Patent ID: 6964590

Claim:
A lateral thrust drive unit adapted to be mounted on a stem or at a transom of a vessel having a bow, a stern, and a waterline, for generating thrust along the transverse axis of said vessel, said thrust drive unit comprising: a substantially hollow casing having an upper portion and a lower portion, wherein said upper portion is adapted for being situated above said waterline of said vessel and said lower portion is adapted for being situated below the same and said lower portion having a substantially thin cross section with a narrow thickness along the thrust axis of the thrust drive unit parallel to said transverse axis of the vessel; a propeller disposed substantially within said lower portion and so adapted for rotation about and for creating thrust along said thrust axis having (i) a shaft with two opposing ends, (ii) an annular shroud concentrically disposed about said shaft, (iii) a plurality of propeller blades radially disposed about said shaft, wherein one end of each of the blades is attached to said shaft and the opposite end of the same to the inner wall of said annular shroud, and (iv) said annular shroud having on its periphery a means for engaging with a power transmitting means; a pair of propeller supports each having a hub and a plurality of struts radially disposed thereabout transverse to the center axis of the hub, wherein each of the propeller supports are so adapted and mounted on each of the opposing sides across said narrow thickness of said lower portion that each of said center axis of the hub is coaxially aligned with said thrust axis and each of the propeller supports further having a cylindrical recess coaxially within said hub and a bearing means received therewithin for rotatably and axially supporting said propeller by each of said opposing ends of the shaft; a power generating means comprising (i) a reversible motor mounted to said upper portion of said casing and having an output shaft which is accommodated within said casing and (ii) a drive pulley disposed within said casing and attached to said output shaft and having on its periphery a means for engaging with a power transmitting means; a power transmitting means comprising a flexible drive member disposed within said casing and engagingly wrapped partially around the peripheries of said drive pulley and said propeller for transmitting the mechanical power from said power generating means to said propeller; and a plurality of mounting flanges for supporting said casing, wherein the mounting flanges are so adapted that they are each pivotally movable with respect to the casing about a first pivot axis parallel to said thrust axis.