TWM679480U - Marine propulsion assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention discloses a marine propulsion assembly comprising a gearbox, an impeller, and a fairing. The gearbox is connected to the impeller via a transmission shaft, which drives the impeller to rotate. The fairing has an outer cover, a hollow shaft, and a plurality of rectifier vanes. The outer cover is assembled to the gearbox housing, and the first guide portion of the outer cover tapers towards a first opening, with a first ring surrounding the impeller. The hollow shaft is disposed inside the outer cover and connected to the impeller shaft. The rectifier vanes are connected between the inner circumferential surface of the outer cover and the outer circumferential surface of the hollow shaft and are arranged in an equidistant ring relative to the hollow shaft. In this way, the fairing guides the scattered vortices in a specific direction to enhance the ship's propulsion power.

Description

Marine propulsion assembly

This invention relates to marine propulsion assemblies, particularly a marine propulsion assembly with a rectifier function, which has a shroud around the impeller to convert the vortex generated by the impeller rotation into axial water flow, thereby improving the efficiency of converting mechanical energy into fluid kinetic energy.

Generally, ships propel themselves forward using reaction forces, which requires various propulsion devices such as impellers or water pumps. These propulsion devices convert the energy generated by the power source into thrust related to changes in the kinetic energy or pressure of the water. Therefore, when the propulsion device is activated, the water flows backward, which in turn generates a forward reaction force to propel the ship forward.

Ships equipped with impellers utilize engines to drive the impellers to rotate at high speeds. Each blade pushes water backwards in a rotating manner, creating vortices. These vortices form behind the hull and provide propulsion. However, when the impeller rotates at high speeds, it cannot limit the range of water rotation. Vortices form extensively behind the hull, and the scattered vortices reduce the ship's thrust. This means that the impeller's mechanical energy cannot be efficiently converted into the fluid's kinetic energy. Therefore, only increasing the engine's power can achieve better propulsion efficiency.

Therefore, the creators considered how to provide a structure that could improve the efficiency of ship impeller conversion.

Given the numerous shortcomings of existing marine propulsion systems, the main objective of this invention is to provide a marine propulsion assembly that improves propulsion efficiency by utilizing a design with a tapered fairing at one end to alter the water flow pattern, thereby enhancing the propulsion efficiency of the marine propulsion assembly.

To achieve the aforementioned main objectives, this invention provides a marine propulsion assembly comprising a gearbox, an impeller, and a fairing. The gearbox has a housing and a drive shaft, the drive shaft being rotatably mounted within the housing, its front end passing through the housing and its rear end extending outside the housing. The impeller has a shaft and a plurality of blades, the shaft being connected to the drive shaft of the gearbox, and the blades being equidistantly arranged in a ring on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft. The fairing has an outer cover, a hollow shaft, and a plurality of rectifier vanes. The outer cover has a first ring, a first guide formed at one end edge of the first ring, and a first opening formed at one end edge of the first guide. The first ring is connected to the gearbox housing and surrounds the impeller. The first guide gradually tapers toward the first opening. The hollow shaft is disposed inside the outer cover and connected to the impeller shaft. The rectifier vanes are connected between the inner circumferential surface of the outer cover and the outer circumferential surface of the hollow shaft and are arranged in an equidistant ring relative to the hollow shaft.

By utilizing the aforementioned technical features, the fairing, by surrounding the impeller blades with an outer casing, can restrict the direction of the water flow driven by the impeller's rotation. Furthermore, while the impeller rotates, these fairing blades reduce the chance of vortices forming behind the vessel. The tapering design of the first guide section of the outer casing ensures that the water flow, when ejected from the first opening towards the rear of the vessel, is in a straight line and coaxial with the impeller, allowing the impeller to completely convert rotational force into propulsive force to propel the vessel forward. Additionally, the structure design of surrounding the impeller with the outer casing also reduces the impeller's potential damage to organisms around the hull and prevents the blades from becoming entangled in debris, thus reducing the force of the water flow.

