Drive mechanism for ships or the like comprising a main propeller and an auxiliary mechanism

Claim 1

A drive mechanism for ships or the like, comprising: a main motor; a main propeller or the like driven by said main motor for propelling the ship, said main motor being connected to drive said main propeller and having a speed adjustable to provide the desired main propeller speed and hence ship speed; a maneuvering propeller or the like for lateral maneuvering of the ship; drive means for also driving the maneuvering propeller from the main motor, the drive means comprising (a) an adjustable hydraulic pump driven by said main motor, and (b) a hydraulic motor driven by said adjustable hydraulic pump and connected for driving said maneuvering propeller; a regulating means associated with said drive means for maintaining the maneuvering propeller at a chosen speed independent of main propeller speed, during and despite adjustments of the speed of the main motor in a part of its speed range to make desired changes in main propeller speed, said regulating means comprising (a) an adjusting mechanism for the energy emitted by said adjustable hydraulic pump or absorbed by said hydraulic motor, and (b) a regulator for adjusting said adjusting mechanism to a preselected energy output, said regulator being an actual value-desired value comparison mechanism, wherein the actual value is taken from said maneuvering propeller, and the desired value is adjustable by an advancing mechanism by means of a lever or the like, the actual value being taken from said maneuvering propeller by means of a tachogenerator; said main motor and said maneuvering propeller being sized such that in the higher part of the speed range of said main motor, starting with a main motor speed n S which is approximately 75% of the maximum main motor speed, the sum of the output of said main propeller and the maximum output of said maneuvering propeller permitted by said regulating means exceeds the output available from said main motor; the stroke volume of said pump being dimensioned such that with said lever at maximum deflection, in the range from the main motor idling speed n L up to a main motor speed n 2 of approximately 50% of the main motor maximum speed, the output of the pump is determined by its stroke volume, and above main motor speed n 2 the output of said pump is limited by said regulating means; and first and second clutch means interposed between said main motor and respective ones of said main propeller and said adjustable hydraulic pump, and individually actuable for alternately applying energy from said main motor (1) to said main propeller, (2) to said maneuvering propeller or (3) at low speeds of said main motor, simultaneously to said main propeller or the like and maneuvering propeller, such that at said low speeds said lever is actuable to vary the amount of energy supplied by said main motor to said maneuvering propeller independent of variations in the amount of energy supplied by said main motor to said main propeller.