Patent ID: 7140932

Claim:
A shift mechanism for an outboard motor mounted on a stern of a boat and having an internal combustion engine at its upper portion and a propeller at its lower portion that is powered by the engine to propel the boat, comprising: an actuator installed in the outboard motor; a shift rod installed in the outboard motor and connected to the actuator to be rotatable by the actuator; a shifter clutch installed in the outboard motor and connected to the shift rod, the shifter clutch being movable by the shift rod from a neutral position to engage with at least one of a forward gear that allows the boat to be propelled in a forward direction and a reverse gear that allows the boat to the propelled in a reverse direction opposite to the forward direction; a controller controlling the actuator to rotate the shift rod such that the shifter clutch moves from the neutral position to engage with one of the forward gear and the reverse gear, corresponding to an inputted shift instruction made by an operator, to effect shift; and a shock mitigator mitigating shock generated during the shift, wherein the shock mitigator comprises: a torsion portion of the shift rod whose diameter is decreased to be flexible by twisting about its axis when stress is exerted, and further wherein the torsion portion is positioned so that the midpoint along the axis of the shift rod is located within the torsion portion.