EXHAUST STRUCTURE OF OUTBOARD MOTOR

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-001481, filed on Jan. 6, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an exhaust structure for discharging exhaust gas after combustion to the outside in an outboard motor on which an internal combustion engine is mounted as a power source.

2. Description of the Related Art

In this type of outboard motor, an engine output torque is transmitted from a drive shaft to a propeller shaft, and a propeller disposed at a rear part of the outboard motor is rotated, to thereby obtain a thrust. The propeller has a cylindrical boss, and is attached to the propeller shaft with this boss portion. Exhaust gas from an engine passes through the boss to be discharged into water.

Generally, a gap between an outside diameter of a front end portion of a propeller boss and an inside diameter of a rear end portion of a gear case cannot be set to a value equal to or less than a certain value for avoiding a contact due to a swing of the propeller. In this case, there is a possibility that exhaust gas passing through an inside of the propeller boss is leaked from the gap. When the leaked exhaust gas is led into the propeller, and if this state continues, a propulsion efficiency of the propeller is decreased.

Accordingly, an outboard motor disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, employs a structure in which a rear end portion of a gear case or a cover of the gear case is protruded so that an inner periphery and an outer periphery of a front end portion of a propeller boss are overlapped. With such a structure, a leakage of exhaust gas is prevented.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 55-085999

In the outboard motor disclosed in Patent Document 1, although a labyrinth structure is formed between the front end portion of the propeller boss and the rear end portion of the gear case, even in this case, there is required a gap, to no small extent, to prevent a contact between the both due to a swing of a propeller shaft. Accordingly, it was not always possible to achieve a sufficient effect of preventing a leakage of exhaust gas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide an exhaust structure of an outboard motor providing an excellent effect of preventing a leakage of exhaust gas and improving and maintaining an exhaust performance.

An exhaust structure of an outboard motor of the present invention being an exhaust structure of an outboard motor in which exhaust gas from an engine is designed to pass through a lower unit, and pass through a propeller boss coupled to a propeller shaft to be discharged into water, the exhaust structure of the outboard motor is characterized in that it includes a front end portion of the propeller boss whose outside diameter is set to be equal to or larger than an outside diameter of a rear end portion of a gear case in the lower unit.

Further, the exhaust structure of the outboard motor of the present invention is characterized in that an end face of the front end portion of the propeller boss is formed by being inclined toward the rear end portion side of the gear case with respect to a direction orthogonal to an axis of rotation of propeller, or formed along the direction orthogonal to the axis.

Further, the exhaust structure of the outboard motor of the present invention is characterized in that the propeller boss is formed of an inside boss and an outside boss, and an outside diameter of a front end portion of the outside boss is set to be larger than the outside diameter of the rear end portion of the gear case.

Further, the exhaust structure of the outboard motor of the present invention is characterized in that the front end portion of the propeller boss is formed separately from a propeller boss main body, and is fixed by being fitted into a predetermined portion of the propeller boss main body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a left side view illustrating a schematic configuration example of an outboard motor according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of a lower unit of the outboard motor according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view along an axial direction of propeller of the lower unit of the outboard motor according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a part in the vicinity of a casing of the lower unit in the outboard motor according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a main configuration in a gear case of the outboard motor according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a main configuration in the gear case of the outboard motor according to the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a front perspective view, and FIG. 7B is a rear perspective view illustrating a configuration example of a bearing housing according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a part in the vicinity of a propeller boss illustrating a configuration of substantial part in an exhaust structure of the outboard motor according to the present invention;

FIG. 9A is a front view illustrating a configuration example of a stopper according to the present invention, and FIG. 9B is a sectional view taken along a II-II line in FIG. 9A;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are respectively enlarged views of M part in FIG. 8, illustrating a configuration example of a part in the vicinity of a front end portion of the propeller boss according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of a part in the vicinity of the front end portion of the propeller boss, illustrating an operation of the present invention; and

FIGS. 12A and 12B are respectively side views illustrating a modified example of the propeller boss according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an exhaust structure of an outboard motor according to the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a left side view illustrating a schematic configuration example of an outboard motor 10 according to the present invention. In this case, the outboard motor 10 is fixed, at its front side, to a rear stern plate P of a hull, as illustrated in the drawing. Note that in the following description, the front of the outboard motor 10 is indicated by an arrow mark Fr, the rear is indicated by an arrow mark Rr, and the right on the side of the outboard motor 10 is indicated by an arrow mark R and the left on the side is indicated by an arrow mark L, respectively, as necessary in each drawing.

