Did You Know...
...that Thomas Edison's patent application on his phonograph was approved by the Patent Office in just seven weeks? In contrast, it took Gordon Gould, the inventor of the laser, 30 years to obtain his patent -- finally awarded in 1988!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8109800 | Outboard motor A transmission device includes hydraulic type transmission mechanisms arranged to change the speed or the direction of rotation of an engine, and hydraulic pressure control valves arranged to control hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic type transmission mec... | 02/07/2012 |
| 8105122 | Propulsion device for a marine motor In a propulsion device for a marine motor, a shift rod (19) extends vertically in a gear case (1a) provided in a lower part of the marine motor, and is provided with a lower end (19a) cooperating with a mechanism for mechanically a... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8100732 | Boat propulsion unit A boat propulsion unit minimizes a shock upon switching of an engagement state of a clutch mechanism. The boat propulsion unit includes an upper clutch mechanism that is arranged on an axis of a lower drive shaft and that can be switched between an engagement state ... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8087958 | Boat propulsion system A boat propulsion system includes a drive bevel gear fixed on a lower end of a drive shaft, a forwarding bevel gear and a reversing bevel gear rotatably fitted on a propeller shaft and meshing together with the drive bevel gear, and a dog clutch mounted on the prope... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8047885 | Boat propulsion unit A boat propulsion unit has a construction that prevents a structure near a drive shaft from becoming complicated and increased in size. The boat propulsion unit preferably in the form of an outboard motor includes a front propeller that is rotated together with a fr... | 11/01/2011 |
| 8016626 | Marine propulsion system A marine propulsion system that achieves both an acceleration performance and top speed closer to the performance desired by a boat driver includes an engine, propellers rotated by the driving force of the engine, a transmission mechanism arranged to convey the driv... | 09/13/2011 |
| 7993174 | Torque transmission device for a ship A torque transmission device for a ship for optionally transmitting a drive torque from a main drive or from an auxiliary drive to a propeller shaft of the ship, with a gear unit which can be driven by the main drive and which can be connected to the propeller shaft... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7985109 | Marine transmission transom extension enclosure system A marine stern drive and multi-speed transmission propulsion system in which a transmission, either manual or automatic, is interposed between the engine and stern drive extending at least partially outboard of the transom. A stern drive extension housing enclose th... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7942712 | Boat propulsion system, and control device and control method therefor An outboard motor includes a power source, a boat propulsion section, a shift position switching mechanism, a clutch actuator, and a control device. The shift position switching mechanism switches among a first shift position in which a first clutch is engaged and a... | 05/17/2011 |
| 7878874 | Marine vessel propulsion drive module A drop-in-module consisting of a mass produced engine coupled to a drive system by use of a common mid-section mounting platform. The module provides a single assembly that can be easily installed and removed from a vessel. The drive system is based on motors using ... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7811141 | Boat propulsion unit An outboard motor includes a variable speed mechanism portion arranged to transmit a driving force to propellers such that the driving force is changed in its speed by a low reduction ratio and a high reduction ratio, an upper housing that houses the variable speed ... | 10/12/2010 |
| 7798874 | Outboard motor An outboard motor includes a lower casing provided below an upper casing, amounting plate provided above the upper casing, and an engine with a vertically-arranged crankshaft mounted on the mounting plate. The rotation of the crankshaft is transmitted to a drive sha... | 09/21/2010 |
| 7794296 | Method to assemble marine drive system, and marine propulsion apparatus A method to assemble a marine drive system wherein an acceptable-unacceptable criterion on the torsional vibration of a shaft of the marine drive system is established based on the correlation between the torsional stiffness of a propeller shaft and the moment of in... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7744435 | Outboard engine system An outboard engine system includes: a casing coupled to a swivel case via a swivel shaft; an engine mounted in an upper part of the casing such that a crankshaft of the engine is vertically arranged and a cylinder block of the engine faces in a direction opposite to... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7704108 | Outboard motor including shift shaft rotating mechanism An outboard motor is provided that can include an exhaust guide, a shift shaft, a shift shaft rotating mechanism, and a shifting mechanism. The exhaust guide, on which an engine can be mounted, can be utilized to fix the relative positions of an axis of the shift sh... | 04/27/2010 |
| 7637792 | Propeller torque transmitting device A shock absorber for a marine propulsion device is configured to provide an adapter, coupler and resilient device which can be assembled into a unit, or module, that can be inserted into a propeller. The resilient device includes two helical springs that urge the co... | 12/29/2009 |
| 7632161 | Marine transmission actuator A hydraulic valve, such as a rotary valve, is connected in fluid communication with a hydraulic actuator that, in turn, causes a clutch to move between forward, neutral, and reverse gear positions. A marine transmission is caused to shift between these gear position... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7607958 | Marine engine A boat has a hull, a deck having a deck floor, and an engine disposed in the hull. A top of the engine is disposed vertically below the deck floor. The engine includes a crankcase, a crankshaft, a pair of cylinder banks connected to the crankcase at an angle relativ... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7578713 | Outboard engine system An outboard engine system includes a casing and an engine mounted in an upper part of the casing. The casing also contains a torque converter, and a vertically arranged output shaft connected to a crankshaft through the torque converter. In the torque converter, a t... | 08/25/2009 |
| 7544110 | Marine transmission actuation system An actuator for a marine transmission uses four cavities of preselected size in order to provide four potential forces resulting from pressurized hydraulic fluid within those cavities. The effective areas of surfaces acted upon by the hydraulic pressure are selected... | 06/09/2009 |
