Cowl mounting system for outboard marine drive

摘要

A cowl mounting system includes one or more stabilizer fulcrums spaced between front and rear cowl mounts and preloading the cowl to provide cowl stability in the mounted condition. The stabilizer fulcrums also provide port and starboard alignment guides during assembly.

主权项

1. A cowl mounting arrangement for an outboard marine drive for propelling a marine vessel, including in a forward direction, said outboard marine drive having an upper powerhead covered by a cowl, said cowl mounting arrangement comprising front and rear mounts coupling said cowl to said outboard marine drive in covering relation to said upper powerhead, said cowl having a mounted condition coupled to said front and rear mounts, a stabilizer fulcrum comprising a vertically extending mounting surface spaced between said front and rear mounts and preloading said cowl to provide cowl stability in said mounted condition;
wherein said cowl has a partially mounted condition in which said cowl is coupled to one of said front and rear mounts prior to being coupled to the other of said front and rear mounts, said cowl being coupled to both of said front and rear mounts in said mounted condition, and said stabilizer fulcrum preloads said cowl as said cowl is moved from said partially mounted condition to said mounted condition, and maintains a torque load across said stabilizer fulcrum on said cowl between said front and rear mounts in said mounted condition; wherein said outboard marine drive is subject to impact-strike against a submerged object during said propelling of said marine vessel, wherein said impact-strike would cause at least one dislodgement force vector tending to dislodge said cowl from said one mount, wherein said torque load on said cowl provided by said stabilizer fulcrum maintains said cowl in said mounted condition including in engagement with said one mount against said dislodgement force vector.