Preferably, the impeller shaft has an outer housing, an inner housing, and a plurality of ribs. The outer housing and the inner housing are hollow cylindrical tubes. The inner housing is disposed inside the outer housing and connected to the transmission shaft of the gearbox. The ribs are connected between the inner circumferential surface of the outer housing and the outer circumferential surface of the inner housing. The blades are integrally formed and connected to the outer circumferential surface of the outer housing. In this way, the transmission shaft of the gearbox drives the inner casing of the impeller to rotate, causing the blades to start rotating at high speed. The ribs provided between the outer casing and the inner casing can ensure the overall strength of the impeller, making the impeller less prone to damage when immersed in water for a long time and required to rotate at high speed.

Preferably, the gearbox housing has a tapered section, an upper wing plate, a lower wing plate, and a vortex baffle. One end of the tapered section is fitted with the impeller shaft. The upper and lower wing plates are integrally formed and connected to the top and bottom sides of the tapered section. The vortex baffle is integrally formed and connected to the upper wing plate. The lower wing plate is connected to the bottom edge of the outer peripheral surface of the first ring of the fairing via a lower connecting plate. The vortex baffle is connected to the top edge of the outer peripheral surface of the first ring of the fairing via two upper connecting plates. In this way, the vortex baffle can prevent the upward transmission of water flow or vortex generated by the impeller rotation behind the ship, thereby ensuring the stability of the hull.

Preferably, the gearbox housing also has an assembly section integrally formed and connected to the top side of the upper wing plate and located above the turret baffle. In this way, the marine propulsion unit is assembled to the ship's engine casing through the assembly section.

Preferably, the hollow shaft portion of the fairing has a second ring, a second guide portion formed at one end edge of the second ring, and a second opening formed at one end edge of the second guide portion. The second guide portion tapers towards the second opening. This tapering shape of the hollow shaft portion towards the second opening increases the water flow convergence effect, resulting in higher velocity and pressure of the water jetted towards the rear of the ship, further enhancing the ship's propulsion.

The detailed structure, features, assembly, or usage of the marine propulsion assembly provided in this invention will be described in the subsequent detailed description of the embodiments. However, those skilled in the art should understand that such detailed descriptions and the specific embodiments listed in this invention are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the patent application.

The applicant hereby clarifies that in the embodiments and drawings described below, the same reference numerals denote the same or similar components or their structural features. It should be noted that the components and structures in the drawings are for illustrative purposes and are not drawn to scale or in quantity; and features of different embodiments may be used interchangeably if feasible in practice. Secondly, when it is stated that one component is disposed on another component, it means that the aforementioned component is directly disposed on the other component, or that the aforementioned component is indirectly disposed on the other component; that is, one or more other components are disposed between the two components. Conversely, when it is stated that one component is "directly" disposed on another component, it means that no other components are disposed between the two components.

Please refer to Figures 1 to 3. The marine propulsion assembly 10 provided in this invention mainly includes a gearbox 20, an impeller 30, and a fairing 40.

The gearbox 20 has a housing 21 and a drive shaft 22. The housing 21 has an integrally formed tapered portion 211, an upper wing plate 212, a lower wing plate 213, a vortex baffle 214, and an assembly portion 215. The upper wing plate 212 and the lower wing plate 213 are respectively connected to the top and bottom sides of the tapered portion 211. The upper wing plate 212 and the lower wing plate 213 have a thin and narrow shape, which, combined with the shape of the tapered portion 211, can provide less resistance in water. The vortex baffle 214 is connected to the upper wing plate 212, and two thin plates protrude outward from both sides of the upper wing plate 212. Assembly section 215 is connected to the top side of upper wing plate 212 and located above vortex baffle 214. Assembly section 215 is mainly used to assemble with the ship's engine shell.

