US 12,351,282 B1
Gyroscopic boat roll stabilizer with bearing cooling
Brian John Sohacki, Livonia, MI (US); Aaron P. Powers, Canton, MI (US); and Grady F. Smith, Greenville, NC (US)
Assigned to WAVETAMER LLC, Greenville, NC (US)
Filed by WaveTamer LLC, Greenville, NC (US)
Filed on Mar. 19, 2025, as Appl. No. 19/083,828.
Application 19/083,828 is a continuation of application No. 18/406,574, filed on Jan. 8, 2024, granted, now 12,269,564.
Application 18/406,574 is a continuation of application No. 18/102,456, filed on Jan. 27, 2023, granted, now 11,873,064, issued on Jan. 16, 2024.
Application 18/102,456 is a continuation of application No. 17/184,988, filed on Feb. 25, 2021, granted, now 11,591,052, issued on Feb. 28, 2023.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/070,530, filed on Aug. 26, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/984,013, filed on Mar. 2, 2020.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B63B 39/04 (2006.01); B63J 3/04 (2006.01); F16C 37/00 (2006.01)
CPC B63B 39/04 (2013.01) [B63J 3/04 (2013.01); F16C 37/007 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A gyroscopic roll stabilizer for a boat, the gyroscopic roll stabilizer comprising:
an enclosure mounted to a gimbal for rotation about a gimbal axis and configured to maintain a below-ambient pressure;
a flywheel assembly including a flywheel and a flywheel shaft;
a bearing for rotatably mounting the flywheel assembly inside the enclosure for rotation about a flywheel axis, the bearing including an inner race and an outer race;
a motor operative to rotate the flywheel assembly;
a bearing cooling circuit for recirculating a cooling fluid and configured to remove heat from both the inner race and outer race;
a first heat flow path to transfer heat from the inner race to the cooling fluid in the bearing cooling circuit; and
a second heat flow path to transfer heat from the outer race to the cooling fluid in the bearing cooling circuit.