Apparatus for determining apparent slip of marine motor vessel propellers, and method for doing same
First Claim
1. In an arrangement for determining apparent propeller slip wherein a motor and propeller are operatively associated with a marine vessel, the marine vessel being moved through the water under the influence of the propeller, the combination ofa vessel speed measuring mechanism attached to said vessel and including a sensor exposed to the water and converting the action of the water movement against said sensor into an electrical signal,a motor speed measuring mechanism operationally associated with said motor for determining the revolutions per minute of said motor when under power, said motor speed measuring mechanism generating an electrical signal corresponding to the revolutions per minute of said motor,a gauge in said vessel including a microprocessor and a visual display,operative connections between said sensor and said microprocessor and between said motor speed measuring mechanism and said microprocessor through which said electrical signals are transmitted to said microprocessor, andsaid microprocessor incorporating an algorithm for processing and converting said electrical signals to said visual display on said gauge corresponding to apparent propeller slip.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for measuring propeller apparent slip includes a main console housing a processor. The system measures vessel speed with a pitot tube, pressure transducer, and the processor; and measures engine speed with an inductive pickup and the processor. The processor is pre-programmed with an algorithm for determining apparent slip. When the engine gear ratio and propeller pitch are manually provided to the processor, the processor computes apparent slip on a substantially real-time basis. The processor routes information to a display screen in the main console, and also to a data logger for permanent data storage.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. In an arrangement for determining apparent propeller slip wherein a motor and propeller are operatively associated with a marine vessel, the marine vessel being moved through the water under the influence of the propeller, the combination of
a vessel speed measuring mechanism attached to said vessel and including a sensor exposed to the water and converting the action of the water movement against said sensor into an electrical signal, a motor speed measuring mechanism operationally associated with said motor for determining the revolutions per minute of said motor when under power, said motor speed measuring mechanism generating an electrical signal corresponding to the revolutions per minute of said motor, a gauge in said vessel including a microprocessor and a visual display, operative connections between said sensor and said microprocessor and between said motor speed measuring mechanism and said microprocessor through which said electrical signals are transmitted to said microprocessor, and said microprocessor incorporating an algorithm for processing and converting said electrical signals to said visual display on said gauge corresponding to apparent propeller slip.
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10. A gauge for providing a visual display of apparent propeller slip, said gauge comprising, in combination,
a microprocessor, a visual display including an input display screen, an input terminal for receiving an electrical signal corresponding to the speed of a water vessel, a second terminal for receiving an electrical signal corresponding to the motor speed of a motor for powering a propeller, and a switch operatively connected to said microprocessor, and said microprocessor incorporating an algorithm converting said first and second signals into a signal corresponding to apparent propeller slip, wherein manual actuation of said switch causes said processor to display one of said input values at a time on said input display screen in serial sequence.
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12. A method for determining the apparent slip of a propeller comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a marine motor vessel having a motor and a propeller, the vessel being moved through water under the influence of the propeller; (b) programming a processor with an algorithm for apparent slip, and manually inputting a value for motor gear ratio and propeller pitch; (c) measuring the vessel speed and generating an electrical signal corresponding to the speed of the vessel; (d) measuring the motor speed and generating an electrical signal corresponding to the revolutions per minute of said motor; (e) transmitting the respective electrical signals to the processor; (f) processing the electrical signals generated by the vessel speed measuring mechanism and the motor speed measuring mechanism into values for vessel speed and motor speed, respectively; (g) processing the values for gear ratio, propeller pitch, vessel speed, and motor speed in accordance with the algorithm to determine apparent slip for the propeller; and (h) displaying the value for apparent slip on a display screen. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification