CA2005076C - Split thrust bearing for outboard engine - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A four cycle outboard engine having a crankshaft substantially vertically oriented when running a cylindrical block supporting the crankshaft. A thrust metal composed of a pair of semi-circlular plates of different thicknesses are mounted in semi-circular grooves of different depth formed on the bearing portions of the cylinder block and mounted in such a way that the semi-circular plate having the greater thickness contacts the end surface of th semi-circular groove having the shallower depth.

Description

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Tt,is ir1vention relates to the improvement of perfolmance of an ou-tboarcl enf~ine.
A tw~o-cycle outboard engine has here-tocore mainly ^.:
been used on a boat for leisure-time amusement anc~ fish.ing because a two-cycle ellcJine is small and li.gh-t weight a~d yet caE1able of developincJ yreat power.
However, -the enyine also has a problem of causing ,:. .
water pollution because~oF the mixecl fuel i-t uses, It also :
gives a:n unpleasant feeling to people because i-t exhausts a i:
lot of hyclrocarbon (hereinafter re~erred -to as ElC). .;i:~
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Furthermore the engine ia sometlmes cllfficult -to staxt as the plug is susceptible to clamage.
An object of the present invention is to provicle a :
~our-c1ycle outboard encJine equipped wi~th a supercharger in -~:
].5 order to sol~e the problems of a two-cycle eng~ine and yet to ``~;
maintain f3reat power.
~ Another objec-t is to provide a mu1tl-cyllncler : ~ ~ outboard engine whieh ~as a good mixture-distributing :condition ~or each cylinder. : : .
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~20 A further objeet is t~o:provide an out.board engi.ne which can cool the~air or mixture in the i:ntake manifold ` :.
supplied by:the superc~iarger, connectinf~the supercharger : :~:
with each pf~rt of the ayll~nder heads. .. *-.
A :Eurther object is to provicle an outboard engine which can prevent an engi.ne burning out by:cooling the r .. . .

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'1 lul~rical~ g oil in the~ oil pan. ,,~
A furth~r object is to pro~ide an outboard engine ,~
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~hat has a lll~)ricating oil-supplying hole through which the ,~
oil can be suppli,ed on board ancl the inspection of the -; ;
cond:ition of t.hc~ oil can he precisely clone on board.
A further object is to provicle an outboard engine which has a thrust metal wi-th somewhat free-setting location .
on the crankshaf-t and wlth rotary stopper means which need ~ not a lot of machini-ng proc~-e-sses. -;
10~ An outboard engine o~f th]s inventlon comprises a four-cycle engine equipped with a supercharcJer which is `~
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attached between the intake manifolcl and -the carburetor, therefore this enc~ine causes~no water pollu-tion, which is '~
one of the defects oE a two-cycle engille, cind it operates in '-' , lS ~a condition with very~l~t,t1e HC~discha~ged or a foul odor.
~lso it is easy to start ancl clevelops -the same amount of :
: poNer ds~;~a~-two-cycle~engl,ne.~ Furthermore, as the ~ , ~ ~su~elcharger is located under the carbure-tor, mixture is : supplled~ eveDly into each cyll~nder of the~engine prodwcing a 20~ good~power-developlng~condltlon.~ Then~a secondary~effe~ct of ;~
the good adaptability of the~engl~ne~to the acceleration oEeratlon, is that the ~supercharger ~i~s attached ln cl~ose ~pro~imity to the engine.
~ ~ig. 1 18 a~view~ ror show1ng the gene~ral construct,ion of an out~oard enyirie ln~-the flrst embodiment ~, :

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: , of this in~Jc-~ntion. ~ :
E'ic~. 2 LS a ~iew for sLowing -t.he loca-tion of each ,,~
part: o the enc3ine.
Fig. 3 is a Clltt side view of an outboard engine in ',. , .,he secolld embodiment. ' Fig. 4 is a A-A line cross~sectional view of Fig.

