Marine propulsion and generator systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12043359-B2
Application number	US-202117540873-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2021
Priority date	Dec 2, 2021
Publication date	Jul 23, 2024
Grant date	Jul 23, 2024

Abstract

A marine propulsion system for marine vessel includes at least one battery configured to power a vessel load, a plurality of marine drives, and a control system. Each of the plurality of marine drives includes an engine, an alternator driven by the engine to charge the battery, and a propulsor selectively driven by the engine to propel the marine vessel. Each of the plurality of marine drives is configured to operate in a propulsion mode in which the engine is operated to rotate the propulsor to propel the marine vessel in a generator mode in which the engine is operated to charge the battery while the marine vessel remains stationary. The control system is configured to select a subset of the plurality of marine drives and then to operate the subset of marine drives in the generator mode to charge the battery while the marine vessel remains stationary.

First claim

We claim:

1. A marine propulsion system for a marine vessel, comprising:
at least one at least one battery configured to power a vessel load;
a plurality of marine drives, each marine drive comprising:
an engine effectuating rotation;
an alternator having a rotor that is driven into rotation by the engine to output a charge current to the at least one battery;
a propulsor selectively driven into rotation by the engine to propel the marine vessel;

wherein each of the plurality of marine drives is configured to operate in a propulsion mode in which the engine is operated to rotate the propulsor to propel the marine vessel and in a generator mode in which the engine is operated to charge the at least one battery while the propulsor is not engaged to propel the marine vessel;
a control system configured to:
identify at least one available marine drive from the plurality of marine drives, wherein each available marine drive is identified as available for operation in the generator mode upon detection of a generator mode condition based on at least one of a fault status, a trim position, and a fuel level;
select a subset of the plurality of marine drives from the at least one available marine drive to be operated in the generator mode using a subset selection strategy; and
operate the subset of marine drives in the generator mode to charge the at least one battery while the marine vessel remains stationary.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the subset selection strategy is based on a number of running hours for each of the plurality of marine drives.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured to track a number of generator hours for each of the plurality of marine drives; and
wherein the subset selection strategy is based on the number of generator hours.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the subset selection strategy is based on the fuel level for each of the marine drives.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the subset selection strategy is based on an alternation pattern.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine a number of drives to include in the subset of marine drives based on a current vessel load amount.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the selected subset of the plurality of marine drives includes one marine drive when the current vessel load amount is less than a load threshold and includes two marine drives when the load amount exceeds the load threshold.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein operating each of the subset of marine drives in the propulsion mode includes operating the engine in accordance with a set of propulsion parameters, and operating each of the marine drives in the generator mode includes operating the engine in accordance with a set of generator parameters, wherein the set of generator parameters includes a different spark fuel map and/or a different cylinder activation pattern from the set of propulsion parameters.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein operating each of the marine drives in the generator mode includes locking a shift system of the marine drive in a neutral position so that the propulsor is not engaged.

10. A method of operating a marine propulsion system for a marine vessel, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of marine drives, each configured to operate in a propulsion mode in which an engine is operated to rotate a propulsor to propel the marine vessel and in a generator mode in which the engine is operated to charge an at least one battery while the marine vessel remains stationary;
detecting a generator mode condition triggering operation in the generator mode;
identifying at least one available marine drive from the plurality of marine drives, wherein each available marine drive is identified as available for operation in the generator mode upon detecting the generator mode condition based on at least one of a fault status, a trim position, and a fuel level,
selecting a subset of the plurality of marine drives from the at least one available marine drive to be operated in the generator mode using a subset selection strategy; and
operating the subset of marine drives in the generator mode to charge the at least one battery while the marine vessel remains stationary.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein operating each of the subset of marine drives in the propulsion mode includes operating the engine in accordance with a set of propulsion parameters, and operating each of the marine drives in the generator mode includes operating the engine in accordance with a set of generator parameters, wherein the set of generator parameters includes a different spark fuel map and/or a different cylinder activation pattern from the set of propulsion parameters.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the subset selection strategy is based on a number of running hours for each of the plurality of marine drives.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising tracking a number of generator hours for each of the plurality of marine drives and wherein the subset selection strategy is based on the number of generator hours for each of the plurality of marine drives.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the subset selection strategy is based on the fuel level associated with each of the marine drives.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the subset selection strategy is based on an alternation pattern.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining a number of drives to include in the subset based on a current vessel load amount.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising selecting one marine drive when the current vessel load amount is less than a load threshold and selecting two marine drives when the current vessel load amount exceeds the load threshold.

18. The system of claim 2 , wherein the number of running hours for each of the plurality of marine drives comprises a number of fractional running hours, each fractional running hour comprising an hour of operation of the marine drive in the generator mode counted as a fraction of an hour of operation of the marine drive in the propulsion mode.

Assignees

• Brunswick Corp

Inventors

• Gonring Steven J
• Lemancik Michael J
• Arbuckle Jason S

Classifications

• F02D41/0087

  Selective cylinder activation, i.e. partial cylinder operation (deceleration cut-off F02D41/123) · CPC title

• B63H2021/205

  the second power unit being of the internal combustion engine type, or the like, e.g. a Diesel engine · CPC title

• B63H21/17

  by electric motor · CPC title

• B63H2020/003

  Arrangements of two, or more outboard propulsion units · CPC title

• B63H20/00

  Outboard propulsion units, e.g. outboard motors or Z-drives; Arrangements thereof on vessels · CPC title