US3024758A - Engine mounting system - Google Patents

Description

March 13, 1962 G. H. 1EBER ENGINE MOUNTING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 5, `195e 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Y Gus-rm H. DEBER A t* g4 March 13, 1962 G. H. LIEBER 3,024,758

ENGINE MOUNTING SYSTEM l Filed Dec. 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR. GusTAv H. DEBER BEL/5- United States Patent Otilce 3,024,758 Patented Mar. 13, 1962 3,024,758 ENGINE MOUNTING SYSTEM Gustav H. Lieber, 516 N. Delaware Ave., Mason City, Iowa Filed Dec. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 778,470 2 Claims. (Cl. 11S-41) This invention relates to a new and improved mounting system for mounting an outboard engine upon a boat, and more particularly to a substantially automatic system for moving the mounted motor between a lowered operating position and an elevated storage and repair position.

The outboard motors and engines employed with relatively small craft are frequently heavy in weight and awkward to handle. This is particularly true with relatively powerful motors. Consequently, it is difficult for many people to raise the motor from the water when it is necessary to service the motor or to repair any part thereof. The same difliculty is encountered when the boat is removed from the water, since the propeller portion of the outboard engine must be raised clear of the bottom of the boat to avoid damage during beaching of the boat. With many of the heavier motors, it is frequently diicult to change the angle at which the motor is mounted, relative to the boat, tto trim the boat. In fact, with most mounting arrangements, it is almost impossible to change the angle at which the motor is mounted while the boat is operating at any substantial speed. The weight of the motor and the difficulty encountered in raising, lowering, or pivoting the motor with respect to the boat also frequently makes it diflcult to traverse shallow water or weed-tilled areas.

Various power-operated means have heretofore been proposed for raising and lowering an outboard motor with respect to the boat it is employed to drive. In general, however, these arrangements have required at least some modication of the motor or motor mounting arrangement. Moreover, prior art arrangements of this kind, in general, have provided only for raising and lowering of the motor and have not afforded any effective means for changing the angle of attack of the motor propeller. Furthermore, previously known mounting systems of lthe power driven kind have, in general, failed 4to provide convenient access to the propeller and associated parts of the motor unless the motor is raised completely above the transom of the boat, since they are constructed to elevate the motor directly instead of pivoting it upon the transom.

It is a primary object of the invention, therefore, to afford a power-driven mounting system for an outboard engine which may be actuated to pivot the engine, relative to a boat, between a lowered operating position and an elevated storage and repair position which affords relatively convenient access to the motor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved outboard motor mounting system which utilizes, for the most part, the conventional mounting brackets for the motor, and which is effective to position the motor in any position which would be available with conventional manually operated systems.

Another object of the invention is a new and improved outboard engine mounting system which may be actuated to change the angular alignment of the motor with respect to the boat and thus trim the boat, while the motor is in operation and the boat is operating at a substantial speed.

A related object of the yinvention is to maintain an outboard motor at virtually any operating angle, relative to a boat, and to provide for adjustment of that operating angle during operation of the motor.

A particular object of the invention is to provide for pivotally raising and lowering an outboard engine by means of a simple and economical hydraulic system which forms an adjunct to the normal mounting means for the motor.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improved hydraulically operated mounting system for an outboard engine which may be operated from the engine starter battery and which is effective to lock the motor in any desired posi-tion for a substantially indenite period.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what is now considered to be the best mode for applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is an elevation view, partly in cross section, of a part of an engine mounting system constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention and showing an outboard engine mounted upon the transom of a boat;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation view of the control and power components of the engine mounting system of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a partly schematic diagram of the hydraulic and electrical control system for the engine mounting systern of FIGS. l and 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation view of a portion of the engine mounting system, taken approximately along line 4 4 in FIG. l but drawn to a substantially larger scale than FIG. l;

FIG. 5 is a detail view taken approximately as indicated by line 5-5 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial end elevation, similar to FIG. 4, of a different embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevation taken approximately along line 7-7 in FIG. 6.

In FIGS. 1-5, there is illustrated an engine mounting system for mounting an outboard engine upon a boat 10, the system vbeing hydraulically actuated to pivotally raise and lower the outboard motor 11 between a lowered operating position, as shown in solid lines in FIG. l, and an elevated storage and repair position generally indicated by the dash outline 11A. In the illustrated arrangement, the main support for the outboard engine 11 is provided by a pair of conventional mounting brackets, of which only the one bracket 12 is seen in FIG. l, the motor 11 being pivotally movable about an axis dened by a horizontally extending pivot pin or bolt 13. The bracket mounting arrangement comprising the members 12 and 13 may be of substantially conventional construction and therefore has not been shown in particular detail in the drawings. The brackets 12 are secured to the transom 14 of the boat in conventional manner and may be braced with respect to each other by suitable means such as a connecting bolt 15.