3. ,~
Fig. 5 is a cut side view for showing a p~rt of an i: .
outboard ~ngine in ~the third embod.iment.
Fig. 6 is a cut side ~iew for showing ~a:part of an : '.
outboard engine in the four-th embodimen-t.
Fi.y. 7 is a side view of the -th.rus-t metal of an ;~
outboard engine in the fith embod~iment. .
Fig. 8 is a B-B line~cross-sectional vie~ of the ~' Fig. 7.
Fi.y. 9 is ~ cut sicle view for showing a part of a ~ .
convent~ona1 enyine body.
Fiy. 10 ~lS a side~vlew for showiny two~embodi.ments ~ .
of the thrust metal of the craokshaft bearing ln Flg. 9.
20 : This invention wiil be explained in detail :-' accordiny to the drawing showing the embodiment as fo1lows.
Flg. l~s~ a vlew f or showln~the~yeneral ~
construction of an ou-t,hoard engine in the ~i.rst emho~iment.
Fi.g. 2 is a ~iew for showin3 the c3eneral ~ ' construction of an enyine. In this figure, the outboard ''- .:

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en~ine 1 i,s equippecl with an a-ttac}lecl supercharger 3. This supe.~charger is connected to the engine 1 by the cran~shat 16, by which rot~ti,on -the engine is dri~7en. In -this '', embodiment, -the supercharger 3 is locatecl be-tween the intake r~anifold 5 and carburet,or l1 of the engLne. The bypass 3 is ~lso located be-tween the carburetor 31 ancl-the intake manifold 5, and 33 in the figure is an air cleaner.
In this way, the outboard engine in this embocliment is not only easy to start with s-teady iclllng as the ignition plug is not susceptible to damage wi,th a four- ;
` ~ cycle enc3ine applied, but also it is driven in good and '~ '~
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comfortable condition without causing water pollution or a ' foul odor with very little HC dii-~.chargecd. '~
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Furthermore, the engine maintains a large a~oun-t of effiGiency of alr into the englne by usiny the ,~' ~
supercharcJer 3, being capable of clevel;oping hic3h power with ';'~ ', the relative small and light bocly. As the supercharger 3 is ~ , located on the downstream of the carburetor 31, the air that drawn lnto the carhuletor thloucJh the air clednel, I.S ~:
mi~ed with~fuel and then~lntroduasd into the supercharger l, wherehy the mixture is fully stirred up ancl introduced into ,~
the intake mc~nifold~ thus ~or keeping the mixinq rate o:E
~i~ture in each cylinder ln a good~condition and developing great power. In the ca~e of -the conventional ver~tical type engine with mul-ti-cylinders, the mlx~ng r~te of las in e~ch :

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c~il.inder has beeJ-~ di.f-ferer}t, someti.mes causing uns-t.eady rot.ation of the eng:ine. In the case o a four-cylirlcder ~ -engine wit.h a carburetor onl~, the clifference of the mixing ra-te in each cylinde:r is 3 to ~.~ii, but in this embocliment with four cylinders, -the diffe~enc~e is 0.2 to 0~4% because ..
-the rnixture ix in-troduced into the engine after it has been mix---d in -the superchafger 3, Fig. 3 is a cut slde v~ew sho~incJ a par-t of the .`
outboard engine in the seconcl embodiment.
~ig. 4 is an A-A line~cross-sectional ~i.ew of Fig. :~
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3. This outboard engine is a four-cylincler gasoline erigi.ne 1, and on -t~he downs-tream of the carburetor (not illustrated) ~-is fixed -the supercharger 3. The supercharger 3 and each , port of the cylinders are connected th.rough the intake manifol.d, througll whi.ch a passage 6 of mixture is in-t:rocduced into -the engine 1. The cooling watel passage with a section as shown in Fig. 4 i.s located arouncl the in-take manifo1d 5.
Water from o-utboard is introduced into the coolinc~ wa-ter passac3e through the water pipe 10 and the connecting hose 11 from~-the~ coollng wa-ter lntake ho~le.
The water is drawn in by the wa-ter pump 8 from the out~oard and in-troduced in-to -the cooling ~a-ter passage 7 and - pumped outboarcl agaln th.rough the outlet 0 after circulatll:g and cooling ~ixture in each mixture-supplying passacJe 6 in . ~ -the in-take. manifold. In this process, the~ mixture heated to . .

