Outboard motor system

Claim 1

An outboard motor assembly comprising a power plant, an outboard propeller assembly including a propeller, a common support mounted to the stern of the vessel, means stationarily mounting the power plant on the common support with its drive shaft athwartship, a pulley fixed to the drive shaft, a first mounting plate fixed to the common support, a second mounting plate fixed to the propeller assembly, said mounting plates having interengaged tongue and groove means by means of which the propeller assembly can be moved vertically relative to the power plant and which enables dismounting the entire outboard propeller assembly from the vessel, a pair of spaced, parallel bearing blocks mounted to the second mounting plate, a pair of bearing members fixed to the outboard assembly rotatably received and retained in said bearing blocks, supporting the outboard assembly for rotation about a horizontal axis parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, at least one of said bearing blocks containing a bearing opening parallel to the axis of the drive shaft, an input shaft journaled in said bearing opening, a puelly fixed to the said input shaft and a belt entrained about said pulleys, said outboard propeller assembly including a first gear housing, a pair of bevel gears mounted in said gear housing, one of which is fixed to said input shaft for turning about a horizontal axis and the other of which is mounted in the gear housing in mesh with the one gear for rotation about a vertical axis, a transmission shaft journaled in the gear housing with its axis at right angles to the input shaft, said transmission shaft extending through said other gear and being keyed thereto, a transmission housing mounted to said first gear housing, a second gear housing attached to the lower end of the transmission housing, a propeller shaft journaled in said second gear housing for rotation about a horizontal axis, a pair of meshing gears in said second gear housing, one of which is fixed to the propeller shaft, said transmission shaft extending downwardly through the transmission housing and being keyed to the other of said meshing gears such that rotation of the transmission shaft is transmitted through said second gear housing to the propeller shaft, said transmission housing being rotatably mounted to the first gear housing to enable turning the propeller about the vertical axis of the transmission shaft, a worm wheel fixed to the transmission housing in concentric relation to the transmission shaft, a worm supported in mesh with the worm wheel, a motor connected to the worm shaft to effect rotation of the transmission housing about the axis of the transmission shaft to enable rotating the propeller for steering and pneumatic cylinders mounted on the common support beneath the bearing blocks operable to raise and lower the outboard assembly relative to the common support, said bearing members supporting the outboard assembly for rotation of the propeller assembly from a position in which the transmission shaft extends downwardly from the common support for normal operation through an angle exceeding 180° to a position extending upwardly from the common support and inboard of the axis of rotation of the input shaft to an at rest stable position.