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US 3,961,595 AGranted
Steering apparatus for small outboard motors
AssigneeBrunswick Corporation
InventorJames A. Meyer
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBrunswick Corporation
InventorJames A. Meyer
Estimating the term…
An outboard motor has a steering tiller handle assembly attached to the driveshaft housing and pivotally mounted within a swivel mounting bracket assembly. The swivel bracket assembly includes a split tubular element within which a split tubular section of the steering arm assembly is notably mounted and located encircling a tubular portion of the driveshaft housing. Upper and lower annular rubber mounts are located between the upper and lower end of the steering tubular section and the driveshaft housing. Each mount is formed with a first pair of axial slots formed in diametrically opposite sides of the mount and projecting inwardly from one end. A similar pair of slots offset by 90.degree. from the first set of slots extending inwardly from the opposite end of the annular amount. The driveshaft housing and the steering tubular section are provided with correspondingly offset projections adapted to mate with the slots in the annular mounting. Upper and lower sleeve bearings are located between the tubular section of the swivel bracket assembly and the steering arm assembly. The driveshaft housing is also employed as the exhaust passageway and includes a pair of openings aligned with the chamber to the steering assembly, the aft portion of which opens to the tubular section of the swivel bracket assembly. The outer wall of the swivel tubular section is provided with a generally U-shaped passageway with a closed end aligned with an exhaust opening and extending upwardly and then downwardly to discharge exhaust gases downwardly toward the water.
In an outboard motor, a powerhead support housing terminating in the lower end in a propeller unit, a mounting assembly adapted to be releasably interconnected to a boat and having a steering means with a tubular support section encircling the support housing for manual rotation, said tubular support section includes upper and lower spaced bearing portions encircling said support housing and having a steering element connected to the upper bearing portion for manual rotation, said upper and lower bearing portions are split with each bearing portion including a semi-circular base and an opposite half of each bearing portion being a separate cover connected to the circular base, said mounting assembly having an outer enclosing swivel tubular section encircling the tubular support section to define an essentially closed chamber, said support housing having an exhaust gas opening means aligned with the semi-circular base, resilient isolating means including upper and lower annular members formed of a rubber-like resilient material and located between the upper and lower bearing portions and the support housing, said annular members including individual connection means to the support section and to the support housing, said isolating means permitting physical transmission of steering forces while maintaining vibration isolation of the powerhead and support housing from the mounting assembly.
In an outboard motor having a support housing with an upper powerhead end and a lower propeller end and mounted within a swivel bracket mounting assembly comprising an improved mounting apparatus including a steering assembly having a steering tubular section encircling said support housing, a plurality of longitudinally spaced, resilient coupling and mount members located between said support housing and said tubular section, said resilient mount members including an upper and lower annular members having peripheral slots individually and separately releasably mated with corresponding projections of the support housing and of the tubular section, said lower annular member resting on the support housing and the upper annular member resting on the tubular section with the support housing resting on the upper annular member to resiliently mount the housing on the steering assembly and coupling said housing to the steering assembly for corresponding rotational movement, means rotatably mounting the tubular section within said bracket assembly to permit rotational positioning of the tubular section and the interconnected support housing for steering of the outboard motor while isolating of the support housing and powerhead from the steering assembly tubular section and the bracket assembly.
A mounting and steering coupling assembly for an outboard motor having a tubular drive shaft and exhaust housing with an upper powerhead mounting section and a depending cylindrical portion connected to a lower portion with a horizontal ledge at the lower end of the cylindrical portion, a powerhead unit connected to the mounting section and including an internal combustion engine rigidly bolted to the upper mounting section of the shaft and exhaust housing, said engine including an exhaust means discharging into said housing, said housing having a pair of exterior upper projections and a pair of exterior lower projections adjacent the upper and lower ends of the cylindrical portion, said upper and lower projections being located to diametrically opposite sides of the cylindrical portion, an upper annular mount member formed of a resilient rubber-like material and having a pair of slots extending axially of the annular member and mating with the upper projections on the housing, said annular member being split to permit assembly of the annular member about the housing with the slots mating with said projections, a corresponding lower annular mount member having slots mating with the lower projections on the housing, said upper and lower mount members each having a second pair of slots offset from the first slots, a steering assembly having a split steering tubular section and including a first semi-circular base encircling the upper mount member concentrically of the cylindrical portion and including an upper bearing portion with an internal projection mating with one of the second slots in the upper mounting member and having a lower bearing ledge, said semi-circular base having a lower bearing portion including an inward projection mating with one of the second slots in the lower mount member, said semi-circular base being spaced from the cylindrical portion to define a chamber therebetween, a steering arm projecting outwardly from the upper bearing portion and terminating in a manually grippable twist handle, an upper semi-circular bearing cover encircling the upper mount member and including a projection mating with the second of the second slots, bolt means connecting the upper cover to the upper bearing portion, and a similar lower bearing cover having a projection mating with the second of the second slots in the lower mount member, bolt means connecting the lower cover to the lower bearing portion, said base and said lower cover defining a thrust bearing ledge, a swivel bracket assembly having a semi-circular base and an outer semi-circular swivel cover releasably secured to the base defining a swivel tubular section encircling the split steering tubular section of the steering assembly, a sleeve bearing located between the upper end of the swivel tubular section and the steering tubular section and including an upper outwardly extending thrust bearing located between the uppermost end of the swivel tubular section and the ledge of the upper bearing portion of the steering tubular section, a lower sleeve bearing located between the lower end of the swivel tubular section and the steering tubular section immediately above the lower annular mount member and having an outwardly extending thrust bearing located between the lowermost end of the swivel tubular section and said thrust bearing ledge of the steering tubular section, said cylindrical portion having a pair of diametrically located openings defining idle exhaust relief openings for discharging of trapped exhaust gases outwardly into the chamber between the semi-circular base of the steering tubular section and the cylindrical portion, said gases passing rearwardly into the chamber defined between the bearing covers and the exterior of the housing and outer swivel cover of the swivel tubular section, said swivel cover having an exhaust opening located immediately above the lower sleeve bearing, an exhaust passageway extension formed in the back wall of the swivel cover and including a U-shaped passageway extending upwardly from said exhaust opening to the upper end portion of the swivel cover and then extending downwardly to the opposite side thereof and terminating in the lowermost end of the cover to discharge the gases downwardly, said passageway having a constant cross-section and a predetermined length to attenuate selected exhaust gas frequencies.
In an outboard motor having a support housing with a powerhead secured to the upper end thereof and a propeller unit secured to the lower end thereof and mounted within a swivel bracket mounting assembly, said powerhead including an internal combustion engine exhausting gas downwardly through said housing, an improved mounting apparatus comprising a tubular section encircling said support housing, coupling members located between said support housing and said tubular section and defining an exhaust expansion chamber, said support housing having an exhaust opening to said expansion chamber, and a tuned passageway means secured to the tubular section and having an inlet connected to said expansion chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.