Marine propulsion – Jet drive – Direction control for fluid jet
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-22
2001-01-30
Sotelo, Jesus D. (Department: 3617)
Marine propulsion
Jet drive
Direction control for fluid jet
C440S038000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179672
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a reverser for a watercraft which allows the watercraft to go in reverse, and more particularly to a locking mechanism for locking a deflector functioned as the reverser at a predetermined position.
2. Description of the Related Art
A watercraft which is propelled by a water jet pump, for example, a personal watercraft (which is also referred to as a “PWC”) has a structure to suck water (including sea water) through a water intake hole provided on a bottom of a hull, to pressurize the water by the water jet pump and to eject the water rearward from the hull through an outlet port of the water jet pump, thereby moving the PWC forward.
When going rearwardly, a deflector liftably (movably) is provided behind the steering nozzle and positioned in a portion behind the steering nozzle (brought down), thereby changing the direction of a water flow ejected rearward from the steering nozzle into a forward direction. Thus, the body of the watercraft can go in reverse.
An up-down movement of the deflector is performed by operating a deflector operation lever provided closely to a steering handle through an operation wire which connects the deflector operation lever and deflector.
The deflector has a locking mechanism provided between the deflector and the body side in such a manner that the deflector is fixed into an upper retracted position when going forward and is fixed into a position behind the steering nozzle when going astern.
Conventionally, the locking mechanism has been constituted to be operated through an operation wire by operating a lock operation lever provided near the deflector operation lever.
More specifically, the up-down movement of the deflector and the operation of the locking mechanism are performed by operating separate operation levers using separate operation wires. Accordingly, when a rider wants to go astern it is necessary to move the deflector from the retracted position down to a position behind the steering nozzle, for example, it is necessary to first operate the lock operation lever to perform unlocking, then operate the deflector operation lever to bring the deflector down to a predetermined position and thereafter operate the lock operation lever again to perform locking. When the forward movement is desired after going astern, the same two operations as described above are required.
Moreover, respective operation levers should be provided on a structural basis. In addition, through holes for operation wire should be formed on the body and installation spaces of the wires should be provided. Thus, the operation wires should be provided to reach a stern portion, respectively. Correspondingly, the number of parts is increased and an assembly man-hour is also increased. Thus, manufacturing cost is increased.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In consideration of the forgoing circumstances it is an object of the invention to provide a locking mechanism of a deflector for a watercraft which can lock and unlock the locking mechanism by simply performing an up-down movement of the deflector.
A first aspect of the invention is directed to a locking mechanism of a deflector for a watercraft which locks, in a predetermined position, the deflector movably provided behind a pump nozzle of a water jet pump to change the direction of water flow ejected rearward from the pump nozzle, thereby moving the watercraft astern,
wherein the locking mechanism comprises a first member, a second member engaged with the first member, and a third member for disengaging the first member from the second member, the first member being attached to a fixture to be able to engage the second member, the second member being attached to the deflector side, and the third member being capable of performing up-down movement of the deflector, and
the engaging state of the first member and the second member is released in an initial stage of operation of the third member, the second member is caused to be operated interlockingly to perform the up-down movement of the deflector at a succeeding stage of operation of the third member, and the second member is brought into the engaging state by the first member in a succeeding final stage of operation of the third member.
According to the locking mechanism of the deflector for a watercraft of the invention which has the above-mentioned structure, the second member is interlocked by simply operating the third member. Consequently, the deflector can perform the up-down movement by operating the third member and the first member is engaged with the second member on both ends of the up-down movement. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the mechanism which can perform locking and unlocking on the both ends.
In the locking mechanism of a deflector for a watercraft, it is possible that the first member is a locking member, the second member is an engaging member and the third member is an unlocking member.
In the locking mechanism of a deflector for a watercraft, it is preferable that the engaging member is provided with a concave portion with which a part of the locking member is engaged and, the locking member is provided with a pressed portion for contact and pressing of the unlocking member, and
the unlocking member is provided with a pressing portion for pressing the pressed portion of the locking member to remove the locking member in engaging state from the concave portion of the engaging member.
In the locking mechanism of a deflector for a watercraft, it is preferable that the engaging member and the unlocking member are able to rotate on a concentric pivot within a range of a predetermined angle, and a slot is formed around the pivot on one of the engaging member and the unlocking member and an interlocking pin to be inserted into the slot and engaged with both ends of the slot is projected onto the other one of the engaging member and the unlocking member, thereby operating the engaging member interlockingly with the unlocking member at a stage succeeding to the initial stage of the operation of the unlocking member.
In the locking mechanism of a deflector for a watercraft, it is preferable that the concave portion of the engaging member is formed on a peripheral edge portion of the engaging member to enter the pivot side, and a tip of the locking member may be engaged with the concave portion, and the locking member is energized by a spring toward the peripheral edge portion of the engaging member.
These objects as well as other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3336752 (1967-08-01), Smith
patent: 4026235 (1977-05-01), Woodfill
patent: 4708671 (1987-11-01), Watanabe
Ikeyama Masafumi
Kanazawa Tomohiro
Nakagawa Kenichi
Tsumiyama Yoshinori
LandOfFree
Locking mechanism of deflector for watercraft does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Locking mechanism of deflector for watercraft, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Locking mechanism of deflector for watercraft will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2511328