Drive shaft support structure for marine propulsion machine

A drive shaft support structure for a marine propulsion machine having a vertical drive shaft, and a gear case forming a lower part of the marine propulsion machine and provided with a vertical drive shaft receiving bore receiving said drive shaft in a bearing fixedly held in the drive shaft receiving bore and with a gear chamber connected to a lower end of the drive shaft receiving bore and receiving therein a bevel gear mechanism for transmitting power of a drive shaft to a propeller shaft, said gear chamber storing therein a lubricating oil, said drive shaft support structure comprising:

• a bearing-fastening member for holding the bearing in the drive shaft receiving bore so that the bearing is substantially vertically fixed in place in the drive shaft receiving bore;
• and
• a covering member disposed above the bearing-fastening member, and closing an upper end of the drive shaft receiving bore in a liquid-tight fashion, said covering member having a body part penetrated by the drive shaft and a downwardly projecting part projecting downward from the body part, said downwardly projecting part being closely fitted in said upper end of the drive shaft receiving bore and having an oil passage forming a part of a lubricating oil flow path which extends from said gear chamber through said drive shaft receiving bore to a space between the bearing-fastening member and the covering member and from said space to an outside of the drive shaft receiving bore through a connecting hole for conducting the lubricating oil to the outside.