Water jet propulsion apparatus

Claim 1

A WATER JET PROPULSION UNIT FOR WATERCRAFT COMPRISING A HOUSING HAVING AN INLET END AND AN OUTLET END ADAPTED FOR MOUNTING WITHIN SAID CRAFT AND AN IMPELLER ROTATABLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING; WATER INTAKE MEANS FOR DELIVERING WATER TO SAID IMPELLER INLET COMPRISING A SUBDIVIDED CONDUIT OPEN AT ONE END, VIA THE HULL OF SAID CRAFT, TO AMBIENT WATER AND CONNECTED AT THE OTHER END TO SAID HOUSING INLET IN SUCH A MANNER THAT INFLOW IN SAID CONDUIT TERMINATES AT SAID IMPELLER SUBSTANTIALLY COAXIALLY WITH THE ROTATIONAL AXIS THEREOF; A WATER EXHAUST CONNECTED TO THE OUTLET END OF THE IMPELLER HOUSING AND ADAPTED TO EXTEND OUTWARDLY FROM T HE TRANSOM OF SAID HULL TO PROVIDE DIRECTIONAL THRUST TO SAID CRAFT, SAID EXHAUST INCLUDING AN ELBOW-SHAPED NOZZLE ROTATABLY AND ANGULARLY MOUNTED WITH RESPECT TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID UNIT FOR PASSING REARWARD THRUST SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID LONGITUDINAL AXIS AND FORWARD THRUST BELOW SAID UNIT AND CRAFT, SAID NOZZLE BEING POSITIONED CO-PLANAR WITH OR ABOVE THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID HULL.