US3460506A

US3460506A - Marine outdrive latch

Info

Publication number: US3460506A
Application number: US618706A
Authority: US
Inventors: Marvin D Johns; Stephen J Haydock
Original assignee: Dana Inc
Current assignee: Dana Inc
Priority date: 1967-02-27
Filing date: 1967-02-27
Publication date: 1969-08-12
Anticipated expiration: 1986-08-12

Description

Aug. 12, 1969 M. o. JOHNS ETAL 3,460,506

. MARINE OUTDRIVE LATCH Fil'ed Feb. 27. 1967 s Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGJ INVENTORS MARVIN D. JOHN STEPHEN J. HAYDOCK Aug. 12, 1969 JQHNS ET AL 3,460,506

I MARINE ovwmuvn LATCH Filed Feb. 27, 1967 3 Sheets -Sheet 2 INVENTORS MARVIN D. JOHNS STEPHEN J. HAYDOCK ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 12, 1969 JOHNS ETAL 3,460,506

MARINE ou'rnmvn LATCH Filed Feb. 27. 1967 s Sheets-Sheet s INVENTORS MARVIN D. JOHNS STEPHEN J. HAYDOCK r A ATTORNEYS United States Patent 01' 3,460,506 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 ice US. Cl. 115--41 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A latch arrangement for a marine drive unit in which a pair of pivoted latches are oppositely disposed and spring biased so that the lower latch prevents upward pivoting of the drive unit when the marine drive unit is in reverse gear and the upper latch limits upward pivoting of the marine drive unit in neutral and forward gear while still permitting the marine drive unit to kick up when it encounters a water borne obstruction.

Marine latch arrangements wherein latch means are mounted between an outdrive power leg and stationary portion of the marine drive unit to prevent pivoting of the unit into a tilted up position are known but these latch arrangements do not always eifectively release upon meeting a water borne obstruction or positively limit the swing up of the marine drive unit under normal operation in the three conditions of drive, namely, reverse, forward and neutral. It would, therefore, be advantageous if a latching arrangement for a marine drive unit would be developed which would positively provide locking of the unit in forward, reverse and neutral while at the same time providing quick and reliable kick up upon the marine drive unit encountering an obstruction in the water, such as snag, floating debris or the like.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a latch arrangement for a marine drive unit which positively insures kick up of the unit upon encountering a water borne obstruction.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a latching arrangement which positively prevents upward pivoting of the marine drive unit in forward, reverse and neutral position under normal operating conditions.

It is a still further object of the invention to resiliently mount the latch arrangement for easy cushioned swinging movement thereof into and out of latching position with the power drive unit.

It is an even further object of the invention to resiliently load at least a portion of the resiliently mounted latch arrangement to insure override thereof and kick up of the marine drive upon impact with an obstruction in the water.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a pair of oppositely disposed latch assemblies, with the upper of said latch assemblies, because of its relative positioning and spring loading, inactive in reverse drive and with the lower of said latch assemblies only going to latched, active position in reverse drive.

Other and further objects of this invention will be which is vertically fixed relative to the boat. The lower latch assembly is resiliently urged to pivot upwardly into locking engagement with the pin means and serves as an outboard power leg lock when the marine drive unit is in reverse gear. In forward and neutral gear positions, an urging means abuts against a portion of this lower latch assembly to actuate it downwardly out of locking relaapparent from the following description and appended tionship with the pin means, this urging means being connected and controlled by the shift lever linkage for the marine drive unit. The upper latch assembly assumes a latching position around the pin means for all transmis sion positions of the marine drive unit, being urged to this position by the aforementioned resilient mounting. The upper latch assembly is also provided with a pivoted, spring biased lever member mounted thereon on the end of the upper latch adjacent the pin means. This spring biased lever member serves as the pin engaging means and, because of the precompression in its spring, is capable of being upset and pivoted out of engagement with the pin means upon the marine drive unit encountering an obstruction which imposes an impacting loading thereagainst. Because of the geometry of the upper latch assembly including the spring biased lever member and the location of the pivot for the power drive leg, the locking engagement of the upper latch is also insufficient to lock the marine drive unit when it is in reverse gear.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view partly in section of the marine drive unit and included latch means with the marine drive unit in reverse drive;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view partially in section of a portion of FIG. 1 showing the latch means and related actuating elements with the marine drive unit in neutral drive;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the upper and lower latch assemblies and resilient biasing means therefor;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the resilient mount for the latch assemblies; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the upper latch assembly.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings and specifically to FIG. 1 wherein there is shown a marine drive unit 10 having a relatively fixed portion formed by a housing 12 and an outboard power leg 14 mounted for vertical pivotal movement by means of a gimbal ring mounted with the housing 12 on a horizontal axle 16. The housing 12 is fixed relative to the boat by attachment of it to the propulsion engine for the marine drive unit 10 (not shown) by extension through the boat transom 15 in a well-known manner. The outboard power leg 14 includes an upper housing portion 18 and a lower housing portion 20, these housing portions enclosing the gear drive for the propeller 21 mounted on the lower housing portion 20.