Generally, a reduction gear set is also configured in the gearbox 20. The reduction gear set is installed inside the housing 21 and is used to connect to the engine's drive shaft. The front end of the transmission shaft 22 passes through the tapered portion 211 of the housing 21 and connects to the reduction gear set, while the rear end of the transmission shaft 22 extends out of the housing 21. The power generated by the engine is transmitted to the reduction gear set through the drive shaft. After being reduced in speed by the reduction gear set, the power is then transmitted to the transmission shaft 22, causing the transmission shaft 22 to start rotating.

The impeller 30 has a shaft 31 and four blades 32. The shaft 31 has an integrally formed outer housing 311, an inner housing 312 and four ribs 313. The outer housing 311 and the inner housing 312 are hollow cylindrical tubes. The outer housing 311 passes through and is connected to the tapered portion 211 of the gearbox 20. The inner housing 312 is disposed inside the outer housing 311 and is connected to the transmission shaft 22 of the gearbox 20. The two ends of the ribs 313 are respectively connected to the inner circumferential surface of the outer housing 311 and the outer circumferential surface of the inner housing 312. The blades 32 are integrally formed and extend outward from the outer circumferential surface of the outer housing 311, and the blades 32 are arranged in an equidistant ring relative to the outer housing 311.

The fairing 40 has an outer cover 41, a hollow shaft portion 42, and seven rectifier vanes 43. The outer cover 41 has an integrally formed first ring portion 411, a first guide portion 412, and a first opening 413. The bottom edge of the outer peripheral surface of the first ring portion 411 is connected to the lower wing plate 213 of the gearbox 20 housing 21 via a lower connecting plate 50, while the top edge of the outer peripheral surface of the first ring portion 411 is connected to the anti-vortex baffle 214 of the gearbox 20 housing 21 via two upper connecting plates 60, and the inner peripheral surface of the first ring portion 411 surrounds the impeller 30. The first guide portion 412 is formed at the end edge of the first ring portion 411 away from the tapered portion 211 of the housing 21. The first opening 413 is formed at one end edge of the first guide portion 412, which tapers towards the first opening 413. The hollow shaft portion 42 is disposed inside the outer casing 41 and connected to the outer shaft housing 311 of the impeller 30 shaft 31. The two ends of the seven rectifier vanes 43 are respectively connected to the inner circumferential surface of the outer casing 41 and the outer circumferential surface of the hollow shaft portion 42, and the rectifier vanes 43 are arranged in a ring at equal intervals relative to the hollow shaft portion 42.

The hollow shaft portion 42 further includes a second ring portion 421, a second guide portion 422, and a second opening 423. One end of the second ring portion 421 is connected to the outer casing 311 of the impeller 30. The second guide portion 422 is formed at the end edge of the second ring portion 421 away from one end of the impeller 30 and slightly extends beyond the end edge of the first guide portion 412, as shown in Figure 3. The second opening 423 is formed at one end edge of the second guide portion 422, and the second guide portion 422 tapers towards the second opening 423.

In this way, the ship engine first generates power to drive the transmission shaft 22 of the gearbox 20. After the transmission shaft 22 starts to rotate, it simultaneously drives the wheel shaft 31 of the impeller 30 to rotate. Water will be driven to generate water flow through the rotation of the blades 32. Since the fairing 40 is equipped with seven rectifiers 43, the water flow is divided into seven straight water flows, and will flow along the axis of the wheel shaft 31 towards the first opening 413 and the second opening 423, which means that the water flow is sprayed out towards the rear of the ship. Furthermore, the first guide section 412 of the outer casing 41 and the second guide section 422 of the hollow shaft section 42 can concentrate the water within the range of the fairing 40, reduce the generation of vortices, and enable the rotational force of the impeller 30 to be completely converted into propulsive force to propel the ship forward.

In summary, compared to existing technologies that generate large-scale vortices, the marine propulsion assembly 10 provided by this invention restricts the direction of water flow through the fairing 40 and uses multiple rectifiers 43 to reduce the probability of vortex formation, so that the mechanical energy of the impeller 30 rotation can be completely converted into fluid kinetic energy, thereby improving the propulsion efficiency of the ship.

