Patent Publication Number: US-2017349255-A1

Title: Outboard motor mount and side-mount accessory adapter

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     A motor mount assembly to mount an outboard motor and a marine accessory such as an emergency boarding ladder, shallow water anchor, transom wedge kit or water skis to the transom of a boat. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     Currently various marine accessories such as emergency boarding ladders, shallow water anchors and transom wedge kits are mounted to the transom of a boat using the same fasteners or bolts that secure the outboard motor to the transom or jack plate. The dual use of the same fasteners securing both an accessory and the outboard motor to the transom of the boat compromises the ability of the fasteners or bolts to maintain sufficient clamp load. 
     The use of a boat with loose engine mounting fasteners creates the possibility of performance, durability and/or safety issues for example, loose engine mounting fasteners can cause the transom bracket to fail resulting in a loss of the driver&#39;s ability to control the boat which may cause serious personal injury or death. Thus the fasteners that secure the outboard motor to the boat should not be used to attach an accessory to the boat. Further wedges or plates should not be installed between the transom clamp brackets and the transom or jack plate. 
     Accordingly there is a need for means to safely mount an accessory to the transom of a boat independently or separately from the outboard motor. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an outboard motor mount and a side-mount accessory adapter to mount an outboard motor and an accessory to the transom of a boat. 
     The outboard motor mount comprises a flat transom mounting plate and a flat adapter mounting plate disposed at substantially right angles relative to each other. 
     A first upper set or pair of countersunk apertures formed in the outer surface of the flat transom mounting plate and a first lower set or pair of countersunk apertures disposed within formed in the outer surface of the flat transom mounting plate are disposed in substantially vertical alignment relative to each other. 
     A second upper set or pair of countersunk apertures formed in the outer surface of the flat transom mounting plate and a second lower set or pair of apertures formed in the outer surface of the flat transom mounting plate are disposed in substantially vertical alignment relative to each other. 
     Each set or pair of countersunk apertures comprises an upper fastener receiving hole and a lower fastener receiving hole to receive a motor bolt or fastener and a transom bolt or fastener respectively therethrough. 
     The flat adapter mounting plate includes an upper set or pair of apertures and a lower set or pair of apertures. 
     The side-mount accessory adapter comprises a flat proximal side-mount adapter mounting plate including an upper slot and a lower slot formed therethrough to receive adapter bolts or fasteners extending through the lower fastener receiving hole of the upper set or pair of apertures and the lower set or pair of apertures formed through the flat adapter mounting plate to secure the side-mount accessory adapter to the flat adapter mounting plate of the outboard motor mount and a flat distal accessory mounting plate including at least one accessory mounting aperture formed therethrough to attach or mount an accessory to the side-mount accessory adapter. 
     Prior to installation, the proper length bolts or fasteners needed to fasten the outboard motor to the transom are placed into outboard motor mount. The outboard motor mount is then affixed to the transom with a separate set of bolts or fasteners. The outboard motor is hung on the exposed bolts and fastened to the transom. The side-mount accessory adapted to secure to the outboard motor mount. 
     A port and starboard outboard motor mount and side-mount accessory adapter may be used. If a single outboard motor mount and side-mount accessory adapter is used, an adapter plate shim may be placed on the opposite side of the outboard motor. 
     The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a fuller understanding of the nature and object of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective exploded view of the outboard motor mount and side-mount accessory adapter of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a top exploded view of the outboard motor mount and side-mount accessory adapter of the present invention with an outboard motor and transom of a boat. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective exploded view of the outboard motor mount and side-mount accessory adapter of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the adapter plate shim of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of the adapter plate shim of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 through 3 , the present invention relates to an outboard motor mount generally indicated as  10  and a side-mount accessory adapter generally indicated as  12  to mount an outboard motor generally indicated as  14  and an accessory such as an emergency boarding ladder, shallow water anchor, transom wedge kit or water skis (not shown) to the transom  16  of a boat (not shown). 
     The outboard motor mount  10  comprises a substantially rectangular flat transom mounting plate  18  and a substantially rectangular adapter mounting plate  20  disposed substantially perpendicular angles relative to each other. 
     The substantially rectangular flat transom mounting plate  18  includes a first and second substantially parallel longitudinally disposed groove indicated as  22  and  24  respectively formed on the inner surface  26  thereof. 
     A first upper set or pair of countersunk apertures generally indicated as  28  disposed within a substantially oval first upper recess  30  formed in the outer surface  32  of the substantially rectangular flat transom mounting plate  18  and a first lower set or pair of countersunk apertures generally indicated as  34  disposed within a substantially oval first lower recess  36  formed in the outer surface  32  of the substantially rectangular flat transom mounting plate  18  are disposed in substantially vertical alignment relative to each other. 
     A second upper set or pair of countersunk apertures generally indicated as  38  disposed within a substantially oval second upper recess  40  formed in the outer surface  32  of the substantially rectangular flat transom mounting plate  18  and a second lower set or pair of countersunk apertures generally indicated as  42  disposed within a substantially oval second lower recess  44  formed in the outer surface  32  of the substantially rectangular flat transom mounting plate  18  are disposed in substantially vertical alignment relative to each other. 
