JP7225604B2 - Outboard motor engine cover structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an engine cover structure for an outboard motor.

When the engine cover of an outboard motor becomes large, for example, when the upper cover is attached to or detached from the lower cover, it is difficult for a single person to see the entire periphery of the engine cover, and there are places that are difficult to reach. It is difficult to ensure rigidity, and it becomes easy to bend. For this reason, sufficient consideration must be given to alignment when attaching the upper cover to the lower cover using a fastener structure, and to sealing performance of the engine cover.

Conventionally, in order to ensure the rigidity of the engine cover, the thickness of the engine cover has been increased, or an upper plate (reinforcing member) has been attached to the engine cover (upper cover) using rivets or the like as described in Patent Document 1. It is known that

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-145595

However, if the thickness of the engine cover is increased in order to secure the rigidity of the engine cover, the weight of the engine cover increases.

Further, when the engine cover is provided with a thick portion and a thin portion, sink marks are generated in the portion where the thickness changes, and a dent or the like is generated on the surface of the engine cover. The sink marks become more conspicuous as the engine cover becomes larger, and this degrades the appearance of the outboard motor.

Furthermore, if an upper plate (reinforcing member) is attached to the engine cover using a mounting member such as a rivet in order to secure the rigidity of the engine cover, the mounting member stands out from the outside of the outboard motor. In this case also, the appearance of the outboard motor is deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to improve the workability of attaching and detaching the upper cover of a large engine cover, reduce the weight of the engine cover, and improve the sealing performance and appearance. To provide an engine cover structure for an outboard motor.

An engine cover structure for an outboard motor according to the present invention includes an engine cover that includes an upper cover and a lower cover that are molded parts, and the upper cover is attached to the lower cover to cover the engine of the outboard motor. In the engine cover structure for an outboard motor, the upper cover is attached to the lower cover by a fastener structure in which a pin of a fastener bracket on the upper cover side is engaged with a hook on the lower cover side. An annular rail is provided in at least two locations including both side portions of the engine cover, the upper cover and the lower cover are resin molded products, and an annular rail is disposed inside the upper cover and in the vicinity of a joint portion with the lower cover. The annular rail is fixed to the fastener bracket to reinforce the upper cover, and the annular rail is fastened and fixed to the fastener bracket from the inside of the upper cover by using fastening bolts to secure the upper cover. It is characterized by being indirectly spaced apart from the cover via the fastener bracket.

According to the present invention, the annular rail is fixed to the fastener bracket that constitutes the fastener structure for attaching the upper cover to the lower cover at a position inside the upper cover and close to the mating portion with the lower cover. The upper cover is reinforced by Therefore, the rigidity of the upper cover is ensured and deformation is prevented without increasing the thickness of the upper cover. , the attachment and detachment workability of the upper cover, and the sealing performance between the upper cover and the lower cover can both be improved.

In addition, since it is not necessary to increase the thickness of the upper cover in order to secure the rigidity of the upper cover, sink marks (dents on the surface, etc.) do not occur where the thickness of the upper cover changes. Moreover, the attachment member and attachment shape for attaching the annular rail to the upper cover do not appear on the surface of the upper cover. As a result, the appearance of the upper cover and the engine cover can be improved.

1 is an inner side view showing the inside of an engine cover showing an embodiment of an engine cover structure for an outboard motor according to the present invention; FIG. The enlarged view which expands and shows the II section of FIG. Sectional drawing which follows the III-III line of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1 , an engine 11 is covered with an engine cover 12 on the top of the outboard motor 10 . The engine 11 is a vertical engine in which a crankshaft (not shown) is arranged substantially vertically. The output of this engine 11 is transmitted to a propeller (both not shown) via a drive shaft to propel the hull equipped with the outboard motor 10 .

The engine cover 12 includes a lower cover 12B forming a lower portion of the engine cover 12 and a dome-shaped upper cover 12A forming an upper portion of the engine cover 12. As shown in FIG. The upper cover 12A is detachably attached to the lower cover 12B with its lower edge resting on the upper edge of the lower cover 12B, thereby covering the engine 11. As shown in FIG. A seal member 13 is provided between the lower edge of the upper cover 12A and the upper edge of the lower cover 12B, which is the joining portion between the upper cover 12A and the lower cover 12B. Also, the upper cover 12A and the lower cover 12B are resin molded products manufactured from resin using a molding die.

A fastener structure 14 is used to attach the upper cover 12A to the lower cover 12B. The fastener structures 14 are provided in at least two locations including both side portions of the engine cover 12, and in this embodiment, a total of three locations including both side portions of the engine cover 12 and the longitudinal ship side (front side) portion of the engine cover 12.

The reason why a total of three positions are provided is that, in this embodiment, the engine cover 12 is enlarged, so that the rear side portion of the engine cover 12 in the front-rear direction, i. This is because it becomes difficult for one person to operate the fastener structure 14 on the opposite side. Here, the enlarged engine cover 12 has a length of about 80 cm, a width of about 50 cm, and a weight of about 4.6 kg. An engine cover that is large enough to make it difficult to see the entire surroundings and create areas that are difficult to reach.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fastener structure 14 described above enables the hook 17 on the lower cover 12B side to engage with the pin 16 of the fastener bracket 15 on the upper cover 12A side.

