US 12,286,201 B2
Fluid machine for underwater vehicle and underwater vehicle
Shigeki Senoo, Tokyo (JP); Shinichi Isobe, Tokyo (JP); Wataru Yamada, Tokyo (JP); Takehiko Nishida, Tokyo (JP); Takuyoshi Yamada, Tokyo (JP); Kazuki Hosono, Tokyo (JP); Yoshitomo Noda, Tokyo (JP); Hiroki Takeda, Tokyo (JP); and Yuichi Sekine, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD., Tokyo (JP)
Filed by MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD., Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Mar. 22, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/700,724.
Claims priority of application No. 2021-061813 (JP), filed on Mar. 31, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0315183 A1, Oct. 6, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B63H 1/28 (2006.01); B63G 8/08 (2006.01); B63H 21/17 (2006.01)
CPC B63H 1/28 (2013.01) [B63G 8/08 (2013.01); B63H 21/17 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A fluid machine for an underwater vehicle comprising:
a shaft portion extending in an axis direction;
a shroud provided to surround the shaft portion and having an inside surface with a diameter decreasing from an upstream side on one side in the axis direction toward a downstream side on another side in the axis direction, a flow path being formed between the shroud and the shaft portion and having a flow path cross-sectional area decreasing toward the downstream side;
a plurality of propellers rotatably provided about an axis between the shaft portion and the shroud and configured to pump a fluid from the upstream side toward the downstream side; and
a plurality of motors provided to correspond to the propellers, respectively, each motor including a rotor having a ring shape fixed to an outer circumference portion of a corresponding one of the propellers and accommodated in the shroud and a stator having a ring shape surrounding the rotor and fixed in the shroud, wherein
the plurality of propellers are spaced apart in the axis direction,
the plurality of motors are provided in an identical number to that of the plurality of propellers,
the plurality of motors include a conical motor and a tubular motor, and
an average outside diameter of the rotor of the conical motor is smaller than an average outside diameter of the rotor of the tubular motor.