JPS595480B2 - Outboard motor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to a marine propulsion device such as an outboard motor, and more particularly, to a device for attenuating the impact force applied to a propulsion unit when it collides with an underwater obstacle. It is something.

A damping device, such as a hydraulic shock absorber, reduces the heeling force on the propulsion unit when the boat is traveling at high speed and hits an underwater obstacle, thereby reducing the impact of the outboard motor and/or stern plating. Used on outboard motors to prevent damage to the motor.

Some outboard motors, particularly the larger ones, are often equipped with a powerplant that selectively tilts the propulsion unit to a raised or raised position to stow or shed the propulsion unit.

U.S. Patent No. 300, granted August 10, 1961.
3724 describes the use of a hydraulic shock absorber between the propulsion unit and the support bracket, which acts as a damping device and a powered lifting device.

However, the device described in this U.S. patent requires the use of a separate hydraulic power source connected to the shock absorber and control system, making the outboard motor complex and complicated. Make it.

The present invention provides a ship stacking device including a damping device connected between a support bracket and a propulsion device including a self-supporting bracket supporting a propulsion unit, the damping device being It can perform the dual function of damping the angular movement of the propulsion unit and of helping to lift the VC or propulsion unit from its working position to its position.

More specifically, such a damping device consists of a cylinder, part of which is filled with an irreducible liquid and the other part of which is filled with gas under a predetermined pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, and a reciprocating movement inside the cylinder. a piston, a piston rod connected to the piston and extending from one end of the cylinder;
A device for pivotally connecting a damping device between the support bracket and the propulsion device to allow the piston rod to advance and retract, respectively, in response to the up-and-down tilting movement of the propulsion unit, and a fluid between the sides of the piston during the reciprocating movement of the piston. and a flow restriction device in the cylinder to restrict the flow of water and thereby dampen the angular movement of the propulsion unit during tilting.

In one embodiment of the invention, the gas exerts a greater force on the piston than the piston forward force exerted by the liquid and the gas, and thus the tilting force required to tilt the propulsion unit from the working position to the raised position. pressurized to a low level.

Thus, the damping device effectively and significantly reduces the force required to manually tilt the propulsion unit from the working position to the raised position.

In another embodiment of the invention, the gas is pressurized to a level where the piston thrust force exerted by the liquid and gas on the piston is greater than the tilting force required to tilt the propulsion unit to the raised position.

Therefore, after releasing the locking device which releasably locks the propulsion unit in the working position, the damping device automatically tilts the propulsion unit into the raised position.

One object of the present invention is to attenuate the impact forces exerted on the propulsion unit upon impact with underwater obstacles and also to reduce the force required to manually tilt the propulsion unit from an operating position to a raised position. It is an object of the present invention to provide a propulsion device for a ship that includes a device that is as simple and inexpensive as possible.

Another object of the invention is to reduce the impact force exerted on the propulsion unit when it hits an underwater obstacle and to be able to automatically raise the propulsion unit from its working position to a raised position. It is an object of the present invention to provide a propulsion device for a ship including an inexpensive device.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention can be understood and become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Before describing the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the structure and arrangement of parts described in detail below and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The invention may be embodied in other embodiments or practiced in various other ways.

It should also be understood that the terms used herein are for purposes of description and not of limitation.

The drawings show an outboard motor 10 embodying the features of the present invention.

The outboard motor 10 has a propulsion device 11 including a propulsion unit 12 and a self-supporting bracket 14 .

The propulsion unit 12 includes an engine (not shown) enclosed within the vent cylinder 12 and 1. The drive shaft housing 18 includes a drive shaft (not shown) that is disposed inside the drive shaft housing 18 and drives and connects the engine (not shown) and the floater 22 via the propeller shaft 22 .

The propulsion unit 12 is connected to a self-supporting bracket 14 for horizontal rocking about a substantially vertical center pin 24 for controlling its steering.

The propulsion device 11 is attached to a support bracket or stern support plate bracket 28 to a stern support plate 26 or other support member of the hull.