Steering of the boat is accomplished through movement of the gimbal ring mounted outboard power leg 14 in a horizontal pivoting motion which is well known. Vertical pivoting of the outboard power leg is provided by the aforementioned pivot 16 to thereby permit inspection and repair of the unit and to insure kick up to prevent or severely limit damage caused to the marine drive unit 10 upon impact with a water borne obstruction.

Turning to FIGS. 2-5, a latching means 22 is provided to lock the outboard power leg 14 and] the housing 12 relative to each other and prevent undesired kick up of the outboard power leg when propulsion thrust is being delivered by the marine drive unit 10. This latching means includes a pair of upper and

lower latch assemblies

24 and 26, respectively, resiliently and pivotally' mounted in opposed and confronting relation on a pin 28 mounted with the upper housing portion 18 of the outboard power leg. A suitable lug means 30 (only one-half of the lug means shown), fixedly attached to a depending portion 32 that is rigid with the upper housing portion 18, provide a mount for the pin 28 to connect it to the upper housing portion 18. The upper latch assembly 24 is disposed vertically above the latch assembly 26, with the latch assembly 26, at its one end adjacent to the pin 28 in slightly nested relationship within the latch assembly 24.

The upper latch assembly 24 provides the latching function for the outboard power leg 14 when the marine drive unit is in forward or neutral gear and includes a generally U-shaped bracket element 34 having a bight portion 35 and a pair of

legs

36, 36 extending therefrom. The

legs

36, 36 are provided with a pair of aligned

apertures

38, 38 therethrough adjacent the ends of the

legs

36, 36 opposite the bight portion 35. The

apertures

38, 38 provide the means for mounting U-shaped bracket element 34 to the pin 28, this pin being inserted therethrough and peened over or staked to positively pivotally mount the latch assembly 24 to the depending portion 32 of the upper housing portion 18.

Mounted within the U-shaped bracket 34 is an inner kick up lever 40. This lever takes the form of a depending latch shaped portion 42 and an integral bracket portion 44 of a generally U-shaped in cross-section. The inner kick up lever 40 is preferably cast from bronze or the like and then rough machined to final shape, if required. The bracket portion 44 has its U-shape formed by a bight 45 and a pair of

legs

46, 46 extending therefrom and angling downwardly in slightly depending fashion. Near the termination of the

legs

46, 46 removed from the bight portion 45, a pair of aligned apertures 48, 48 (only one shown) extend through the

legs

46, 46 to confront and align in assembled relation with a pair of aligned

apertures

50, 50 formed in a pair of

ear portions

52, 52 depending and integral with the

legs

36, 36 of the U-shaped bracket 34.

A pin means 53 passes through the aligned

apertures

48, 48, 50 and 50 to pivotally secure the inner kick up lever 40 to the U-shaped bracket 34. Conveniently, this pin means may also be peened over at its ends to maintain it, the inner kick up lever 40 and the U-shaped bracket 34 in assembled relation. Pin means 53 is located by its

apertures

50, 50 so that a confronting face 47 of the bight portion 45 of the inner kick up lever 40 and a confronting face 49 of the bight portion 35 of the U- shaped bracket 34 are spaced from each other a sufficient distance to permit clearance therebetween for the pivotal movement of the inner kick up lever 40 relative to the U-shaped bracket 34.

