DRIVE ASSEMBLY FOR A THRUSTER DRIVE AND THRUSTER DRIVE

Abstract

A drive assembly for a thruster drive. The drive assembly has a drive shaft that can be connected to a drive motor, an upper deflection gear mechanism, a connecting shaft, a lower deflection gear mechanism and a propeller shaft that can be driven by the lower deflection gear mechanism. The connecting shaft connects the upper deflection gear mechanism to the lower deflection gear mechanism. The connecting shaft is connected to the upper deflection gear mechanism by a first shaft-hub connection and to the lower deflection gear mechanism by a second shaft-hub connection. The first shaft-hub connection has a first hub have a first internal tooth set, which is connected in a form-fitting manner to a first external tooth set of the connecting shaft and to an external tooth set of an output shaft of the upper deflection gear mechanism. At least one of the external tooth sets has a crowning.

Claims

1-9. (canceled)

10. A drive assembly for a thruster drive (100), the drive assembly (50) comprising: a driveshaft (3) that is connectable to a drive motor (1), an upper deflection gearset (4), a connecting shaft (6), a lower deflection gearset (8), and a propeller shaft (9) that is drivable by the lower deflection gearset (8), the connecting shaft (6) connecting the upper deflection gearset (4) to the lower deflection gearset (8), the connecting shaft (6) being connected by a first shaft-hub connection (10) to the upper deflection gearset (4), the connecting shaft (6) being connected by a second shaft-hub connection (20) to the lower deflection gearset (8), the first shaft-hub connection (10) comprising a first hub (11) with a first set of internal teeth (12), the first set of internal teeth (12) being connected with interlock to a first set of external teeth (13) of the connecting shaft (6) and to an other set of external teeth (14) of an output shaft (5) of the upper deflection gearset (4), at least one of the first and the other sets of external teeth (13, 14) have crowning, the first and the other sets of external teeth (13, 14) being arranged directly at shaft ends of the output shaft (5) and the connecting shaft (6), at least one of the first hub (11) and the second hub (21) are, in each case, in a form of an integral, substantially tube-shaped body, and respective outer diameters of the first and the other sets of external teeth (13, 14) are smaller than or equal to an outer diameter of the connecting shaft (6). 42) are smaller than or equal to an outer diameter of the connecting shaft (6).

11. The drive assembly according to claim 10, wherein the second shaft-hub connection (20) comprises a second hub (21) with a second set of internal teeth (22) such that the second set of internal teeth (22) are connected with interlock to a second set of external teeth (23) of the connecting shaft (5) and to an other set of external teeth (24) of an input shaft (7) of the lower deflection gearset (8), and at least one of the second and the other sets of external teeth (23, 24) has crowning.

12. The drive assembly according to claim 10, wherein in each case the first and the other sets of external teeth (13, 14, 23, 24, 42) in the first shaft-hub connection (10) and in the second shaft-hub connection (20) have crowning.

13. The drive assembly according to claim 10, wherein the upper deflection gearset (4) comprises an upper driving bevel gear (15) and an upper driven bevel gear (16), and the output shaft (5) of the upper deflection gearset (4) is made integrally with the upper driven bevel gear (16).

14. The drive assembly according to claim 10, wherein the lower deflection gearset (8) comprises a lower driving bevel gear (25) and a lower driven bevel gear (26), and the input shaft (7) of the lower deflection gearset (8) is made integrally with the lower driving bevel gear (25).

15. The thruster drive with a drive assembly (50, 51) according to claim 10, wherein the lower deflection gearset (8) is arranged in a lower transmission housing (27) which, together with the propeller shaft (9), is rotatable about a vertical axis (30).

16. The thruster drive according to claim 16, wherein the lower transmission housing (27) is attached to a control tube (31), which is rotatable about the vertical axis (30), and the first shaft-hub connection (10) and the second shaft-hub connection (20) are accommodated inside the control tube (31).

