The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 12, 2007
Filed:
Dec. 15, 2005
Ralph Brown, Spring Hill, FL (US);
Ralph Brown, Spring Hill, FL (US);
Other;
Abstract
A shallow draft boat has a hull that protects a propulsion propeller within a tunnel that passes only partially through the hull from stern to bow. The hull has a mechanism, such as a flap for selectively permitting or blocking water flow access to the tunnel from under the boat. The boat also has a lift mechanism preferably in the shape or adjustable parallelogram for selectively positioning a propeller of a propulsion unit substantially directly behind the tunnel or below the tunnel. The boat can operate in two modes. In one, water access to the tunnel is permitted and the propeller is positioned above the bottom of the hull and behind the tunnel. In the other, water access to the tunnel is blocked and the propeller is positioned below the bottom of the hull. This construction permits selective operation in a shallow draft mode, in a normal draft mode or in between. In the shallow draft mode, the boat prevents propulsion unit malfunction by keeping obstacles, such as debris, crab pots and mammals such as manatees from contact with the propeller.