Brunswick Corporation

Nathan C King

David J Belter

Charles H Eichinger

Trevor George

Christopher J Taylor

Chetan Avinash Dharmadhikari

Barry P Schleicher

Robert Dreyer

Steven Thomas Anderson

A marine drive is for propelling a vessel in body of water. The marine drive has a powerhead, a crankcase on the powerhead, and a cooling system that pumps a first flow of cooling water from the body of water through a powerhead cooling conduit for cooling the powerhead and in parallel pumps a second flow of cooling water from the body of water through a crankcase cooler for cooling the crankcase and lubricant in the crankcase. A valve controls the second flow of the cooling water to the crankcase cooler. The valve is normally positioned in a closed position, which inhibits the second flow of cooling water to the crankcase cooler and thereby reduces condensation of water from the lubricant in the crankcase. The valve is moved into an open position upon operation of the powerhead at or above a threshold speed, which permits the second flow of cooling water to the crankcase cooler and thereby cools the lubricant in the crankcase. Corresponding methods of operating the marine drive and cooling system are provided.

Marine drives and cooling systems for marine drives having a crankcase cooler

Air mattress

An outboard motor has an internal combustion engine and a sump with an interior for holding oil for the internal combustion engine. The interior is defined by a top, a bottom, and sidewalls that extend from the top to the bottom. At least a portion of the sidewalls tapers radially inwardly towards the bottom. An oil pickup conduit extends into the interior and is configured to convey oil from the sump to the internal combustion engine. A bumper is disposed on the oil pickup conduit and separates the oil pickup conduit from the sidewall.

Outboard motors and oil pickup devices for outboard motors

Systems are for cooling a marine engine that is operated in a body of water. The systems can include an open loop cooling circuit for cooling the marine engine, wherein the open loop cooling circuit is configured to convey cooling water from the body of water to the marine engine so that heat is exchanged between the cooling water and the marine engine, and a pump that is configured to pump the cooling water from upstream to downstream through the open loop cooling circuit. A heat exchanger is configured to cause an exchange of heat between the cooling water located upstream of the marine engine and the cooling water located downstream of the marine engine to thereby warm the cooling water located upstream of the marine engine, prior to cooling the marine engine.

Open loop cooling systems and methods for marine engines

An oil temperature moderating system of an outboard motor causes cooling water to be warmed to a predefined magnitude of temperature and then conducted through a temperature responsive valve to a coolant conduit, or coolant jacket, in thermal communication with oil within an oil sump of the outboard motor. In this way, the oil within the oil sump is continuously disposed in thermal communication with cooling water that has achieved a temperature controlled by a thermostat or similar device and, as a result, is above the temperature of the water drawn from a body of water in which the outboard motor is operated. This type of system reduces the temperature of oil in the oil sump when it is greater than the cooling water flowing through the thermostat and raises the temperature of oil in the oil sump when it is cooler than water flowing through the thermostat.

Growing community of inventors

Fond du Lac, WI, United States of America

Nathan C King