     Each set or pair of countersunk apertures  28 ,  34 ,  38  and  42  comprises an upper fastener receiving hole  46  and a lower fastener receiving hole  48  to receive a motor bolt or fastener  112  and a transom bolt or fastener  114  selectively as described hereinafter. 
     The substantially rectangular flat adapter mounting plate  20  includes an upper set or pair of apertures generally indicated as  54  and a lower set or pair of apertures generally indicated as  56 . The upper set or pair of apertures  54  and the lower set or pair of apertures  56  each comprises an upper fastener receiving hole  58  and a lower fastener receiving hole  60 . 
     The side-mount accessory adapter  12  comprises a substantially rectangular flat proximal side-mount adapter mounting plate  62  including an upper substantially vertical slot  66  formed therethrough to receive an adapter bolt or fastener  68  extending through the lower fastener receiving hole  60  of the upper set or pair of apertures  54  and the lower set or pair of apertures  56  formed through the substantially rectangular flat adapter mounting plate  20  to secure the side-mount accessory adapter  12  to the substantially rectangular flat adapter mounting plate  20  of the outboard motor mount  10  and a substantially rectangular flat distal accessory mounting plate  70  including at least one accessory mounting aperture  72  formed therethrough to attach or mount an accessory (not shown) to the side-mount accessory adapter  12  coupled together by an interconnecting member generally indicated as  74  including a substantially rectangular flat proximal coupling plate  76  and a substantially rectangular flat distal coupling plate  78  inclined relative to each other. The substantially rectangular flat proximal coupling plate  76  is angularly inclined relative to the substantially rectangular flat proximal side-mount adapter mounting plate  62  and the substantially rectangular flat distal coupling plate  78  is angularly inclined relative to the substantially rectangular flat distal side-mount adapter mounting plate  70 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , an adapter plate shim generally indicated as  80  may be used to mount the opposite side of the outboard motor  14  to the transom  16  when only a single outboard motor mount and side-mount accessory adapter  12  are used. The adapter plate shim  80  comprises a substantially rectangular flat transom mounting plate  82  including a first and second substantially parallel longitudinally disposal groove indicated as  84  and  86  respectively formed on the inner surface  88  thereof. 
     A first upper set or pair of countersunk apertures generally indicated as  90  disposed within a substantially oval recess  92  formed in the outer surface  94  of the substantially rectangular flat transom mounting plate  80  and a first lower set or pair of countersunk apertures generally indicated as  96  disposed within a substantially oval first lower recess  98  formed in the outer surface  94  of the substantially rectangular mounting plate  80  are disposed in substantially vertical alignment relative to each other. 
     A second upper set or pair of countersunk apertures generally indicated as  100  disposed within a substantially oval second upper recess  102  formed in the outer surface  94  of the substantially flat rectangular transom mounting plate  80  and a second lower set or pair of apertures generally indicated as  104  disposed within a substantially oval second lower recess  106  formed in the outer surface  94  of the substantially rectangular mounting plate  80  are disposed substantially vertical alignment relative to each other. 
     Each set or pair of countersunk apertures  90 ,  96 ,  100  and  104  comprises an upper fastener receiving hole  108  and a lower fastener receiving hole  110  to receive a outboard motor bolt or fastener  112  and a transom bolt or fastener  114  respectively therethrough. 
     Prior to installation, the proper length bolts or fasteners  112  needed to secure the outboard motor  14  and the side-mount accessory adapter  12  together are placed in the first substantially parallel longitudinally disposed grooves  22  and  24  through the upper fastener receiving holes  46  of the first upper set or pair of countersunk apertures  28  of the substantially oval first upper recess  30  and of the second lower set or pair of countersunk apertures  42  of the substantially oval second lower recess  44 . The side-mount accessory adapter  12  is then affixed to the transom  16  with a separate set of bolts or fasteners  114  placed through the lower fastener receiving holes  48  of the first upper set or pair of countersunk apertures  28  substantially oval first upper recess  30  and of the second lower set or pair of countersunk apertures  42  of the substantially oval second lower recess  44  utilizing the predrilled mounting hole pattern in outboard motor  14 . Finally, the substantially rectangular flat proximal side-mount adapter mounting plate  62  of the side-mount accessory adapter  12  is fastened to the substantially rectangular flat adapter mounting plate  20  of the outboard motor mount  10  by the fasteners  68 . 
     The upper holes are intended for the engine bolts, while the lower bolts are for the transom bolts. Additionally, the side-mount adapter plate should use the lower bolt pattern on the flange in order to avoid interference with the engine bolts. 
     The figures depict a starboard mount. Of course, the outboard motor mount  10  is rotated 180 degrees for a port mount reversing the aperture and hole alignment. 
     It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
     It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween. 
     Now that the invention has been described,