Patent ID: 7416460

Claim:
A marine screw drive with line cutter for cutting away fishline or other debris that may wind around a propeller shaft of the screw drive, comprising a drive housing; a propeller shaft of circular section and having a predetermined diameter, which emerges through a shaft opening in said drive housing; a seal member disposed over said propeller shaft at said shaft opening to keep fluids from passing out from or into said housing; and a line cutter mounted on said housing, said line cutter having a flat, apertured portion surrounding said shaft and having a circular aperture forming a circular passage through which said propeller shaft passes, the passage having a clearance over said shaft of less than about 0.007 inches, so that said clearance is smaller than a predetermined thickness of a standard fishline, and such that the circular passage defines an annular surface facing said shaft and spaced by it by said clearance of less than about 0.007 inches, and with the annular surface having a taper so as to form a sharp circular cutting edge that serves to cut the fishline that winds around said shaft.