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EP-4242097-B1 - OUTBOARD MOTOR CAPABLE OF BEING TILTED UP AND TRIMMED IN, AND MARINE VESSEL THEREWITH

EP4242097B1EP 4242097 B1EP4242097 B1EP 4242097B1EP-4242097-B1

Inventors

  • KOGA, HIROKI

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230213

Claims (9)

  1. An outboard motor (13) configured to be attached to a marine vessel (10, 60) having a hull (11, 61) with a stem (12, 62), comprising: a main body (16) that incorporates a power source (15) therein; and a bracket (18) that includes a rotating shaft (17), wherein the bracket (18) is configured to be attached to the stern (12, 62), wherein the main body (16) is attached to the bracket (18) so as to be able to rotate a first rotation and a second rotation about the rotation shaft (17), a propeller shaft (21) for rotating a propeller (20) is provided at a lower portion (16b) of the main body (16), in the first rotation, the main body (16) rotates about the rotating shaft (17) such that an upper portion (16a) of the main body (16) with regard to a vertical direction of the marine vessel (10, 60) moves toward the stern (12, 62) of the marine vessel (10, 60) and a lower portion (16b) of the main body (16) with regard to a vertical direction of the marine vessel (10, 60) moves away from the stem (12, 62) of the marine vessel (10, 60), in the second rotation, the main body (16) rotates about the rotating shaft (17) such that the upper portion (16a) of the main body (16) moves away from the stern (12, 62) of the marine vessel (10, 60) and the lower portion (16b) of the main body (16) moves toward the stern (12, 62) of the marine vessel (10, 60), and while the marine vessel (10, 60) is sailing, a first distance (L1) from the rotating shaft (17) to an upper end of the stern (12, 62) with respect to a vertical direction of the marine vessel (10, 60) is equal to or longer than a second distance (L2) from the rotating shaft (17) to the propeller shaft (21) with respect to the vertical direction of the marine vessel (10, 60), characterized in that the power source is an electric motor (15), and in the second rotation, the main body (16) rotates about the rotating shaft (17) by a rotation angle of 30° or more.
  2. The outboard motor (13) according to claim 1, characterized in that while the marine vessel (10, 60) is sailing, the first distance (L1) is twice or more as long as the second distance (L2).
  3. The outboard motor (13) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that with respect to a fore-and-aft direction of the hull (11, 61), the rotating shaft (17) is disposed at more rear than a rear end of the stern (12, 62).
  4. The outboard motor (13) according to at least one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a posture control plate that rotates with respect the vertical direction of the marine vessel (10, 60) is not disposed at the stern (12, 62) of the hull (11, 61).
  5. The outboard motor (13) according to at least one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized by a lift mechanism (19) that is configured to move the main body (16) with respect to the vertical direction of the marine vessel (10, 60).
  6. The outboard motor (13) according to claim 5, characterized in that the lift mechanism (19) is configured for changing a position of the main body (16) with respect to the vertical direction of the marine vessel (60) while the marine vessel (60) is sailing.
  7. The outboard motor (13) according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the marine vessel (60) comprises hydrovanes (64), and the lift mechanism (19) is configured to move the main body (16) downward to a lower side of the hull (11, 61) while the marine vessel (60) is foilborne-sailing.
  8. The outboard motor (13) according to at least one of the claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the lift mechanism (19) is configured to raise the main body (16), and the main body (16) rotates the first rotation.
  9. A marine vessel (10, 60) equipped with an outboard motor (13) according to at least one of the claims 1 to 8.

Description

The present invention relates to an outboard motor according to the preamble of independent claim 1, and a marine vessel therewith. Such an outboard motor can be taken from the prior art document US 2016/368579 A1. A relatively small marine vessel such as a planing boat has an outboard motor as a propulsion device. As shown in FIG. 9A, an outboard motor 90 includes an outboard motor main body 91 incorporating a power source therein, and a bracket 93 provided with a tilt shaft 92. The bracket 93 is attached to a stern 98 of a hull 94 of a marine vessel, and the outboard motor main body 91 is attached to the bracket 93 so as to rotate about the tilt shaft 92. Note that in FIG. 9A to FIG. 9C, the left side in the figures corresponds to a forward direction of the marine vessel, the right side in the figures corresponds to a rearward direction of the marine vessel, the upper side in the figures corresponds to an upper direction of the marine vessel, and the lower side in the figures corresponds to a lower direction of the marine vessel. The tilt shaft 92 extends in the crosswise direction of the marine vessel, and hence the outboard motor main body 91 rotates about the tilt shaft 92 counterclockwise as viewed in the drawing (tilt-up) such that an upper portion 91a moves forward and downward and a lower portion 91b moves rearward and upward (FIG. 9A), or rotates about the tilt shaft 92 clockwise as viewed in the drawing (trim-in) such that the upper portion 91a moves rearward and downward and the lower portion 91b moves forward and upward (FIG. 9B) (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H01-317893). Conventionally, a reciprocating engine 95, which is an internal combustion engine, has been used as a power source for the outboard motor 90. In an upper portion 91a of the outboard motor main body 91, the reciprocating engine 95 is disposed such that a crankshaft lies along the vertical direction and a cylinder head 96 lies behind a cylinder block 97 (FIG. 9A). Thus, when the outboard motor main body 91 is trimmed in to a great extent, at least a part of the cylinder head 96 becomes positioned at a lower position than the cylinder block 97. Therefore, lubricating oil for a cylinder in the cylinder block 97 may be burned in a fuel chamber without going back to a crankcase, and as a result, the reciprocating engine 95 may blow white smoke. For this reason, in the outboard motor 90 using the reciprocating engine 95, it is difficult for the outboard motor main body 91 to trim in to a great extent. Implementation of carbon-free mobile bodies as one of means for achieving recently-advocated SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) has been pursued, and as a power source for an automobile which is as an example of mobile bodies, an internal combustion engine is being increasingly replaced with an electric motor. As the power source of the outboard motor 90, it has also been studied to replace an internal combustion engine with an electric motor as with the automobile. If the power source of the outboard motor 90 is replaced with an electric motor, the combustion of the lubricating oil described above will never happen, which will make it unnecessary to limit the amount of trim-in so as to prevent the white smoke. Trim-in has a significant effect on posture control in the pitch direction while the marine vessel is sailing, and hence in the outboard motor 90 using an electric motor as the power source, the outboard motor main body 91 is required to be trimmed in to a great extent from the standpoint of increasing the degree of freedom in posture control. On the other hand, for the conventional outboard motor 90, the outboard motor main body 91 is required to be tilted up to a great extent since priority is given to lifting the outboard motor main body 91 out of water when the marine vessel is anchored at a pier or the like for a long period of time. Accordingly, in a conventional technique, by placing the tilt shaft 92 in the vicinity of the upper portion 91a of the outboard motor main body 91, even if the outboard motor main body 91 is tilted up to a great extent, the amount of movement to forward of the upper portion 91a of the outboard motor main body 91 is kept small so that the upper portion 91a of the outboard motor main body 91 is prevented from interfering with the hull 94 (FIG. 9B). However, if the tilt shaft 92 is placed in the vicinity of the upper portion 91a of the outboard motor main body 91, the lower portion 91b of the outboard motor main body 91 moves forward by a large amount when the outboard motor main body 91 is trimmed in, and therefore, even when the amount of trim-in is increased only a little, the lower portion 91b of the outboard motor main body 91 may interfere with the hull 94 (FIG. 9C). Thus, in the conventional outboard motor 90, it is difficult to increase the amount (angle) of the trim-in of the outboard motor main body 91, and the outboard motor main body 91 is allowe