Patent Abstract:
A hinge assembly for mounting to a jet propelled personal watercraft including a hinge and a wire bundle assembly. The hinge can include a hinge top portion for mounting to the personal watercraft hood pivotally coupled to a hinge bottom portion for mounting to the top deck. The hinge bottom portion can have a wireway aperture therethrough. The wire bundle assembly can include several wires disposed within a tube, in turn disposed within a seal formed about the tube. The tube seal can be at least partially received within the hinge bottom portion aperture. The tube seal is preferably forced downward by the hinge bottom portion against the top deck. The wire bundle assembly can be formed as an assembly at a site distinct from the site of final watercraft manufacture. The wire bundle assembly can be inserted through the top deck, and secured in place by the hinge being secured to the top deck, over the inserted wire bundle assembly. The hinge assembly provides an easy to assemble and very watertight seal about the wire bundle extending from beneath the top deck to any electrical instruments located on the personal watercraft hood.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is related generally to personal watercraft. More specifically, the present invention is related to watertight, sealed wireways passing through personal watercraft ducts. The present invention includes a combination wireway seal and hood hinge plate for personal watercraft. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Personal watercraft (PWC) have become increasingly popular in recent years. A personal watercraft, also known as a “jet ski” typically has a bottom hull, handle bars for steering, a tunnel within the bottom hull, a jet pump located within the bottom tunnel, and an engine within the hull under the top deck for driving the jet pump. The jet pump typically pulls in water from the front of the tunnel under the boat, and discharges the water at high velocity through a steerable nozzle at the rear of the boat. The handlebars are typically coupled to the nozzle, which is the steering mechanism for the personal watercraft. The watercraft commonly has a straddle-type seat and foot wells disposed on either side of the seat. 
   Personal watercraft typically have a top deck affixed to a bottom hull. The PWC has a shroud mounted in front of the driver on top of the top deck to house the steering column and some instruments. A front portion of the top deck includes a hinged cover or “hood.” The underside of the hood can include a gasket or a grommet that attempts to provide a watertight seal between the hood and the top deck. The hood typically covers either a storage bin or an engine access port. 
   In previous PWCs, instruments such as speedometers have been mounted in or on the shroud part of the deck, often behind a small windshield that is in front of the driver. The wires for such instruments typically originate from components located within and under the top deck. The wires then extend through the deck to instrument readout devices such as speedometers located on the opposite, top side of the top deck. 
   Previously, wires that run through the deck have been run through a rubber liner or tube surrounded by an annular grommet. The wires run through the grommet surfaced upwardly within an instrument gauge compartment, which was itself, often watertight. In some PWCs, the instrument was formed integrally with a part of the top deck. In these PWCs, the point of wire passage through the top deck was not a likely source of water entry because the passageway through the deck was not exposed to water. 
   PWC manufacturers have recently tried to expand the storage bin size under the hood. Hood sizes have therefore increased. This, in turn, has shrunk the shroud area, reducing the space available for instrument placement. For this reason, instrument readout devices are currently being placed on top of the hood, instead of on the shroud. 
   The hood is hingedly mounted to the personal watercraft top deck at the front, rather than at the rear, as in an automobile. The instrument readout device may be mounted beneath a small windshield on the rear-most portion of the hood, in front of the driver, and well behind the point of hinged mounting. The wires must thus originate from within the top deck and terminate on the outside of the top deck near the rear portion of the upwardly swingable hood at the instrument readout location. 
   Watercraft manufacturers have passed the wires for the instrument panel and other wires through the top deck, and have made some attempts to provide a watertight passage through the point of wire entry through the top deck. One, typical approach includes the use of a corrugated, rubber or plastic tube. The wires often have hard plastic, rigid plugs or connectors at both ends for connecting to other electrical connectors beneath the top deck and in the instrument panel. These electrical connectors may, for example, have four or more discrete contacts within the rigid electrical plug. During manufacture, a top deck is provided, having a hole for passing the wireway through the top deck. A corrugated, rubber or plastic tube can also be provided, having a slit along its length. The wire bundle can be forced transversely from the outside of the tube, through the slit, sideways into the tube center. This can avoid the problem of trying to drag the large electrical plugs through the narrower tube. A rubber boot or grommet can then be stretched to fit over the electrical plug at one end, and slid over the corrugated tube to form a wire bundle assembly. 
