Ship propulsion system

Abstract

A ship propulsion system comprising a mechanism to convert mechanical power into a swinging, paddle-like action of a fin-like plate, located at the exterior of a vessel, thereby mimicking the propulsion made by the tail of a fish.

1 . A Ship Propulsion System comprising a vessel  1  having one or more engines  2  with a rotary output shaft  3  placed inside the hull  4  of said vessel, a movable first plate  5  having a fixed rod end  6  being suitably fastened to the rear of the vessel, an first arm  7  fastened to the rotating output shaft  3  on one end and, by means of linkage pin  8 , to a beam  9  on the other end, said beam extending to the exterior of said hull and connecting there to one end of a second arm  10  whose other end is fixedly connected to the shaft  6  attached to said first plate  5  whereby each rotation of the engine shaft  3  will cause a back-and-forth swinging motion of said plate  5 . 
     
     
         2 . A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 1 , wherein said first plate  5  having a movable second plate  11  attached to its outer extremity. 
     
     
         3 . A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 1 , wherein the angular excursion α of the first plate  5  is limited to between 0 and 50 degrees from the centerline of said vessel in either direction. 
     
     
         4 . A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 2 , wherein the angular excursion β of the second plate  11  in respect to the longitudinal axis of said first plate  5  is limited to between 0 and 50 degrees in either direction. 
     
     
         5 . A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 1 , wherein the distance L between the center of said rotating shaft  3  and the center of said linkage pin  8  of said beam  9  can be varied. 
     
     
         6 . A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 1 , wherein said beam  9  is slotted  12  allowing the second arm  10  to move a pre-determined distance to temporarily stop the swinging motion of said plate  5  even while the output shaft  3  of the engine  2  is still rotating. 
     
     
         7 . A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 1 , wherein said first arm  7  is partly slotted allowing the linkage pin  8  of said beam  9  to be moved towards or away from the rotating shaft  3  in order to vary the amount of excursion of the beam  9  for each rotation of said shaft  3 . 
     
     
         8 . A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 7 , wherein the means to vary the distance between the linkage pin and said rotary shaft comprise two angularly interconnected links  14 , wherein one end of one of the links  14  is slidingly connected to said rotating shaft  3 , while the end of the second link  15  is connected to the linkage pin  8  of said beam  9 . 
     
     
         9 . A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 2 , wherein pin  6  and plates  5  and  11  are supported by a bracket  18  being suitably attached to the rear of the vessel.  10 , A Ship Propulsion System as in  claim 4 , wherein the plate  11  has attached thereto a stop  16 , able to interact with plate  5 .