Ship drive with a driving engine and a directly driven propeller

Marine propulsion – Diverse engine means

Patent

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Details

440 4, 440 6, 440 75, 440 83, B63H 2120, B63H 2310, B63H 2014, B63H 2334, B60L 1102

Patent

active

060332719

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a ship-propulsion system comprising a drive mechanism and a shaft directly connected to it and provided with a propeller.
Ships propelled by systems with only one drive mechanism can be subjected to considerable hazard when the mechanism malfunctions or fails. In the worst cases, the ship can become unmaneuverable and even totally lost. The maneuverability of ships that carry hazardous or very environmentally deleterious goods must in particular be guaranteed in emergencies.
The simplest solution is to install an accessory drive mechanism in the propeller shaft. Such accessory drive mechanisms include a motor that drives the shaft or propeller by way of a transmission, and the shaft must be uncoupled from the defective main drive mechanism by a separating mechanism. The thrust provided by such accessory or emergency drive mechanisms for application to the hull of the ship is much weaker than that of a main drive mechanism.
Such a approach can be inferred from the Lohmann & Stolterfoht prospectus, FLESALUS RDE 75153, published December 1993 and describing a "flexible" emergency ship-propulsion system. A pneumatically powered cogged clutch separates both the drive mechanism and the propeller, neither of which is illustrated. The coupling simultaneously acts as a bearing in transmitting the propeller's thrust. There is a drawback to this approach, however, in that there is play in the clutch and the resulting vibrations are difficult to deal with. Another drawback is that the clutch and bearing together require a special base to introduce the forces into the hull.
Known from Swiss Patent 173 968 is a combination ship-propulsion system wherein for example a piston device and a turbine can be engaged with a propeller shaft. To prevent damage to the drive mechanism if the shaft suddenly stops, a safety-ensurance clutch between the transmission and the propeller entirely disengages the shaft form the rest of the mechanism when a specified angular momentum is exceeded.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is accordingly a ship-propulsion system that has a drive mechanism and a directly driven propeller shaft and an accessory drive mechanism for auxiliary or emergency operation with a weaker propeller thrust that can be introduced into the hull without play on the part of the components of the separating mechanism, eliminating the need for a separate base.
The core of the present invention is the combination of an in-itself known non-play clutch (cf. L&S Mitteilung 84, September/1982) and a non-play auxiliary thrust bearing that can be engaged when the ship is in auxiliary or emergency operation. The auxiliary thrust bearing transmits the diminished propeller thrust to another thrust bearing accommodated in the drive mechanism. The clutch is preferably an in-itself known hydraulic conical bolt-actuated clutch. The auxiliary thrust bearing is specifically designed to prevent the clutch's components from being affected by the propeller thrust, ensuring non-play positioning of all parts.
The advantage of the present invention is that angular momentum is transmitted definitely independent of thrust, whereby in both cases the absolute freedom from play of the individual components is of primary significance due to the wide fluctuations in angular momentum and thrust typical of conventional drive mechanisms with two-stroke engines. Another advantage of the present invention is that, since the clutch does not require a separate base, both thrust bearings, the one in the drive mechanism and the auxiliary thrust bearing coupled to the clutch, cannot affect each other.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the auxiliary thrust bearing in accordance with the present invention will now be specified with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal axial section through a ship-propulsion system in accordance with the present invention and
FIG. 2 is a section along the line A--A in FIG. 1.


DESCRIPT

REFERENCES:
patent: 2556678 (1951-03-01), Crafts
patent: 3930379 (1976-01-01), Hiersig et al.
patent: 3962933 (1976-06-01), Wedler
patent: 4406633 (1983-09-01), Hamm
patent: 5616056 (1997-04-01), Meissner
Marine Engineers Review, pp. 35-36 XP 002028953 "Emergency propulsion availability exploiting the gensets and electric motor", Jun. 1993.

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