Claims
- 1. A ride plate positioning mechanism for a personal watercraft having a craft body, an engine and a jet propeller driven by said engine, such that said personal watercraft is capable of being propelled by jet water generated by said jet propeller, said ride plate positioning mechanism comprising:
a removable ride plate for defining a bottom portion of a stem of said craft body, said ride plate comprising a pair of integrally formed left and right positioning projections projecting upwardly at a front portion of said ride plate, said positioning projections having front faces for contacting said craft body; and a pair of left and right tab stops formed in said craft body of said watercraft, for contacting the front faces of said positioning projections.
- 2. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 1, wherein the ride plate further comprises an elevated arresting member extending outwardly at the front end thereof, for stabilizing placement on a support piece.
- 3. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 2, wherein the elevated arresting member is narrower than the widest part of said ride plate.
- 4. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 4, wherein said craft body comprises a stator and a dependent ridge which extends downwardly adjacent said stator, and wherein said projecting tabs fit nestingly between said tap stops and said dependent ridge.
- 5. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 1, wherein said ride plate includes side edge portions which are raised up in relation to adjoining portions of said ride plate.
- 6. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 5, wherein said craft body has an opening formed in said bottom portion of said stern with a pair of shallow, spaced apart stepped recesses formed at the sides of said opening to receive said side edge portions of said ride plate.
- 7. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 1, wherein said positioning projections have flattened front faces which are substantially vertically oriented.
- 8. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 1, wherein said positioning projections are constructed and arranged to have a substantially rectangular horizontal cross-sectional shape.
- 9. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 1, wherein said ride plate further comprises at least one raised rib extending transversely across an upper surface thereof behind said positioning projections.
- 10. The ride plate positioning mechanism of claim 9, wherein said ride plate has a plurality of spaced-apart raised ribs on said upper surface thereof.
- 11. A method of aligning a ride plate with a stem of a personal watercraft, comprising the steps of:
placing opposed front corners of said ride plate between opposed stepped recesses formed in a bottom surface of a stem of said watercraft, sliding said ride plate forwardly until a pair of integrally formed left and right positioning projections on an upper front portion of said ride plate contact a pair of left and right tab stops formed in said watercraft stem.
- 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising a step of pivotally moving said ride plate until the side edges thereof fit into said stepped recesses.
- 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising a step of attaching said ride plate to said watercraft body with fasteners.
- 14. The method of claim 11, wherein said watercraft stem comprises a substantially vertical transverse wall face, and wherein said tab stops are formed as part of said substantially vertical transverse wall face.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2002-266453 |
Sep 2002 |
JP |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119, based on Japanese patent application No. 2002-266453, filed Sep. 12, 2002.