A thruster assembly for a marine vessel has a propeller unit 14, a motor 10 and a drive shaft 12 linking the motor with the propeller unit to drive the propeller unit. The drive shaft is foldable and defines a drive path between the motor and the propeller unit. A housing 2 locates the propeller unit in a storage configuration. The motor is fixed with respect to the housing, the housing being adapted to be fixed with respect to an opening in a hull 8 of the marine vessel. An actuator (22, Fig 1) is operable to move the propeller unit from the storage configuration to a deployment configuration in a direction from inboard to outboard, the propeller unit being extended from the hull for use in the deployment configuration. The propeller unit is supported by a support assembly 36 which is pivotable relative to the housing about a pivot axis A which is located outboard of the drive path in both the storage and the deployment configuration. Arrangements in which the pivot axis is located in a position downwardly from a flange (4, Fig 9) of the housing and is located outboard of an actuator shaft rotation axis (S, Fig 1) are disclosed.
Retractable thruster
2017-05-24
Patent
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
IPC: | B63H Schiffsantrieb oder Steuerung der Schiffe , MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING |