Patent ID: 9708048
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: B63H

Claim:
1. An outboard motor comprising: an upper unit where an engine is housed; a lower unit that rotatably supports a propeller shaft where a propeller is installed; a middle unit provided between the upper and lower units to house a part of a drive shaft that transmits rotational power from the engine to the propeller shaft; a shift unit that switches a shift position, wherein the drive shaft has first and second drive shafts coaxially provided in series end-to-end, a locking portion locking an end surface of the pair of bearings is formed in the bearing housing, wherein one of the pair of bearings is fitted from a front side to the bearing housing and the other bearing is fitted from a rear side to the bearing housing and the pair of bearings are arranged so as to sandwich the locking portion in an axial direction, wherein a first preload member fastened to both ends of the middle shaft in an axial direction applies a preload to the intermediate gear and the pair of the bearings in the axial direction of the middle shaft, and wherein the intermediate gear, the pair of bearings and the bearing housing are configured as an intermediate gear module and are detachably installed in the shift unit chamber.