The inner kick up lever 40 is spring biased by a compression spring means 54 to maintain it in a latching position by the compression spring means 54 abutting a face 56 of the bight portion 45, this face being disposed on the opposite side of the bight portion than the confronting face 47. The compression spring means is held against the face 56 in the aforesaid compressed position by a bolt 58 and nut 60. The bolt 58 is mounted in the latch assembly 24 by extending through a pair of aligned apertures 62, 64 mediately disposed in the bight portions 35 and 45 and extending therefrom between the

legs

36, 36 of the U-shaped bracket 34. The compression spring means 54 is received on the bolt 58 in an encompassing relationship with the bolt 58 threaded adjacent its end so that the nut 60 may be attached thereto and tightened to adjust the compression spring means 54 to the desired spring force. This adjustment governs the force required before upset (unlatching) of the inner kick up lever 40 occurs upon impact of the marine drive unit 10 with a water borne obstruction. A washer 66 may be conveniently mounted between the nut 60 and compression spring means 54 to better seat the end of the compression spring means 54 adjacent the outboard power leg 14.

The bolt 58 and nut 60 also mount a lift rod assembly 68 to the latch assembly 24, this lift rod assembly providing a convenient manual grasping means which may be utilized to manually unlock the latch assembly 24. The lift rod assembly 68 includes a bracket portion 70 having a general U-shape formed by a bight 72 and a pair of attached and extending legs 74, 74. The length of the bight 72 is chosen so that it will abut against the bight 35 of the U-shaped bracket 34 with the legs 74, 74 of the bracket portion 70 conforming to and extending a short distance along the

respective legs

36, 36 of the U- shaped bracket 34. With this arrangement the bolt 58, extending through an aperture 76 in the bight 72 as well as the apertures 62, 64 in the U-shaped bracket element 34 and the inner kick up lever 40, respectively, will, through the compression spring means 54 and tightened nut 60, also closely hold the bracket portion 70 to the latch assembly 24.

A release rod 78 for the beforementioned manual actuation is provided by the lift rod assembly 68. The release rod 78 includes a hand hold portion 80 that is attached to one of the legs 74 of the lift rod assembly 68 by a downwardly bent portion 81 of the release rod 78, with the hand hold portion 80 extending outwardly therefrom so that it may be easily grasped to pivotally move the latch assembly 24 clockwise upwardly away from latched position. In order to prevent counterclockwise movement of the upper latch assembly 24 back into latching position upon the release of upward manual pressure on the lift -rod assembly 68, a holding bracket 144 is mounted within the upper housing portion 18 of the outboard power leg 14. This bracket is made of resilient material such as spring steel and bent to form a detent portion 146 that engages and holds the handle portion 80 of the lift rod assembly as the handle portion 80 forces a leading and camming surface 148 of the bracket 144 into compressed position during its upward clockwise movement. The bracket 144 may be released by being manually pressed inwardly counterclockwise away from the upper latch assembly 24 so that the detent portion 146 moves out of locking engagement with the handle portion 80 and the outboard power leg 14 pivots counterclockwise downwardly.

The lower latch assembly 26 provides the latching function for the outboard power leg 14 when the marine drive unit 10 is in reverse and comprises generally a pair of spaced, shaped

levers

82, 82, each with an angled portion 84 and a hook-shaped portion 86. A pair of shouldered

pins

88,88, each extending through a pair of aligned

apertures

90, 90 in the

levers

82, 82 attach them together and space the levers apart so that the latch assembly 26 will fit between the

legs

36, 36 of the latch assembly 24 (FIG. 4). This spacing also permits the

levers

82, 82 to receive the inner kick up lever in an overlapping nesting relationship when the

latch assemblies

24 and 26 are both in latched position (FIG. 1).

