US2948250A

US2948250A - Air thrust boat

Info

Publication number: US2948250A
Application number: US492395A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fred M Peterson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1955-03-07
Filing date: 1955-03-07
Publication date: 1960-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 1977-08-09

Description

Aug. 9, 1960 FIG.

F. M. PETERSON 2,948,250

AIR THRUST BOAT Filed March "I. 1955 FRED M. PETERSON uvwzzvrox. I BY W @ww TTORNEY United StatesiPatent- O 2,948,250 7 Am 'rnRUs'r Bert v Fred M. Peterson, 3308 Mohawk Trail, Fort Worth, rm Filed Mar. 7, 1955, set." No. 492,395

p 2 Claims. (ct. its-.5

This invention relates to airthrust propeller driven boats and has reference to a steering mechanism therefor.

Boats of the air thrust propeller driven type have found wide application and accepance in areas where'shallow water, reeds, everglades andsub-surface debrispresent hazards to the operation of submerced propellers.

2,948,250 Patented Aug. 9,

ice

peller shaft 15. The driving pulley 14is direetlyeconnected with the'engine 11, whereas the driven pulley 13 is mounted on the propeller shaft 15. The vertical sup port 16 is constructed and'positioned so that its'upper portion lies in a straight linebetween the centers of the driving pulley 14 and the'driven pulley 13, whereas its lower portion extends 'downwardbending away from'the driving pulley 14-toward the transom' 17 of the boat. A cylindrical opening 18 is provided within the upper end of the vertical support 16, and acoil spring 19 is recessed therein and supported by abolt 20. -Journaled into the cylindrical opening 18 and supported on the spring 19 is a pivot shaft 21, the axis of which is coincident with a straight ,line extendingjthrough the. centers of the pulleys '13- and "14, and perpendicular to theaxes of rotation of

pulleys

13 and 14. The U-shaped propeller 5 shaft bearing mount 22 is afiixedat its base to the top Steering of boats driven byfair th'rust propellers is I generally accomplished byrudders of either the c'onventional boat type submerged in-water or the ai'rcrafttype mounted in the slipstream of the air thrust propeller. The operation of the former is objectional because any submerged movable part is subject to the previously mentioned hazards; steering by the latter is sluggish and ineflicient since it is dependent upon deflection of a dissipating slipstream of air.

Another method of steering air thrust propeller driven boats consists of changing the direction of thrust by rotating both engine and propeller about a vertical axis. This method has never received wide acceptance because the consequent elevated mounting of a heavy engine high above the water line of a boat greatly decreases that boats lateral stability and presents a safety hazard when of the pivot shaft 21 andjshaped with bearing ends '23 and 24 extending upwardequally from its'base a distance greater'than the radius 'of'driven pulley 13, fI'he propellerishaft 15 aflixed to the propeller 10 is journaled in thejends of the" U-shaped propellershaft bearing m ount 22 so'tbat its axis of rotation is perpendicular to'the of rotation of the pivot shaft 21. The driven pulley 13 is mounted on the propeller shaft 15 and affixed thereto between the upward extending ends 23 and 24 of the bearing mount 22. The spring 19 urges the pivot shaft 21 upwardly providing a space a between the upper end of the vertical support 16 and the lower end of the bearing mount 22. A tiller 25 is pivotally attached in a vertical plane to the U-shaped propeller shaft bearing mount 22 near its base at the end of said mount ope posite to and extending away from the propeller 10. The base of the vertical support 16 is afllxed to an inwardly projecting L-shaped engine mounting bracket 26 which is pivotally attached in a vertical plane to a transom clamp 27 and suspended therefrom by an adjustable pin 28 and pivoted parallel links 29 having pin receiving A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby the center of gravity of air thrust propeller driven boats may be lowered in such a way as to make possible safe changes in the direction of propeller thrust force relative to the boat, thereby accomplishing a practical means of utilizing thrust force for steering purposes.

A further object of this invention is to' provide a prepeller assembly for the purpose of driving and steering an air thrust boat which may be rotated about a vertical axis independent of the position of its prime mover and which may be detached from that prime mover without the use of tols for purposes of portability.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device attached to a boat, only a fragmentary portion of the latter being shown.

'Figure 2 is a plan view of the same with the propeller shaft broken away and propeller, motor and transom clamp deleted.

Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that the holes 30 therein. ports the engine 11 in a horizontal position beneath and forwardly of the U-shaped propeller shaft bearing mount 22.

In operation the direction of thrust as developed by the propeller 10 relative to the position of the boat may be altered by rotating the propeller shaft bearing mount 22 about its vertical axis by means of the tiller 25. The low position of the weight of the engine 11 with respect to the center of gravity of the boat permits this change of thrust direction to be used effectively for steering purposes without loss of lateral stability and the commensurate danger of capsizing. Rotation of the propeller shaft bearing mount 22 by means of the tiller 25 results in a decrease in the effective length of the V belt 12 and a corresponding decrease in the distance between the

pulleys

13 and 14 causing an increased compression in the spring 19 which supports the pivot shaft 21. When the tiller 25 is released from its rotated position the pressure from the compressed spring 19 forces the V- elt 12 back to its longest effective-length which exists w en the axis of rotation of the driving pulley 14 is parallel to the axis of rotation of the propeller 10.

When this device is not in use it is so constructed as to permit dismantling without tools into two portable assemblies by pulling down on the V belt 12 to compress the spring 19, thereby removing tensionfrom the belt in its lower part sothat it may be disengaged from the lower pulley 14.. The upper assembly consisting of the propeller 10, safety frame 30, propeller shaft 15, driven pulley 13, propeller shaft bearing mount 22, tiller 25, V belt 12 and pivot shaft 21 may then be lifted from the vertical support 16 and carried as a separate unit. 1

The engine mounting bracket 26 supa a I This invention is not limited to the exemplary construction herein shown and described, but may be made in various ways within the scope of the appended claims. whatisclainiedisz e '2 i 1. A'steering device for an air thrust propeller driven boat, said steering device including a vertical support carried by said boat and'extendingxupwardly thereabove, a vertical'pivot-shaft rotatably received in the upper end of said vertical support, a bearing mountrotatably mounted in the upper end of said vertical shaft, a horizontal shaft journalled in said bearing mount and adapted to support and rotate the propeller, a driven pulley mounted on said horizontal shaft and positionedover the axial center of the upper end of said vertical shaft, a drive pulley beneath the upper end of said vertical shaft and in alignment with the axis of-said shaft, a belt around said pulleys and positione'd outwardly of andalong opposite sides of said vertical support andsaid pivot'shaft, and a tiller connected with said bearing mount.

2. A steering device for an air thrust propeller driven boat, said steering'device including a vertical support carried by said boat and extending-upwardly thereabove, a vertical pivot shaft rotatably received in the upper end of said vertical support, a bearing mountrotatably mounted in the upper end of said vertical pivot shaft, a horizontal shaft journalled in said bearing mount and adapted to support and rotate the propeller, a driven pulley mounted on said horizontal shaft and positioned over the axial center of the upper end of said vertical shaft, a drive pulley beneath the upper end of said vertical shaft and in alignment with the axis of said shaft, a belt around said pulleys and positioned outwardly of and along opposite sides of said vertical "support and said pivot shaft, a tiller connected with said bearing mount, and an L- shaped engine mounting bracket adapted to be moturted on'the transom of a boat; saids L-shaped engine mounting bracket having an engine mounted thereon, the lower end of said vertical supportbe'ing mounted on said engine mounting bracket,,said drivingpulley being mounted to be driven by the crank shaft of said engine.

436,555; Great Britain Oct. 14, 1935