   This assembly can then be inserted through the hole in the top deck, with the boot or grommet resiliently deformed to sit astride the top deck layer, typically having a flange on both the top side of the top deck and the underside of the top deck. The wires or multiwire bundles typically have a round shape, there being multiple round shapes extending through a larger, nominally round, slit, corrugated tube. This geometry lends itself toward water leakage as two, or three round shapes disposed within a larger round shape leave a void area. To address this leakage problem, zip ties are often put around the outer corrugated tube above and below the rubber grommet and tightened, in an attempt to make the wire passage through the grommet watertight. 
   This approach has proved less than satisfactory. The lengthwise slit through the tube provides a point of entry for water into the top portion of the tube, above the zip tie. The zip tie itself often does not provide a watertight seal between the outer corrugated tube and the inner wire or wire bundles. There is often some space between the outer rubber grommet and the corrugated rubber tube. The end of the corrugated rubber tube is typically open. As this provides another point of entry for water, some manufacturers have attempted to plug the upper end of the corrugated tube with a specially designed plug in an attempt to plug the corrugated tube while providing specially shaped apertures for passing the wires or wire bundles through the plug. This plug can become dislodged, or not replaced after being taken out, and in any case, does not prevent water entry along the length of the slit. 
   The position of the wireway passage through the top deck also presents a problem. The opening and closing of the hood, with the wires typically being run, at some point, under the hood, requires that there be a sufficient amount of slack in the wires to allow for opening the hood. The added length of wire or wire tubing can be undressed wire, which can present a length of wire or tubing that can become snagged, cracked, and otherwise fatigued. 
   What would be desirable is a system for providing a watertight seal for running wires through the top deck of a personal watercraft. What would be advantageous is an easier to manufacture wireway for extending through the top deck of a personal watercraft. A wireway seal that was actually watertight and that did not require the current length of slack in order to allow for hood opening would be most advantageous. Easier to manufacture systems for installing wireways through personal watercraft top decks would also be advantageous. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a jet propelled personal watercraft including a hull, the hull having a bottom hull and a top deck secured over the bottom hull, the hull defining an engine compartment sized to contain an internal combustion engine for powering a jet propulsion unit. The personal watercraft also includes a jet propulsion unit including a steerable water discharge nozzle. The top deck can have a raised, longitudinally extending seat adapted to accommodate an operator in straddle fashion. The personal watercraft further includes a hood having at least one electrical instrument disposed on a rear portion of the hood in front of the driver. The personal watercraft also includes a hinge assembly comprising a hinge having a hinge top portion for mounting to the hood and a hinge bottom portion for mounting to the top deck. The hinge bottom portion can be pivotally coupled to the hinge top portion about a hinge pivot, with the hinge bottom portion also having a wireway aperture therethrough. The hinge assembly can further include a wire bundle assembly including a plurality of wires disposed within a tube disposed within a seal formed about the tube. The tube seal can be at least partially received within the hinge bottom portion aperture. At least some of the wires are preferably coupled to the electrical instrument. 
   In one embodiment, the tube seal is forced downward by the hinge bottom portion against the top deck. The seal about the tube preferably has a top portion having a top maximum dimension and a bottom portion having a bottom maximum dimension, wherein the seal top maximum dimension is less than the seal bottom maximum dimension. Correspondingly, the hinge bottom portion aperture preferably has a top opening smaller than the aperture bottom opening, such that at least part of the hinge bottom portion near the aperture forces downwardly against at least part of the seal. In some embodiments, the seal has a stepped transition between the seal top and the seal bottom. The seal can be formed of a polymeric material about the wire tube, preferably a rubber material. The seal can be integrally formed about the wire tube. The hinge aperture is preferably located within about one foot of the hinge pivot. The tube is preferably substantially contiguous about its circumference, preferably having no longitudinal slit along a majority of its length. 