c~bout. 110C by the supercharger 3 is cooled by the cooling-water passaye 7~ ,~s -the result, the p:rocess increases the po~er of -the engine hy about 5~ solviny the problem of -the -~
supercharger itself in that the hot ai.r or mixture heated to abou-t 110C wit}- the compressi.on by -the supereharger ~.
clecreases the increasing rate in power by supereharcJiny.
Furtherl~ole, thanks to this in-Tention, as the ,. ~.
in-ta~e manifo1.d itself is cooled by ~the cooling wa-ter passage 7, the cooling~of the supeloharyer is effec-te~ a-t a low cost withou-t much space and any eooler attached. :: :
., Fig. S is a cross-sectional side view of an .
outboard engine in the t.hird embodiment. In a four-Gycle engine used for an outboarcl engi..ne, an oil pan needs -to be at-taehecl for pooling lubrlcating oil for the engine 1, 1.5 differing from the case of a two-cycle engine in which .~ .-lubriea-ting oil is mixed wi-th fuel oil. :
; ~-lowever, there has been a problem in that the heated lu~rieating oil in the oil pan at-tachecl a-t -the lower ~:
enl of the cyli.nder bloek ~eauses~the burning out o~ the ~ `
engine 1. ~ .
Therefore, ln the vutboard engine of this~
embodiment, the engine base 13 is attaehed under -the oil pan ~ ;~
12 in sueh a way that the cooling water circulates along -the wall of the oil pan over the engine base 13 through -the oil- :
cooling water passage 1:4. The base of the oil-eooling water - 6 - .;

~ ' :, , ., : . . : :; : :: . .. : , :::, , :: ,. :, : ~ . ~ : -passcl.{.le i.s connec~.ted. to thc-~ wat.er pipe lO, -the water pump 8 and -the coo]ing wate.r inlet 9. The upper part of the oil~
cooling wat.er pas~age 14 LS cc,nnected to the wate:r hose 15, -'.' :
which lea~ls -to ou-tboarcl by way of the engine 1. `~
While the engine 1 i.~ opera-ting, water from -the outbc)ard. is drawn int.o the cooling wa.ter passage 14 attached at the engine base 13 through the water passage 14 a-ttached at the engine base 13 thlough the wa-ter plpe 10 :Erom -the ~ ~ cooling water inlet 9 by the water:pump 8 clriven by the crankshaft ~not i.llus-trated/~ The water circulates aloncJ ',~ :
the base of the water pan 12, cooling the lu~ricatincJ oil, and is discharged to the outboarcl throucJh -the water hose 15. ~' Therefore, t.he engine l is coolecl and prevented Er~om burning ~. ' : out by lubricating oil tha-t is always kept at;a low -temperatllre. ; .
~eedle~s ~to say, it l~ possible to make an eng~ne ' `. .
: eq~ipped with -the coollng water passage wi-t,h a section a~ :".
~: shown in F~lg, 4, around the intake manifo3d 5 and with the , ~.
cooling water passage 14, in the engine base 13, cir~ulating ~ ~-.' ;
~20 :along the hase of~the oil pan 12,:as shown in Fig. 5, combining the above second embo:climent wit~h the third.
Fig. 6 ls;;a cross-sectional side vlew for Yhowing~ '~
a part of an outboard enJlne in the fourth embodiment. In a : four-cycle enCJine, the oil filler hole attached cat. the lower :
end of the c,ylind.er block 2 has been loca-t.ed on the covar of : : :
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the cylinder head 4O However, as t.he cranksh~t of an ~ ;
enc3irle :is a-t-tached vertically, the~cylirlcler heacl 4 is located at the rear of the engine. As a result, the {~; -lubrica-tinc3 oi1 filler hole is placecl far on board, makirlg it dificult to adcl lubr:icating oil, inspec-t the oil ;
condition and ~eep the oil in proper le~el, increa~ing the '::
poss:ibility o~ the engirle burninc3 out.
Therecore, in this embodimen-t, -the oil filler hole ,!,; ~, , ' for the lubricatirlc3 oil is located at the uppe~ par-t of the ~lO oil pan 12 fixed at the lower end Oe the cylinder block 2 so tha-t it may he ]Qcated at the~ side of the hoat's hull body ;~
c~ainst the crankshaft 16, and to this supplying hole the inspection bar 1~ is at-t;ached wi th SCI ews, There~ore, the ;~
supply of lubricating oil to the oil pan of the engirle 1 can ~L5 be accomplisl~ed on boarcl, and the lnspection of -the oil conclition can al~o be clone eas~ly while on board, making i-t possible to supply the proper amount c~f oil. Thus the engine 1 is prevente~ ~rom burning out, with a proper amount -~
of;lubricatin~ oil~al~ays~rovided.
n~ Eig. 7 is~a slde view of thlus-t metals 2~ ~nd ~4 ~; of the ou-tboard engine in the fiEth embodimen-t. In a ~conventional outboard~englne, the -thrust metals, to ~ear the~
load of the crankshaft 16, have heen attached aDCI the;~
bearing cap as showrl in~Fig~ 9~ The united thrust metal 20 :
in ~ig. 10(a) must be atta~hed only at the lowest encl of : ~ : : .'::