Pins

88, 88 are conveniently peened over to hold the

levers

82, 82 in assembled relation. As is shown most clearly in FIG. 3, one of the pins 88 is mounted with the

levers

82, 82 substantially below and thereby removed from the

hook portions

86, 86 of the levers so that this pin connection will not interfere with the operation of the latch assembly 26. The other pin 88, mounted with the

levers

82, 82, is inserted in the

angled portions

84, 84 of the levers to also move it away from the area of actual latch engagement, each of the

angled portions

84, 84 extending at about a 45 angle from the main body of the lever 82 to provide for this mounting.

Also conveniently mounted in the

angled portions

84, 84 is the pivot pin 28, the pin 28 extending through a pair of aligned

apertures

92, 92 provided for this purpose in the angled portions of

levers

82, 82. Thus, the pivot means for the latch assembly 26 is substantially aligned with the

hook portions

86, 86 of the latch assembly but still removed from the main body thereof so that a positive latching engagement is provided by latch assembly 26 when in latching position. It should be apparent from the foregoing description that the latch assembly 26 is pivotally mounted inwardly on pivot pin 28 relative to the latch assembly 24 so that it is received in nesting relationship within the latch assembly 24 adjacent the pivot in 28.

P Latch assemblies

24 and 26 are urged towards each other and into latching position by a resilient means 94 mounted on the pivot pin 28. Resilient means 94 comprises a pair of

coiled springs

96 and 98, with the spring 96 urging the upper latch assembly 24 counterclockwise and the spring 98 urging the lower latch assembly 26 clockwise. Spring 96 is a conventional torsional spring and includes a generally hook-shaped end 100 which is bent to conform to the dimensions of a tang 102 formed integral with and bent inwardly from one of the legs 36 of the U-shaped bracket 34. Engagement of the hook shaped end 100 with the latch assembly 24 is thereby insured so that the U-shaped bracket 34 is constantly urged counterclockwise as aforesaid. The other end of the spring 96 includes a bent end 104 which is displaced from and extends axially relative to the body of spring 100 and abuts against the fixed portion 32 so that this portion serves as a reaction means for the end 104 of the spring 96.

Spring 98 of resilient means 94 is also a conventional torsional spring and is also provided with a pair of bent ends 106 and 108. The first of these ends (end 106) is bent so as to extend generally diametrically to the main body portion of the spring while the second of these ends (end 108) is bent to extend parallel to the axis of the spring 98. End 106, in assembled position, engages the pin 88 extending between the angled portions 84 of the latch assembly 26 to urge the latch assembly 26 in a clockwise direction. End 108 abuts against the depending portion 32 rigid with the upper housing portion 18 so that the depending portion 32 serves as a reaction means for the spring 98. Spring 98 thereby imposes a torsional force on latch assembly 26 biasing it in a clockwise direction.

A latch engaging means 110 is utilized for engagement by the

latch assemblies

24 and 26 to thereby lock the marine drive unit from swing up when the

latches

24 and 26 are in the position of FIGS. 1 and 2. This latch engaging means included a tail member 112 of roughly fan shape having a pair of spaced arms 113, 113 (one shown broken away) rigid with and depending from the fixed housing portion 12 of the marine drive unit 10. The tail member 112 includes a series of pairs of aligned

apertures

114, 114 formed therein in the spaced

arms

113, 113 which are disposed on a radius of pivotal movement of the outboard power leg 14. A pin means 116, serving as the actual latch engaging element, is provided so that it may be conveniently placed in any of the pairs of aligned

apertures

114, 114 with the clearance between the

apertures

114, 114 and the pin means 116 being sufficiently small so that the pin means is frictionally held within the desired apertures in a tight engaging relationship.

