Patent ID: 11866136
Assignee: JOHNSON OUTDOORS INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  F | IPC B  F

Claim 12:
13. A pedal drive system for a watercraft, comprising:
a manual drive train comprising a pair of pedals mechanically attached to a crankshaft for rotation of the crankshaft about a crankshaft axis;
an assist drive train having a motor;
a thrust unit;
a coupling arrangement having a manual mode and an assist mode, the coupling arrangement including a coupler that transitions the coupling arrangement between the manual mode and the assist mode, wherein:
in the manual mode, the coupler couples the crankshaft to the thrust unit such that rotation of the crankshaft in a first angular direction about the crankshaft axis drives the thrust unit to output thrust in a first thrust direction and rotation of the crankshaft in a second angular direction, opposite the first angular direction, about the crankshaft axis drives the thrust unit to output thrust in a second thrust direction, opposite the first thrust direction;
in the assist mode, the assist drive train is connected to the thrust unit such that when the motor is energized, the assist drive train drives the thrust unit to output thrust in the first thrust direction; and
in the assist mode, the coupling arrangement couples the crankshaft to the thrust unit such that rotation of the crankshaft in the first angular direction about the crankshaft axis can drive the thrust unit to output thrust in the first thrust direction and rotation of the crankshaft in the second angular direction about the crankshaft axis does not drive the thrust unit to output thrust in the second thrust direction.