JPH02292575A - Cowling for outboard engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To suppress compression force of a seal member to a low value and to improve seal performance by providing a ring part of almost circular section and a protrusion piece, which tilts to extend integrally from a lower part of this ring part, in the seal member. CONSTITUTION:A top cowl 26, which coats an upper part of an engine 20, is removably mounted to an upper end edge of a bottom cowl 22, which coats a lower part of the engine 20, through a seal member 24. A ring part 54 with a section almost circular and a protrusion piece 56, which tilts to extend integrally from a lower part of this ring part 54, are provided in the seal member 24. Thus by reducing reaction force of the seal member, when it is compressed, its compression force can be suppressed to a low value. And seal performance can be prevented from deteriorating because a wearing resistance material is provided in at least one of the protrusion piece and a bottom seal surface.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a cowling for an outboard motor, and particularly to the structure of a seal member interposed between a bottom cowl and a top cowl. [Prior Art] The cowling for an outboard motor usually consists of a top cowl that covers the top of the engine and a top cowl that is removably attached to the top edge of the bottom cowl that covers the bottom of the engine via a sealing member. Here, in order to ensure waterproofness, the seal member needs to be compressed under a certain load, and the reaction force per 100 mm of length of the seal member against compression is conventionally 5 to lOKg/
It was about 100mm. If the circumference of the cowling is 2
000 mm, the force required to compress the seal member to a predetermined tightening margin is 100 to 200 kg, which is too much force to tighten manually. Therefore, a boosting mechanism using a crank lever or the like is required, but since this crank lever needs to be operated with a predetermined force, it is normally installed protruding from the cowling of the outboard motor, and has been requested in recent years. It is also unfavorable from the point of view of improving the design of Kaklink. [Problem to be solved by the invention] Therefore, in order to reduce the compressive force of the seal member to obtain waterproofness, the wall thickness of the seal member is made thinner and ring-shaped.
Is it possible to increase the ratio of the height to the width of the seal member to make it have an oval cross-sectional shape?If this is extruded with a thin wall, the desired oval shape will not be maintained due to deformation after molding. As a result, there is a problem that the sealing function cannot be secured. The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to improve the sealing material necessary to fully exhibit waterproofness by devising the shape of the sealing material. To provide a cowling for an outboard motor that reduces compressive force and thus reduces the pressing force when a top cowl is attached to a bottom cowl. [Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a structure in which the upper end edge of the bottom cowl that covers the lower part of the engine is provided. A top cowling that covers the upper part of the engine is removably attached to an outboard motor cowling through a seal member, and the seal member includes a substantially circular ring part and an integrally inclined part from the bottom of the ring part. It is equipped with a medicament piece that extends along the periphery. Here, it is preferable to provide a wear-resistant material on at least one of the protruding piece and the bottom seal surface that is in pressure contact with the protruding piece. [Function] By configuring the sealing member in this way, the length of the sealing member becomes the sum of the length of the ring part and the length of the protruding piece, and therefore the thickness of the sealing member is reduced. Even if the height is set higher than before, there is no need to make the length of the ring part too long, so it can maintain its shape, and the pressing force when attaching the Totsubu cowl to the bottom cowl causes bending force instead of compression force. Because it has a bending behavior, the reaction force is extremely small compared to conventional products. Therefore, the compressive force required to achieve waterproofness is also reduced. In particular, when the protruding piece comes into pressure contact with the bottom seal surface of the photo cowl, it bends while sliding against the bottom seal surface. By providing a wear-resistant material on at least one of the protrusion and the bottom seal surface, wear on both can be suppressed and sealing performance can be maintained. [Example] The present invention will be explained below based on an example shown in the drawings. In Fig. 1, the main parts of the cowling for an outboard motor of the present invention are shown cut away. Reference numeral 10 indicates an outboard motor, and its propulsion unit 12 is attached to the stern plate 14 of the hull via a clamp bracket l6 and a swivel bracket 18 so as to be rotatable vertically and horizontally. Reference numeral 13 indicates a tilt bin 2 which supports the swivel bracket so as to be able to rotate up and down relative to the clamp bracket 16. Reference numeral 15 indicates a steering bracket. An engine 20 is located at the top of the propulsion unit 12, and the engine 20 or the bottom cowl 22
and a top cowl 26 attached to the bottom cowl 22 via a seal member 24. In this embodiment, a recess 28 is provided at the front surface of the bottom cowl 22, and a clamp lever 30 that is operated to release the engagement/disengagement mechanism between the bottom cowl 22 and the top cowl 26 is disposed within the recess 28. ．． The outer surface shape of the crank brake lever 30 is made substantially flush with the outer surface shape of the bottom cowl 22, and the abutting portions of both cowls are also made substantially flush, improving the design. Reference numeral 32 denotes a so-called latch-and-strike locking and disengaging mechanism provided at the front and rear portions of the cowling, respectively.The Totsubu cowl 26-t- is attached to the bottom cowl 22, and the front and rear portions of the top surface of the Totsubu cowl 26 are pressed down by hand. At this point, the hook 34, which is approximately L-shaped hanging from the totsubu cowl 26, is locked to a latch-type locking member on the bottom cowl 22 side, and when releasing this lock, the clamp lever 3 is used.