That is, fastener brackets 15 are attached to the inside of the lower part of both sides of the upper cover 12A and the inside of the lower part of the longitudinal side of the upper cover 12A. Shafts 18 are provided inside the upper part of both sides of the lower cover 12B and inside the upper part of the longitudinal side of the lower cover 12B. A hook-shaped portion 17</b>A that can be engaged with the pin 16 is provided at the tip of the hook 17 . A housing upper portion 19 is formed on the upper outer side of both side portions of the lower cover 12B and the upper outer side of the longitudinal ship side portion of the lower cover 12B. .

In the fastener structure 14 configured as described above, the upper cover 12A is attached to the lower cover 12B by rotating the handle 20 in one direction and engaging the hook-shaped portion 17A of the hook 17 with the pin 16. . When the handle 20 is rotated in the opposite direction, the hook-shaped portion 17A of the hook 17 is disengaged from the pin 16, so that the upper cover 12A can be separated from the lower cover 12B.

By the way, an annular rail 21 is arranged inside the upper cover 12A and at a position close to the joint with the lower cover 12B (that is, the lower edge of the upper cover 12A). The annular rail 21 is formed in a curved surface shape that is the inner surface shape of the upper cover 12A. Further, the annular rail 21 is fixed by being tightened from the inside of the upper cover 12A using a tightening bolt 24 to a mounting arm 23 attached to the fastener bracket 15 of the fastener structure 14 using a mounting bolt 22. As shown in FIG. By fixing the annular rail 21 to the upper cover 12A via the fastener bracket 15, the upper cover 12A is reinforced by the annular rail 21. As shown in FIG.

With the configuration as described above, the present embodiment has the following effects (1) to (5).
(1) The annular rail 21 is fixed to the fastener bracket 15 of the fastener structure 14 at a position inside the upper cover 12A and close to the mating portion with the lower cover 12B, thereby reinforcing the upper cover 12A. . Therefore, the rigidity of the upper cover 12A is ensured and deformation is prevented, so that even when the engine cover 12 is enlarged, the workability of attaching and detaching the upper cover 12A can be improved.

(2) Since the upper cover 12A is reinforced by the annular rail 21 to ensure rigidity and prevent deformation, the sealing performance between the upper cover 12A and the lower cover 12B, that is, the sealing performance of the engine cover 12 can be improved.

(3) Since the upper cover 12A is reinforced by the annular rail 21 to ensure rigidity, there is no particular need to increase the thickness of the upper cover 12A in order to ensure rigidity of the upper cover 12A. As a result, weight reduction of the upper cover 12A and the engine cover 12 can be achieved.

(4) Since it is not necessary to increase the thickness of the upper cover 12A or provide a thick portion and a thin portion in order to ensure the rigidity of the upper cover 12A, the thickness of the upper cover 12A changes. Sink marks (surface dents, etc.) do not occur in parts. Here, the term "sink marks" refers to the occurrence of a difference in wall thickness due to the difference in shrinkage associated with cooling of the resin, and is a phenomenon that causes dents or the like on the surface of the resin molded product. Moreover, the mounting member and mounting shape for mounting the annular rail 21 to the upper cover 12A do not appear on the surface of the upper cover 12A. As a result, the appearance of the upper cover 12A and the engine cover 12 can be improved.

(5) Since the annular rail 21 is fixed to the fastener bracket 15 of the fastener structure 14 using the tightening bolt 24, the annular rail 21 can ensure the positional accuracy of the fastener bracket 15. Since the positional accuracy of the fastener bracket 15 is ensured in this way, it is easy to determine the mounting position when mounting the upper cover 12A to the lower cover 12B, and furthermore, the hook 17 of the fastener structure 14 can be easily attached to the pin 16. can be engaged.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been described above, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, and these replacements and changes can be made. is included in the scope and gist of the invention, and is included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

For example, the fastener structure 14 is provided on both sides of the engine cover 12 and on the longitudinal ship side (front side) of the engine cover 12, but if necessary, the fastener structure 14 may be installed at 180 degrees with respect to the longitudinal ship side of the engine cover 12. It may be installed on the opposite side (rear side).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Outboard motor 11... Engine 12... Engine cover 12A... Upper cover 12B... Lower cover 14... Fastener structure 15... Fastener bracket 16... Pin 17... Hook 21... Annular rail

Claims (2)

In an engine cover structure for an outboard motor, in which an engine cover is configured with an upper cover and a lower cover that are molded parts, and the upper cover is attached to the lower cover to cover the engine of the outboard motor,
The upper cover is attached to the lower cover by a fastener structure that engages a hook on the lower cover side with a pin of a fastener bracket on the upper cover side, and the fastener structure includes at least both sides of the engine cover. It is provided in two places,
The upper cover and the lower cover are resin molded products, and an annular rail is disposed inside the upper cover and at a position close to the mating portion with the lower cover. configured to reinforce the cover,
The annular rail is fastened and fixed to the fastener bracket from the inside of the upper cover using a fastening bolt, and is indirectly spaced apart from the upper cover via the fastener bracket. engine cover structure for outboard motors. 2. The engine cover structure for an outboard motor according to claim 1, wherein said fastener structures are provided at a total of three locations, i.

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