In the whole configuration of the outboard motor 10, an engine unit or power unit 11, a middle unit 12, and a lower unit 13 are arranged in order from the top to the bottom. In the engine unit 11, an engine 14 is mounted and supported to be vertically placed, through an engine base, so that its crank shaft 15 is oriented in the vertical direction. Note that, as the engine 14, a V-type multicylinder engine can be employed, for example. The middle unit 12 is supported around and integrally rotatable with a supporting shaft 19 set on a swivel bracket 18 through an upper mount 16 and a lower mount 17. On both right and left sides of the swivel bracket 18, a clamp bracket 20 is provided, and the outboard motor 10 is fixed to the rear stern plate P of the hull through the clamp bracket 20. The swivel bracket 18 is supported to be rotatable in the upward and downward directions, around a tilt shaft 21 set in the right and left directions.

In the middle unit 12, a drive shaft 22 coupled to a lower end portion of the crank shaft 15 is disposed to penetrate in the upward and downward directions, so that a driving force of the drive shaft 22 is transmitted to a later-described propeller shaft in a gear case of the lower unit 13. On the front side of the drive shaft 22, a shift rod 23 for switching between forward and rearward travels and the like is disposed to be parallel to the upward and downward directions. The shift rod 23 includes an upper shift rod 30 and a lower shift rod 31. Note that the middle unit 12 has a drive shaft housing that houses the drive shaft 22. Further, an oil pan storing oil for lubricating the engine unit 11 is disposed in the middle unit 12.

The lower unit 13 has a gear case 25 including a plurality of gears and so on which rotationally drive a propeller 24 by the driving force of the drive shaft 22. The drive shaft 22 extending downward from the middle unit 12 finally rotates the propeller 24 by a gear attached to the drive shaft 22 meshing with the gear in the gear case 25, and the shift rod 23 operates to switch, namely, shift the power transmission path of the gear device in the gear case 25.

FIG. 2 to FIG. 6 illustrate a concrete configuration example of the lower unit 13. FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the lower unit 13, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view along an axial direction of propeller of the lower unit 13, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a part in the vicinity of a casing of the lower unit 13, and FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are views respectively illustrating a main configuration in the gear case 25. Note that in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, it is set that components are mutually connected as indicated by a mark . First, in a casing 26 which is integrally formed as illustrated in FIG. 2 or FIG. 4, there are provided an anti-splash plate 27 and an anti-cavitation plate 28 disposed at top and bottom in the vicinity of a mating surface with the middle unit 12, and on a lower part of a leg part 29 extending downward of these plates, there is provided the gear case 25 disposed to exhibit a bullet shape in the forward and rearward directions.

The shift rod 23 is inserted and supported in the upward and downward directions on a side of a pointed end portion of the bullet shape of the gear case 25 in the casing 26. Note that the shift rod 23 is practically configured by being divided into two, which are, the upper shift rod 30 which is extended to a region from the engine unit 11 to the middle unit 12, and the lower shift rod 31 which is disposed in the lower unit 13, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Note that the upper shift rod 30 is rotationally driven via a link mechanism by a driving force of a not-illustrated actuator provided on the engine unit 11 side, and the rotation is further transmitted to the lower shift rod 31 via a coupling gear 34 formed of a pair of drive gear 32 and driven gear 33. A coupling portion between the upper shift rod 30 and the lower shift rod 31 is set to be held by a shift rod housing 35 fixed to an upper surface of the casing 26. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the shift rod 23, namely, the lower shift rod 31 is vertically extended to a position intersecting an extension of an axis of a propeller shaft 36.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the drive shaft 22 is inserted and supported in the vicinity of substantially a center portion in the forward and rearward directions of the leg part 29 in the casing 26. In this case, the drive shaft 22 is supported in a rotatable manner in the casing 26 via a back-to-back tapered roller bearing 37, for example, in the vicinity of an upper part of the leg part 29, and a lower end portion thereof is vertically extended to reach the inside of the gear case 25. On a part below the tapered roller bearing 37 of the drive shaft 22, a spiral recessed groove 38 is carved, and a collar 39 is fitted to a periphery of the recessed groove 38 with a very small gap provided between the collar and an outer peripheral surface of the drive shaft 22.

