Seal member for engine cover of outboard motor

Abstract

A seal member seals a gap between upper and lower cover members of an engine cover of an outboard motor. The seal member includes a supporting portion and a sealing portion integral with the supporting portion. The supporting portion has such a high spring modulus that the supporting portion is not plastically deformed with a load is applied to the supporting portion when the upper cover member is locked to the lower cover member. The sealing portion is hollow and has such a small spring modulus that the sealing portion can readily flex into close contact with the upper and lower cover members so as to provide an improved seal between the upper and lower cover members.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of an outboard motor including a seal member according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing on enlarged scale a lower end portion of an upper cover member and an upper end portion of a lower cover member;

FIG. 3 is a view showing that the upper cover member is on the point of being locked to the lower cover member;

FIG. 4 is a view showing that the upper cover member is locked to the lower cover member; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the seal member.

Claims

1. A seal member for sealing a gap between upper and lower cover members of an engine cover of an outboard motor, the upper cover member being releasably attached to the lower cover member, the seal member comprising: a supporting portion disposed on an upper end portion of the lower cover member for supporting the upper cover member;a hollow sealing portion formed integrally with an engine-compartment side of the supporting portion and disposed between an inner peripheral part of a lower end portion of the upper cover member and an outer peripheral part of the upper end portion of the lower cover member;the supporting portion having a large spring modulus; andthe sealing portion having a spring modulus smaller than the spring modulus of the supporting portion.

2. A seal member according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion is attached to the lower end portion of the upper cover member.

3. A seal member according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion is solid and includes a seal lip formed on a bottom surface of the supporting portion, the seal lip having a small spring modulus.

4. A seal member according to claim 1, wherein the sealing portion includes seal lips abutting on the outer peripheral part of the upper end portion of the lower cover member.

5. A seal member according to claim 1, wherein the seal member has a ring-shape conforming to a contour of a peripheral edge of the lower end portion of the upper cover member.