US2915915A - Auxiliary gear shift lever for outboard motors - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 8, 1959 w. F. MCKAY 2,915,915

AUXILIARY GEAR SHIFT LEVER FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS Filed Jan. 24, 1957 INVENTOR. m1 mm A Ji /(AV,

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AUXILIARY GEAR SHIFT LEVER FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS Filed Jan. 24, 1957 v 2 Sheet s-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. M1 4 44M F. Al /(AV,

lay/M15 ATTOR/Vfkf United States Patent AUXILIARY GEAR SHIFT LEVER FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS William F. McKay, Indianapolis, Ind. Application January 24, 1957, Serial No. 636,104 7 Claims. (Cl. 74-480) The present invention relates to an auxiliary gear shift lever for outboard motors, and more particularly to an attachment for motors of the type provided with a manually manipulable control for the selective gear transmission, such attachment providing a lever, readily accessible to the operator of such a motor, and operatively connected to the conventional control.

In outboard motors of the character here under consideration, it is conventional to provide a tiller and a speed control which are readily accessible to an operator seated on the port side of a boat on which the motor is supported, but to mount the control for the selective gear transmission on the starboard side of the motor and in a position which is relatively inaccessible to an operator seated on the port side of a boat. The primary object of the present invention, then, is to provide a readily-mountable and demountable attachment for such motors, including a lever, positioned for ready manipulation by an operator seated anywhere in or near the stern of the boat, and operatively connected to the conventional transmission control device, to facilitate manipulation of the latter. Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my attachment mounted on a motor which is fragmentarily and conventionally illustrated;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a detail;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of a conventional control element;

'Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary elevation of such a control element and the adjacent end of a connector constituting an element of my attachment; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view, taken partly in section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a part of a conventional outboard motor is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10. At 11, I have illustrated a manually manipulable element connected to a rock shaft 12 forming a part of the gear transmission through which the power of the motor may be delivered to the propeller (not shown). In accordance with conventional practice, the transmission is of such character that, when the element 11 is in its illustrated position, the propeller will not be driven; when the lever is moved appropriately in a clockwise direction from its illustrated position, the propeller will be driven in a direction to drive the boat forwardly; and when the element 11 is shifted appropriately in a counter-clockwise direction from its illustrated position, the propeller will be driven in a direction to drive the boat rearwardly. As will be clear from 0 of motor now on the market, such means comprises a pin 13 projecting from the motor frame in a starboard direction, and a tapped hole immediately above the pin.

An attachment constructed in accordance with the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 14, and includes an L-shaped bracket 15, a lever 16 and link means 17. The short arm 18 of the bracket 15 is formed with an opening 19 therethrough adapted snugly to receive the above-mentioned pin 13, and with another hole which, when the bracket is mounted on the pin 13, will register with the above-mentioned tapped hole to receive a screw 20. Thus, the pin 13 and screw 20 constitute means for mounting the bracket 15 rigidly in place on the motor 10 so that, when the motor is removed from the boat, the bracket and its associated parts may remain, as an assembly, in operative association with the motor and will be there, ready for use, when the motor is again mounted on the boat.

The other arm 21 of the bracket 15 projects generally forwardly to a point beyond the forward end of the motor 10, and supports a pivot pin 22 upon which the lower end of the lever 16 is mounted for oscillation. Preferably, the upper end of the lever 16 will carry a knob 23.

Intermediate its ends, the lever 16 is formed with a flattened region 24 through which is formed a perforation to receive a pivot pin 25 which passes, also, through perforations in the arms 26, 26 of a clevis 27, said arms straddling the flattened region 24. The opposite end of the clevis 27 is formed with an internally threaded, axial bore in which is adjustably received a threaded section 28 at one end 29 of a rod 30.

The other end 31 of the rod 30 is formed with a plurality of axially spaced, transverse bores 32, and is telescopically received in an axial bore 33 of a sleeve 34. Said sleeve 34 is formed with a transaxial bore 35 with which any one of the bores 32 may be registered to receive a locking screw 36. I

A transaxial bore 37 is formed through that extremity of the sleeve 34 opposite that through which the bore 33 opens; and preferably said sleeve end is flattened as at 38 and 39 in planes normal to the axis of the bore 37.