The particular position of the pin means 116 establishes the position of the outboard power leg 14 relative to the fixed housing 12 and thereby the trim of the marine drive unit 10 by abutment of the pin means 116 with a detent 117. The detent 117 is formed in a detent portion 119 fixed with the rotatable outboard power leg 14 so that clockwise swinging of the outboard power leg 14 downwardly will be positively arrested by abutment of the detent 117 with the pin means 116. In this abutting position the latching means 22 is located relative to the pin means 116 as shown in either FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 when the boat is at rest in the water.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the lower latch assembly 26, urged by spring 98, will prevent kick up of the marine drive unit 10 by engagement therewith with the pin means 116 upon slight counterclockwise swinging of the outboard power leg 14 caused by movement of the boat in a reverse direction. To overcome the clockwise biasing of spring 98 and move the lower latch assembly 26 to the position of this latch assembly shown in FIG. 2 so that it will not interfere with outboard power leg kick up when the marine drive unit 10 is in neutral or forward drive, an urging means 118 is provided connected to and actuated by a marine drive shift mechanism (only partly shown). The urging means 118 includes a T-bracket 120 having a pair of

ears

122, 122 forming the cross bar of the T, these ears engaging with a pair of upper sides 124, 124 formed on the

levers

82, 82 to urge these levers and thereby the lower latch assembly 26 counterclockwise, the said

ears

122, 122 moving the lower latch assembly 26 counterclockwise only in forward and neutral positions of the marine drive unit 10.

Adjacent the bottom end of the T-bracket 120 it is rigidly connected to a bracket element 126 of right angle shape having a pair of angled legs and 132 by means of a pair of

screws

128, 128 that extend through the T-bracket 120 and the shorter angled leg 130 of the bracket element 126 depending downwardly for this purpose. The longer angled leg 132 of the bracket element 126 extends outwardly away from the boat transom 15 'wthin the upper housing portion 28 for connection to the shift mechanism. Immediately beneath the angled leg 132 and disposed against the shank ends of

screws

128, 128 is a connecting link 134 which serves as a reinforcing means for the longer angled leg 132 and as an attaching means for the marine drive shift mechanism. A shift linkage 136 of the marine drive shift mechanism is attached to the connecting link 134 by being threaded therethrough and is connected to the longer angled leg 132 of the bracket element 126 by extending through an aperture 138 formed in the longer angled leg. A nut 140 threaded on the shift linkage 136 pulls the connecting link 134 and angled leg 132 into tight abutting relationship along their lengths.

An actuating means 141 (hydraulic or pneumatic, for example) is also provided which easily moves the shift linkage 136 to place the marine drive unit 10 into the desired drive control of this means being accomplished by any conventional means disposed within the boat (not shown). The actuating means 141 is attached to the angled leg 132 and connecting link 134 by a pair of

nuts

142, 142 threaded onto the actuating means 141 above and below the angled leg 132 and connecting link 134 so as to tightly hold these two elements together. Thus, movement of the actuating means 141 in a reciprocating manner moves the shift linkage 136 and T-bracket 120 in a similiar reciprocating manner.

The operation of the latching means 22 will now be reviewed. As is clear from FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper latch assembly 24 is in latching position for engagement with the pin means 116 for reverse and neutral drive positions of the marine drive unit -10 while the lower latch assembly 26 is in latching position for engagement with the pin means 116 f0 reverse and in non-latching position for neutral. The upper latch assembly 24 is also in latching position for engagement with the pin means 116 in forward drive and the lower latch assembly 26 in nonlatching position for forward drive.

If the boat is moving forward under generally steady throttle conditions or moving forward under increasing throttle conditions in forward drive the reactance torque from the propeller 21 maintains the detent means 117 in abutment with the pin means 116 with the upper latch assembly 24 and lower latch assembly 26 in the position of FIG. 2. Upon throttling down or shifting the marine drive unit 10 into neutral, there is a tendency for the outboard power leg 14 to rotate upwardly counterclockwise due to its drag in the water. This pivoting tendency is prevented by upper latch assembly 24 engaging pin means 116 after slight counterclockwise swinging of out board power leg 14, the spring loading of inner kick up lever 40 being of sufiicient magnitude to prevent upset of the inner kick up lever and the unlatching of upper latch assembly 24. Thus, under normal operating conditions, in either forward or neutral drive the upper latch assembly 24 positively maintains the outboard power leg 14 in depending driving relation.

