The present disclosure relates to marine drives and more particularly to cowls and latching assemblies for cowls on marine drives.
The following U.S. patents are incorporated herein by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 9,580,943 discloses a latching device for a cowl on an outboard marine engine, the cowl having first and second cowl portions that are separated from each other in an open cowl position and that are latched together by the latching device in a closed cowl position. A retainer is adapted to be fixed to the first cowl portion and a latch is adapted to be fixed to the second cowl portion. The latch is movable into and between a latched position in which the latch is latched to the retainer and an unlatched position in which the latch is unlatched from the retainer. The latch comprises an engagement member, a bell crank, and a spring that is coupled to the engagement member and the bell crank. Movement of the bell crank with respect to the engagement member generates an over-center force on the engagement member that facilitates latching and unlatching of the engagement member and the retainer.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,580,947 discloses a cowl for an outboard marine propulsion device having an internal combustion engine. The cowl comprises a first cowl portion; a second cowl portion that mates with the first cowl portion to enclose the internal combustion engine; a service door on the second cowl portion, wherein the service door is position-able in an open position and in a closed position; and a carrying handle on the second cowl portion, wherein the carrying handle is accessible when the service door is in the open position and inaccessible when the service door is in the closed position. A plurality of latches is spaced apart around the perimeter. The latches latch the second cowl portion to the first cowl portion. An actuator assembly actuates each of the plurality of latches. The actuator assembly can be actuated by movement of the carrying handle.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described herein below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting scope of the claimed subject matter.
A latching assembly is for a cowl on a marine drive, the cowl having a first cowl portion and a second cowl portion that mates with the first cowl portion to enclose the marine drive. The latching assembly comprises a latching device configured to latch and unlatch the first cowl portion to the second cowl portion; an actuator that actuates latching device; and a flexible connector having a first end coupled to the latching device and a second end coupled to the actuator. Actuation of the actuator pulls the flexible connector to rotate a pulley and thereby actuate the latching device. One of the first and second ends comprises a spherical bearing that is nested in a cylindrical bearing. The spherical bearing and cylindrical bearing are seated in a cavity in the pulley. Pulling on the flexible connector pulls the spherical bearing against the cylindrical bearing such that the cylindrical bearing is pulled against the cavity in the pulley thereby causing the pulley to rotate.
The latching assembly 16 also has an actuator 20, which is configured to actuate the latching devices 18 via a plurality of flexible connectors 22. Each flexible connector 22 has a first end 24 coupled to either the actuator 20 or a respective latching device 18 and a second end 26 coupled to either the actuator 20 or to another latching device 18. The actuator 20, plurality of flexible connectors 22 and plurality of latching devices 18 are connected together in a “daisy-chain” arrangement, i.e., wherein actuation of the actuator 20 actuates all of the latching devices 18. Specifically, actuation of the actuator 20 rotates a pulley 21 on the actuator 20, which pulls on a respective flexible connector 22 to thereby rotate a corresponding pulley 23 on a first one of the respective latching devices 18, which pulls on a next flexible connector 22 in the chain, etc.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,580,947, the actuator 20 includes a carrying handle 30 located in a pocket extending into the top of the upper cowl portion 14. The pocket is covered by a service door 32. The service door 32 is manually pivotable, as shown by arrow 34, between a closed position (not shown) in which the carrying handle 30 is covered and an open position in which the carrying handle 30 is exposed for use. When the service door 32 is moved into the open position, the carrying handle 30 is manually pivotable from the retracted position shown in
The actuator 20 is operatively connected to each of the latching devices 18 via the flexible connectors 22 and the pulleys 21, 23. The flexible connectors 22 connect each of the pulleys 21, 23 together in the above-described pull-pull, daisy-chain arrangement, wherein pivoting of the carrying handle 30 from the retracted position to the extended position rotates the pulley 21, which pulls on one side of the chain of flexible connectors 22 and causes corresponding rotation of the pulleys 23 on the respective latching devices 18. Pivoting of the carrying handle 30 from the extended position to the retracted position rotates the pulley 21 in an opposite direction, thus pulling on the other side of the chain of flexible connector 22 and causing opposite rotation of the pulleys 23.
During research and experimentation with the above-described latching assembly 16, the present inventors made several discoveries. It is desirable to form the flexible connector as a braided stainless steel wire that is coated with a protective plastic covering. This gives the flexible connector the necessary strength under high tension loads and also protects it from deleterious effects of the harsh marine environment. It was also found to be desirable to make the pulleys out of plastic, thus saving manufacturing costs and providing a relatively lightweight assembly compared to metal parts. It followed that U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,580,943 and 9,580,947 disclosed this type of arrangement, including braided stainless steel wires having swaged ball ends that are seated in recesses in plastic pulleys. However during further experimentation, the present inventors also determined that, in use, this arrangement had certain drawbacks. It is necessary for the latching assembly to enact high latching loads to securely couple the upper cowl portion to the lower cowl portion—so that the upper cowl portion remains secured to the lower cowl portion during rough water running, log strike situations, etc. However with the requisite high latching loads, the swaged ball ends of the stainless steel wires tend to deform or embed into the plastic pulleys, which reduces the tension in the wires and potentially destroys the functionality of the latching device.
Referring now to
As shown in
In this arrangement, pulling on the flexible connector 22, for example via rotation of the carrying handle 30, pulls the spherical bearing 44 against the cylindrical bearing 46 such that the cylindrical bearing 46 is pulled against the cavity 48 in the respective pulley 21, 23, thereby causing the pulleys 21, 23 to rotate. The pulleys 21, 23 include a pulley wheel 56 having opposing pulley wheel sidewalls 58 and a peripherally outer pulley wheel track 60 around which the flexible connector 22 rides. The spherical bearing 44 holds and evenly distributes the pulling load into the cavity 54 of the cylindrical bearing 46. The cylindrical bearing 46 evenly distributes the resultant force to the cavity 48 via engagement between the tubular sidewalls 52 and the cylindrical segment-shaped recess 64 in a manner that reduces or eliminates stress risers. The retention ribs 66 facilitate retention of the flexible connector 22 with respect to the pulley 21, 23
In the present description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes only and are intended to be broadly construed. The different systems, methods and apparatuses described herein may be used alone or in combination with other systems, methods and apparatuses. Various equivalents, alternatives and modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims.
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Fuel-Door-Full_Open.jpg, http://www.iamaudi.com/img/Fuel-Door-Open, website visited Jul. 9, 2015. |