The outboard motor 11 includes the usual engine head 16 which is connected to a lower or propeller unit 17. The engine head 16 is connected to thelower unit 17 by means of a shaft housing 18 and also by a housing 19 for the exhaust conduit of the engine. The engine head 16, and the propeller unit 17 may be pivoted relative to the housing 19 by means of a suitable handle 22, Ithe two pivoting units being interconnected with each other through the shaft housing 18.

As best shown in FIGS. l, 4, and 5, the engine mounting system of the invention comprises a fluid-pressure operated power device 23 which, in the illustrated arrangement, includes a pair of hydraulic cylinders 24 and 25. The cylinder 24 includes a piston rod 26 which projects outwardly of the lower end of the cylinder as shown in each of FIGS. I, 3, 4, and 5. A number of ditferent operating cylinders of this general kind are commercially available; the hydraulic cylinders conventionally employed for control operations on aircraft have been founded to be quite suitable, `but other kinds of hydraulically operated cylinders may be utilized if desired. The cylinder 25 is similar in construction to the cylinder 24 and includes a piston 27 which projects from the lower end of the cylinder (see FIG. 4).

The mounting system of the invention further includes means for mounting either the cylinders or the piston rods of the iluid pressure operated device 23 upon the transom 14 of the boat 10. In the illustrated embodiment, this mounting means comprises a pair of mounting plates 28 and 29 which are `secured to the external surface of the transom 14 of the boat by suitable means such as screws, bolts, or the like. A pair of brackets 32 are fixed to the mounting plate 2S, and a corresponding pair of brackets 33 are secured to the mounting plate 29. A shaft 34 is journaled in and extends between the two sets of brackets 32 and 33, being retained in the brackets by suitable means such as a pair of retainer pins or keys 35.

A bearing member 36 is mounted upon the shaft 34 and is supported upon the shaft at a location intermediate the two `brackets 32. The bearing member 36 is fixed to the end of the end of the piston rod 26 and affords a pivotal connection between the piston rod and the boat. Any suitable mounting arrangement may be employed to mount the bearing member 36 on the piston rod; for example, the end of the piston may be threaded and may be received in a suit-able tapped opening in the bearing member. At the opposite end of the shaft 34 there is mounted a similar bearing member 37, which is connected to the piston rod 27 and serves as a sup-port for that piston rod and its associated cylinder 25.

The power device 23, comprising the hydraulic cylinders 24 and 25, is also pivotally connected to the outboard motor 11, in this instance being connected to the shaft housing 18. The connecting means in this instance comprises a yoke 38 including two U bolts 39 disposed in encompassing relation to the vertically extending shaft housing 18. The opposite ends of the yoke 38 are atlixed to a pair of shafts 42 and 43 which extend outwardly of the yoke toward the cylinders 24 and 25, respectively. The `shaft 42 is journaled in a bracket 44 that is `aflixed to the cylinder 24, whereas the shaft is similarly journaled in a bracket 45 on the cylinder 25. Axial displacement of the shafts 42 and 43 is prevented by suitable means such as a pair of clamp washers 46 and 47.

The hydraulic actuating and control system of the invention is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. It includes an electrically operated hydraulic pump S which is associated with a Huid reservoir 51 and which is provided with an outlet port 52 and an inlet or return port 53. The pump unit 50 is electrically connected, by means of suitable conductors such as the wires 54 and 55, -to the starter battery 57 for the outboard engine 11, the battery being shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. A manually operable switch 56 is incorporated in the electrical circuit for controlling operation of the electrical motor of the pump unit 50.

The outlet port 52 of the pump is connected to the two intake ports 58 `and 59 of the hydraulically operated cylinders 24 and 25, respectively, by means of suitable conduits 61 and 62. The terminal portion 62A of the conduit 62 is formed from a flexible hose or other ilexible conduit. A check valve 63 is interposed in the conduit 61 `to limit the direction of fluid through the conduit to that indicated by the arrow 64. The conduit 62 is also connected, through a manually operable valve 65 to the inlet or return port 53 of the pump.

The hydrau-lic operating and control system described immediately hereinabove is relatively simple in construction iand, indeed, may be constructed entirely from conventional-hydraulic components Such as those employed in the operation of retractible automobile tops `and in other similar applications. Despite its simplicity and relatively low cost, however, the hydraulic system is effective and efficient in operation and is capable of moving the motor 11 to any one of a number of different positions, as described more fully hereinafter.

