1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an articulated support for mounting an outboard motor to the transom of a boat, comprising a stationary support section secured to the boat transom, a movable support section to receive the outboard motor, and a plurality of arms for pivotally interconnecting these stationary and movable support sections.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those familiar with boating, shifting of an outboard motor mounted to the transom of a boat from a generally vertical or operating position in which the propeller is immersed in water and a generally horizontal or storage position in which the propeller is out of the water, is often required. Moreover, in some cases, tilting the outboard motor is not sufficient to bring it in a convenient storage position; the motor must also be lifted up by about 300 mm prior to be tilted. This is particularly true in the case of a sailboat as propulsion from the outboard motor is not used when wind is blowing. Most of the outboard motors presently available on the market are provided with a mounting assembly that enables easy shifting of the motor between at least the operating and storage positions. Usually, the mounting assembly is designed to minimize the effort required to shift the motor between the different positions.
Also, many articulated supports for mounting outboard motors to the transom of boats have been proposed in the past. Examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,472 (Metcalf) issued on Apr. 6, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,318 granted to Langley on Apr. 1.sup.st, 1975, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,756 (Shimanckas) dated Sep. 1.sup.st, 1964.
More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,472 discloses a mounting support for small outboard motors formed of four links of different lengths mounted into a pivotal trapezoidal arrangement. The pivotal trapezoidal arrangement will move the outboard motor along a substantially vertical path for several inches during initial upward movement thereof and will then tilt it into a substantially horizontal storage position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,318 discloses a mounting support for a small outboard motor provided with an elongate tubular member. Upper and lower sleeves slide on that tubular member. A pair of short arcuate link units pivotally interconnect the lower sleeve with a mounting bracket secured to the transom of a boat, while a pair of long link units pivotally interconnect the upper sleeve with the mounting bracket. Pivoting of the short and long arms and sliding of the lower and upper sleeves on the tubular member will enable shifting of the outboard motor from a vertical to an horizontal position.
The outboard motor of U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,756 is mounted to the transom of a boat through an horizontal pivot. An arcuate gear segment is also mounted on the outboard motor while a worm gear mechanism, driven by means of a reversible electric motor is mounted to the transom of the boat. The worm gear mechanism engages the arcuate gear segment whereby rotation of the electric motor will shift the position of the outboard motor through rotation thereof about the horizontal pivot.