US3416759A - Outboard motor support bracket means - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 17, 1968 D. c. ARNETT 3,416,759

OUTBOARD MOTOR SUPPORT BRACKET MEANS Filed Nov. 2, 1966 A; 44 i: 3e

v INVENTOR.

DONALD c. ARNETT TORN S 3,416,759 OUTBOARD MOTOR SUPPORT BRACKET MEANS Donald C. Arnett, 216 W. Poplar, Arkansas City, Kans. 67005 Filed Nov. 2, 1966, Ser. No. 591,464 5 Claims. (Cl. 248-4) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is a bracket means connectible to anchor an outboard motor mounted on the stern portion of a boat. More specifically, this invention is a bracket means including a lug assembly connected to the outboard motor having a laterally extended dome-shaped head portion; a strap member engageable with head portion to restrict lateral movement therefrom; and linkage means having a chain member secured to the strap means through a spring member to bias the outboard motor in a resiliently anchored position.

Various types of strap and bracket combinations are known to the prior art operable to anchor an outboard motor on the stern portion of a boat. However, the prior art devices are structurally complicated in many instances requiring specially made clamping and connecting means and others require a great many of individual parts in securing an outboard motor to the stern portion of a boat to prevent damage thereto. Additionally, the prior art devices are comparatively expensive to manufacture, complicated in usage, and time-consuming to connect and disconnect to the outboard motors so as to operate in a manner substantially similar to that disclosed by the bracket means of the invention as described herein.

In accordance with the present invention, a new support bracket means is provided readily attachable to the stern portion of a boat and engageable with an outboard motor mounted on the stern portion to prevent undue movement thereof. The support bracket means of this invention preferably includes a lug assembly attachable to an outer housing of the outboard motor and an elongated connecting means attachable to the stern portion of the boat engagcable with the lug member. The connecting means preferably includes an elongated strap means having linkage means connected to opposite ends thereof. Each linkage means advantageously includes an elongated chain assembly having a spring member mounted between the same and the strap means whereby, in usage, the spring means operates to resiliently bias the strap means into engagement with the outer housing of the outboard motor. The lug assembly conveniently includes a bolt member having an enlarged, dome shaped head portion on a threaded shaft, a nut and washer secured to the shaft, and an enlarged shock-absorbing washer mounted between the outboard motor housing and the nut and washer. The strap means is preferably provided with a central opening therein of a size slightly larger than the dome-shaped head portion of the bolt member and engageable thereabout in usage to prevent lateral move ment of the connecting means therefrom.

In other preferred specific embodiments of the invention, the bracket means includes a connecting means attachable to the stern portion of a boat having a strap means engageable with a lug assembly secured to the casing or housing of an outboard motor mounted on the boat. The connecting means has linkage means connected to opposite ends of the strap means and engageable with laterally projecting ring members conventionally found mounted on the stern portion of a boat for anchoring to a dock, pulling water skiers, etc, The strap means includes a belt-type main body having a plurality of circular per- United States Patent 0 Patented Dec. 17, 1968 forations in a mid-portion thereof whereupon any one of the perforations may be punched out so as to be engageable with the lug assembly in usage. At opposite ends of the main body are U-shaped clamps secured thereto which are connectable to the respective linkage means. Each linkage means is constructed of an elongated chain member having a hook member secured to one end and the other end is connected to a spring assembly which, in turn, is connected to the respective clamps of the strap means. The hook members are of a conventional snaptype readily attachable to the ring members on the stern of the boat. The spring assembly is constructed of a main compression spring having a pair of attachment hook members mounted therethrough and the outer ends of the hook members are connected to the chain member and the clamp of the strap means, respectively. The lug assembly has a main bolt member with an enlarged domeshaped head portion and a threaded shaft portion mountable through an opening in the outer housing of the outboard motor so that the head projects laterally therefrom. A nut and washer are mounted on the threaded shaft portion and a resilient washer member mounted between the washer and the housing of the outboard motor thereby providing for a resilient mounting of the bolt member so as to prevent damage to the outer housing of the outboard motor. The dome-shaped head portion is of a size adapted to receive the opening of the punched out perforation in the main body of the strap means thereabout to present an effective connector thereto operable in conjunction with the attachment of the hook members to the respective ring members to anchor the outboard motor in a given position.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a support bracket means for anchoring outboard motors to the stern portion of a boat overcoming the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bracket means for resiliently securing an outboard motor on the stern portion of a boat in a raised position for land transporting purposes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a bracket means having a lug member secured to an outboard motor and a connecting means attachable to boththe lug member and the stern portion of a boat whereby the outboard motor is held in a given inclined position for the land transpotring thereof.

