Patent ID: 7789032
Filing Date: 2010-09-07
Classification: B63H

Abstract:
1. A thruster boat combination comprising: a) a boat comprising a hull having a water line, side walls, a bottom wall, and a transom, with said bottom wall comprising two wall sections which extend from side locations in a downward and laterally inward slant to a central juncture location of the two bottom wall sections, and with said transom meeting said bottom and side walls at bottom and side edge locations thereof, said boat having a thrust operating mode where the boat is stationary or is moving at a sufficiently low speed so that water remains adjacent to the transom; b) a thruster which is mounted at the transom of the boat so as to provide lateral thrust, said thruster comprising: c) two extension members that are positioned at opposite sides of the central housing, with each extension member having an inner end portion adjacent to a related one of said outer end portions of the central housing and extending outwardly therefrom, each extension member having a lower perimeter edge portion which is located so that with the thruster in an operating position and with the boat being in a lateral thrust operating mode, the perimeter edge portions of the two extension members are below the water line of the boat, each extension member having a lower downwardly facing surface that defines a flow passageway at the downwardly facing surface, said flow passageway having an inner end flow passageway portion adjacent one of the end openings of the central housing; d) said thruster being configured and arranged, so that with the thruster located at the transom in its operating position: wherein a distance between outer end edges of the two extension members is no greater than about sixty percent and no less than about twenty five percent of a distance between outer edge locations of the transom where the bottom and side walls meet.