Finally, it must be stated again that the constituent elements disclosed in the aforementioned embodiments are merely illustrative examples and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Substitutions or variations of other equivalent elements should also be covered by the scope of this patent application.

10: Marine propulsion assembly 20: Gearbox 21: Housing 211: Tapered section 212: Upper wingplate 213: Lower wingplate 214: Turbine baffle 215: Assembly section 22: Transmission shaft 30: Impeller 31: Shaft 311: Outer shaft housing 312: Inner shaft housing 313: Rib 32: Blade 40: Fairing 41: Outer cover 411: First ring section 412: First guide section 413: First opening 42: Hollow shaft section 421: Second ring section 422: Second guide section 423: Second opening 43: Rectifier plate 50: Lower connecting plate 60: Upper connecting plate

Figure 1 is a three-dimensional view of the work; Figure 2 is an exploded three-dimensional view of the work; and Figure 3 is a side view of the work.

10: Marine Propulsion Assembly

20: Gearbox

21: Box

211: Conical part

212: Upper Wing Plate

214: Anti-vortex baffle

215: Assembly Department

30: Impeller

40: Fairing

41: Outer Cover

411: First Ring

412: First airflow guide section

413: First utterance

42: Hollow Shaft

421: Second Ring

422: Second airflow deflector

423: Second opening

43: Rectifier

60: Upper Connector Plate

Claims (5)

A marine propulsion assembly includes: a gearbox having a housing and a drive shaft rotatably disposed in the housing, the front end of the drive shaft passing through the housing and the rear end extending out of the housing; an impeller having a shaft and a plurality of blades, the shaft being connected to the drive shaft of the gearbox, the blades being equidistantly arranged in a ring on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft; and A fairing has an outer cover, a hollow shaft portion, and a plurality of rectifier vanes. The outer cover has a first ring portion, a first guide portion formed at one end edge of the first ring portion, and a first opening formed at one end edge of the first guide portion. The first ring portion is connected to the housing of the gearbox and surrounds the impeller. The first guide portion is tapered toward the first opening. The hollow shaft portion is disposed inside the outer cover and connected to the axle of the impeller. The rectifier vanes are connected between the inner circumferential surface of the outer cover and the outer circumferential surface of the hollow shaft portion and are arranged in an equidistant ring relative to the hollow shaft portion. The marine propulsion assembly as described in claim 1, wherein the impeller shaft has an outer housing, an inner housing, and a plurality of ribs, the outer housing and the inner housing are hollow cylindrical tubes, the inner housing is disposed inside the outer housing and connected to the transmission shaft of the gearbox, the ribs are connected between the inner circumferential surface of the outer housing and the outer circumferential surface of the inner housing, and the blades are integrally formed and connected to the outer circumferential surface of the outer housing. The marine propulsion assembly as described in claim 1, wherein the gearbox housing has a tapered portion, an upper wing plate, a lower wing plate, and a vortex baffle. One end of the tapered portion is fitted with the impeller shaft. The upper wing plate and the lower wing plate are integrally formed and connected to the top and bottom sides of the tapered portion. The vortex baffle is integrally formed and connected to the upper wing plate. The lower wing plate is connected to the bottom edge of the outer peripheral surface of the first ring portion of the fairing via a lower connecting plate. The vortex baffle is connected to the top edge of the outer peripheral surface of the first ring portion of the fairing via two upper connecting plates. The marine propulsion assembly as described in claim 3, wherein the gearbox housing further comprises an assembly integrally formed connected to the top side of the upper wing and located above the vortex deflector. The marine propulsion assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hollow shaft portion of the fairing has a second ring portion, a second guide portion formed at one end edge of the second ring portion, and a second opening formed at one end edge of the second guide portion, the second guide portion being tapered toward the second opening.