Outboard jet drive marine propulsion system

Abstract

An outboard jet drive marine system for a boat includes a housing, the housing has front and rear sides, and a top and bottom. The housing is adapted to be affixed behind a hull of a boat. An engine is disposed within the housing. A jet drive unit is releasably mounted to a housing extending from the rear of the housing and is operatively coupled to the engine in the housing. The jet drive unit includes a jet unit housing and drive shaft disposed within and supported by the jet unit housing. The jet unit housing is detachably received by the housing.

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         21 . An outboard jet drive marine system for a boat comprising: 
 a housing, said housing having front and rear sides, and a top and bottom, and said housing adapted to be affixed behind a hull of said boat;    an engine disposed within said housing; and    a jet drive unit mounted to said housing and being operatively coupled to said engine in said housing, said jet drive unit including a water exhaust, a bucket assembly mounted on said jet drive unit and being disposed to receive a water jet from said water exhaust, said bucket assembly including a housing, having an entrance port for receiving said water jet, and a first exhaust and a second exhaust and a bucket member mounted to said bucket housing and movable between a first position in which said first exhaust is closed and a second position in which said first exhaust is open, said bucket causing said water jet to exit through said second exhaust when said bucket member is in said first position, and a reverse cable disposed above said jet drive unit, a linkage mechanism disposed substantially orthogonally to the reverse cable and coupled between the reverse cable and the bucket assembly, the reverse cable controlling the linkage mechanism by moving in a vertical direction for raising portions of the linkage assembly to move the bucket from a first position to a second position.    
     
     
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         23 . The outboard jet drive marine system of  claim 21 , wherein said second exhaust includes a guide member disposed therein for guiding said jet stream toward said boat as said jet stream exits said second exhaust.  
     
     
         24 . The outboard jet drive marine system of  claim 23 , wherein said outboard jet drive unit is adapted to being mounted on said boat so that said second exhaust is spaced from said boat so that said boat does not substantially interfere with said jet stream exiting from said second exhaust.  
     
     
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         26 . An outboard jet drive marine system for a boat comprising: 
 a housing, said housing having front and rear sides, and a top and bottom, and said housing adapted to be affixed behind a hull of said boat;    an engine disposed within said housing; and    a jet drive unit defining a straight water path and mounted to said housing and being operatively coupled to said engine in said housing, said bottom surface of said housing having a convex shape for interacting with water in which said housing is disposed.    
     
     
         27 . The outboard jet drive marine system of  claim 26 , wherein said convex shape is substantially bowl-shaped.  
     
     
         28 . The outboard jet drive marine system of  claim 26 , wherein said jet drive unit further comprises a water inlet, said water inlet having a width and said convex shape of said bottom surface having a width, the width of said convex shape being greater than the width of said water inlet.  
     
     
         29 . The outboard jet drive marine system of  claim 26 , wherein said hull has a bottom surface, said housing affixed to said hull so that said bottom surface of said housing is at substantially the same level as the bottom surface of said hull.  
     
     
         30 . The outboard jet drive marine system of  claim 26 , wherein said hull has a bottom surface and said bottom surface of said housing is disposed between one inch above said bottom of said hull and two inches below said bottom of said hull.  
     
     
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         35 . The outboard jet drive marine system of  claim 21 , further comprising a steering mechanism, said steering mechanism including said bucket assembly, said bucket assembly pivoting about a pivot point to steer a boat to which said housing is affixed.  
     
     
         36 . The outboard jet drive marine system of  claim 21 , further comprising a linkage mechanism including a pivot, the reverse cable moving the pivot between a first position and a second position for moving the bucket.