Electric marine propulsion system and power control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12570385-B2
Application number	US-202218054804-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2022
Priority date	Nov 11, 2022
Publication date	Mar 10, 2026
Grant date	Mar 10, 2026

Abstract

A marine propulsion system includes a marine drive having an electric motor powerhead, at least one marine battery, at least a first connection cable having a connector configured to removably connect to a drive port on a housing of the marine drive, and an interlock circuit. The interlock circuit is configured to provide a completed circuit when the at least one battery and the marine drive are connected via at least the first connection cable, wherein the interlock circuit is independent from a power circuit delivering power from the at least one marine battery to the marine drive. The at least one battery is configured to identify whether the interlock circuit is completed and to control an internal disconnect to connect to the power circuit when the interlock circuit is completed and to disconnect from the power circuit when the interlock circuit is opened.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A marine propulsion system comprising:
a marine drive having an electric motor powerhead; at least one marine battery; at least a first connection cable having a connector configured to removably connect to a drive port on a housing of the marine drive to removably connect a power circuit delivering power from the at least one marine battery to the marine drive; an interlock circuit configured to become a completed circuit when the at least one marine battery and the marine drive are connected via the at least the first connection cable, wherein the interlock circuit is not electrically connected to the power circuit delivering power from the at least one marine battery to the marine drive; and wherein the at least one marine battery is configured to identify whether the interlock circuit is completed and to control an internal disconnect to connect to the power circuit when the interlock circuit is completed and to disconnect from the power circuit when the interlock circuit is opened.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first connection cable is configured to removably connect between the drive port on the marine drive and a battery port on a housing of the at least one marine battery to connect the power circuit and the interlock circuit between the marine drive and the at least one marine battery.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the connector includes two interlock circuit terminals and two power circuit terminals.

4 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a switch box removably connectable to the marine drive and to each of at least two marine batteries; and
wherein the interlock circuit is configured to provide the completed circuit when at least one of the at least two marine batteries and the marine drive are connected to the marine drive through the switch box.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the switch box is configured to deliver power from each of the at least two marine batteries in parallel, and wherein a subset of the at least two marine batteries can be disconnected from the switch box without disconnecting the power circuit or opening the interlock circuit to the remaining marine batteries.

6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the switch box comprises a user-controlled switch operable by a user to connect and disconnect the power circuit and/or the interlock circuit.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the user-controlled switch is configured to connect and disconnect each of the power circuit and the interlock circuit, simultaneously.

8 . The system of claim 4 , further comprising at least three connection cables, wherein the first connection cable is configured to connect the power circuit and the interlock circuit from the switch box to the marine drive, and including a second connection cable configured to connect the power circuit and the interlock circuit from the switch box to a first battery of the at least two marine batteries and a third connection cable configured to connect the power circuit and the interlock circuit from the switch box to a second battery of the at least two marine batteries;
wherein each connection cable includes a first connector configured to connect to the switch box and a second connector configured to connect to one of the marine drive, the first battery, and the second battery.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein each connector includes two interlock circuit terminals and two power circuit terminals.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein each of the at least two marine batteries is configured to measure a resistance of the interlock circuit across the two interlock circuit terminals in the second connector connected thereto, and wherein identifying whether the interlock circuit is completed includes determining whether the resistance of the interlock circuit is less than a predetermined low resistance.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein each of the switch box and the at least two marine batteries is portable such that it is configured to be disconnected from the system by disconnecting each of the first connection cable, second connection cable, and third connection cable, and carried on and off of a marine vessel.

12 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the switch box is further configured to connect to a battery charger and to deliver a charge current to each of the at least two marine batteries when the battery charger is connected.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the system further includes the battery charger configured to connect to the interlock circuit at the switch box and to connect a predefined charge indicator resistance to the interlock circuit; and
wherein each of the at least two marine batteries is configured measure a resistance of the interlock circuit and, if the measured resistance is within a threshold range including the predefined charge indicator resistance, switch to a charging mode to receive the charge current from the battery charger.

14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one marine battery is configured to measure a resistance of the interlock circuit, and wherein identifying whether the interlock circuit is completed at the marine drive includes determining whether the resistance of the interlock circuit is less than a predetermined low resistance.

15 . A power control system for controlling a power circuit of an electric marine propulsion system, wherein the power circuit delivers power from at least one marine battery to a marine drive, the power control system comprising:
an interlock circuit comprising:
a drive circuit portion connecting to the marine drive;
at least one marine battery circuit portion, each battery circuit portion connecting to a respective one of the at least one marine battery;
wherein the interlock circuit is configured to become a completed circuit that includes the drive circuit portion and the at least one marine battery circuit portion when the marine drive and the at least one marine battery are connected via at least one connection cable delivering the power from the at least one marine battery to the marine drive, wherein the interlock circuit is not electrically connected to the power circuit; and
a battery controller in each of the at least one marine battery configured to identify whether the interlock circuit is completed and to control an internal disconnect to connect to the power circuit when the interlock circuit is completed and to disconnect from the power circuit when the interlock circuit is open.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein each of the at least one marine battery is configured to measure a resistance of the interlock circuit, and wherein each battery controller is configured to identify whether the interlock circuit is completed at the marine drive by determining whether the measured resistance of the interlock circuit is less than a predetermined low resistance.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the interlock circuit is configured to enable connection of a plurality of battery circuit portions each connecting to one of a plurality of marine batteries, and to enable removal of a subset of the plurality of battery circuit portions without opening the interlock circuit for at least one remaining battery circuit portion in the plurality of battery circuit portions.

18 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising a switch box configured to complete the power circuit and the interlock circuit between each of a plurality of marine batteries in parallel and the marine drive so as to power the marine drive, wherein the switch box inc

Assignees

• Brunswick Corp

Inventors

• Taylor Brad E
• Province Alexander G
• Lazarov Aleksandar
• Ritskes Jacob Hendrik

Classifications

• B63H21/21

  Control means for engine or transmission, specially adapted for use on marine vessels · CPC title

• B63H2021/216

  using electric control means · CPC title

• B63H20/007

  Trolling propulsion units (trolling plates for slowing down B63H25/50; dynamo-electric machines of trolling units H02K) · CPC title

• B63H21/17 Primary

  by electric motor · CPC title