When the drive shaft 22 is rotated, the spiral recessed groove 38 performs a function of supplying oil or an oil pump function, and forms an oil circulation path for supplying lubricant oil to main parts and members which need to be lubricated in the casing 26. Note that an oil pump for lubrication for the engine unit 11 is arranged separately from one formed of this recessed groove 38.

On the upper surface of the casing 26, a cooling water pump 40 is attached so as to be pivotally fitted to the drive shaft 22. The cooling water pump 40 takes in water from water outside the outboard motor 10 to supply cooling water to the engine unit 11 side. In this case, a water intake 41 is provided in the vicinity of a lower part on the front side of the casing 26 as illustrated in FIG. 4, and although detailed illustration is omitted, the cooling water pump 40 and the water intake 41 are connected by a cooling water channel in the inside of the casing 26. Note that to the water intake 41, a cover 42 having a filter function with respect to foreign matters and the like is attached. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the water intake 41 is disposed between the drive shaft 22 and the lower shift rod 31 in the forward and rearward directions.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in the cooling water pump 40, an impeller 43 is fixed to the drive shaft 22, and the impeller 43 is housed in a pump case 44. When the drive shaft 22 is rotated, pressurized cooling water is discharged from the cooling water pump 40, and the cooling water is fed via a cooling water pipe 45, and is finally supplied to the engine unit 11 side.

In the gear case 25, the propeller shaft 36 is disposed along the forward and rearward directions as illustrated in FIG. 3, and is supported in a rotatable manner via a plurality of bearings 46, 47 and 48. Note that among the above, the bearings 47 and 48 are held in a bearing housing 49. At a position below a lower end portion of the drive shaft 22, a pair of front and rear forward gear 50 and reverse gear 51 are supported in a rotatable manner via bearings 52 and 53, respectively, in a concentric state and in a loose-fitted state with respect to the propeller shaft 36. These gears constantly mesh with a drive gear 54 fixed to the lower end portion of the drive shaft 22. In this example, the forward gear 50 and the reverse gear 51 are disposed on the front Fr side and on the rear Rr side, respectively, and a dog clutch 55 is arranged between these gears.

In the above-described configuration, when the hull is made to travel forward, for example, there is formed a power transmission path from the forward gear 50 to the propeller shaft 36 via the dog clutch 55, through a shift operation. When the engine 14 is started, an output torque thereof is transmitted to the drive shaft 22, and the propeller shaft 36 is rotated via the forward gear 50, which rotates the propeller 24, resulting in that the outboard motor 10, namely, the hull on which the outboard motor 10 is mounted, travels forward. It is designed such that exhaust gas discharged from the engine 14 at this time passes through the inside of the outboard motor 10, and is finally discharged from a part of the propeller 24.

Specifically, there is formed, from the middle unit 12 to the lower unit 13, an exhaust passage 56 which is communicated with an exhaust manifold of the engine 14, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The exhaust passage 56 is formed so that exhaust gas flows from above the bearing housing 49 into a later-described gap of the bearing housing 49, at the rear side of the drive shaft 22. In this case, a propeller boss 57 of the propeller 24 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape and practically has a hollow structure, and exhaust gas G passes through the bearing housing 49 from the exhaust passage 56, and passes through the propeller boss 57 to be discharged to the rear of the propeller boss 57, as indicated by arrow marks.

Here, FIG. 7 illustrate a configuration example of the bearing housing 49. The bearing housing 49 generally has a cylindrical body having different diameters in which a diameter changes along an axial direction or a longitudinal direction, and includes a front portion 49a and a rear portion 49b with a large diameter and a cylindrical portion 49c with a small diameter connecting these portions. The rear portion 49b and the cylindrical portion 49c are coupled by a plurality of ribs 49d radially projecting from the cylindrical portion 49c. These ribs 49d are extended in the axial direction, and a gap or a hollow space is formed between the mutual ribs 49d. The gap functions as the above-described exhaust passage 56. Note that to the front portion 49a, the bearing 53 and the bearing 47 are attached, and further, to the cylindrical portion 49c, the bearing 48 is attached. Note that in relation to FIGS. 7, the bearing housing 49 in FIG. 3 is illustrated by a cross section taken along a I-I line in FIG. 7B. The same applies to FIG. 8 and the like.