   A preferred hinge wireway includes a radially constricted portion of the tube in the vicinity of the wireway aperture. In this embodiment, the tube portion located within the seal is radially constricted about the wires within the tube in the vicinity of the seal, to form a water resistant passage within the tube in the vicinity of the seal. The wire bundle assembly can further include at least one electrical connector coupled to at least one of the wires within the bundle. The electrical connector can have a maximum dimension greater than the tube maximum outer dimension. 
   The present invention also provides a hinge assembly for mounting to a jet propelled personal watercraft. The hinge assembly can include a hinge having a hinge top portion for mounting to the hood and a hinge bottom portion for mounting to the top deck, pivotally coupled to the hinge top portion about a hinge pivot. The hinge bottom portion preferably has a wireway aperture therethrough. The hinge assembly can also include a wire bundle assembly several wires disposed within a tube. The tube can be disposed within a seal formed about the tube, with the tube seal at least partially received within the hinge bottom portion aperture. In a preferred hinge assembly, the tube seal is forced downward by the hinge bottom portion against the top deck when the hinge assembly is put in place. The hinge assembly wireway aperture also preferably has a top opening sized smaller than the bottom opening, corresponding to a seal having a top portion smaller than the seal bottom portion. When the hinge bottom portion is forced against the seal, at least a part of the hinge bottom portion forces downwardly against at least part of the seal. Some hinge assemblies have a stepped transition from top to bottom, corresponding to a stepped transition between the seal top and bottom. The hinge assembly also preferably includes a tube portion located within the seal that is radially constricted about the wires within the tube in the vicinity of the seal, to form a water resistant passage within the wire tube in the vicinity of the seal. 
   The present invention provides a wire bundle assembly that can be manufactured efficiently, at a site distinct from the site of final watercraft assembly. The wire bundle assembly can be manufactured to have a watertight, rubber tube formed about several electrical wires, not requiring a longitudinal slit along the tube length in order to insert the wires. Electrical connectors can be coupled to each end of the wires extending through the wire tube, without regard for the electrical connector size relative to the seal or grommet to be disposed over the wire tube. The seal can be integrally formed about the wire tube, after the wires have been inserted through the tube, and even after the electrical connectors have been put in place. The seal can be formed by disposing the tube carrying the electrical wires within an injection-molding machine, and injection molding a polymeric, rubber material about the tube, to form a seal about the tube. In some embodiments, the seal is integrally formed with the tube. In a preferred embodiment, the molding process also compresses the tube about the wires in the vicinity of the seal, to form a water resistant, radially constrained wire tube in the vicinity of the seal. 
   The finished wire bundle assembly can have the bottom electrical connector inserted through an aperture in the personal watercraft top deck, and the top electrical connector inserted through the hinge aperture. The hinge bottom plate can simply be slid down over the tube, to force the seal against the top deck, between the top deck and the hinge bottom plate, to form a watertight seal. The hinge can be secured to the personal watercraft top deck, thereby both securing the hinge and forming the watertight seal in a single, final manufacturing operation. This operation requires only a single set of holes formed through the personal watercraft top deck, for the hinged wireway. 
