Shock absorbing arrangement for marine outboard drive

A positioning mechanism for an outboard drive supported for tilting movement relative to a hull of an associated watercraft about a substantially horizontally disposed tilt axis, the positioning mechanism comprising a fluid motor assembly having a cylinder, a piston slidably supported in the cylinder and defining first and second chambers, a piston rod being formed separately from the piston and affixed to the piston, the piston rod extending from the piston through one of the chambers, and a shock absorbing mechanism that permits fluid flow from the first chamber to the second chamber upon the application of a preset force tending to cause the outboard drive to tilt up about the tilt axis, the shock-absorbing mechanism including a passage connecting the first chamber and to a hollow formed in the piston, and a check valve assembly principally accommodated in the hollow, the check valve assembly including a valve seat that is located between the hollow and the passage and that has a smaller cross-sectional flow area than a cross-sectional flow area of the passage.

In an outboard drive supported for tilting movement relative to a hull of an associated watercraft about a substantially horizontally disposed tilt axis, a positioning mechanism comprising a fluid motor including a cylinder, a piston slidably supported in the cylinder and defining first and second chambers, a piston rod extending from the piston through one of the chambers, and means for allowing the drive unit to pop-up when an underwater obstacle is struck by the outboard drive, the pop-up allowing means including a check valve assembly accommodated in a hollow being formed in the piston and closed with a plug attached to the piston.

An outboard drive for a watercraft comprising a housing unit, a bracket assembly arranged to support the housing unit to the watercraft for pivotal movement about a generally horizontally extending tilt axis, and a fluid motor arranged to pivotally move the housing unit relative to the watercraft about the tilt axis, the fluid motor comprising a cylinder defining an internal cavity, a piston slidably supported within the cavity, the piston dividing the cavity into first and second chambers, a piston rod extending from the piston generally vertically through the first chamber, and a damping mechanism configured to allow fluid in the first chamber to flow toward the second chamber upon the application of a preset force tending to cause the housing unit to pivot about the tilt axis, the damping mechanism comprising a shock absorbing valve disposed in a hollow defined at the piston, the hollow being closed by a plug.