Ship drive, for driving the propeller shaft of a sea-going vessel, uses an electric engine fitted to a clutch mechanism to provide an auxiliary drive for the propeller shaft

摘要

The ship drive consists of a drive engine which drives a propeller shaft, using an intermediate shaft (22) and a thrust shaft. A thrust bearing is coupled to the drive to absorb the thrust of the propeller shaft. An electric engine (40) selectably operates as a generator or an engine to provide auxiliary drive for the system. A transmission (32) system is connected to the electric engine by a clutch mechanism (33), comprising a gearwheel (31) that surrounds the shaft, connected by a flexible coupling. The auxiliary thrust bearing is activatible for emergency situations to transmit reduced thrust from the propeller shaft to the thrust bearing.