One other object of this invention is to provide a bracket means for anchoring an outboard motor to the stern portion of a boat that is readily adjustable so as to be usable to anchor various types and sizes of outboard motors to their respective supporting boats.

One further object of this invention is to provide a bracket means to anchor an outboard motor secured to the stern portion of a boat for land transporting purposes that is easy to use, inexpensive to manufacture, and dependable in operation.

Varius other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following discussion, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the bracket means of this invention illustrated as mounted on the stern portion of a boat and operably connected to an outboard motor secured to the boat to anchor the same in an inactive position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the bracket means of this invention illustrated as connected to the boat in the outboard motor; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a supporting lug assembly of the bracket means of this invention.

The following is a discussion and description of the preferred specific embodiments of the new bracket means of this invention, such being made with reference to the drawings, whereupon the same reference numerals are used to indicate the same or similar parts and/or structure. It is to be understood that such discussion and description is not to unduly limit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and in particular to FIG. 1 the support bracket means of this invention, indicated generally at 8, is illustrated as attached to a stern portion of a conventional boat 12 having a standard outboard motor 14 mounted on the stern portion 10. The support bracket means 8 includes a connecting means 17 and a lug assembly 19 which is mounted on an outer housing 21 of the outboard motor 14 and adapted to engage the connecting means 17 as will become obvious,

More specifically, the connecting means 17 includes a strap means 23 having linkage means 25 and 26 connected to opposite ends thereof. The strap means 23 is of a belt type having an elongated main body 28 with U-shaped clamp members 30 secured to opposite ends thereof. The main body 28 is provided with a plurality of pro-punched circular perforations 32 whereupon a selected one thereof may be punched out to provide a circular opening 33 engageable with the lug assembly 19 as will be explained. The main body 28 can be constructed of any durable flexible material such as nylon belting, leather, or the like having the characteristics of not being readily stretched out of shape, strong enough to prevent breakage during normal usage and remaining flexible under all temperature conditions so as to readily conform to the shape of the housing 21 of the outboard motor 14 with an outer surface that will not cause damage to the housing 21.

As the linkage means 25 and 26 are substantially identical, only the linkage means 25 need be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 2, the linkage means 25 includes an elongated link chain member 36 having a hook member 38 secured to one end and a spring assembly 39 attached to the other which, in turn, is connected to a clamp member 30 of the strap means 23. The hook member 38 is of a conventional snap-type so as to be readily attachable to a ring member 41 secured to the stern portion 10 of the boat 12. The spring assembly 39 is of a compression type having a spring member 42 and a pair of hook members 44 and 45 mounted therein. The hook members 44 and 45 are of a U-shape having laterally extended leg portions 47 engageable with one end of the spring member 42 and having the mid-portions of the hook members .44 and 45 extended within and through the spring member 42. The other outer ends of the hook members 44 and 45 are connectable to the chain member 36 and a clamp member 30, respectively. The spring assembly 39 is of the type whereupon the leg portions 47 can be moved inwardly towards each other so that the lower hook member 44 may be removed therefrom and attached to a different individual link 48 of the chain member 36 thereby providing for the shortening or the lengthening of the respective linkage means 25 and 26 as required. It is obvious that the spring assembly 39 acts under compression to provide a resiliency to the connecting means 17 as will be explained.

The lug assembly 19 includes a main bolt member 51 having a dome-shaped head portion 53 integral with a laterally extended threaded shaft 54. The head portion 53 is of a size slightly smaller than the opening 33 in the main body 28 of the strap means 23 to receive the same as will be explained. Additionally, the lug assembly 19 includes a nut member 56 threaded upon the shaft 54, a washer 58 mountable about the shaft 54, and a relatively thick resilient washer member 59 also mountable about the shaft 54 in a manner to be explained.