The self-appointed bracket 14 is attached to the support bracket 28 by tilting the bin 3.
The propulsion unit 12 and the flexible bracket 14 are connected to each other so as to perform a rocking motion along with the stern support plate bracket 28, with the vertical plane or inclined axis of the propulsion unit 12 and the adjustable bracket 14 centered on the horizontal horizontal axis defined by the stern plate bracket 28.

The support bracket 28 is adapted to selectively accommodate a counterbalance adjustment pin 34 which is normally engaged by the propulsion unit 12 to vertically position the propulsion unit 18 in a desired working position. It includes a series of holes 32.

The outboard motor 10 also includes a suitable reversing lock 38 that is engaged with the propulsion unit 12 to prevent the unit from rocking or tipping upward during normal operation, thereby facilitating reverse operation of the propulsion unit. There is.

The reversing lock locks the propulsion unit 12 when it collides with an underwater obstacle.
If the impact force applied to the reversing lock is higher than a predetermined level during forward navigation, the reversing locking force will be released dynamically to allow the propulsion unit to swing or tilt upwards. It is made.

Reversing lock 38 may also include a release for manually tilting propulsion unit 12 to a raised position.

Although the reversing lock may be of any suitable construction, it is not necessary to describe or illustrate other types of construction in detail in order to fully understand the present invention.

See, eg, US Repatent No. 25,048, granted October 3, 1961.

According to the invention, a manual hook between the propulsion device 11 and the support bracket 28 reduces its angular movement during tilting of the propulsion unit and also automatically raises the propulsion unit when the reversing lock is released. A device is connected to the device to help tilt it into the correct position.

In the illustrated embodiment, such a device consists of one or more straight shock absorber or gas spring units 40, although other constructions are possible.

The gas spring unit 40 has a pressure cylinder 42 closed at its lower end by a closure member 44 and a support ear 46 projecting from the closure member 44 for pivotally connecting the lower end of the unit 40 to the support bracket 28 . Contains.

A piston 50 is slidably disposed within the cylinder 42 and is secured to one end of a piston rod 52 that extends coaxially with the cylinder 42 .

Piston rod 52 extends through an opening 54 in an upper closure member 56 closing the upper end of cylinder 42 .

A suitable backing or sealing member 58 is provided within opening 54 to surround piston rod 52 and provide a fluid-tight seal between piston rod 52 and upper chain member 56.

Attached to the outer end of the piston rod 52 are support ears 62 for pivotally connecting the gas spring unit 40 to the optional bracket 14.

The gas spring unit 40 is arranged between the self-supporting bracket 14 and the support bracket 28 such that a moment between the center of the support ear 62 and the pivot axis of the tilt pin 30 causes the propulsion unit 12 to move over its tilt arc. are connected in such a way that they remain approximately constant when

Cylinder 42 is partially filled with a predetermined amount of substantially incompressible liquid 640, such as oil or hydraulic fluid.

The liquid 64 is a suitable inert gas 66 such as nitrogen or air.
This inert gas is initially confined in the space above the liquid 64 and maintained at a predetermined pressure above atmospheric pressure.

Gas 66 generally becomes partially dispersed within the liquid after one or more reciprocating cycles of piston 50.

In order to allow the piston 50 to reciprocate axially within the cylinder 42, a device is provided within the cylinder 42 that allows liquid to flow in a restricted manner from one side of the piston 500 to the other. be.

Although other constructions are possible, in the illustrated example such a device comprises at least one orifice 68 extending axially through the piston 50.

The piston rod 52 of the gas spring unit 40 is a propulsion unit)
12 (hJ) As the propulsion unit moves forward or backward as it swings or tilts up and down around 0, it damps the angular movement of the propulsion unit, thereby increasing the intensity of the impact at the upper and lower limits of the swinging movement of the propulsion unit. The quality of the town decreases.