   The aperture through the top deck can thus be located very close to the hinge point for the hood, as the aperture is formed through a portion of the hinge itself. This close location of the wireway aperture to the hinge allows for a smaller amount of slack required for the wire bundle in the vicinity of the hood. The wire bundle can thus be more closely dressed to the hood, leaving less wire tubing to be snagged or otherwise undesirably engaged. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a side view of a personal watercraft having a hinged wireway within; 
       FIG. 2  is a fragmentary, perspective view of an instrument panel on the personal watercraft of  FIG. 1 , located on the hood of the personal watercraft; 
       FIG. 3  is a fragmentary, side, cross-sectional view of the personal watercraft of  FIG. 1 , showing the hinged wireway and hood; 
       FIG. 4  is a fragmentary, side, cutaway view of the personal watercraft of  FIG. 1 , having the hood in the raised position; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the hinged wireway with the wire bundle, wire tubing, seal, and hood not shown; 
       FIG. 6  is a bottom, perspective view of the hinged wireway of  FIG. 5 , showing a beveled aperture through the hinged wireway bottom plate for receiving the wire tube and seal; 
       FIG. 7  is a fragmentary, exploded view of the hinged wireway, wire tube and wire tube seal, and the personal watercraft top deck; and 
       FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the assembly of  FIG. 7 , showing the wire tube disposed within the beveled seal that is forced downward by the hinged wireway bottom plate against the personal watercraft deck. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The following detailed description should be read with reference to the drawings, in which like elements in different drawings are numbered identically. The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Several forms of invention have been shown and described, and other forms will now be apparent to those skilled in art. It will be understood that embodiments shown in drawings and described above are merely for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit scope of the invention as defined in the claims that follow. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates a personal watercraft  20  having generally a front or bow  22  and a rear or stern  23 . Personal watercraft  20  includes a top deck  26  secured to a bottom hull  24  along an overlapping portion covered with a rub rail  32  in the embodiment illustrated, forming a hull. A hood  52  may also be seen, joined to top deck  26  at a hinged front hood portion  36 . The hull formed by the bottom hull  24  and top deck  26  define a compartment sized to contain an internal combustion engine  33  for powering the watercraft, and may also include one or more storage compartments, depending upon the size and configuration of the watercraft. The deck portion  26  also has a raised, longitudinally extending seat  28  adapted to accommodate one or more riders seated in straddle fashion on the seat  28 . A grab handle  38  is disposed transversely across the rear of the seat. Engine  33  powers a jet propulsion unit  34 , typically mounted in a tunnel at the bottom rear portion of the watercraft, all shown in phantom in  FIG. 1 . Jet propulsion unit  34  includes a steerable water discharge nozzle  29  that is operatively connected to a set of handlebars  42  to facilitate steering of the watercraft by the operator. Handlebars  42  typically mount through a top portion of a shroud  40 . The connection between handlebars  42  and discharge nozzle  29  may be of any suitable type, and typically includes mechanical linkages including a control cable. If desired, an electronic connection could also be utilized. 
     FIG. 2  illustrates personal watercraft  20  from the side and to the rear of handlebars  42 . Twin rearview mirrors  74  may be seen, as may an instrument panel or gauge  73 , mounted on hood  52 . An instrument windscreen  72  may be seen partially covering instrument panel  73 . A wire bundle or tube (not illustrated in  FIG. 2 ) is connected to instrument panel  73  and extends downward through hood  52  to run forward under hood  52 . 
     FIG. 3  illustrates personal watercraft  20 , more fully illustrating hood  52 . Hood  52  may be seen affixed to a hinged wireway assembly  50 . Hinged wireway assembly  50  includes a top portion  68  and a bottom portion  64 . A front region  66  may be seen extending between bottom portion  64  and top portion  68 . Front region  66  of bottom portion  64  is pivotally coupled to hinged wireway top portion  68 . Hinged wireway bottom portion  64  may also be referred to as a bottom plate. A wire tube  70  may be seen extending through hinged wireway bottom plate  64 , to extend upward and rearward to connect to instrument panel  73  (illustrated in  FIG. 2 ). Top deck  26  may be seen to include a front wall portion  60 , a bottom wall portion  56 , and a rear, sloping wall portion  58 . Deck portions  60 ,  56 , and  58  may be seen to generally form a cavity  54  that houses hinged wireway  50 . 
