Patent ID: 7341039

Claim:
A lubrication system for an engine of a marine vessel, comprising: an internal combustion engine having all of its cylinders aligned in a single piston symmetry plane, said piston symmetry plane being disposed at a tilt angle from a vertical plane, said tilt angle being between fifteen and seventy five degrees, said engine having a crankshaft disposed within a crankcase and disposed within said piston symmetry and vertical planes; an oil pan attached to said internal combustion engine, said oil pan and said crankcase defining an internal cavity, said oil pan being shaped to contain a quantity of liquid oil having an upper oil surface; and a windage tray disposed within said internal cavity, said windage tray having a louver structure formed through a surface thereof, said louver structure being formed to define a louver opening structure therethrough, said louver structure being configured to inhibit droplets of said oil from having a direct linear path through said louver opening structure from said crankshaft to said upper oil surface, said oil pan being attached to said internal combustion engine along an attachment surface which is generally perpendicular to said piston symmetry plane, a lowest point of said attachment surface being disposed above said upper oil surface.