17. The drive assembly for a thruster drive (100), the drive assembly (50) comprising: a vertically arranged drive motor (41), a vertically arranged driveshaft (40), a connecting shaft (6), a lower deflection gearset (8), and a propeller shaft (9) that is drivable by the lower deflection gearset (8), the connecting shaft (6) connecting the vertically arranged driveshaft (40) to the lower deflection gearset (8), the connecting shaft (6) being connected to the vertically arranged driveshaft (40) by a first shaft-hub connection (10), the connecting shaft (6) being connected to the lower deflection gearset (8) by a second shaft-hub connection (20), the first shaft-hub connection (10) comprising a first hub (11) with a first set of internal teeth (12), the first set of internal teeth (12) being connected with interlock to a first set of external teeth (13) of the connecting shaft (6) and to an other set of external teeth (42) of the vertically arranged driveshaft (40), and at least one of the first and the other sets of external teeth (13, 42) has crowning, the first and the other sets of external teeth (13, 42) being arranged directly at shaft ends of the vertically arranged driveshaft (40) and the connecting shaft (6), at least one of the first hub (11) and the second hub (21) are in a form of an integral, substantially tube-shaped body, and respective outer diameters of the first and the other sets of external teeth (13, 42) are smaller than or equal to an outer diameter of the connecting shaft (6).

18. The drive assembly according to claim 10, wherein the second shaft-hub connection (20) comprises a second hub (21) with a second set of internal teeth (22) such that the second set of internal teeth (22) are connected with interlock to a second set of external teeth (23) of the connecting shaft (5) and to an other set of external teeth (24) of an input shaft (7) of the lower deflection gearset (8), and at least one of the second and the other sets of external teeth (23, 24) has crowning.

19. The drive assembly according to claim 10, wherein in each case the first and the other sets of external teeth (13, 14, 23, 24, 42) in the first shaft-hub connection (10) and in the second shaft-hub connection (20) have crowning.

20. The drive assembly according to claim 10, wherein the upper deflection gearset (4) comprises an upper driving bevel gear (15) and an upper driven bevel gear (16), and the output shaft (5) of the upper deflection gearset (4) is made integrally with the upper driven bevel gear (16).

21. The drive assembly according to claim 10, wherein the lower deflection gearset (8) comprises a lower driving bevel gear (25) and a lower driven bevel gear (26), and the input shaft (7) of the lower deflection gearset (8) is made integrally with the lower driving bevel gear (25).

22. The thruster drive with a drive assembly (50, 51) according to claim 10, wherein the lower deflection gearset (8) is arranged in a lower transmission housing (27) which, together with the propeller shaft (9), is rotatable about a vertical axis (30).

23. The thruster drive according to claim 16, wherein the lower transmission housing (27) is attached to a control tube (31), which is rotatable about the vertical axis (30), and the first shaft-hub connection (10) and the second shaft-hub connection (20) are accommodated inside the control tube (31).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Below, the invention and further advantageous features are explained in greater detail with reference to example embodiments illustrated in the attached figures, which show:

[0030] FIG. 1: A thruster drive with a first embodiment of a drive assembly, represented schematically;

[0031] FIG. 2: A simplified representation of a first embodiment of the drive assembly for a thruster drive, showing an alignment error in the form of an angle deviation;

[0032] FIG. 3: The simply represented drive assembly of FIG. 2, showing an alignment error in the form of a deviation from coaxiality;

[0033] FIG. 4: A first embodiment of the drive assembly according to the invention, represented schematically; and

[0034] FIG. 5: A second embodiment of the drive assembly according to the invention, represented schematically.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] The thruster drive 100 represented in FIG. 1 comprises a drive motor 1 which drives a driveshaft 3 by way of a cardan shaft 2. Instead of the cardan shaft 2, in other embodiments the motor shaft of the drive motor 1 can also be connected directly to the driveshaft 3, via a solid shaft or via a shiftable clutch.

[0036] The driveshaft 3 is part of an upper deflection gearset 4, which is fixed in a boat's hull 32. A connection shaft 6 connects the upper deflection gearset 4 to a lower deflection gearset 8, which is arranged underneath the boat's hull 32 and which can pivot relative to the boat's hull 32. By way of the lower deflection gearset 8, a propeller shaft 9 with the propeller 33 fixed thereto can be driven, whereby the associated boat can be driven in the water. By pivoting the lower deflection gearset 8 with the propeller shaft 9 the thrust direction of the propeller 33 and hence the direction of movement of the boat can be changed.