A pin 40 is reciprocably mounted in the bore 37, said pin having a knurled head 41 at one end and preferably being tapered, as at 42, at its opposite end. Near the tapered end 42 of the pin 40, a pin 43 is mounted in a transaxial bore to project radially oppositely from said pin 40.

As is most clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6, the element 11 is preferably formed with opposite flat surfaces 44 and 45 intermediate its ends, and in the region of those surfaces, said element is formed with a double keyhole bore comprising a cylindrical section 46 and diametrically opposite wings 47 and 48.

It will be seen that the threaded engagement of the portion 28 of the rod 30 with the clevis 27 provides for adjustment of the rod 30 relative to said clevis; and that the provision of the plural bores 32 for cooperation with the screw 36 provides for axial adjustment of the sleeve 34 relative to the rod 30. With the bracket 15 in place on the motor 10, the lever 16 mounted on the pivot 22 and the clevis 27 mounted on the pivot 25, the lever 16 the pin 40 rotated to a position such as to bring theends' of the pin 43 into registry with the wings'47 and 48, the

pin 40 is projected through the bore 46 until the pin' 43 emerges beyond the surface 45.. Thereupon, the pin 40 will be rotated upon its axis to move the pin 43 out of registry with the key- hole wings 47 and 48, in the for concurrent registration with connector means conventionally provided on such a motor, and said means securing said bracket to said'motor includes at least one screw passing through one of said openings and threadcdly received in a threaded opening in said motor registering therewith.

3. The combination of claim. 1 in which said link means comprises at least two, relatively axially adjustable elements.

manner illustrated in Fig. 5, whereby withdrawal of the pin 40 from the bore 46 is prevented. Preferably, a coiled spring 49 will be sleeved on the pin 40 and will be confined between the surface 38 andthe enlarged, knurled head 41. With the parts in the relative positions of Fig. 6, the spring 49 is greatly compressed and will \tend to hold the pin 43 against the surface 45 with sufiicient force'to prevent accidental rotational movement of the pin 40.

It Will be clear that; thus, the lever 16 has been operatively connected to the element 11 so that, if said lever 16 is moved in either direction from its illustrated position, the element 11 will be correspondingly moved in a corresponding direction. Since the lever 16 is bodily positioned ahead of the forwardmost portion of the motor 10, it is readily accessible for manipulation by an operator' seated on the port side of the motor. And since the disclosed attachment as a whole is supported directly from the motor, it is unnecessary to disassemble the attachment or to remove any of its parts from any extraneous supports when the motor is, for any reason, removed from the boat. p

7 I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with an outboard motor having a transmission-ratio-selector element mounted wholly' on that side of the motor remote from the normal position of an operator for oscillation about an axis located a significant distance astern the forward end of the motor, of an attachment comprising a bracket, means securing said bracket to said motor, a lever, means providing a pivotal mounting for said lever on said bracket, said bracket being so proportioned and arranged as to dispose an .arm of said lever forwardly beyond the body of said motor, link means having one end pivotally connected to said lever at a point spaced from said pivotal mounting means, and means carried by said link means for establishing an operative connection between said link means and such a selector element.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said bracket is formed with a pair of spaced openings therethrough 4. The combination of claim 1 in which said link means comprises a clevis pivotally attached to said lever, and a rod axially threadedly adjustably connected to said clevis.

5. The combination of claim 1 in which said link means comprises a clevis pivotally attached to said lever, a rod having one end axially threadedly adjustably connected to said clevis, an element telescopically associated with the other end of said rod, and means for selectively connecting said element with said rod in any one of a plurality of positionsof relative axial adjustment.

6. The combination of claim 1 in which said lastnamed means comprises a pin reciprocably mounted in a transaxial bore in said link means and having a radial projection therefrom near one end thereof, and spring means resiliently urging said projection toward said link means, said end of said pin being projeotible through a key-hole opening in such a selector element.

7. The combination with an outboard motor having, at one side thereof, a hand-operated control for manually controlling a gear shift, of an attachment comprising a bracket formed with two spaced openings Itherethrough for concurrent registration with attachment means provided on the same side of said motor, and further formed to project forwardly beyond the front end of said motor -when said openings so register with such attachment means, a lever, means pivotally supporting said lever from said bracket near the forward end thereof, a link having one end pivotally connected to said lever, and means carried'by said link near the opposite end thereof and operatively engaged with said control.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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