Next, FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of substantial part of the exhaust structure of the present invention. The propeller boss 57 is pivotally fitted to a rear end portion of the propeller shaft 36 via a propeller bush 58, and is fastened and fixed by a locknut. On an opening side of the rear part of the gear case 25 (casing 26) in which the propeller shaft 36 is inserted to be disposed, a housing part 59 for housing the bearing housing 49 is provided, and the bearing housing 49 is inserted to be fitted into the housing part 59 from the rear. The bearing housing 49 inserted to be fitted into the housing part 59 is fixed by a stopper 60 which is screwed into the rear end portion of the gear case 25. Note that an O ring 61 is attached between the bearing housing 49 and the stopper 60.

Here, FIG. 9 illustrate a configuration example of the stopper 60. The stopper 60 generally has a ring shape, and on an outer peripheral portion thereof, there is formed a screw portion 60a (male screw) which is screwed together with a screw portion 25a (female screw) formed on the opening of the rear part of the gear case 25. When the stopper 60 is screwed into the opening of the rear part of the gear case 25 as illustrated in FIG. 8, rear ends of the both are aligned so that both ends become practically flush with each other.

Further, FIG. 10 illustrate a configuration example of the propeller boss 57, particularly, a part in the vicinity of a front end portion 57a (M part in FIG. 8). As illustrated in FIG. 10A, the propeller boss 57 is formed to have the largest diameter at the front end portion 57a, and an outside diameter of the front end portion 57a is set to D₁in this case. Further, on a front side of the front end portion 57a, a tip portion 57c is formed in a connected manner via a step portion 57b. An outside diameter of the tip portion 57c is smaller than that of the front end portion 57a, and the tip portion 57c is disposed to be inserted into an inner peripheral portion of the stopper 60. Meanwhile, the stopper 60 is screwed into a base end side of the bullet shape of the gear case 25, namely, the opening of the rear part formed on the rear end portion of the gear case 25, as described above, and the outside diameter D₁of the front end portion 57a of the propeller boss 57 is set to be larger than an outside diameter D₂of the base end side. Note that as illustrated in FIG. 10A, there is formed an appropriate gap or clearance S between a portion from the step portion 57b adjacent to the front end portion 57a to the tip portion 57c and the base end side of the bullet shape of the gear case 25 and the stopper 60 screwed into the base end side.

Here, although the illustration is omitted, there is a case that the propeller boss 57 is dividedly configured by an inside boss and an outside boss. These inside boss and outside boss are mutually and integrally coupled to function as the propeller boss, and in such a propeller boss, an outside diameter of a front end portion of the outside boss is practically set to be larger than the outside diameter D₂of the rear end portion of the gear case 25, similar to the above description.

Further, the step portion 57b that forms an end face of the front end portion 57a of the propeller boss 57 is formed by being inclined toward the gear case 25 side with respect to a radial direction of the propeller boss 57, namely, a direction orthogonal to an axis of rotation of propeller. In this case, an inclination angle θ of the step portion 57b toward the gear case 25 side is suitably set to 0<θ, as illustrated in FIG. 10B. Note that it is also possible to set that 0=θ, and also in that case, a certain effect can be achieved. Further, the step portion 57b itself is basically formed of a flat flat surface, but, it is also possible to be formed to have a concave shape toward a forward direction, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 10B.

When the engine 14 is started in the above-described configuration, the exhaust gas passes through the exhaust passage 56 configured by including the gap of the bearing housing 49, and passes through the propeller boss 57 to be discharged to the rear of the propeller boss 57, as described above. In this case, when the propeller 24 rotates, a region A on a rear surface side thereof basically has a negative pressure (−(minus)), as illustrated in FIG. 11. Meanwhile, in the propeller boss 57, particularly, the part in the vicinity of the front end portion 57a, the outside diameter D₁of the front end portion 57a is typically larger than the outside diameter D₂of the rear end portion of the gear case 25, namely, the portion of the step portion 57b further protrudes outward in the radial direction from the rear end portion of the gear case 25. When the flow of water that hits against the protruding portion is received, the dynamic pressure is generated, and a positive pressure (+(plus)) is induced in a region B on the front side of the step portion 57b as illustrated in FIG. 11, resulting in that exhaust gas G can be securely prevented from leaking from the clearance S formed on the region B. Therefore, there is no chance that the leaked exhaust gas is led into the rotating propeller 24, resulting in that a high propulsion efficiency of the propeller 24 can be secured and maintained.

