Marine drive unit comprising a closed cooling circuit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12515776-B2
Application number	US-202218052014-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2022
Priority date	Nov 11, 2021
Publication date	Jan 6, 2026
Grant date	Jan 6, 2026

Abstract

A marine drive unit for a boat includes a cooling compartment arranged in a drive unit body. The cooling compartment forms part of a closed cooling circuit, where the cooling circuit is arranged to cool propulsion components of the boat, where the cooling compartment comprises an inlet opening, an inlet channel, a lower end, an outlet channel and an outlet opening, where the inlet channel forms a first flow path for a cooling fluid from the inlet opening to the lower end of the cooling compartment. The outlet channel forms a second flow path for the cooling fluid from the lower end of the cooling compartment to the outlet opening, thereby allowing heat from the cooling fluid to dissipate through the outer wall of the drive unit.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A drive unit for a marine boat comprising a closed cooling compartment arranged in a drive unit body, where the closed cooling compartment forms part of a closed cooling circuit, where the closed cooling circuit is arranged to cool propulsion components of the marine boat, where the closed cooling compartment comprises an inlet opening, an inlet channel, a lower end, an outlet channel and an outlet opening, where the inlet channel forms a first flow path for a cooling fluid from the inlet opening to the lower end of the closed cooling compartment, and where the outlet channel forms a second flow path for the cooling fluid from the lower end of the closed cooling compartment to the outlet opening, thereby allowing heat from the cooling fluid to dissipate through an outer wall of the drive unit, wherein the inlet channel is formed by a separate tube extending from the inlet opening to the lower end of the closed cooling compartment, arranged to feed a cooling liquid to the lower end of the closed cooling compartment.

2 . The drive unit according to claim 1 , wherein the inlet channel is a single channel extending from the inlet opening to the lower end of the closed cooling compartment, and the outlet channel is a single channel extending from the lower end of the closed cooling compartment to the outlet opening.

3 . The drive unit according to claim 1 , wherein an inner side of the outer wall is provided with protruding elements.

4 . The drive unit according to claim 3 , wherein the protruding elements are longitudinal fins.

5 . The drive unit according to claim 3 , wherein the protruding elements are flow-distributing protrusions.

6 . The drive unit according to claim 1 , wherein the propulsion components include an electric motor, a battery and/or an electronic control unit.

7 . The drive unit according to claim 1 , wherein the drive unit is fixedly attached to the hull.

8 . A method for cooling electric propulsion components of a marine boat, where the marine boat comprises at least one drive unit arranged on the bottom of the boat, where the drive unit comprises a closed cooling compartment comprising a separate tube extending from the inlet opening to the lower end of the closed cooling compartment, arranged to feed a cooling liquid to the lower end of the closed cooling compartment, comprising the following steps:
feeding a cooling liquid through the propulsion components, thereby cooling the propulsion components, feeding the cooling liquid through an inlet opening, and downwards through the inlet channel of the closed cooling compartment to a lower end of the closed cooling compartment, feeding the cooling liquid upwards through the outlet channel of the closed cooling compartment to an outlet opening, thereby dissipating heat from the cooling liquid to water surrounding the drive unit, and feeding the cooling liquid back to the propulsion components.

9 . A boat, comprising the marine drive unit according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Volvo Penta Corp

Inventors

• Rydström Anders
• Johansson Stig
• Carlsson Lars-Gunnar
• Johansson Stefan

Classifications

• F16H57/042

  Guidance of lubricant · CPC title

• B63H21/305

  with passive vibration damping · CPC title

• B63H2023/0283

  using gears having orbital motion · CPC title

• B63H23/04

  the main transmitting element, e.g. shaft, being substantially vertical · CPC title

• B63H23/02

  with mechanical gearing · CPC title