The speed of movement of the piston 50 and therefore the gas spring unit 4
The degree of damping effect performed by 0 is determined by the flow control orifice 68
depends on the flow rate of liquid through.

In order to absorb the very high shock loads on the propulsion unit 12, a liquid 64 is provided in the cylinder 42 so that the propulsion unit 1.2 can quickly tilt away from an underwater obstacle. A device is provided to selectively bypass flow from one side of 50 to the other.

Although various other configurations are possible, in the illustrated configuration such a device includes at least one bypass cell orifice 72 extending axially from the piston 50 and having a significantly larger flow area than the flow side orifice 68. Relief valve TO
, a shoulder 14 that forms a seat for the ball valve γ6 in the bypass orifice r2, and a relief spring 18 that presses the ball valve γ6 against the shoulder T4.

Relief valve γ0 opens to allow fluid to flow from the top side of the piston 50 to the bottom side, allowing the piston rod 52 to advance when the differential pressure across the piston 50 exceeds a predetermined level equal to a very high shock load applied to the propulsion unit 12. .

A flow-side oblique orifice 68 extends through the piston 52 so that equal fluid pressure acts on both sides of the piston during normal operation.

There is a net pressure on the piston rod 52 to advance the piston 50 because it reduces the effective area over which pressure can exert a force on the upper side of the piston 52.

This net pressure is equal to the volume occupied by the portion of the piston rod 52 removed from the cylinder 42.
As the piston rod 52 advances, it decreases in accordance with well-known gas methods.

In one embodiment of the invention, the areas of piston 50 and piston rod 52, the volume of liquid 640, and the volume of gas 66
The pressure and volume of are such that the net pressure acting on the piston 50 to advance the piston rod 50 offsets the weight of the propulsion device 11 as the propulsion device 11 is tilted upwardly about the tilting pin 30. The force is balanced to be very close to or less than the required force.

When the propulsion unit 12 is tilted upward from the working position to the raised non-working position, the propulsion device 11. The force required to offset the weight of the tilting pin 30 progressively decreases as the horizontal distance between the lateral horizontal axis defined by the tilting pin 30 and the center of gravity of the propulsion unit decreases.

Therefore, when the piston rod 52 moves forward, the net pressure acting on the piston 50 of the gas spring unit 40 decreases, and the tilt promoting force generated by the gas spring unit 40 is reduced.
remains below the level of force required to offset its weight over its slope arc of 1.

The variable factors described above are such that the difference between the heeling force exerted by the gas spring unit 40 and the force required to offset the weight of the propulsion device 11 remains relatively constant over the entire heel arc of the propulsion device. is preferred.

For example, to tilt a conventional propulsion device from the working position to the non-working position through an arc of 76', the force required for mounting the gas spring unit with the self-supporting bracket is approximately 317.52! 9 (700 bonds) to about 136.
It decreased considerably to 9 ('300 bond) in 2008.

Approximately 96 kg/ca (13ωp-8) with a piston rod having a cross-sectional area of approximately 2°84i (0.44 sq.
At a pressure of -1), the air is approximately 14.47 (0.88 cubic inches) (before pressurization and when the piston is in its lowest position)
The gas spring unit, when mounted with a self-manufactured bracket, has a tilting force that decreases almost linearly from approximately 272.16 kg (600 lbs.) to approximately 108.87 kg (240 lbs.) in the same tilted arc at the side. occur.

It has been found that when using the gas spring unit according to the invention, the amount of force required to tilt the propulsion unit is reduced by more than 50%.

If desired, the tilting force generated by the gas spring unit can be made to more closely approximate the force required to tilt the propulsion unit.

To explain the operation, when the ship is sailing at high speed, the propulsion unit 1
2 hits an underwater obstacle, the propulsion unit 12 tilts upwards (i.e. the first
Viewed from the figure, it tilts in the counterclockwise direction.

When the propulsion unit 12 is thus tilted), the piston rod 52 is advanced so that the piston 50 is displaced upward.