0, the locking member elastically releases the hook 34. This engaging/disengaging mechanism 32 is not an essential part of the present invention, so a detailed explanation will be omitted. In addition,
By operating the clamp lever 30, the rear side locking/disengaging mechanism 32
The front and rear locking/disengaging mechanisms are connected to each other via a wire 36 in order to release the locking of the hook 34 in conjunction with each other. 2 and 3 show the structure of the seal member 24 in detail. FIG. 2 shows the state of the seal member 24 before compression, and FIG. 3 shows the state after compression. The seal member 24 is mainly composed of a substantially U-shaped base 38, a sight lip 40, and a main lip 42. It is fitted and held by the rift 44. 46 is the U of the base 38
This weather strip is formed on the inner surface of a letter shape and is pressed into contact with the seal mounting rib 44 while being bent. bottom cowl 2
A rib 48 is also formed along the outermost edge of the upper edge of 2 to protrude upward, and the sight lip 40 is brought into pressure contact with the upper edge of the rib 48. Siterip 40
has a thin hanging part 50 that hangs integrally from the base 38 at a position that projects outward by a distance from the outer surface position of the top cowl 26, and a horizontal part that curves inward from the lower end of the hanging part 50. 52, and is generally L-shaped in cross section as a whole. The distance M is, for example, about 2 mm, which does not cause any discomfort to the flat surface of the entire cowling. By forming the site lip 40 in this way,
In the locked state of the cowling shown in FIG. 3, the horizontal portion 52 comes into contact with the upper edge of the rib 48 of the bottom cowl 22, and the hanging portion 50 is located outside the outer surface of the top cowl 26, so the side The lip 40 is deflected by bending force rather than compressive force, and therefore the reaction force at this portion is much smaller than when compressive force is applied. The main lip 42 includes a ring portion 54 integrally extending from the substantially U-shaped lower portion of the base portion 38 and having a substantially circular cross section, and a protruding piece 5 integrally extending diagonally downward from the lower portion of the ring portion 54.
It is composed of 6. And this main lip 4
2 is located opposite the bottom seal surface 58 of the bottom cowl 22, which is inside the rib 48. This main riff 42 is the part of the seal member 24 that exhibits the most important waterproof performance, and its total length in the vertical direction is the total length of the ring part 54 and the protruding piece 56, and by making the wall thick or thin, when compressed. The reaction force of is reduced. Since the ring part 54 does not need to be formed into an oval shape by elongating its cross section, it can maintain its shape even when deformed after extrusion molding. In this embodiment, the protruding piece 56 extends in the inclined direction or from the upper right to the lower left in the figure, that is, toward the outside of the cowling, so when the cowling is locked as shown in FIG. 3, the protruding piece 56 is compressed. Since it is deflected by bending force rather than force, the reaction force is reduced, and it is particularly effective in preventing seawater etc. from entering the cowling from outside the cowling. Furthermore, the bending of the ring portion 54 is due to bending force rather than compressive force. The reaction force caused by this part during compression is also small. According to such an embodiment, since the deflection of the site lip 40 and the main lip 42 of the sealing member 24 is due to bending force rather than compressive force, the reaction force is extremely small, and is therefore necessary to exhibit sealing performance. Compressive force can also be reduced. Next, add bottom cowl 22 to top cowl 2.
6 'l. There is no need for a boosting mechanism or the like when performing H, and therefore, if the aforementioned locking/unlocking mechanism is provided, the locking can be completed by simply pressing the bottom cowl 22 from above, and a sufficient sealing function can be exerted. Therefore, the locking structure can be simplified, and there is no need to provide large protrusions on the entire surface of the cowling, resulting in an improved design. According to the inventor's experiments, in the sealing member having the configuration of the above embodiment, the length of the sealing member is 100 mm.
The reaction force per hit can be reduced to approximately 1.15Kg/loomm,
Even when the circumference of the cowling was 2000mm, the total reaction force was 24.2Kg, proving that the load can be exerted even by human power. Next, FIG. 4 shows the main parts of another embodiment of the present invention, and the difference between this embodiment and the previous embodiment is that a tape made of a wear-resistant material is attached to the bottom seal surface 58 of the bottom cowl 22. 6o was attached. When the cowling vibrates, etc., the disaster generating piece 56 extends in an inclined manner so that it slides on the bottom seal surface 58.