In the assembly, use, and operation of the support bracket means 8 of this invention, the lug assembly 19 is first connected to the outer housing 21 of the outboard motor 14 by drilling a hole 63 therein adapted to receive the shaft 54 of the bolt member 51 therethrough. The resilient washer 59 is mounted about the shaft 54 and held against the inner surface of the housing 21 as by the washer 58 and the nut member 56, respectively, as shown in FIG. 3. It is seen that the resilient washer 59 operates to permit limited tilting movement of the bolt member 51 under unusual loads without damaging the housing 21 of the outboard motor 14. The linkage means 25 is thereupon connected by the respective hook member 38 to the rearwardly extended ring member 41 secured to the stern portion 10 of the boat 12 whereupon the strap means 23 is trained over the outboard motor 14 which has been tilted towards the bow of the boat 12 as shown in FIG. 1. The opening 33 in the main body 28 is thereupon placed over the dome shaped head portion 53 of the bolt member 51 so as to engage the lower portion thereof adjacent the housing 21 (FIG. 3). The other linkage means 26 is thereupon connected to another one of the ring members 41 on the other side of the stern portion 10 whereupon the spring assemblies 39 act to hold a pressure on the outboard motor 14 to hold the same in the tilted position. It is obvious that the spring assemblies 39 can be attached to a different link 48 of the respective chain members 36 so as to achieve the proper length and resultant pressure on the outboard motor 14 to hold the same in this position which is desirable for satisfactory land transporting purposes.

lormally, a block member 64 is placed between the drive shaft portion 66 of the outboard motor 14 and the stern portion 10 of the boat 12 to hold the outboard motor 14 in an inclined position and the bracket means of this invention acts to place a downward pressure on the same as shown in FIG. 2. It is seen that the bracket means 8 of this invention is readily attachable to the ring members 41 conventionally found on the stern portion 10 of the boat 12 to provide a sturdy, eflicient, and effective means of rapidly anchoring the outboard motor 14 for land transporting purposes so as to prevent damage to the boat 14 from turning and shifting movement of the outboard motor 14 thereon.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of applicants bracket means, relative simple and inexpensive means have been provided which are easily attachable to conventional boats and outboard motors so as to provide an inexpensive and efficient method to anchor the motors during land transporting to prevent damage to the adjacent portions of the stern of the boat. Applicants construction eliminates a great deal of time consuming and tedious work involved in anchoring outboard motors mounted on boats to prevent damage thereto.

While the invention has been described in connection with the preferred specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that this description is intended to illustrate and not to limit unduly the scope of the invention, which is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A bracket means adapted to hold an outboard motor in a raised position on the stern of a boat, comprising:

(a) a lug assembly connected to the outboard motor and extended laterally therefrom,

(b) strap means having a portion engageable with said lug assembly to prevent lateral movement therefrom, and

(c) linkage means secured to opposite ends of said strap means connectible to the stern of the boat to hold the outpoard motor in the raised position, and

(d) said lug assembly having a bolt member with an enlarged dome-shaped head portion placed against the one side of the outboard motor housing and a resilient washer held against the other side of the housing by a nut member to absorb shocks during usage.

2. A bracket means as described in claim 1, wherein:

(a) said strap means having an elongated main body,

and

(b) said portion engageable with said lug assembly having an opening mountable about said head portion of said bolt member to restrict lateral movement therefrom.

3. A bracket means as described in claim 1, wherein:

(a) said linkage means having an elongated chain member, a hook member secured to one end of said chain member attachable to the stern of the boat, and a spring member connected to the other end of said chain member, and

(b) said spring member connected to said strap means to bias the same into engagement with the outboard motor to maintain the raised position.

4. A bracket means as described in claim 3, wherein:

(a) said spring member having a compression spring and attachment hooks engageable with opposite ends thereof, and

(b) said attachment hooks readily releasable and connectable to a selected portion of said chain member to lengthen or shorten said linkage means as required.

5. A bracket means as descriped in claim 2, wherein:

(a) said linkage means having chain members, hooks secured to one end of said chain members connectable to the stern of the boat, and spring means having opposite ends secured to said chain members and said main body, and

(b) said spring means readily connectable to various portions of said chain members to lengthen or shorten the overall length as required whereby, in use, said bracket means acts to bias the outboard motor downwardly to resiliently restrict movement thereof and prevent damage to the stern of the boat.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 830,220 9/1906 Gibson 2547 8 1,348,970 8/1920 Thompson 248361 X 2,728,058 12/1955 Phalen 248361 X 2,948,253 8/1960 Coonrod 2484 X FOREIGN PATENTS 565,482 11/1944 Great Britain.

390,794 8/1965 Switzerland.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

F. DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

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