Marine propulsion – Jet drive – Direction control for fluid jet
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-13
2004-04-06
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Marine propulsion
Jet drive
Direction control for fluid jet
Reexamination Certificate
active
06716075
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering nozzle angle adjusting mechanism for a jet propulsion watercraft wherein a steering nozzle is provided in addition to a jet nozzle at the stem and the steering nozzle is swung to the left and right by use of an operational cable.
2. Description of Background Art
A jet propulsion watercraft is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 9-48394 “Propulsion Nozzle Driving Device and Input/Output Conversion Mechanism for Small Watercraft Device”. A part of
FIG. 1
shown in the publication is illustrated in the following
FIGS. 9 and 10
. The numerals set forth in
FIGS. 9 and 10
have been changed for the purpose of the present description.
FIG. 9
is a side view of a propulsion nozzle provided in a conventional jet propulsion watercraft. The jet propulsion watercraft
100
comprises a jet propeller
101
at the stem, and a propulsion nozzle
102
provided on the rear side of the jet propeller
101
so as to be vertically swingable on left and right support shafts
103
,
103
. By driving the jet propeller
101
, water is jetted from an outlet
102
a
of the propulsion nozzle
102
, and the jet propulsion watercraft
100
is propelled by utilizing the jet force of water.
An operational cable
105
is connected to the propulsion nozzle
102
through a joint
104
, whereby the direction of the propulsion nozzle
102
can be vertically changed by the operational cable
105
.
Thus, by changing the direction of the propulsion nozzle
102
, the posture of the watercraft body of the jet propulsion watercraft
100
can be maintained favorably according to the propulsion conditions.
Here, the joint
104
for connecting the operational cable
105
to the propulsion nozzle
102
generally has a construction in which a spherical body
106
a
of a fitting rod
106
is rotatably fitted to a head portion
104
a
, and a neck portion
104
b
is provided with a female screw (not shown).
In connecting the operational cable
105
to the propulsion nozzle
102
by use of the joint
104
, first, a male screw provided at the rear end of the operational cable
105
is coupled to the female screw of the neck portion
104
b
. At this time, the protrusion amount of the joint
105
relative to the operational cable
105
is adjusted to be appropriate.
Next, the fitting rod
106
fitted to the head portion
104
a
through the spherical body
106
a
is inserted into a through-hole in the propulsion nozzle
102
, and the tip end of the fitting rod
106
projects to the inner circumferential side of the propulsion nozzle
102
. Subsequently, a nut
107
is screw-connected to the tip end of the fitting rod
106
thus projected, so as to fix the fitting rod
106
to the propulsion nozzle
102
, thereby connecting the operational cable
105
to the propulsion nozzle
102
.
After the operational cable
105
is connected to the propulsion nozzle
102
, it is determined whether or not the propulsion nozzle
102
is fitted at a normal angle. When the propulsion nozzle
102
is not directed in a normal direction, the nut
107
is disengaged from the fitting rod
106
, and the joint
104
is detached from the propulsion nozzle
102
.
Subsequently, the joint
104
detached from the propulsion nozzle
102
is rotated relative to the operational cable
105
, whereby the amount of projection of the joint
104
relative to the operational cable
105
is readjusted.
After the readjustment is completed, the fitting rod
106
is again inserted into the through-hole in the propulsion nozzle
102
, and the nut
107
is screw-connected to the tip end of the fitting rod
106
projecting to the inner circumference side of the propulsion nozzle
102
, whereby the fitting rod
106
is again fixed to the propulsion nozzle
102
.
In this condition, it is again checked whether or not the propulsion nozzle
102
is fitted at the normal angle. When the propulsion nozzle
102
is fitted at the normal angle, the operational of connecting the operational cable
105
to the propulsion nozzle
102
is completed.
Thus, in order to readjust the angle of the propulsion nozzle
102
to a normal condition after connection of the operational cable
105
to the propulsion nozzle
102
, it is necessary to disengage from the fitting rod
106
the nut
107
which has once been screw-connected to the fitting rod
106
. Therefore, the operational of adjusting the direction of the propulsion nozzle
102
to the normal angle requires much labor.
FIG. 10
is a side view showing another joint for connecting a cable to a conventional propulsion nozzle. According to the joint
110
, a fitting bolt
111
is inserted into a through-hole in a head portion
110
a
, and the tip end
111
a
of the fitting bolt
111
inserted in the through-hole is screw-connected to a propulsion nozzle
113
, whereby an operational cable
105
can be connected to the propulsion nozzle
113
.
Also in the case of using the joint
110
, in order to readjust the direction of the propulsion nozzle
113
to a normal position after connection of the operational cable
105
to the propulsion nozzle
113
, it is necessary to disengage from the propulsion nozzle
113
the fitting bolt
111
which has once been screw-connected to the propulsion nozzle
113
.
Therefore, the operation of adjusting the direction of the propulsion nozzle
113
to the normal angle requires much labor, in the same manner as in the case of FIG.
9
.
While examples of swinging the propulsion nozzle
102
,
113
vertically have been described in the cases of
FIGS. 9 and 10
, some jet propulsion watercrafts adopt the system in which the propulsion nozzle is fitted swingably in left-right directions and the watercraft body is turned to the left and right by changing the direction of the propulsion nozzle (hereinafter referred to as “steering nozzle”) to the left and right directions by an operational cable.
Also in the case of connecting the operational cable to the steering nozzle, the same inconvenience as that described referring to
FIGS. 9 and 10
is experienced.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a steering nozzle angle adjusting mechanism for a jet propulsion watercraft wherein an adjustment of the angle of the steering nozzle can be easily carried out without requiring much labor.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a propulsion watercraft wherein a jet nozzle for jetting water is provided at the stern, a steering nozzle is provided in addition to the jet nozzle, and the steering nozzle is swung to the left and right by use of an operational cable to change the direction of a jet from the jet nozzle for steering the watercraft. A fitting rod is fitted to the steering nozzle side with a joint turnably supported on the fitting rod so that the joint can be fitted to and detached from the fitting rod. The operational cable can be connected to the joint and the cable length at the time when the operational cable is connected to the joint can be adjusted.
The fitting rod is fitted to the steering nozzle side, and the joint can be turnably supported on the fitting rod so that the joint can be fitted to and detached from the fitting rod, whereby the operational cable can be tentatively fixed to the steering nozzle by only fitting the joint to the fitting rod. In this way, with the condition where the joint is tentatively fixed by only fitting to the fitting rod, it can be determined and checked whether or not the angle of the steering nozzle is normal.
Therefore, even in the case where it is necessary to readjust the angle of the steering nozzle, the joint can be easily detached from the fitting rod.
The present invention includes a jet propulsion watercraft of the system in which a jet nozzle for jetting water is provided at the stern, a steering nozzle is provided additionally to the jet nozzle, and the steering nozzle is swung to the left and right by use of an operational cable to change the direction o
Fuse Tomohiro
Noda Yoshiaki
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Morano S. Joseph
Olson Lars A.
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