Outboard Motor Rigging System Transom Connection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current outboard motor rigging systems face challenges with difficult hand access through small openings for connecting vessel-sourced lines to engine-sourced lines, leading to time-consuming installations and noise issues due to loose adapters, which compromise water-tight and sound-damping seals.
Innovation Solution
A rigging system with a protective tube and semi-permanent ingress adapter that covers the opening between the outboard motor and the marine vessel, allowing connections to be made aboard the vessel, reducing noise and improving sealing, and featuring a rigging center for easy access and connection of engine-sourced lines to vessel-sourced lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If connections are made through small openings in the cowl, then the outboard motor can be installed, but hand access is difficult and installation becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the connection point from the constrained one-dimensional space of small cowl openings to the open three-dimensional space of the transom area, allowing hands and tools to access connection points freely without reaching through tight spaces
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a transom-mounted adapter or bracket as an intermediary structure that receives engine-sourced lines outside the cowl and provides connection points accessible from the transom area, eliminating the need to reach through the cowl opening for connections
2Ease of operation
If adapters are used to connect lines through openings, then connections can be made, but loose adapters compromise water-tight and sound-damping seals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the connection function from the cowl opening area and relocates it to the transom area, eliminating the need for adapters that pass through the cowl and potentially compromise its seal integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent separates the connection function from the cowl structure by using a distinct transom-mounted adapter, allowing the cowl to maintain its sealed integrity while the adapter provides connection capabilities in the transom area
3Ease of manufacture
If connections are made under the cowl, then the system can be assembled, but access is difficult and the environment is bulky and messy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent relocates connection points from the confined space under the cowl to the open transom area, transforming the workspace from a tight, hard-to-reach environment to an accessible area with ample room for hands and tools
Solution Approach 2:
The patent allows engine-sourced lines to extend continuously from the engine through the cowl to the transom area before connections are made, so that connection points are pre-positioned in an accessible location rather than requiring assembly in a confined space
Data Source
AI summary
An outboard motor can be coupled to a transom of a marine vessel via the described rigging system. The rigging system includes a plurality of engine-sourced lines extending from an engine of the outboard motor, through an aperture in the motor housing, and to the marine vessel. A protective tube surrounds the plurality of engine-sourced lines and has a first end coupled to the motor housing and a second end coupled to the marine vessel. A rigging center is located aboard the marine vessel and holds distal ends of each of the engine-sourced lines. A plurality of connectors is provided on the distal ends of the engine-sourced lines. At the rigging center, each engine-sourced line is configured to be coupled, via a respective connector, to a corresponding vessel-sourced line. The vessel-sourced lines are in turn connected to respective engine-related devices aboard the marine vessel.