Marine drives and methods for clearing debris from a cooling water intake on a marine drive
A marine drive includes a drive assembly which is operable in a neutral mode, in a forward mode for generating a forward thrust force in a body of water, and in a reverse mode for generating a reverse thrust force in the body of water. A water intake is configured to receive cooling water from the body of water for cooling at least one component of the drive assembly, and an electric pump configured to draw the cooling water into the drive assembly via the water intake. A control system is configured to modify a speed and/or a direction of the electric pump to facilitate a clearance of debris from the water intake.
1 . A marine drive comprising:
a drive assembly operable in a neutral mode, a forward mode for generating a forward thrust force in a body of water, and a reverse mode for generating a reverse thrust force in the body of water,
a water intake configured to receive water from the body of water for cooling at least one component of the drive assembly;
an electric pump configured to draw the water into the water intake; and
a control system configured to modify an existing speed of the electric pump to facilitate a clearance of debris from the water intake the control system being configured to modify said existing speed based upon whether the drive assembly undergoes a shift change into one of the neutral mode, the forward mode, and the reverse mode.
2 . The marine drive according to claim 1 , wherein said shift change is from the neutral mode to the forward mode or the reverse mode.
3 . The marine drive according to claim 1 , further comprising an input device for requesting an adjustment to a current throttle amount of the drive assembly, wherein the control system is configured to determine whether the drive assembly undergoes said shift change by comparing a current throttle amount or a requested throttle amount to a stored throttle amount.
4 . The marine drive according to claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to modify said existing speed by causing the electric pump to stop.
5 . The marine drive according to claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to revert the electric pump to said existing speed after expiration of a time period stored in a memory of the control system.
6 . The marine drive according to claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to revert the electric pump to said existing speed based on a comparison of a temperature of the at least one component of the marine drive to a threshold temperature stored in a memory of the control system.
7 . The marine drive according to claim 2 , wherein the control system is configured to revert the electric pump to said speed when the drive assembly undergoes a shift change from the forward mode or the reverse mode back to the neutral mode.
8 . The marine drive according to claim 1 , wherein the electric pump is a bidirectional electric pump and wherein the control system is configured to modify said existing speed by changing a direction of operation of the electric pump so the electric pump pumps said water out of the water intake.
9 . A marine drive comprising;
a drive assembly operable in a neutral mode a forward mode for generating a forward thrust force in a body of water and a reverse mode for generating a reverse thrust force in the body of water;
a water intake configured to receive water from the body of water for cooling at least one component of the drive assembly;
an electric pump configured to draw the water into the water intake; and
a control system configured to modify an operation of the electric pump based upon an operational characteristic of the marine drive to facilitate a clearance of debris from the water intake, wherein the control system is configured to facilitate the clearance of debris from the water intake by causing the electric pump to pulse the water into the water intake by alternately decreasing and increasing a speed of the electric pump.
10 . The marine drive according to claim 9 , wherein the control system is configured to cycle the electric pump on and off to facilitate the clearance of debris from the water intake.
11 . A method of operating a cooling system on a marine drive, the method comprising:
operating a drive assembly in a first one of a neutral mode, a forward mode for generating a forward thrust force in a body of water, and a reverse mode for generating a reverse thrust force in the body of water;
operating an electric pump to draw water from the body of water through a water intake for cooling at least one component of the marine drive; and
modifying an existing speed of the electric pump to facilitate a clearance of debris from the water intake based upon whether the drive assembly undergoes a shift change into a second one of the neutral mode, the forward mode, and the reverse mode.
12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein said shift change is from the neutral mode to the forward mode or the reverse mode.
13 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising determining whether the drive assembly undergoes said shift change by comparing a current throttle amount to a stored throttle amount.
14 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising modifying said existing speed of the electric pump by stopping the electric pump.
15 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising reverting the electric pump to said existing speed after expiration of a stored time period.
16 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising reverting the electric pump to said speed after a temperature of the at least one component of the drive assembly reaches a stored threshold temperature.
17 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising reverting the electric pump to said existing speed when the drive assembly undergoes a subsequent shift change.
18 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the electric pump is a bidirectional electric pump and further comprising facilitating the clearance of debris from the water intake by causing the electric pump to temporarily pump the water out of the water intake.
19 . A method of operating a cooling system on a marine drive, the method comprising:
operating a drive assembly in one of a neutral mode, a forward mode for generating a forward thrust force in a body of water, and a reverse mode for generating a reverse thrust force in the body of water;
operating an electric pump to draw water from the body of water through a water intake for cooling at least one component of the marine drive; and
modifying an operation of the electric pump based upon an operational characteristic of the marine drive to facilitate a clearance of debris from the water intake; and
controlling the electric pump to facilitate the clearance of debris from the water intake by causing the electric pump to pulse the water into the water intake by alternately decreasing and increasing a speed of the electric pump.
20 . The method according to claim 19 , further comprising cycling the electric pump on and off to facilitate the clearance of debris from the water intake.
21 . A method of operating a cooling system on a marine drive, the method comprising:
operating a drive assembly in one of a neutral mode, a forward mode for generating a forward thrust force in a body of water, and a reverse mode for generating a reverse thrust force in the body of water;
operating an electric pump to draw water from the body of water through a water intake for cooling at least one component of the marine drive; and
modifying a speed of the electric pump to facilitate a clearance of debris from the water intake based upon how a pressure of the water in the cooling system compares to a stored threshold pressure.
22 . A marine drive comprising;
a drive assembly operable in a neutral mode, a forward mode for generating a forward thrust force in a body of water, and a reverse mode for generating a reverse thrust force in the body of water;
a water intake configured to receive water from the body of water for cooling at least one component of the drive assembly;
an electric pump configured to draw the water into the water intake; and
a control system configured to modify a speed of the electric pump to facilitate a clearance of debris from the water intake based upon how a pressure of the water in a cooling system of the marine drive compares to a stored threshold pressure.
23 . The marine drive according to claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine whether the drive assembly undergoes a shift change based upon a sensed characteristic of the drive assembly or a request for shift change inputted into the control system.
24 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising determining whether the drive assembly undergoes a shift change based upon a sensed characteristic of the drive assembly or a request for shift change.