The piston 50 initially moves at a relatively high velocity until the gas 66 is compressed, and then moves quietly within the liquid 64 as it is forced through the restriction orifice 68 to provide propulsion during the incline. Attenuates the angular motion of unit r12.

Therefore, when the propulsion unit 12 collides with an underwater obstacle, it initially tilts upward at a relatively high speed and quickly moves away from the obstacle, thereby minimizing damage, and the angular motion of the propulsion unit is less than the rocking motion. Impact loads at the upper end are extremely attenuated, thereby preventing damage to the outboard motor and/or stern plating.

After leaving the obstacle, the propulsion unit 12 is returned to its working position by gravity.

This return movement of propulsion unit 12 retracts piston rod 52 and gently displaces piston 50 downwardly within liquid 64 as liquid 64 is forced through flow side orifice 68.

The forward thrust generated by propulsion unit 12 when submerged serves to return propulsion unit 12 to engagement with reversing lock 38.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the areas of piston 50 and piston rod 52, the volume of liquid, and the pressure and volume of gas 66 are adjusted to
0 (i.e., the tilting force exerted by the gas spring unit 40) is greater than the force required to offset the weight of the propulsion unit 120 about the tilting pin 30, but the reversing lock 38 Balanced to be less than the force required to open.

Thus, in this embodiment, the gas spring unit 40 automatically tilts the propulsion unit 12 into a raised, inactive position after the reversing lock 38 is manually or otherwise released.

As the piston rod 52 moves forward, the angular movement of the propulsion unit 120 is damped as described above, as the suppressed flow of liquid 640 passes through the flow restriction (2) orifice 68 of the piston.

In this embodiment, the propulsion unit 12 is moved either by manually applying a downward force to the propulsion unit or by a separate lifting device adapted to tilt the propulsion unit downward to overcome the tilting force created by the gas spring unit 40. It is returned to the working position.

In order to reduce the required restoring force as much as possible, the tilting force generated by the gas spring unit 40 is adjusted to a level relatively close to the force required to offset the weight of the propulsion unit, especially when restoring by hand. It is preferable.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial elevational view of an outboard motor according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a dual-function gas spring unit according to the principles of the invention. 10... Propulsion device, 11... Propulsion device, 12...
Propulsion unit, 14... self-appointed bracket, 26...
Hull, 28... Support bracket, 30... Connection device for self-supporting racket and support bracket, 42... Cylinder, 46... Connection device for the first end of the cylinder.
50... Piston, 52... Piston rod, 62...
・Piston rod connection device, 64...liquid, 66...
Gas, 6B...Flow control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A propulsion device comprising a support bracket attached to the hull, a self-supporting bracket and a propulsion unit carried by the self-supporting bracket, and causing said self-supporting bracket to be tilted in a vertical plane between an active position and a lifted non-active position. a device for connecting the support bracket and the support bracket in a horizontal transverse axis; and a device for manually tilting the propulsion device upward about the axis when the support bracket is attached to the hull. and a piston-cylinder device that provides a buffering effect when the propulsion device hits an underwater obstacle, and the piston-cylinder device has a first
a cylinder having an end and a second end; a device for pivotally connecting the first end of the cylinder to one of the support bracket and the propulsion device; an axially movable piston arranged for movement;
a piston rod connected to the piston and extending from a second end of the cylinder;
a device pivotally connected to the other end of the propulsion unit for extending the piston rod in response to upward tilting movement of the propulsion unit and for extending the piston rod in response to downward tilting movement of the propulsion unit; a connecting device for returning the piston rod by the cylinder; a quantity of incompressible liquid that partially fills the cylinder; and a pressurized gas at a predetermined pressure above atmospheric pressure that fills the remaining space within the cylinder; a flow control device disposed within the cylinder for inhibiting the flow of the liquid from one side of the piston to the other during operation of the piston, thereby damping the movement of the propulsion unit during tilting; A propulsion device for a ship, comprising: a square that allows the propulsion unit to tilt upward when the propulsion unit hits an underwater obstacle.