| 7530868 | Vertical power unit and outboard engine system A vertical power unit includes an input shaft and an output shaft which have axes in the vertical direction and are vertically arranged to each other; and a torque converter between the input shaft and the output shaft. The output shaft includes an upper output shaf... | 05/12/2009 |
| 7530869 | Marine propulsion machine having drive shaft In an outboard motor S, a first drive shaft 31 and a second drive shaft 32 are interlocked by an intermediate gear mechanism 33 including a drive gear 34 mounted on the first drive shaft 31 and a driven gear 35 mounted on th... | 05/12/2009 |
| 7524221 | Shift mechanism of outboard motor An outboard motor includes an engine vertically supporting a crankshaft above an engine holder and a shift mechanism switching a rotational direction of a propeller shaft by actuating a shift apparatus through a remote control from a shift lever. The shift mechanism... | 04/28/2009 |
| 7517264 | Power boat drive system with multiple gearboxes A boat drive system is provided for a power boat which includes an engine having a drive shaft, connected to a pair of propeller shafts. The drive system includes a primary gearbox and opposed outboard gearboxes. The primary gearbox includes a housing and a gear arr... | 04/14/2009 |
| 7458867 | Vertical fluid power transmission and outboard engine system A vertical fluid power transmission includes: a vertical crankshaft of an engine; a vertical output shaft; and a vertical torque converter disposed between the crankshaft and the output shaft. An oil supply passage is connected to one end of the circulation circuit ... | 12/02/2008 |
| 7458866 | Outboard drive with speed change mechanism An outboard drive includes a prime mover having an output shaft. A driveshaft is coupled with the output shaft. Both shafts having axes that extend at least generally parallel to each other. A propulsion device is coupled with the driveshaft. The prime mover rotates... | 12/02/2008 |
| 7455559 | Shift cutout control system for a watercraft propulsion unit and a watercraft A shift cutout control system is provided that can comprise a shift mechanism, an engine electronic control unit, a remote controller, and an ignition control means. The shift mechanism can switch a rotation of a propeller shaft into one of a neutral, forward, and r... | 11/25/2008 |
| 7442103 | Power boat drive with single engine and twin stern drives This boat drive system includes a primary and first and second outboard gearboxes. A drive shaft is connected between the engine and the primary gearbox and parallel shafts are connected between each outboard gearbox and a pair of first and second stern drive units ... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7435146 | Forward and reverse drive switching device for outboard motor A forward and reverse drive switching device for an outboard motor can include a switching mechanism that is actuated so as to set a propeller to a forward drive mode or a reverse drive mode. An actuator can have an electric motor and can serve as a drive source for... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7413491 | Marine vessel propulsion structure and marine vessel driving apparatus In an outboard drive or an inboard-outboard drive, power generated by a single engine is transmitted in left and right directions from a main drive shaft, thereby finally causing left and right propellers to be rotated, the left and right propellers being arranged a... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7384320 | Power train of a marine transport vessel Propellers of a marine transport vessel may be independently controlled at their optimal speed when at least one transmission having a plurality of output shafts capable of independent-speed ratios is connected to an engine and the propellers are respectively mounte... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7364483 | Marine reversing gear assembly The present invention provides a marine reversing gear assembly, wherein a manual directional control valve 7a and an electromagnetic directional control valve 7b for a forward/reverse directional control valve 7 for hydraulic oil ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7361069 | Multiple speed marine propulsion system A marine stern drive and multi-speed transmission propulsion system in which a transmission, either manual or automatic, is interposed between the engine and stern drive extending at least partially outboard of the transom. A stern drive extension housing enclose th... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7357687 | Marine propulsion steering system A marine propulsion steering apparatus includes a steering nozzle having a central opening therethrough which surrounds a marine propulsion drive shaft and propeller extending from a hull or propulsion module. The nozzle is pivotally mounted for angular movement in ... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7357120 | Marine vessel running controlling apparatus, and marine vessel including the same A marine vessel running controlling apparatus is applicable to a marine vessel which includes a propulsive force generating unit having an engine with an electric throttle. The apparatus includes a target characteristic storage unit which stores a target characteris... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7354325 | Outboard motor control system In an outboard motor control system, a position of a clutch (moved by an actuator) is memorized as a neutral position when a neutral switch produces an ON signal and the clutch position corresponding to a forward position where the clutch engages with a forward gear... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7334501 | Gear case assembly with pressure-compensating function for marine propulsion machine A gear case forming a lower part of a marine propulsion machine is provided with a gear chamber for housing a bevel gear mechanism, used for transmitting power from a drive shaft to a propeller shaft. The gear chamber is connected to the bottom of a vertical drive s... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7318761 | Marine stern drive and multi-speed transmission propulsion system A marine stern drive and multi-speed transmission propulsion system in which a transmission, either manual or automatic, is interposed between the engine and stern drive extending at least partially outboard of the transom. A stern drive extension housing enclose th... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7314396 | Outboard motor In an outboard motor mounted on a stern of a boat, comprising a power source and a driven unit including a drive shaft connected to the power source and a propeller connected to the drive shaft through a gear mechanism, wherein the power source is detachably connect... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7311574 | Integrated marine motor support and transmission apparatus An integrated motor support and transmission apparatus for a marine propulsion system having a motor and marine drive with a drive shaft, comprising: an output shaft; a support housing attached to a marine vessel and having an upper end and a lower end, the upper en... | 12/25/2007 |
