Patent ID: 9533747
Date: 2017-01-03
CPC Classifications: B63H,H02J,Y02T

Claim:
1. A hybrid marine propulsion system comprising: a marine propulsor that propels a marine vessel; an internal combustion engine that selectively powers the marine propulsor; an electric motor that selectively powers the marine propulsor; a plurality of batteries that discharge current to power the electric motor; a controller that operates the system in a plurality of modes including at least a charge mode in which output of the internal combustion engine is used to generate current to charge the plurality of batteries; and a contactor for each battery in the plurality of batteries, wherein each contactor independently disconnects a respective battery in the plurality of batteries from the electric motor in a manner that discontinues charging of that respective battery by the electric motor when during charge mode more than a limited amount of current is received by that respective battery; wherein the controller calculates a cumulative charge limit for the plurality of batteries equal to an aggregate of said limited amounts of current of the plurality of batteries, and then controls operation of the system in charge mode so as not to exceed the cumulative charge limit, thereby preventing disconnection of any of the batteries in the plurality of batteries.