If the boat is at a standstill or moving forwardly and the marine drive unit is placed in reverse drive, the reactance force of the propeller 21 is suflicient to cause upset of the inner kick up lever 40 preventing arresting engagement between the pin means 116 and upper latch assembly 24. However, shifting of the marine drive unit 10 into reverse moves the T-bracket 120 upwardly permitting the lower latch assembly 26 to be urged clockwise by the spring 98 so that it latchingly engages the pin means 116 after slight counterclockwise, upward pivoting of the outboard power leg 14.

In the event that the boat is moving forwardly with the marine drive unit 10 in either forward or neutral gear positions and the outboard power leg 14 encounters a water borne obstacle, kick up of the marine drive unit occurs. At this time the lower latch assembly 26 is in non-latching position with the pin means 116 while the upper latch assembly 24 is in latching position. The latch assembly 24 contacts the pin means 116 through inner kick up lever 40 as the outboard power leg 14 swings counterclockwise. Since the inner kick up lever 40 is spring urged counterclockwise into engagement with pin mean 116 the counterclockwise rotation of outboard power leg is first resisted by the inner kick up lever, If the impact force on outboard power leg 14 is of a magnitude of any significance, the force of spring means 54 is overridden and the inner kick up lever 40 rotates clockwise permitting camming of the upper latch assembly 24 upwardly clockwise so that it passes over the pin means 116 a the outboard power leg pivots counterclockwise into kick up position thereby preventing damage to the marine drive unit 10.

In the kick up position with the marine drive unit in neutral or forward gear, whether moved to this position manually or by impact with a water borne object, the upper and

lower latch assemblies

24, 26 are urged by the resilient means 94 towards each other. Thus, these latch assemblies have a tendency to overlap one another to such an extent as to preclude the repositioning of them as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 upon downward, clockwise swinging of the outboard power leg 14 from its kick up position.

To prevent such overlap and to limit the spring biased swing of latch assembly 24, a pin means 150 mounted rigid with the outboard power leg 14 is provided. The pin means 150 is located so that it engages the confronting edges of the upper latch assembly 24 and limits its swing to keep it in a eammable position, the lower latch assembly 26 being kept in a eammable position by the T -bracket 120. Then, as the outboard power leg 14 swings downwardly, the lower latch assembly swing counterclockwise and the upper latch assembly swings clockwise as they contact the pin means 116 which cams them in the directions related so that they may pass over and clear the pin means 116. The pin means 150 thereby insures that the upper latch assembly is free to again assume the position shown in FIG. 2.

It should be noted that the camming action of the lower latch assembly 26 by the pin means 116 does not occur upon downward swinging of the outboard power leg 14 when the marine drive unit 10 is in reverse drive. Since the positioning of the T -bracket 120 when the unit is in reverse drive permits fairly far clockwise swinging of the latch 26 (with the outboard power leg in its kick up position) the latch assembly 26 swings to a position from which it will abut the pin means 116 upon downward swinging of the outboard power leg 14. The outboard power leg 14 is thereby prevented from assuming the position shown in FIG. 1 until the marine drive unit 10 is again shifted into forward or neutral drive.

It should be clear from the foregoing description that the objects of the invention have been fully obtained by the mechanism described and that a marine drive latch means having positive locking characteristics and also positive kick up is provided.

What is claimed is:

1. In a marine drive unit having an outboard power leg, the combination comprising; (a) a pivot means for pivotally mounting said outboard power leg for vertical pivotal movement about a relatively immovable member fixed against pivoting vertically, (b) latch engaging means mounted on one of said outboard power leg and said relatively immovable member, (c) latch means pivotally mounted on the other of said outboard power leg and said relatively immovable member, (d) said latch means includes a first latch assembly for locking engagement with said latch engaging means and a second latch assembly for locking engagement with said latch engaging means, said first and second latch assemblies being both pivotally mounted relative to said other of said outboard power leg and said relatively immovable member disposed in a confronting relationship with each other, (e) resilient mounting means for urging said latch assemblies towards each other and into engagement with said latch engaging means, (f) one of said latch assemblies including a pivoting lever member mounted adjacent said latch engaging means, and (g) resilient means urging said pivoting lever member toward said latch engaging means at least when said one of said latching assemblies is in latching position whereby said one of said latch assemblies moves to unlocked position upon impacting engagement of said outboard power leg with a water-borne obstruction.

