Marine propulsion – Screw propeller – With means effecting or facilitating movement of propulsion...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-01
2001-01-30
Sotelo, Jesus D. (Department: 3617)
Marine propulsion
Screw propeller
With means effecting or facilitating movement of propulsion...
C440S071000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179673
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of outboard motor boat accessories and more particularly to a device removably interposable between an outboard motor and a transom of a boat upon which the outboard motor is to be mounted, such that the outboard motor is protected by the device from damage upon the boat encountering an underwater obstacle during its movement through a natural body of water.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the prior art, there have been numerous safety tilt mechanisms for limiting the potential damage experienced by outboard motors upon the boat encountering an underwater obstacle, such as a rock or log, during movement of the boat through a natural body of water. However, these mechanisms usually require that the outboard motor collide with an underwater obstacle directly and receive the impact of that collision in order for the outboard motor to be caused to tilt. Examples of such prior art mechanisms can be seen in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,470,844; 3,570,443; 3,577,954; 3,648,645; 3,722,456; 3,859,952; and 3,952,687.
It is common knowledge that outboard motors are expensive pieces of equipment. As such, it is highly undesirable for an outboard motor to collide with an obstacle directly and receive the impact of that collision, since such impacts invariably result in a certain degree of damage being inflicted upon the outboard motor. Such damage may be to the mechanism for mounting the motor onto the boat, to the propeller, to one of the components of the propeller mounting housing protruding below the water line, or to the internal drive components mounted within the propeller mounting housing. Even the transom of a boat may be damaged in severe impact situations.
Heretofore, designs aimed at avoiding damaging contact of outboard motors with underwater obstacles have remained substantially undeveloped. However, notable attempts in this regard are the complex hull and transom altering designs disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,432 (Renner). This patent relates to a Marine Drive Unit Impact Avoidance System, a device which, upon the impact arm of the invention encountering an underwater obstruction, provides for the drive unit to be lifted in a substantially vertical plane to clear the obstruction without any direct contact of the motor drive unit and the underwater obstruction. Renner broadly teaches a marine device unit impact avoidance system for boats of both the outboard and inboard/outboard types, which device is comprised, in the preferred embodiment disclosed, of two principal components, the first being an impact activating arm, pivotally mounted at one end to the bottom of the boat hull and at its opposite other end to the lower drive unit of the boat motor. The second main component of the preferred embodiment disclosed by Renner is comprised of a vertically moveable mounting means, which is adapted to have the boat motor mounted thereon so as to allow the motor to vertically slide, against the resistance of shock absorbers, upon an upwardly directed force generated by the impact activating arm hitting a rock, or other underwater obstruction. Both the impact activating arm and the motor mounting means are permanently mounted on the boat in a manner that prohibits the device from being readily transferred from one boat to another.
A secondary embodiment taught by the Renner patent is of more relevance to the present invention. In this embodiment, the device of the disclosed invention is shown in use with a conventional outboard motor, and is configured for mounting on the transom of the boat. That is, both of the two main components discussed above, being in this embodiment the engine mounting member and the impact activating arm, are mounted on the transom of the boat by way of a single base plate member. The motor in this embodiment also moves in a substantially vertical plane upon encountering a submerged obstacle as the boat progresses forwardly, and again, this alternate embodiment of the Renner patent is not readily interchangeable from one boat to another, as it requires breach of the transom's integrity and permanent modification to both the transom of the boat and to the housing of the motor. Thus, it not only lacks portability and interchangeability, but it is relatively complicated, expensive, and difficult to install. In addition, in both of the embodiments taught by the Renner patent, a boat is required to be physically removed from the water in order to perform the modifications necessary for mounting the device onto the boat.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an outboard motor protection apparatus that protects an outboard motor from potentially damaging impact with underwater obstructions during passage of the boat through a body of water and, by reason of its relatively simple construction, overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.
It is a further general object of the present invention to provide an outboard motor protection apparatus that can be quickly and easily installed and removed from a boat in situ, without breaching the integrity of the hull or transom of the boat and without requiring permanent modification to be made to such a boat.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an outboard motor protection apparatus that can be quickly and readily mounted and unmounted from the transom of a boat for use with an outboard motor without the use of hand tools or other subsidiary equipment.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an outboard motor protection apparatus that will not scratch or cause other incidental damage to the transom of a boat as a result of its installation thereon, use therewith, or removal therefrom.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an outboard motor protection apparatus that is preferably adjustable to various depths to protect the outboard motor from direct impact with obstacles located a varying depths below the surface of the water through which a boat moves.
It is another object of an alternate embodiment of the present invention to provide an outboard motor protection apparatus that will assist in preventing the propeller of an outboard motor from becoming entangled with underwater weeds.
There is thus provided, according to one aspect of the present invention, an outboard motor protection apparatus removably interposable between an outboard motor and a transom of a boat upon which the outboard motor is to be mounted. The outboard motor is of a conventional type having a downwardly depending propeller mounting housing terminating in a skeg portion. The mounting of the outboard motor on the transom of a boat is such as to allow for pivotal movement of the motor relative to the transom, about a first substantially horizontal tilt axis, between a drive configuration and a raised configuration. The outboard motor protection apparatus of the invention comprises means for removably mounting the apparatus onto the transom of the boat, with a base plate member extending downwardly in juxtaposed relation to a trailing face of the transom, and a leg member. The leg member has an upper end portion and a lower end portion, defining a longitudinal leg axis extending therebetween. The leg member is operatively positioned in leadingly adjacent relation to the skeg portion of the outboard motor, and it is mounted adjacent its upper end portion on the base plate member for pivotal movement of the leg member in a plane substantially transverse to the base plate member, about a second substantially horizontal tilt axis. The leg member moves pivotally between a rest position, whereat the leg axis is substantially vertically disposed, and a plurality of active positions, whereat the leg axis is removed from the rest position so as to place the leg member in operative contact with the outboard motor. The positioning and mounting of the leg member is such that, when it encounters an underwater obstruction as a result of the boat's forward motion through a body of water, it move
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