As a result, there is a risk that the paint on the bottom seal surface 58 may peel off, and in this case, corrosion may progress, causing the bottom seal surface 58 to cave in and reduce the sealing performance.The presence of the tape 60 prevents this from occurring. I can do something. This tape 60 may be made of any wear-resistant material, preferably made of polyurethane film, for example. 8. It is not necessary to limit the structure to the above, and the tape 60 may be provided on the protruding piece 56, or, for example, Teflon may be provided on the bottom sealing surface 58.
At least one of the protrusions 56 and 56 may be coated, or a wear-resistant material may be fitted onto the surface of the bottom seal surface 58. Next, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show still another embodiment of the present invention, in which the shape of the ring portion of the main lip is devised so that the main lip can be attached to the bottom seal surface. Even if the seal is repeatedly compressed and decompressed, the protrusion is designed to prevent the protruding piece from sliding on the bottom seal surface as much as possible, that is, to prevent it from moving from side to side. That is, the ring part 54 is formed to integrally extend from the substantially U-shaped lower part of the base part 38 to form a substantially pentagonal shape, and one side of the pentagon integrally extends obliquely downward from the lower end thereof. The protruding piece 56 is used. In addition, in Figure 5, 62
is the core metal. FIG. 6 shows a pseudo link mechanism obtained by regarding each approximately pentagonal top of the ring portion 54 as a point and connecting these points along the center of the wall thickness of each side. In FIG. 6, the side AB is constituted by the lower end of the base 38, and can be simulated to extend substantially horizontally as a stationary link. The side BC extends substantially perpendicularly and substantially parallel to the center line X, has substantially the same length as both sides AB, and forms a circular pair. Side CD forms a rotational pair with side BC,
The side DE is a circular conjunct to the side CD, and the side EA is the opposite side to the side D.
It forms a rotational pair with E and side AB. The protruding piece 56 is represented by a point D', and this point D' is located on the link extending the side DE toward the D side. The lengths of side EA and side D'E are substantially the same.

By configuring the main lip 42 in this way,
When a compressive force acts on the main lip 42 in a direction parallel to the center line
It rotates around the point, then slightly rotates around the side BC or point B and follows it while curving toward the side CD or the inside of the pentagon. As a result, point D' is always located approximately on the center line X, and therefore the main lip 42 is deformed from the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 to the state shown by the two-dot chain line and the one-dot chain line. become. That is, the protrusion piece 56
does not move significantly in the left-right direction of the center line X.

In the embodiment described above, the more the projection piece 56 is compressed, the more
The part corresponding to point C is greatly curved, and the protruding side 56 moves to the left with respect to the center line In this example, the protrusion piece 56 was necessary.
Even when compressed, it does not move significantly in the left-right direction with respect to the center line ．． As shown in FIG. 5, if the protruding piece 56 is formed so that its lower surface bulges, the contact area with the bottom seal surface can be increased, the contact pressure against the bottom seal surface can be reduced, and wear can be more securely prevented. It has the effect of being able to prevent this.

In this structure, point E in Fig. 6 is deflected to move the most in the left-right direction, especially rightward, and point C is deflected the least, so it is better to place point E inside the cowling.
This prevents the main lip 42 from getting caught between the rib 48 of the bottom cowl and the top cowl even when the main lip 42 is largely bent. [Effects] As explained above, according to the present invention, the sealing member is configured to include a ring portion having a substantially circular cross section and a protruding piece, so that its entire length can be increased, and its wall thickness can be reduced. However, since the shape of the link part is approximately circular, it can maintain its shape, which has the excellent effect of reducing the reaction force when the seal member is compressed and keeping the compressive force low. Furthermore, since a wear-resistant material is provided on at least one of the protruding piece and the bottom sealing surface, it is possible to prevent the sealing performance from deteriorating.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view showing the entire embodiment of a cowling for an outboard motor according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the same compressed state, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view at the same position as FIG. 3 showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a main part of still another embodiment of the present invention. Enlarged sectional view showing only
Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing a pseudo link mechanism forming the main lip shown in Figure 5. lO...outboard motor, 20...engine 22...
- Bottom cowl, 24-... Seal member 26... Top cowl, 42... Main lip 54... Link part. 56... Projection piece 60... Tape Figure 2 Agent Patent attorney Yoshiyuki Inaba Figure l

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an outboard motor cowling in which a top cowl covering the upper part of the engine is removably attached to the upper edge of the bottom cowl covering the lower part of the engine via a sealing member, the sealing member includes a ring portion having a substantially circular cross section; A cowling for an outboard motor, comprising: a protrusion integrally extending obliquely from a lower part of the ring portion. (2) A cowling for an outboard motor according to claim 1, wherein a wear-resistant material is provided on at least one of the bottom seal surfaces of the bottom cowl that are in pressure contact with the protrusion piece.