GB554241A - Marine drive - Google Patents

Abstract

554,241. Reversible marine drives; clutches. WOOD, G. A. Dec. 24, 1941, No. 16635. [Class 114] [Also in Group XXIV] , In a reversible marine drive clutches C selectively connect and disconnect to and from a propeller shaft 10 any of a series of gears 21 driven by power units B which are axially aligned with the gears, the clutches are mounted on the shaft, and each of the power-units continuously drives means for engaging the corresponding gear at angularly spaced points. Each unit B comprises parallel Diesel engines each of which has opposed pistons with concave ends the crankshafts of which carry pinions 20 in mesh with a herring-bone gear 21 the hub 26 of which is freely mounted on the shaft 10 and carries clutch'teeth 33 and a pulley 34. The teeth 33 co-operate with teeth 41 on a sleeve 40 rotated with the shaft 10 and slidable along it by means of a clutch lever 50. The pulley 34 is engaged by friction blocks 37 mounted on radially movable hydraulic pistons 39. The latter are operated by a pressure liquid supplied by a pump 64 under the control of valves 60, 61, 62. When the pulley 34 rotates at the same speed as the enclosure 67 the lever 50 is released by a solenoid 84, the teeth 33, 41 are engaged, and the shaft 10 positively engaged by the gear 21. To indicate which of the engines are functioning correctly, each engine includes a thermostatically controlled element 70 with a heat responsive arm 73 which engages either of a pair of contacts 71, 72 connected to a green or yellow light 76, and to a red light 80, respectively. If an engine is cold a solenoid 81 in parallel with the red light 80 is enegised and this energizes the solenoid 84 which releases the lever 50 to disengage the corresponding clutch C. In a modification, the engines are at right angles to the propeller shaft.