Note that generally, in this type of outboard motor, it is often the case that the diameter of the front end portion of the propeller boss is smaller than that of the rear end portion of the gear case (the one disclosed in Cited Document 1, for example), and in such a case, exhaust gas is easily leaked from a clearance between those portions. In the present embodiment, the example in which the outside diameter D₁is larger than the outside diameter D₂is explained in the above-described explanation, but, by at least setting that D₁=D₂, it is possible to achieve a certain effect of preventing the leakage of exhaust gas G, compared to a case where the diameter of the front end portion of the propeller boss is smaller than that of the rear end portion of the gear case.

Further, in the above-described case, since the step portion 57b that forms the end face of the front end portion 57a of the propeller boss 57 is inclined toward the gear case 25 side, the dynamic pressure is generated, and in addition to that, the water flow is effectively and accurately received by the front end portion 57a. Specifically, when the front end portion 57a securely catches the water flow as described above, even if the induced positive pressure fluctuates in some degree, it is possible to constantly secure and maintain the effect of preventing the leakage of exhaust gas G. Together with the operation of inducing the positive pressure in the region B described above, it is possible to largely improve the propulsion performance of the propeller 24 by constantly maintaining a pressure distribution as in FIG. 11 when the outboard motor 10 travels.

The end face of the front end portion 57a of the propeller boss 57 is suitably inclined toward the gear case 25 side as described above so that it effectively acts to exhibit the effect of preventing the leakage of exhaust gas. In this case, by at least setting the inclination angle θ of the end face to 0, the water flow is received by the protruding portion protruding outward in the radial direction of the front end portion 57a, and accordingly, it is possible to achieve the operation of generating the dynamic pressure. Further, when the step portion 57b is formed to have a concave shape toward the forward direction as described above (two-dot chain line in FIG. 10B), it is possible to further facilitate the operation of catching the water flow with the use of the front end portion 57a.

Note that when the propeller 24 is rotated, there is a chance that a swing of shaft of the propeller 24, namely, a swing of the propeller shaft 36 occurs due to an influence of variation in an applied load with respect to the propeller 24 and the like. Even when such a swing of shaft occurs, since the clearance S is provided between the gear case 25 side and the propeller boss 57 side, it is possible to effectively deal with such a swing of shaft. In addition to that, it is possible to secure and maintain a high propulsion efficiency of the propeller 24 as described above.

Here, a modified example of the present invention will be described. In this example, as illustrated in FIGS. 12, a ring-shaped member 57A having practically the same size and shape as those of the front end portion 57a of the propeller boss 57 is separately provided, and the ring-shaped member 57A is fixed by being fitted into a portion corresponding to the front end portion 57a of the propeller boss 57. More concretely, as illustrated in FIG. 12A, a fitting portion 57d is formed on an outer peripheral portion corresponding to the front end portion 57a of the propeller boss 57 (here, referred to as a propeller boss main body), and a fitting hole 57e is formed on the ring-shaped member 57A. On the front side of the fitting portion 57d, a tip portion 57C corresponding to the tip portion 57c is formed in a connected manner.

When the fitting portion 57d of the propeller boss 57 and the fitting hole 57e of the ring-shaped member 57A are fitted into each other, there is formed a front end portion 57a having practically the same outside diameter D₁and inclination angle θ as those of the front end portion 57a of the aforementioned embodiment in the propeller boss 57, as illustrated in FIG. 12B. Particularly, in this example, it becomes possible to largely reduce a material, a man-hour or the like, compared to a case where a portion on the rear side of the front end portion 57a is formed through cutting, for example, and the like.

The present invention has been described above together with various embodiments, but, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and modifications and the like can be made within the scope of the present invention.

For example, concrete numerical values of the outside diameter D₁of the front end portion 57a, the outside diameter D₂of the rear end portion of the gear case 25, the inclination angle θ of the end face of the front end portion 57a or the like can be appropriately selected according to need.

According to the present invention, the outside diameter of the front end portion of the propeller boss is typically set to be larger than the outside diameter of the rear end portion of the gear case, and the front end portion protrudes outward in a radial direction. A flow of water that hits against the protruding portion is received, a dynamic pressure is generated, and a positive pressure is induced in a region on a front side of the front end portion, which enables to securely prevent exhaust gas from leaking from a clearance formed on this region. Accordingly, it is possible to secure and maintain a high propulsion efficiency of the propeller by preventing the leaked exhaust gas from being led into the rotating propeller.

It should be noted that the above embodiments merely illustrate concrete examples of implementing the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is not to be construed in a restrictive manner by these embodiments. That is, the present invention may be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical spirit or main features thereof.

EXHAUST STRUCTURE OF OUTBOARD MOTOR

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