JP2886287B2 - Outboard motor steering load adjustment device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering load adjusting device for an outboard motor capable of adjusting a steering load, and more particularly to an improvement in a mounting structure of a pivot shaft, a bearing bush, and a friction piece. About.

[Conventional technology]

In a general outboard motor, when supporting the propulsion unit with the swivel bracket, a pivot shaft is provided by vertically penetrating the swivel bracket, and the upper end of the pivot shaft is fixed to the steering bracket and fixed integrally to the propulsion unit. I have. By turning the steering bracket left and right, the propulsion unit turns left and right around the pivot shaft with respect to the swivel bracket, and steering becomes possible.

Here, for adjusting the steering load, a bearing bush is interposed between the pivot shaft and the swivel bracket in order to reduce friction between the two. Further, a friction piece is mounted in a concave portion formed in the swivel bracket, and the friction piece is crimped to a bearing bush by screw tightening to lock the friction piece, the bearing bush, and the swivel bracket.

At this time, when the screw is initially tightened,
That is, the steering load of the steering bracket can be adjusted by appropriately changing the pressing force when the friction piece is pressed against the bearing bush or by retightening the screw when the screw is loosened.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional steering load adjusting device for an outboard motor, even if the friction piece is screwed, the friction piece may move following the screw tightening, or the pivot shaft and the bearing bush may rotate. Therefore, there is a problem that the friction piece and the bearing bush are worn. When such a co-rotation occurs, there is a problem that the axial force at the time of screw tightening is not reliably transmitted to the pivot shaft.

Further, when the steering wheel is taken off during navigation, the friction piece may fluctuate from an initial lock position with respect to the bearing bush due to an unexpected external force, and the above-mentioned wear and rattling may newly occur.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and by improving the mounting structure of the friction piece, there is no movement and fluctuation of the friction piece,
And because there is no rotation with the bearing bush,
An object of the present invention is to provide a steering load adjusting device for an outboard motor capable of completely locking a friction piece, a bearing bush, and a swivel bracket without abrasion of the friction piece and a bearing bush.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention secures a steering bracket fixed to a propulsion unit to a pivot shaft vertically penetrating a swivel bracket, and a bearing bush between the pivot shaft and the swivel bracket. A friction piece is attached to a recess formed in the swivel bracket, and the steering load of the steering bracket can be adjusted by changing the pressing force when pressing the friction piece against the bearing bush. In the steering load adjusting device for a machine, a rib for positioning the friction piece at least vertically and horizontally from outside is protruded from the bearing bush, and the rib is fitted in the recess.

[Action]

According to the present invention, since the rib is configured to be fitted into the concave portion of the swivel bracket, when the bearing bush tries to rotate, the rib and the inner wall of the concave portion of the swivel bracket interfere with each other. It stops the bush. In addition, since a rib for integrally positioning the friction piece is protruded from the bearing bush and the friction piece is mounted in an area defined by the rib,
The friction piece can be integrally mounted on the bearing bush, preventing the bearing bush from trying to rotate and preventing the friction piece from moving in any direction with respect to the bearing bush.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall view of an outboard motor having one embodiment of a steering load adjusting device according to the present invention. First, in FIG. 1, an engine 10 of an outboard motor is fixed on an upper casing 12 of a propulsion unit, and drives a propeller (not shown) provided at a lower portion of the casing 12. The upper casing 12 is supported by a swivel bracket 18 via an upper mount 14 and a lower mount 16. This swivel bracket 18 is clamped through the tilt shaft 20
It is supported so as to be able to rotate up and down with respect to 22. The clamp bracket 22 is fixed to the stern plate 24 of the hull, whereby the propulsion unit is attached to the hull so that it can be tilted up and down around the tilt axis 20.

2 to 4 illustrate an embodiment of the present invention in more detail.

In the swivel bracket 18, a pivot shaft 26 penetrating the bracket body up and down is provided. A base end of a steering bracket 28 integrated with the upper mount 14 is fixed to an upper end of the pivot shaft 26 by means such as welding. The lower mount 16 is fixed to the lower end of the pivot shaft 26. As a result, the steering bracket 28
The propulsion unit is rotated left and right around the pivot shaft 26 with respect to the swivel bracket 18 and steered. Then, the propulsion force from the propulsion unit is transmitted to the swivel bracket 18 and the clamp bracket 22 via the upper mount 14, the lower mount 16, and the pivot shaft 26 to propel the hull.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a bearing bush 30 is interposed between the pivot shaft 26 and the inner wall of the swivel bracket 18. The outer peripheral wall of the bearing bush 30, especially as shown in FIG.
Is protruding. The rib 32 serves as positioning means for integrally mounting the friction piece 34 on the bearing bush 30. The friction piece 34 can be mounted in close contact with the area defined by the rib 32.

The swivel bracket 18 has a rib 32 and a recess for fitting a friction piece 34 attached to the rib.
36 is provided on the port side of the swivel bracket. The width of the recess 36 in the circumferential direction is substantially the same as or slightly wider than the width of the rib, and the recess 36 serves as a positioning means for the rib 32 to move the bearing bush 30 between the pivot shaft 26 and the swivel bracket 18. Interposed closely with these. With the bearing bush 30 interposed, the left and right walls of the rib abut against the side wall of the swivel bracket 18 forming the recess 30, and the wall below the rib is under the swivel bracket 18 forming the recess 30. Make contact with the wall. A slit 31 is formed in the bearing bush 30 at a position facing the rib 32. Due to the presence of this slit 31, the bearing bush
The work for inserting the pivot shaft 26 from the lower end of the pivot shaft 26 and for inserting the pivot shaft 26 with the bearing bush 30 into the swivel bracket 1 from above becomes smoother. At this time, the bearing bush 30 is
Is mounted from above.

