US 11,981,411 B1
Marine drives and methods of making marine drives so as to minimize deleterious effects of cavitation
John O. Scherer, III, Oshkosh, WI (US); Roger E. Koepsel, Oshkosh, WI (US); and Andrew C. Gunderson, Fond du Lac, WI (US)
Assigned to Brunswick Corporation, Mettawa, IL (US)
Filed by Brunswick Corporation, Mettawa, IL (US)
Filed on Jun. 1, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/204,624.
Application 18/204,624 is a continuation of application No. 17/880,860, filed on Aug. 4, 2022, granted, now 11,713,102.
Application 17/880,860 is a continuation of application No. 17/000,532, filed on Aug. 24, 2020, granted, now 11,459,074, issued on Oct. 4, 2022.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B63H 20/32 (2006.01); B63H 1/18 (2006.01); B63H 20/26 (2006.01); B63H 1/14 (2006.01)
CPC B63H 20/32 (2013.01) [B63H 1/18 (2013.01); B63H 20/26 (2013.01); B63H 2001/145 (2013.01); B63H 2020/323 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of making a marine drive for propelling a marine vessel in water, the marine drive extending from top to a bottom in a vertical direction, from a front to a rear in a longitudinal direction which is perpendicular to the vertical direction, and from a port side to a starboard side in a lateral direction which is perpendicular to the vertical direction and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the method comprising:
providing a gearcase having a strut;
providing front and rear propellers, located forwardly of the gearcase and configured such rotation of the front and rear propellers propels the marine vessel in the water; and
reducing deleterious effects of cavitation on the gearcase by configuring the gearcase such that when viewed in a plane in the lateral direction and the longitudinal direction, the strut has a leading end portion having a minimum width from the port side to the starboard side in the lateral direction, a body portion with a maximum width from the port side to the starboard side in the lateral direction, and a trailing end portion having a minimum width in the lateral direction from the port side to the starboard side which is greater than said minimum width of the leading end portion and equal to or less than said maximum width of the body portion, wherein as result the marine drive is configured to maintain pressure alongside the gearcase during said rotation of the front and rear propellers and thus reduce said deleterious effects of cavitation.