PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16014140
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-06
Publication Date: 2019-12
Patent Classification: ["440", "072000"]

Abstract:
A watercraft propulsion device for protecting marine life includes a tube that is coupled to a hull of a marine vessel. The tube has a front end and a back end that are open. The front end is circumferentially larger than the back end so that the tube is tapered. An impeller assembly is positioned in the tube. The impeller assembly is operationally coupled to a drive shaft of the marine vessel. A power plant of the marine vessel is positioned to rotate the impeller assembly concurrently with the drive shaft to increase a pressure and a flow of water through the tube to generate thrust to propel the marine vessel. A grate is coupled to a front perimeter of the tube so that the grate covers the front end. The grate is configured to deter entry of a marine organism into the tube.

Claim (Index 17):
A watercraft propulsion device comprising:\n a tube coupled to a hull of a marine vessel, the tube having a front end and a back end, the front end and the back end being open, the front end being circumferentially larger than the back end such that the tube is tapered, the tube having a front perimeter and a back perimeter, the back perimeter measuring from sixty to ninety percent of the front perimeter, the back perimeter measuring eighty percent of the front perimeter; an impeller assembly positioned in the tube, the impeller assembly being operationally coupled to a drive shaft of the marine vessel wherein a power plant of the marine vessel is positioned for rotating the impeller assembly concurrently with the drive shaft for increasing a pressure and a flow of water through the tube for generating thrust for propelling the marine vessel, the impeller assembly comprising:\n an impeller comprising:\n an inner ring, \n an outer ring, \n a plurality of vanes coupled to and extending between the inner ring and the outer ring, the plurality of vanes comprising from eight to thirty-six vanes, and \n a plurality of blades coupled to and positioned within the inner ring, each blade extending spirally from a front edge to a back edge of the inner ring wherein the blades are configured for increasing the pressure and the flow of the water through the inner ring, the plurality of blades comprising from three to nine blades, and \n \n a drive gear coupled to the impeller, the drive gear being gearedly coupled to the drive shaft wherein the power plant of the marine vessel is positioned for rotating the impeller assembly concurrently with the drive shaft for increasing the pressure and the flow of the water through the tube for propelling the marine vessel, the drive gear comprising a bevel gear coupled to an outer surface of the outer ring; \n an opening positioned in a top of the tube, the drive shaft extending through the opening into the tube such that the drive shaft is gearedly coupled to the drive gear; a grate coupled to the front perimeter of the tube such that the grate covers the front end wherein the grate is configured for deterring entry of a marine organism into the tube, the grate being substantially hemispherically shaped; a baffle coupled to and positioned in the tube proximate to the back end wherein the baffle is configured for selectively controlling the flow of the water through the back end of the tube for adjusting a speed and a direction of the marine vessel, the baffle comprising:\n a plate, the plate being semi-circularly shaped defining a straight edge and a curved edge of the plate, the plate being coupled to and extending between the back perimeter of the tube \n a baffle actuator coupled to the tube, the baffle actuator being linear-type, the baffle actuator being operationally coupled to the plate wherein the baffle actuator is positioned for selectively urging the plate from an open configuration wherein the plate is substantially perpendicular to the back end to a closed configuration wherein the curved edge of the plate abuts the tube, and \n a plurality of protrusions coupled to and extending from the curved edge of the plate wherein the protrusions are positioned for separating the curved edge from the tube with the plate in the closed configuration; \n a pair of deflectors, each deflector being hingedly coupled to a respective opposing side of the tube and extending from proximate to the front end past the back end of the tube, the deflectors being substantially semi-conically shaped, each deflector comprising:\n an apex section fixedly coupled to the tube proximate to the front end, \n a medial section hingedly coupled to the tube, the medial section extending from the apex section past the back end of the tube, and \n a base section fixedly coupled to and extending arcuately from the medial section distal from the apex section; and \n a pair of deflector actuators, the deflector actuators being linear-type, each deflector actuator being coupled to a respective opposing side of the housing adjacent to the back end, the deflector actuator being operationally coupled to an associated deflector wherein the deflector actuator is positioned for selectively urging the associated deflector from a stowed configuration wherein the deflector is positioned adjacent to the respective opposing side of the tube to a deployed configuration wherein the deflector is positioned perpendicularly to the tube wherein the deflector is configured for adjusting the speed and the direction of the marine vessel.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 13.0
- Percentile: 94.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.45161
- Patent Class: 440.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['14183976', '11563714', '11090602', '10776566', '15911656']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.5748892301657547
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4457199137283371
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.5619722985220129
- Mean Citation Score: 134.86918
- Max Citation Score: 140.24538
- Similarity Product: 110.53071155836344

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test