In describing the oper-ation in the mounting system of the invention it may be assumed that the outboard motor 11 initially is lmounted in the position shown in FIG. l. The motor is retained in this position by the two hydraulic cylinders 24 and 25 and by its own weight. The valve 65 is maintained in closed position and the switch 56 is open. Under these conditions, which comprise the normal operating conditions for the motor 11, the motor may be operated in the usual manner to drive the boat 10 across a body of water.

When it is desired to moor the boat, or under other conditions as set forth in the preliminary portions of this specification, it may be desirable to elevate the motor 11 to the storage and repair position 11 as shown in FIG. l. To accomplish this purpose, it is only necessary for the operator of the boat to close the switch 56, energizing the motor of the electrically driven pump unit 50. When the motor is energized, the pump forces fluid under pressure through the conduits 61 and 62 and the valve 63 into the two hydraulically driven cylinders 24 `and 25. The two piston rods 26 and 27 are driven outwardly of the cylinders, forcing the cylinders away from their pivotal connections to the transom 14 of the boat. Consequently, and by virtue of the pivotal connection of the cylinders to the shaft housing 18 of the engine 11, the engine is forced upwardly and outwardly of the boat transom, pivoting about the horizontal axis established by the pivot pin 13. Continued operation of hydraulic system brings the engine to the elevated position 11A, which represents the limit of its pivotal movement. The operator can then open the switch 56, deenergizing the pump unit 50.

Interruption of operation of the pump unit 50 does not permit the engine 11 to return to its original position. The check valve 63 pervents the flow of fluid back to the pump through the conduit 61. The manually operated valve 65, on the other hand, prevents vthe flow of iiuid into the intake port 53 of the pump. 'Consequently, the fluid which has been pumped -into the cylinders 24 and 25 can not flow back out of the cylinders and therefore holds the cylinders in their actuated positions. In this manner, the hydraulic system is effective to retain the engine 11 in its elevated position 11A for extended periods of time, despite the fact the pump 50 is not operating.

When it is desired to lower the outboard engine 11 to its original operating position, the valve 65 is opened. The opening of this valve permits the return tlow of the hydraulic operating lluid into the intake port 53 of the pump and reservoir 50, 51. Accordingly, the fluid within the cylinders 24 and 25 is no longer entrapped and the cylinders are able to return to their original actuated position as shown in FIGS. l, 4, and 5. The weight of the engine 11 bearing upon the cylinders may be suicient to erTect the desired lowering or return movement of the engine, `On the other hand, a suitable biasing means such as the spring 69 may be employed to `accelerate the return movement of the outboard motor if desired. 1t is thus seen that the control of the entire hydraulically mounting system is easily and effectively accomplished by means of the single switch 56 and the manually operated valve 65. The operator of the boat is not required to go to the rear end of the -boat to carry out any operation in connection with positioning of the outboard motor.

During operation of the boat, as noted hereinabove, it may be desirable to change the angular position of the motor to a relatively small degree, as when traversing shallow water or in order to trim the boat. For this purpose, it is only necessary for the operator to close the switch S6 `for `a relatively short time, opening the switch as soon as the motor 11 has been pivoted a short distance upwardly and outwardly of the boat transom. lf the operator overshoots the desired displacement of the propeller unit 17, he can lower the outboard engine slightly by opening the valve 65 for a brief interval. Accordingly, it is seen that the engine mounting system of the invention permits elective and substantially -automatic movement of the motor to almost any desired angular position relative to the boat between the normal operating position shown in solid lines shown in FIG. 1 and `the elevated storage and repair position illustrated by the dash outline 11A.

lFIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate the mounting details for a moditied embodiment of the invention which in most respects is substantially similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5 but which affords some advantages with respect to accommodating the mounting system to engines of ydiilerent types and sizes. In this embodiment of the invention, two hydraulically operated cylinders are employed, as in the first described embodiment; however, only the one cylinder 124 corresponding to the cylinder 24 is illustrated, since the mounting arrangement for the second cylinder of the modified system is substantially similar. The operating cylinder 124 -is of course provided with a piston rod 126 extending from one end thereof. `O11 the end of the piston rod 126 there is mounted a ball 127 which, with a socket 128, forms a pivotal mounting joint of the familiar ball and socket type. The socket 128, is mounted, in any suitable manner, upon a bracket 129 which, in turn, is aftixed to and supported by a mounting plate 130. The mounting plate 130 .may be secured to the transom I14 of the boat by any suitable means such as screws, bolts, or the like.