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the ct-an]csllaft l~ and chanyi.ng -the at-tached place freely i.x quite impossible. In orcler -to imE~rove -this problem, the thrllst. metals 2l and ~2 in Fig. l.O~ a.re of separate .- .
construction.
Ho~e~ex, regarding the thrus-t metals 20 and 21 -the projections 20a and 2la are formed to block the rotation so :~ :
that they may not rotate with~-the crankshaft 16 as shown in :,; , the figure~ In srdex t.o hs1d the rotation blsck `~
projectlons, grooves are made in the soli~ csnstruction:of `~
Lhe~crankshaf-t bearing. This type 9f rotatisn-block ~;
construction increases the machining prscesses.
On the csntrary, the thr~ls-t metal in this ~ ' : embodiment is csmpssed of the semicirc~lar separate bi.ts 23 - . , and 24, the semicircular grooves 2a and l9a are made in t~e ,. .~ , cylinder blook 2 of the crankshaft bea:ring and the bearing ~::
cap l9. The c~rooves cliffer i.n depth accordinq to the ~:
:~ difference in -their thickness. In this ~imbodimentr -the , .
thlcker~bit 23 is~attached:in the semiclrcular groove 2a .in ~.
the cylinder block 2, and the;to~ching surface 23a prevents~
~20: the rotation by tsuchlng the surface 19b of the grsove 19a ~;~ in the bearing çap~l9~ ~On the opposlte sider the blt ~ lS
prevented from rst~tinq by:makiny -the surface 2~a tobch the : surface of 23a sf~the o-ther bit 23.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. An outboard engine comprising:
a four-cycle engine having a crankshaft extending substantially vertically while running; and a thrust metal mounted on bearing portions formed on a cylinder block and a bearing cap of the engine, respectively, for supporting the crankshaft, said thrust metal being composed of a pair of semi-circular plates having a different thickness from each other;
said semicular plates being received within semi-circular grooves formed on said bearing portions of the cylinder block and the bearing cap with different depth from each other, respectively, in such a manner that the mating surface of one of said semi-circular plates having larger thickness contacts the end surface of one of said semi-circular grooves having shallower depth.