Marine propulsion – Screw propeller – Propulsion unit casing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-25
2001-09-04
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Marine propulsion
Screw propeller
Propulsion unit casing
Reexamination Certificate
active
06283807
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an anti-splash device for a marine outboard drive and more particularly to an improved anti-splash device for an outboard drive that is the most suitable to, but not limited to, a pontoon.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a marine outboard drive, such as an outboard motor, is mounted on a transom board of a watercraft.
FIG. 1
partially shows a conventional outboard motor
1
associated with a pontoon
2
that is a kind of watercraft. The outboard motor
1
comprises a power head
3
and a drive housing
4
. The power head accommodates an engine (not shown) therein. The drive housing
4
comprises an upper housing
5
and a lower housing
6
and contains a drive shaft (not shown) that passes through the upper housing
5
and the lower housing
6
. The drive shaft is powered by the engine and drives a propeller for thrusting the pontoon
2
. A swivel bracket
7
is provided for supporting the drive housing
4
for pivotal movement about a vertically extending axis (not shown in FIG.
1
). A clamp bracket
8
is affixed to a transom board
9
of a hull
10
and supports the swivel bracket
7
for pivotal movement about a horizontally extending axis
11
.
The lower part of the drive housing
4
immerses in the water during cruising and splashes a mixture of water film and droplets in the upward direction from the surface of the water. In order to prevent splashed water
12
from impinging upon the upper portion of the drive housing
4
, the lower housing
6
has a splash plate
13
extending generally forward (primarily forwardly and additionally laterally). In addition, a cavitation plate
14
is provided under the splash plate
13
for preventing cavitations from occurring.
The pontoon
2
, as seen in
FIGS. 2
,
3
and
4
, is lighter and its hull
10
generally consists of a bottom member
15
and a pair of floats
16
,
17
that depend from the bottom member
15
. Thus, the hull
10
has, in other words, a catamaran structure. Because of this structure, there is a relatively large space
18
between the bottom member
15
and the waterline
19
. During cruising, accordingly, backwashes
20
,
21
made by the floats
16
,
17
affect each other, i.e., synchronize and amplify and then rise in the area indicated by the cross hatching
22
. The splash plate
12
is not useful against the splash
23
,
24
(
FIG. 1
) caused by such rises of waves.
In order to prevent the splashed water
23
,
24
and
25
, in some arrangement, as seen in
FIG. 5
, a water hampering plate
30
is mounted on the transom board
9
, while a screen member
31
is mounted on a lower mount housing
40
, which will be described later. This arrangement is disclosed in Japanese Provisional Publication 8-268385. The water hampering plate
30
, however, is allowed to be provided on only a special watercraft. Also, streams of water that impinge the water hampering plate
30
give rise a force that raises the stern of the pontoon
2
and jeopardize one of the most remarkable features of the pontoon
2
that its position hardly changes during cruising. In addition, such protrusions of the water hampering plate
30
from the hull
10
and also the screen member
31
from the drive housing
4
are likely to harm appearances of a watercraft and a marine outboard drive and eventually reduce their value in sale.
It is, therefore, a principle object of this invention to provide an improved anti-splash device that can effectively prevent splashed water from impinging upon an associated watercraft.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an anti-splash device that will not jeopardize the feature of a pontoon that its position hardly changes during cruising.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an anti-splash device that will not harm appearances of a watercraft nor a marine outboard drive.
In addition, as seen in
FIGS. 5 and 6
, the swivel bracket
7
supports the drive housing
4
with an upper mount (not shown) and lower mount that is identified generally by the reference numeral
41
. The lower mount
41
basically comprises the lower mount housing
40
a bolt
42
, a rubber mount
43
and a nut
44
. The lower mount housing
40
is incorporated with the swivel bracket
7
while the rubber mount
43
is incorporated with the drive housing
4
and both of them are fastened with the bolt
42
and the nut
44
. A mount cover
45
is provided for covering the mount rubber
43
. This mount cover is used not only for covering the mount rubber
43
but also for keeping the rubber mount body
43
in a secured position. The mount cover
45
has a slit
46
on its side through which a tool such as a screwdriver is permitted to pass. The tool is necessary to push the bolt
42
against the lower mount housing
40
when they are tightly joined together. Due to the purpose, the slit
46
is relatively large. Thus, its appearance is not aesthetically pleasing and water is likely to enter through the slit and become trapped within the mounting cover.
It is, therefore, a yet further object to provide an improved mount structure that keeps good appearance of a marine outboard drive and requires no further opening for discharging trapped water.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One feature of this invention is adapted to be embodied in a marine outboard drive having a drive housing through which drive means of the marine outboard drive passes. A swivel bracket is provided for supporting the drive housing with mounting means for pivotal movement about a vertically extending axis. A clamp bracket is affixed to a hull of an associated watercraft and supports the swivel bracket for pivotal movement about a horizontally extends axis. An anti-splash device comprises a splash plate provided on the mounting means and extending generally forwardly of the swivel bracket.
Another feature of this invention is adapted to be embodied in a marine outboard drive having a drive housing through which drive means of the marine outboard drive passes. A swivel bracket is provided for supporting the drive housing with mounting means for pivotal movement about a vertically extending axis. A clamp bracket is affixed to a hull of an associated watercraft and supports the swivel bracket for pivotal movement about a horizontally extending axis. An anti-splash device comprises a guide means for guiding splashed water rearwardly.
An additional feature of this invention is adapted to be embodied in a marine outboard drive having a drive housing through which drive means of the marine outboard drive passes. A swivel bracket is provided for supporting the drive housing for pivotal movement about a vertically extending axis with at least an upper mount and a lower mount. Both of the mounts have a first connecting member on the swivel bracket and a second connecting member on the drive housing. The second connecting member is covered with a mount cover. A clamp bracket is affixed to a hull of an associated watercraft and supports the swivel bracket for pivotal movement about a horizontally extending axis. The mount cover is provided with at least one opening at the bottom thereof.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4781634 (1988-11-01), Harris et al.
patent: 4875882 (1989-10-01), Plitt et al.
patent: 5967865 (1999-10-01), Nakamura et al.
Kokubo Kouei
Nakamura Daisuke
Natsume Noriyuki
Onoue Akihiro
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Morano S. Joseph
Sanshin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Wright Andy
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