The pivotal connection ofthe operating mechanism and the outboard motor is also different, in the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7, from the `arrangement shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Thus, the cylinder 124 is provided with a mounting boss or plate 132 from which a pin or shaft 133 extends, the shaft .133 projecting approximately normal to the axis of the cylinder 124. A sleeve 134 is mounted upon the shat 133, being retained thereon by suitable means such as a pin 13S. A second sleeve 136 is affixed to and supported upon the sleeve 134 and affords a bearing for a transverse shaft 142 which corresponds to the shaft 42 described hereinabove in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5. The shaft 142 is free to rotate within the sleeve 136, which in turn can pivot about the pin or shaft 133, thus alfording essentially the same type of pivotal mounting as provided by the ball and socket joint 127, 128. The shaft or thrust bar 142 supports one side of a. yoke which engages the outboard motor in the same manner as described hereinabove in regard to FIGS. 4 and 5, and the mounting arrangement at the opposite side of the outboard motor is of substantially the same construction, the yoke and opposite-side mounting arrangement being omitted from the drawings.

The utilization of a -ball and socket joint in the pivotal connection of the cylinders to the boat transom permits substantial variation in the angular alignment of the two cylinders with respect to each other. Consequently, by moving the two cylinders closer to each other or by spreading them farther apart, the effective height of the thrust bars such `as the bar 142 can be changed to accommodate motors of dilerent sizes and structural characteristics. These variations in the normal angular alignment of the cylinders also make it unnecessary to maintain exact horizontal alignment of the two mounting plates :for

the cylinders with respect -to each other, since the multiple pivotal arrangement aiorded by the two sleeve joints comprising the sleeves 134 and 136 makes it possible to maintain the shaft 142 in a horizontal position despite the fact -that the two cylinders may be somewhat misaligned, at their bases, with respect to each other. If desired, it is of course also possible to employ a ball and socket joint to mount the 4thrust bars on the cylinders as Well as to support the cylinders upon the boat transom.

Hence while the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification.

I claim:

l. An engine mounting system for mounting an outboard engine upon a boat, comprising: means for pivotally mounting an outboard engine upon a boat for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis; a hydraulically operated power device comprising a pair of cylinder members, a pair of piston members mounted within said cylinder members, and a pair of piston rod members extending outwardly of respective ones of said cylinder members; means for mounting one pair of said piston rod and cylinder members upon an external portion of said boat for pivotal movement with respect thereto; connecting means for pivotally connecting the other pair of said piston rod and cylinder members to said outboard engine at a point displaced from said horizontal axis, said connecting means comprising a yoke pivotally connected at its opposite ends to said other pair of members and yadapted to be attached in encompassing relation to a vertically extending portion of said engine; a hydraulic pump; and conduit means, including a manually-operated control valve with manual operating means accessible to the operator of the boat from the boat-driving seat, for connecting said pump to said cylinder members to apply fluid thereto, under pressure, to move said piston and piston rod members relative to said cylinder members and pivot said engine, about said axis, between a lowered operating position and an elevated storage and repair position and to maintain the relative positions of said piston rod members yand said cylinder members and keep the engine in a trimmed operating position when said manually-operated valve is closed.

2. For use in pivoting an outboard engine from a lowered operating position on a transom of a boat about a horizontal axis to an elevated storage and repair position, engine pivoting mechanism comprising; a pair of hydraulic units including outer cylinders and inner pistons having rods projecting from said cylinders, brackets for pivotally connecting said piston rods to the transom of a boat, a cross piece including a yoke member adapted to encircle a drive shaft housing of an outboard engine, said cross piece being pivotally connected at opposite ends to said cylinders, a hydraulic pump connected to each of said yhydraulic units to supply pressurized hydraulic fluid thereto to move said outer cylinders relative to said p-iston rods and thereby exert a force through said yoke for pivoting an outboard engine from a lower to an elevated position, and valve means for controlling the iiow of hydraulic uid from said pump to said hydraulic units to regulate the angular disposition of an outboard motor relative to the transom of a boat.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,244,213 Patton Iune 3, 1941 2,747,536 Russell May 29, 1956 2,755,766 Wanzer July 24, 1956 Notice 0f Adverse Decision in Interference In Interference No. 93,562 involving Patent No. 3,024,758, G. H. Lieber, ENGINE MOUNTING SYSTEM, final judgment adverse to the patentee was rendered Mar. 30, 1966, as to claims l and 2. n

[Ojcz'aZ Gazfee June 28, 1.966.]

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