Patent ID: 6273770
Filing Date: 2001-08-14
Classification: B63H,F15B

Abstract:
A hydraulic system for operating between a watercraft and an outboard drive comprising a cylinder housing adapted to be affixed to one of the watercraft and the outboard drive, a piston slidably supported within the cylinder housing so as to define a first variable-volume chamber and a second variable-volume chamber in the cylinder housing on opposite sides of the piston, a piston rod extending from the piston through one of the first and second chambers for attachment to the other one of the outboard drive and the watercraft, a pressurizing mechanism arranged to selectively pressurize fluid within one of the first and second chambers for causing reciprocal movement of the piston within the cylinder housing, the pressurizing mechanism having a pair of ports through which fluid is pushed out and received, at least two of shuttle bores one of the shuttle bores being positioned between the first chamber and one of the ports and the other one of the shuttle bores being positioned between the second chamber and the other one of the ports, shuttle pistons each one being slidably supported within one of the shuttle bores so as to define a third variable-volume chamber and a fourth variable-volume chamber in the respective shuttle bore on opposite sides of the shuttle piston, the fourth chambers being connected to each other, each one of the shuttle pistons having a check valve arranged to permit fluid in the third chamber to flow to the fourth chamber and to generally preclude a reverse flow of the fluid, the first chamber and the second chamber each being connected with a respective one of the ports through a respective one of the third chambers, a pair of shutting mechanisms one shutting mechanism being arranged to shut off communication between the first chamber and the respective third chamber and the other shutting mechanism being arranged to shut off communication between the second chamber and the respective third chamber, each one of the shutting mechanisms being rendered ineffective by pressurized fluid in the respective third chamber and by the shuttle piston which is moved toward the shutting mechanism by the pressurized fluid in the respective fourth chamber, one of the shuttle pistons having a seal arranged to separate the respective third chamber from the fourth chamber, and the other shuttle piston permitting slow leakage of fluid between the respective third chamber and fourth chamber.