[0037] The upper deflection gearset 4 is arranged in an upper transmission housing 17. The upper transmission housing 17 is fixed in the hull 32 of the boat. The upper deflection gearset 4 is in the form of a bevel gear assembly. It comprises an upper, driving bevel gear 15 and an upper, driven bevel gear 16, which are engaged with one another. The upper driving bevel gear 15 is arranged to rotate about a horizontal axis and is connected to the driveshaft 3 in a rotationally fixed manner. The upper driving bevel gear 15 and the driveshaft 3 can also be made integrally. The upper driven bevel gear 16 is arranged to rotate about the vertical axis 30 and is connected rotationally fixed to an output shaft 5 of the upper deflection gearset 4. The output shaft 5 of the upper deflection gearset 4 is connected to the upper end of the connecting shaft 6 by way of a first shaft-hub connection 10.

[0038] The lower end of the connecting shaft 6 is connected to an input shaft 7 of the lower deflection gearset 8 by way of a second shaft-hub connection 20. The lower deflection gearset 8 as well is in the form of a bevel gear assembly. It comprises a lower, driving bevel gear 25 and a lower, driven bevel gear 26, which are engaged with one another. In the desired basic arrangement the lower driving bevel gear 25 is arranged to rotate about the vertical axis 30 and is connected rotationally fixed to the input shaft 7 of the lower deflection gearset 8. The lower driving bevel gear 25 and the input shaft 7 can also be made integrally. The lower driven bevel gear 26 is arranged to rotate together with the propeller shaft 9 about the horizontally orientated propeller rotational axis 35.

[0039] FIG. 2 shows a very simplified representation of a drive assembly 50 for a thruster drive in a boat. In this representation an alignment error in the form of an angle deviation X is shown, which can be compensated for with the help of the present invention. The angle deviation X is produced by a rotation of the lower deflection gearset 8 about a horizontal axis that intersects the propeller rotational axis 35 perpendicularly. With the lower deflection gearset 8, a lower rotational axis 34 is necessarily rotated, about which axis the input shaft 7 of the lower deflection gearset 8 rotates. This produces the angle deviation X of the lower rotational axis 34 relative to the vertical axis 30. The vertical axis 30 is also the rotational axis of the output shaft 5 of the upper deflection gearset 4 fixed in the hull 32 of the boat. The angle deviation X can amount to several degrees and is caused, for example, by component tolerances and/or by displacement under load.

[0040] FIG. 3 also shows the greatly simplified representation of the drive assembly 50 for a thruster drive in a boat. In this representation an alignment error in the form of a coaxiality deviation Y is shown, which can also be compensated for with the help of the present invention. The coaxiality deviation Y is produced by displacement of the lower deflection gearset 8 in the direction of the propeller rotational axis 35. With the lower deflection gearset 8, the lower rotational axis 34 is necessarily displaced and the coaxiality deviation Y is produced between the lower rotational axis 34 and the vertical axis 30. In other words, the input shaft 7 of the lower deflection gearset 8 is displaced relative to the output shaft 5 of the upper deflection gearset 4 fixed in the hull 32 of the boat. By virtue of the external teeth 13, 14, 23, 24 in the first and/or the second shaft-hub connection 10 or 20 respectively, such a coaxiality deviation Y too can be compensated for. The coaxiality deviation Y can amount to several millimeters and can also be caused by component tolerances and/or by displacement under load.

[0041] When the thruster drive 100 is in operation, the two alignment errors can even occur together so that an angle deviation X and a coaxiality deviation Y co-exist. These combined alignment errors too can be compensated for up to a point with the help of the present invention. In that way stresses in the components can be minimized and the life of the drive assembly can be made longer.

[0042] Finally, FIG. 4 shows a drive assembly 50 according to the invention with the upper deflection gearset 4, the lower deflection gearset 8 and with the connecting shaft 6 that connects the two deflection gearsets 4, 8. The propeller shaft 9 is driven by the lower deflection gearset 8 and rotates with the propeller 33 about the propeller rotational axis 35 during operation. The upper and lower deflection gearsets 4, 8 are both in the form of bevel gear assemblies. They each comprise a driving bevel gear 15 or 25 respectively, and a driven bevel gear 16 or 26 respectively, which in each case engage with one another.

[0043] The connecting shaft 6 is connected by means of the first shaft-hub connection 10 to the upper deflection gearset 4 and by means of the lower shaft-hub connection 20 to the lower deflection gearset 8. For that purpose the connecting shaft 6 has at its upper end a first set of external teeth 13 and at its lower end a second set of external teeth 23. The first shaft-hub connection 10 comprises a first hub 11 with a first set of internal teeth 12. The first set of internal teeth 12 are connected with interlock to the first external teeth 13 of the connecting shaft 6 and to the external teeth 14 of an output shaft 5 of the upper deflection gearset 4. In this example both of the external tooth sets 13 and 14 have crowning.

