmission unit that changes the speed of an output from an engine and then transmits the output to a propeller shaft. The transmission unit includes a cylindrical transmission case with an axis extending vertically, a transmission device housed in the transmission case and arranged to change the speed of an input, and a cooling water passage formed in the transmission case for flowing cooling water. In the plan sectional view of the transmission unit, the cooling water passage is formed in at least one of a side portion or a rear portion of the transmission case. As a result, strain on a rear portion of a hull that supports a boat propulsion unit is prevented and minimized, while a transmission unit is sufficiently cooled with cooling water.

A marine propulsion drive-by-wire control system controls multiple marine engines, each one or more PCMs, propulsion control modules for controlling engine functions which may include steering or vessel vectoring. A helm has multiple ECUs, electronic control units, for controlling the multiple marine engines. A CAN, controller area network, bus connects the ECUs and PCMs with multiple PCM and ECU buses. The ECU buses are connected through respective isolation circuits isolating the respective ECU bus from spurious signals in another ECU bus.

The present invention is directed to a power converter that can be used to interface a motor 4 that requires variable voltage at variable frequency to a supply network (bus) providing a nominally fixed voltage and nominally fixed frequency. The power converter includes a first active rectifier / inverter 10 electrically connected to the stator of the motor 4 and a second active rectifier / inverter 14. Both the first and second active rectifier / inverters include a plurality of semiconductor power switching devices. A dc link 12 is connected between the first active rectifier / inverter and the second active rectifier / inverter. A filter 16 is connected between the second active rectifier / inverter and the supply network and includes network terminals. The power converter includes a first controller 18 for the first active rectifier / inverter and a second controller 20 for the second active rectifier / inverter. The first controller 18 uses a dc link voltage demand signal VDC_MOT* indicative of a desired dc link voltage to control the semiconductor power switching devices of the first active rectifier / inverter 10 to achieve the desired level of dc link voltage that corresponds to the dc link voltage demand signal. The second controller 20 uses a power demand signal P* indicative of the level of power to be transferred to the dc link 12 from the supply network (bus) through the second active rectifier / inverter 14, and a voltage demand signal VBUS* indicative of the voltage to be achieved at the network terminals of the filter 16 to control the semiconductor power switching devices of the second active rectifier / inverter 14 to achieve the desired levels of power and voltage that correspond to the power and voltage demand signals. The power converter can be employed in a marine propulsion system where the rotor of the motor 4 is used to drive a propeller assembly 2.

A shifting apparatus for a marine propulsion device incorporates a magnetoelastic elastic sensor which responds to torque exerted on the shift shaft of the gear shift mechanism. The torque on the shift shaft induces stress which changes the magnetic characteristics of the shift shaft material and, in turn, allows the magnetoelastic sensor to provide appropriate output signals representative of the torque exerted on the shift shaft. This allows a microprocessor to respond to the onset of a shifting procedure rather than having to wait for actual physical movement of the components of the shifting device.

A corrosion inhibiting system is provided with the ability to allow both primary and secondary portions of the circuit to be used in the alternative without having the primary and secondary systems interfere with each other by operating at the same time. By incorporating a continuity controller, such as a switch or a diode to selectively disconnect the sacrificial anode from the circuit, the primary and secondary systems can both be provided on a marine vessel, but used independently from each other. In that way, the primary and secondary corrosion inhibiting systems are prevented from interfering with each other during normal operation.

A method for controlling operation of a propulsion system of a waterborne vessel, comprising adjusting recovery of energy generated from the propulsion system to maintain position of the waterborne vessel in response to at least an indication of vessel position.

A system and method is provided for efficiently changing controlled engine speed of a marine internal combustion engine in a marine propulsion system for propelling a marine vessel. The system responds to the operator changing the operator-selected engine speed, from a first-selected engine speed to a second-selected engine speed, by predicting throttle position needed to provide the second-selected engine speed, and providing a feed forward signal moving the throttle to the predicted throttle position, without waiting for a slower responding PID controller and / or overshoot thereof, and concomitant instability or oscillation, and then uses the engine speed control system including any PID controller to maintain engine speed at the second-selected engine speed.

A torque transfer mechanism for a marine propulsion system provides a connector mechanism, a first torque transfer mechanism, and a second torque transfer mechanism. A plurality of rods can provide the first torque transfer mechanism and a polymer component is shaped to provide the second torque transfer mechanism. All torque below a preselected magnitude is transferred through the first torque transfer mechanism and, for magnitudes of torque above the threshold, torque is transferred by both the first and second torque transfer mechanisms. The connector mechanism has an outer surface that is not used to transfer torque between it and an inner hub of a propulsor.