2. The combination set out in claim 1 wherein said pivoting lever member includes a latch shaped element for latching engagement with said latch engaging means.

3. The combination set out in claim 1 wherein means in addition to said latch engaging means are provided mounted on one of said outboard power leg and said relatively immovable member for limiting the swing of said latch assemblies towards each other.

4. The combination set out in claim 1 wherein detent means are provided on one of said outboard power leg and said relatively immovable member for swinging abutment with said latch engaging means.

5. The combination set out in claim 1 wherein said resilient mounting means for urging said latch assemblies towards each other includes at least a pair of torsion springs, each of said torsion springs being abuttingly disposed between one of said latch assemblies and one of said outboard power leg and said relatively immovable member.

6. The combination set out in claim 1 wherein a bracket member is provided for lockingly holding one of said latch assemblies in a non-latching position.

7. The combination set out in claim 1 wherein said latch engaging means is adjustably positionable along one of said outboard power leg and said relatively immovable member.

8. In a marine drive unit for a boat, the combination comprising; (a) an outboard power leg, (b) a relatively fixed member mounted with said boat against pivoting vertically, (c) a pivot means for pivotally mounting said outboard power leg to said relatively fixed member for vertical pivoting movement relative thereto, (d) latch engaging means mounted on said relatively fixed member, said latch engaging means comprising a pin member adjustably positionable along said relatively immovable member, (e) latch means pivotally mounted on said outboard power leg, (f) first and second latch assemblies being both pivotally mounted relative to said outboard power leg and disposed in confronting relation with each other included in said latch means, (g) first resilient means urging said first and second latch assemblies towards each other, (h) said first latch assembly being disposed generally above said second latch assembly, (i) a latching lever included in said first latching assembly, said latching lever being pivotally mounted relative to the remainder of said first latching assembly, (j) a second resilient means urging said latching lever towards said latch engaging means when said first latching assembly is in latching position, and (k) an urging means for moving said second latch assembly out of latching position whereby moving impact of said marine drive unit with a water-borne obstruction upsets said latching lever and permits said outboard power leg to kick up.

9. The combination set out in claim 8 wherein said pin member cams said first and second latch assemblies away from each other as said outboard power leg swings downwardly from kick up position.

10. The combination set out in claim 8 wherein said first latch assembly includes a generally U-shaped bracket member having a bight portion and a pair of leg portions, said second resilient member and said latching lever being disposed between said pair of legs of said U-shaped bracket.

11. The combination set out in claim 10 wherein a manual release means is attached to said U-shaped bracket member, said manual release means being engageable by resilient bracket means fixedly mounted relative to said outboard power leg.

12. The combination set out in claim 11 wherein said U-shaped bracket means includes a tang member, said tang member being engaged by at least a portion of said first resilient means.

13. The combination set out in claim 10 wherein said latching lever includes a U-shaped member having a bight portion, said bight portion being disposed in closely 10 spaced relation to said bight portion of said U-sbaped bracket.

14. The combination set out in claim 13 wherein said second resilient means urges said bight portion of said U-shaped member toward said bight portion of said U- shaped bracket.

15-. In a marine drive unit having an outboard power leg member, the combination comprising; (a) a relatively immovable member, (b) a pivot means for pivotally mounting said outboard power leg member for vertical pivotal movement about said relatively immovable member, (c) latch engaging means mounted on one of said members, (d) latch means pivotally mounted on the other of said members, (e) said latch means including at least a pair of oppositely disposed latch assemblies having latch engaging portions, said latch assemblies being both pivotally mounted relative to the other of said members and mounted in confronting relationship with each other and with their respective latch engaging portions opening towards said latch engaging means, and (f) urging means for urging said latch assemblies toward said latch engaging means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,911,938 11/1959 Hulsebus 115-17 2,954,950 10/1960 Hart 248-4 2,996,273 8/1961 Bandli 248-4 3,096,058 7/1963 Torre 248-4 TRYGVE M. BLIX, Primary Examiner 11.5. C1. X.R. 1l5----35