Air intake structure for small watercraft

Abstract

An air intake structure for a small watercraft for ensuring the capacity of an inter-cooler and for connecting the inter-cooler to a supercharger by a simply shaped communicating portion. In an air intake structure for a small watercraft, an intake passage and an exhaust passage can be disposed on the left side and the right side, respectively, of a plurality of cylinders. A turbocharger is disposed rearwardly of the engine with the turbocharger is connected to an intake passage via an inter-cooler. In addition, the inter-cooler is disposed rearwardly of the engine, with the distribution passage being disposed forwardly of and on the left side of the inter-cooler so as to extend in the forward and rearward direction. The inter-cooler is connected to the rear end of the distribution passage with an intake pipe contiguous to cylinders being bent rearwardly along a side surface of the engine body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a small watercraft according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the inside of the small watercraft according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an air intake structure of the small watercraft according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the air intake structure of the small watercraft;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which air is sucked into cylinders by means of the air intake structure for the small watercraft according to the invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a personal watercraft on which an internal combustion engine is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the personal watercraft of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a front view of the internal combustion engine with a part in cross-section and with a part omitted;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the internal combustion engine;

FIG. 11 is a left-side view of the internal combustion engine;

FIG. 12 is a rear view of the internal combustion engine;

FIG. 13 is a front view of the internal combustion engine with a part in cross-section and with a part omitted;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional side view of the internal combustion engine;

FIG. 15 is a right side view of the internal combustion engine with a part in cross-section and with a part omitted;

FIG. 16 is a bottom view of the cylinder block with the crankshaft in cross-section;

FIG. 17 is a rear view illustrating the inside of a cam chain chamber;

FIG. 18 is a bottom view of a crankcase;

FIG. 19 is a bottom view of an oil pan;

FIG. 20 is a plan view of the oil pan;

FIG. 21 is a side view of an oil strainer;

FIG. 22 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential portion of a longitudinal oil passage;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a filter;

FIG. 24 illustrates a circulation pathway of lubricating oil; and

FIG. 25 illustrates a circulation pathway of cooling water.

Claims

1. An air intake structure for a small watercraft including an engine mounted on a watercraft body so that a plurality of cylinders are arranged in a row in a forward and rearward direction of the watercraft body, the air intake structure comprising: an intake passage disposed on at least one side of the cylinders so as to communicate with the cylinders;an exhaust passage disposed on the other side of the cylinders so as to communicate with the cylinders; anda supercharger disposed rearwardly of the engine so as to communicate with the intake passage via the inter-cooler;wherein the inter-cooler is disposed rearwardly of the engine with a distribution passage communicating with the intake passage being disposed forward of the inter-cooler and on the one side of the cylinders so as to extend in the forward and rearward direction of the watercraft body; andthe inter-cooler communicates with a rear end of the distribution passage.

2. The air intake structure for the small watercraft according to claim 1, wherein the supercharger is a turbocharger that communicates with the exhaust passage and is driven by exhaust gas directed from the engine through the exhaust passage.

3. The air intake structure for the small watercraft according to claim 1, wherein the rear end of the distribution passage communicates with the inter-cooler via a distribution passage communicating portion and the distribution passage communicating portion is provided with a throttle valve.

4. The air intake structure for the small watercraft according to claim 2, wherein the inter-cooler is disposed close to the one side of the cylinders and the turbocharger is disposed close to the other side.

5. The air intake structure for the small watercraft according to claim 1, wherein the inter-cooler includes an air inlet disposed on a front wall thereof for introducing air from the supercharger into said inter-cooler.

6. The air intake structure for the small watercraft according to claim 5, wherein said inter-cooler includes an air outlet disposed on the front wall thereof for discharging air from the inter-cooler, said air outlet being in communication with the distribution passage and the intake passage of the engine.

7. The air intake structure for the small watercraft according to claim 1, and further including a fluid inlet passage for introducing a cooling fluid into said inter-cooler and a fluid outlet for discharging the cooling fluid therefrom.

8. An internal combustion engine with a supercharger for a personal watercraft, mounted in a watercraft body defined by a hull and a deck for directing a crankshaft in a forward and rearward direction of the watercraft body for driving a jet propulsion pump, the internal combustion engine comprising: an inter-cooler disposed rearwardly of an engine body;an intake pipe being contiguous to cylinders of the engine, bending rearwardly of and along a side surface of the engine body and being connected to a throttle body; andthe throttle body extending around the rear of the engine body and connected to the inter-cooler.

9. The internal combustion engine for the personal watercraft according to claim 8, wherein the supercharger is disposed rearward of the engine body and directly below the inter-cooler.

10. The internal combustion engine for the personal watercraft according to claim 8, and further including an intake manifold operatively connected to said throttle body for connecting said inter-cooler to said intake manifold.

11. The internal combustion engine for the personal watercraft according to claim 10, wherein said throttle body extends around the rear of the engine and is directly connected to said inter-cooler for reducing piping therebetween.

12. The internal combustion engine for the personal watercraft according to claim 8, wherein a connection of the intake pipe, the throttle body and the inter-cooler and is smoothly bent from the rear of the engine to extend along one side of the engine.

13. The internal combustion engine for the personal watercraft according to claim 8, wherein a wide space is provided on the personal watercraft by positioning the inter-cooler to the rear of the engine and smoothly connecting the intake pipe to the throttle body and to the inter-cooler.

14. An internal combustion engine for a personal watercraft having a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine with a supercharger mounted in a watercraft body defined by a hull and a deck so as to direct a crankshaft in a forward and rearward direction of the watercraft body and for driving a jet propulsion pump, the internal combustion engine comprising: the supercharger being disposed rearward of the engine body; andan inter-cooler disposed above the supercharger to cool intake air pressurized by the supercharger.

15. The internal combustion engine for a personal watercraft according to claim 14, wherein an intake manifold is operatively connected to intake pipes contiguous to cylinders of the internal combustion engine and the intake pipes are assembled to be bent rearwardly along a side surface of the engine body being operatively connected to a throttle body; and wherein the throttle body is connected to the inter-cooler disposed above the supercharger.

16. The internal combustion engine for a personal watercraft according to claim 14, wherein the intake manifold bends such that a side external edge of the intake manifold comes closer to the center of the engine body as compared to an external edge of the watercraft to a rear end.

17. The internal combustion engine for a personal watercraft according to claim 15, wherein the intake manifold bends such that a side external edge of the intake manifold comes closer to the center of the engine body as compared to an external edge of the watercraft to a rear end.

18. The internal combustion engine for the personal watercraft according to claim 14, and further including an intake manifold operatively connected to a throttle body for connecting said inter-cooler to said intake manifold.

19. The internal combustion engine for the personal watercraft according to claim 18, wherein said throttle body extends around the rear of the engine and is directly connected to said inter-cooler for reducing piping therebetween.

20. The internal combustion engine for the personal watercraft according to claim 14, wherein a connection of the intake pipe, the throttle body and the inter-cooler and is smoothly bent from the rear of the engine to extend along one side of the engine.