[0044] The second shaft-hub connection 20 comprises a second hub 21 with a second set of internal teeth 22. The second set of internal teeth 22 are connected with interlock to the second set of external teeth 23 of the connecting shaft 6 and to the external teeth 24 of an input shaft 7 of the lower deflection gearset 8. In this example both of the external teeth sets 23 and 24 have crowning. Thus, in this example embodiment it is provided that in each case the two respective external tooth sets 13, 14, 23 and 24 in the first and second shaft-hub connections 10 and 20 have crowning, in order to be able to compensate for alignment errors as large as possible.

[0045] The first hub 11 and the second hub 12 are in both cases integral, tube-shaped bodies with internal teeth 12 or 22 respectively. The two hubs 11 and 12 are the only elements which, in addition to the shaft ends to be connected, form the two shaft-hub connections 10 and 20. An important aspect of the present invention is therefore the simple and compact structure of the drive assembly. Thanks to that, advantageous design freedoms are obtained in the design of the thruster drive.

[0046] The lower transmission housing 27 is attached to a control tube 31 which can rotate about the vertical axis 30 in order to thereby change the travel direction of the boat. To rotate the control tube 31, a control device (not shown here) is provided, which for example can be arranged next to the upper deflection gearset 4 in the hull 32 of the boat.

[0047] The compact design of the first and second shaft-hub connections 10 and 20 makes it possible to accommodate the two shaft-hub connections 10 and 20 inside the control tube 31, even if the control tube 31 has a comparatively small diameter. This enables a particularly slender and streamlined design of the underwater elements of the thruster drive, which improves the handling characteristics of the boat in water.

[0048] FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of a drive assembly 51. This differs from the embodiments 50 shown above only in the upper area. All the other components are the same and need not therefore be described again. In this embodiment no upper deflection gearset is provided. Instead, the drive assembly 51 comprises a vertically arranged drive motor 41 and a vertically arranged driveshaft 40, which is connected to the lower deflection gearset 8 by way of the connecting shaft 6. The vertically arranged driveshaft 40 is formed by the motor shaft of the drive motor 41, which is an electric motor. The connecting shaft 6 is connected by means of the first shaft-hub connection 10 to the vertical driveshaft 40 and by means of the second shaft-hub connection 20 to the lower deflection gearset 8. In this case the first shaft-hub connection 10 comprises a first hub 11 with first internal teeth 12, wherein the first internal teeth 12 are connected with interlock to the first external teeth 13 of the connecting shaft 6 and to the external teeth 42 of the vertically arranged driveshaft 40.

[0049] In this case the first external teeth 13 of the connecting shaft 6 have crowning, so that here too alignment errors between the components of the drive assembly can be compensated as already described above.

INDEXES

[0050] 1 Drive motor [0051] 2 Cardan shaft [0052] 3 Driveshaft [0053] 4 Upper deflection gearset [0054] 5 Output shaft [0055] 6 Connecting shaft [0056] 7 Input shaft [0057] 8 Lower deflection gearset [0058] 9 Propeller shaft [0059] 10 First shaft-hub connection [0060] 11 First hub [0061] 12 First set of internal teeth [0062] 13 First set of external teeth [0063] 14 External teeth [0064] 15 Upper driving bevel gear [0065] 16 Upper driven bevel gear [0066] 17 Upper transmission housing [0067] 20 Second shaft-hub connection [0068] 21 Second hub [0069] 22 Second set of internal teeth [0070] 23 Second set of external teeth [0071] 24 External teeth [0072] 25 Lower driving bevel gear [0073] 26 Lower driven bevel gear [0074] 27 Lower transmission housing [0075] 30 Vertical axis [0076] 31 Control tube [0077] 32 Hull of the boat [0078] 33 Propeller [0079] 34 Lower rotational axis [0080] 35 Propeller rotational axis [0081] 40 Vertically arranged driveshaft [0082] 41 Vertically arranged drive motor [0083] 42 External teeth [0084] 50 Drive assembly [0085] 51 Drive assembly [0086] 100 Thruster drive