     FIG. 4  illustrates personal watercraft  20 , having hinged wireway  50  and hood  52  in the raised, open position. In some embodiments, hood  52  and hinged wireway  50  may be held in the open position with a gas shock  82 , as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Hinged wireway top portion  68  and front region  66  may be seen to be pivotally coupled about a pivot point  80 . Wire tube  70  may be seen to pass through hinged wireway bottom plate  62  at aperture  94  and through the deck at wire pass-through point  114 . Wire tube  70  also passes through a corresponding aperture in top deck, rear sloping portion  58 . Hood  52  may be seen to close about a rubber seal or gasket  57  that defines an aperture  55  within. A storage compartment is preferably accessed through aperture  55  and maintained in a watertight condition by hood  52  and seal  57 . 
     FIG. 5  illustrates hinged wireway  50 , without the hood or wire tube. Hinged wireway  50  may be seen to include mounting holes  88  for mounting to hood  52  (illustrated in  FIG. 4 ). Hinged wireway bottom plate  62  may be seen to have mounting holes  92  for receiving bolts for securing hinged wireway  50  to the personal watercraft top deck. Hinged wireway bottom plate  62  may also be seen to have a wireway or wire tube through-hole or aperture  94  for receiving the wires from beneath the bottom plate, to pass the wires on to the bottom of the hood, and then upward and rearward to the instrument panel. Wireway through-hole  94  may be seen to have a top opening edge  98  defining the size of the top opening. Hinged wireway bottom plate  62  also has a top surface  95 , having wireway through-hole top opening  98  formed in the top surface. 
     FIG. 6  illustrates hinged wireway  50  from the bottom. Hinged wireway  50  may be seen to have a bottom surface  96  having a bottom opening circumference  102  defining the size of aperture  94  at the bottom surface. Inspection of  FIG. 6  shows that the size of top opening  98  is smaller than the size of bottom opening  102 . This size difference allows hinged wireway bottom plate  62  to force a wireway seal downward against the top deck. In a preferred embodiment, the transition between top opening  98  and bottom opening  102  is a stepped, beveled transition. 
     FIG. 7  illustrates hinged wireway  50 , top deck rear sloping portion  58 , and a wire tube assembly  109  to be threaded through the top deck and hinged wireway  50 . Wire tube assembly  109  includes a wire tube  107 , similar to tube  70 , illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Wire tube  107  includes a wire tube top portion  104  for extending through hinged wireway aperture  94 . Wire tube  107  also includes a wire tube bottom portion  112  for inserting through a top deck receiving aperture  114  in top deck rear sloping portion  58 . 
   A wire tube seal, plug, grommet, or boot  106  may be seen formed about wire tube  107 . Seal  106  may be seen to have a top portion  108  and a bottom portion  110 . In a preferred embodiment, seal top portion  108  has a smaller profile, maximum dimension, and circumference than that of seal bottom portion  110 . Seal top portion  108  can be at least partially inserted through hinged wireway bottom plate  62  and seal bottom portion  110  can be seated against top deck rear sloping portion  58 , about receiving aperture  114 . Mounting bolts  104  may be used to secure hinged wireway bottom plate  62  to top deck rear sloping portion  58  through top deck hinged wireway mounting holes  116 . 
     FIG. 8  illustrates wire tube assembly  109  in a mounted, sealed configuration. Wire tube top portion  111  has been inserted through hinged wireway bottom plate  62  while wire tube bottom portion  112  has been inserted through top deck wireway through-hole  114 . Seal  106  may be seen to be held securely between hinged wireway bottom plate  62  and top deck rear portion  58 . Seal top portion  108  may be seen extending through hinged wireway bottom plate  62 , through top opening  98 . Seal bottom portion  110  may be seen extending through bottom plate, bottom opening  102 . Seal  106  may be seen to have a stepped, beveled transition  117 , in the embodiment illustrated. Hinged wireway bottom plate  62  may be seen to force seal  106  downward against top deck rear sloping portion  58 , while allowing no direct path for water to flow along the wireway tube or seal. Wire tube  107  may be seen to include a top electrical connector  121  and bottom electrical connectors  120 . A plurality of wires  118  may be seen within wire tube  107 . Connectors  120  and  121  may be seen to be substantially larger than the outer diameter of wire tube  107 . 
