Hydraulically assisted gear shift mechanism for a marine propulsion device

A gear shift assist mechanism for a marine propulsion device, comprising:

• a gear shift mechanism being alternately movable into forward, neutral, and reverse positions;
• a manually operable gear position selector;
• a hydraulic pump;
• a hydraulic cylinder connected in fluid communication with said hydraulic pump;
• a hydraulic piston disposed within said hydraulic cylinder;
• an actuator connected to said piston, said actuator being connected to said gear shift mechanism, whereby movement of said piston relative to said cylinder causes said gear shift mechanism to move between selected ones of said forward, neutral, and reverse positions;
• a switching device connected in fluid communication with said cylinder for conducting hydraulic pressure from said hydraulic pump into a selected region of said hydraulic cylinder in response to a signal received from said manually operable gear position selector, said piston being movable to a first end of said cylinder to cause said gear shift mechanism to move into said forward position when said selected region is a first region of said hydraulic cylinder, said piston being movable to a second end of said cylinder to cause said gear shift mechanism to move into said reverse position when said selected region is a second region of said hydraulic cylinder, and said piston being movable to a central position of said cylinder to cause said gear shift mechanism to move into said neutral position when said hydraulic pressure is blocked from fluid communication with both of said first and second regions;
• and
• a position biasing component disposed within said cylinder to urge said piston toward a position within said cylinder which corresponds to said neutral position of said gear shift mechanism.

A gear shift assist mechanism for a marine propulsion device, comprising:

• a gear shift mechanism being alternately movable into forward, neutral, and reverse positions;
• a manually operable gear position selector;
• a hydraulic pump;
• a hydraulic cylinder connected in fluid communication with said hydraulic pump;
• a hydraulic piston disposed within said hydraulic cylinder;
• an actuator connected to said piston, said actuator being connected to said gear shift mechanism, whereby movement of said piston relative to said cylinder causes said gear shift mechanism to move between selected ones of said forward, neutral, and reverse positions;
• a switching device connected in fluid communication with said cylinder for conducting hydraulic pressure from said hydraulic pump into a selected region of said hydraulic cylinder in response to a signal received from said manually operable gear position selector, said piston being movable to a first end of said cylinder to cause said gear shift mechanism to move into said forward position when said selected region is a first region of said hydraulic cylinder, said piston being movable to a second end of said cylinder to cause said gear shift mechanism to move into said reverse position when said selected region is a second region of said hydraulic cylinder, and said piston being movable to a central position of said cylinder to cause said gear shift mechanism to move into said neutral position when said hydraulic pressure is blocked from fluid communication with both of said first and second regions, said switching device being connected in signal communication with said manually operable gear position selector;
• and
• a position biasing component disposed within said cylinder to urge said piston toward a position within said cylinder which corresponds to said neutral position of said gear shift mechanism.