A steering friction screw 38 is provided to pass through the swivel bracket 18 toward the recess 36. Reference numeral 40 denotes a steering friction handle for moving the steering friction screw 38 forward and backward with respect to the friction piece 34. The steering friction handle 38 is pivotally supported at the base end of the steering friction screw 38. Reference numeral 42 is a seal member for ensuring waterproofness.

With the pivot shaft 26, the bearing bush 30, and the friction piece 34 mounted as shown, the friction screw handle 38 is turned clockwise to tighten the steering screw 38.
To the side, the tip of which is a friction piece
Press against 34. At this time, the friction pieces 34 are mounted in a state where they are integrally positioned in the ribs 32. That is, the friction piece 34 is supported by the bearing bush 30 by the rib 32, the bearing bush 30 is supported by the pivot shaft 26, and the pivot shaft 26 is supported by the swivel bracket 18 by bearings 39 arranged vertically. For this reason, the friction piece 34 does not move in the circumferential direction and the axial direction with respect to the pivot shaft 26 following the rotation of the screw 38. Since the friction piece 34 does not move, the axial force of the screw 38 can be reliably transmitted to the pivot shaft 26 via the friction piece 34 and the bearing bush 30. Further, when the tightening by the friction screw handle 40 is continued, the friction piece 34 is pressed against the bearing bush 30 by the stress caused by the elastic deformation of the friction piece 34, and the rib 32 of the bearing bush is deformed in the expanding direction, The rib is pressed against the outer wall of the concave portion 36. Therefore,
The friction piece 34, the bearing bush 30, and the swivel bracket 18 can be completely locked without rattling. And the steering load of the steering bracket is
Since it is correlated with the pressing force between the bearing bush 30 and the pivot shaft 26, the steering load can be adjusted by appropriately selecting the tightening amount of the screw handle 40. Even if a slight gap remains between the rib 32 of the bearing bush 30 and the inner wall of the swivel bracket in the recess 36, the screw 38 presses the friction piece 34 so that the rib 34 is deformed outward. There is no backlash because it presses against the concave portion 36. Rather, it is more advantageous at the time of assembly to design such that there is a slight amount of this gap.

In the initial setting operation of the steering load, since the rib 32 is pressed against the outer wall of the concave portion 36, the rib 32 is prevented from rotating together with the pivot shaft 26. As described above, when the movement of the friction piece 34 and the rotation of the bearing bush 30 and the pivot shaft 26 are stopped, the wear between the friction piece 34 and the bearing bush 30 and the outer circumference of the bearing bush 30 can be prevented. Further, even when an unexpected external force is applied, such as when the steering is taken during navigation, the friction piece 34 is positioned integrally within the rib 32, so that it does not move in any direction, and Since the bearing bush 30 is positioned by the rib 32 in contact with the inner wall of the swivel bracket 18 of the recess 36, the initial lock position of the friction piece 34 does not change.

On the side of the swivel bracket 18 on which the steering screw handle 40 is installed, a stopper 44 for regulating the position of the handle 40 is protruded. The stoppers 44 are provided in a pair on both sides with the steering screw handle 40 interposed therebetween, and regulate the rotation end angle of the handle to an angle within the pair of stoppers as shown by a dashed line.

At the time of steering to rotate the steering bracket 28 to the left until it comes into contact with a steering stopper (not shown) provided on the swivel bracket 18, the upper case 12 and the swivel bracket 18 are close to the position indicated by a chain line. At this time, the steering screw handle 40
Depending on the rotation end angle, the handle 40 and the upper case 12 may collide, and the handle and the upper case may be damaged. Therefore, it is intended to prevent such a collision by restricting the rotation end angle of the handle to the angle within the pair of stoppers 44.
As shown by the dashed line in FIG.
40 is configured to be rotatable up and down at its base end in order to rotate around the stopper.

By providing such a stopper 44 and regulating the position of the friction handle 40, the handle 40 can be formed long, so that the tightening torque can be increased.

In the above embodiment, the rib formed on the bearing bush was formed in a square shape, and a square friction piece was mounted in the rib, but the rib was formed in a desired shape such as a polygon and matched with the rib. The same effect can be obtained even when a friction piece having a shape as shown in FIG.

Further, although the ribs are formed in a continuous shape without notches, it is sufficient to integrally position and fix the friction pieces, and if the friction pieces can be prevented from moving in the axial direction and the circumferential direction. Alternatively, it may be a discontinuous shape having a cutout in a part.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the bearing bush is provided with a rib for projecting the friction piece in a state where the friction piece is integrally positioned within the defined area, and this rib is provided in the recess of the swivel bracket. Because of the fitted configuration, there is no movement and fluctuation of the friction piece, and there is no rotation with the bearing bush, so there is no wear between the friction piece and the bearing bush, and the friction piece, the bearing bush, and the swivel bracket can be used. The effect of providing a steering load adjustment device for an outboard motor that can be completely locked can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a side view showing a general structure of an outboard motor to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 18 Swivel bracket 26 Pivot shaft 28 Steering bracket 30 Bearing bushing 32 Friction piece mounting rib 34 Friction piece 36 Recessed part of swivel bracket

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B63H 25/42

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A steering bracket fixed to a propulsion unit is fixed to a pivot shaft penetrating vertically through a swivel bracket, a bearing bush is interposed between the pivot shaft and the swivel bracket, and the swivel bracket is connected to a steering shaft. A friction piece is mounted in the formed recess, and the steering load adjusting device of the outboard motor capable of adjusting the steering load of the steering bracket by changing the pressing force when pressing the friction piece against the bearing bush is provided. A steering load adjusting device for an outboard motor, wherein a rib for positioning the friction piece at least vertically, horizontally, and externally is provided on the bearing bush, and the rib is fitted in the recess.