Patent ID: 7217167

Claim:
A device for shifting gears of an outboard motor adapted to be mounted on a stern of a boat among a forward position, a reverse position and a neutral position such that the boat may be propelled by a powered propeller in a direction determined by gear position, comprising: a clutch engageable with a forward gear or a reverse gear; a shift rod rotatable to slide the clutch to engage with the gears; an actuator connected to rotate the shift rod; a speed reduction gear mechanism transmitting an output of the actuator to the shift rod at a reduced speed; and a manual operation mechanism manually operable by an operator to break an output transmission train of the speed reduction gear mechanism such that the shift rod can be manually rotated by the operator; wherein the manual operation mechanism being movable while operatively connected to the speed reduction gear mechanism between a first position in which the output transmission train is not broken and a second position in which the output transmission train is broken.