   Wire tube  107  may be formed by taking a bundle of wires, and sliding a tube over the bundle of wires. The tube is preferably made of a polymeric material. Most preferably, the tube is an elastomeric, rubber material. The tube preferably has no longitudinal slits or other slits formed through the tube, providing a more water resistant surface. With the polymeric tube formed over the wires, electrical connectors  120  and  121  can be electrically coupled or crimped to the wires within. With the tube material and connectors in place, the entire assembly  109  can be inserted within an injection molding machine. 
   An injection molding cavity corresponding to the desired shape of seal  106  can be provided to form the desired shape of seal  106 . A seal material, preferably a polymeric material, and most preferably a rubber material, can then be injected into the cavity to form seal  106  about wire tube  107 . In some embodiments, the seal thus formed about the wire tube is, for all practical purposes, integrally formed with the wire tube, and cannot be dislodged. In other embodiments, seal  106  is formed about wire tube  107 , but can be slidably dislodged along the tube with the sufficient application of force. In a preferred application, wire tube  107  is compressed by the molding process to form a smaller diameter tube, as indicated at  119  in  FIG. 8 . Wire tube  107  thus has a smaller diameter, formed tightly about the wires  118  extending through the tube, within seal  106 . This significantly reduces the possibility of any water, which has entered tube  107 , from extending through the center of the tube and reaching beneath the top deck. 
   The above-described process for manufacturing the wire tube, together with electrical connectors and seal, is preferably performed at a location different from the location of the final watercraft assembly. It may be appreciated that the facilities and equipment used to form the final wire tube assembly, including the electrical connectors and seal, may be better provided at a specialized manufacturing facility. The wire tube assembly  109  illustrated in  FIG. 8  may be contrasted with some previous assembly methods. Wire tube  107  has no longitudinal slit through the tube, which could allow for water entry and which may have been required for transversely sliding a bundle of wires within the tube. Electrical connectors  120  and  121  illustrated in  FIG. 8  can be either larger or smaller than the inside diameter of wire tube  107 . Wire tube  107  does not necessarily have to be cinched or compressed above or below seal  106 , as the wire tube  107  can be compressed within the seal using the molding process previously described. 
   Referring again to  FIG. 7 , assembly of the watercraft may be further described. Given top deck portion  58  having aperture or through-hole  114 , the wire tube bottom  112  and the wire tube bottom electrical connector  120  (illustrated in  FIG. 8 ) can be inserted through hole  114 . Seal bottom portion  110  is preferably larger than aperture  114  and also larger than the largest dimension of electrical connectors  120 . Wire tube upper portion  111  and wire tube upper electrical connector  121  can be inserted through hinged wireway bottom plate  62  through aperture  94 . Mounting bolts  104  can then be inserted through hinged wireway bottom plate  62  and further through top deck mounting holes  116 . The entire assembly of the hinged wireway, wire tube assembly, and the top deck can thus be accomplished in the same manufacturing operation. 
   Inspection of  FIG. 4  shows that wire tube  70  requires very little slack or extra tubing to allow for the opening of the hood. This is because wire tube  70  is located within hinged wireway  50 , rather than being located to the rear of, and separate from, hinged wireway  50 . In particular, hinged wireway through-hole  94  may be seen to be relatively close to pivot point  80  of hinged wireway  50 . In a preferred embodiment, hinged wireway through-hole  94  is within about one foot of hinged wireway pivot  80 . In a preferred embodiment, hinged wireway through-hole  94  is within about 8 inches of hinged wireway pivot  80 , to significantly reduce the amount of loose wire tubing that must be allowed to lie within the hood to allow for the opening of the hood. 
   In another embodiment, the wire tube assembly is secured against the top deck using a plate that is separate from the hinge bottom plate. This embodiment can be similar in other aspects to those aspects previously described for the hinge bottom plate. In particular, bottom plate  62  of  FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  8  may be used to visualize a bottom plate not coupled to a hinge. This embodiment does not therefore require separate, duplicative illustration.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1