Personal watercraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9926065-B2
Application number	US-201615343012-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 3, 2016
Priority date	Nov 4, 2015
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

A personal watercraft comprises a body including a deck and a hull, the body being provided with an engine room; an engine disposed in the engine room; a maintenance opening provided in the deck and located above the engine to in such a manner that an outside region of the body is in communication with an interior of the engine room through the maintenance opening; at least one duct mounting hole provided in the deck at a location different from a location of the maintenance opening in such a manner that the outside region is in communication with the interior of the engine room through the duct mounting hole; at least one ventilation duct fitted to the duct mounting hole to guide air from the outside region to the engine room; and an engine hood covering the maintenance opening and an air inlet of the ventilation duct.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A personal watercraft comprising:
a body including a deck and a hull, the body being provided with an engine room in an interior of the body;
an engine disposed in the engine room;
an engine maintenance opening provided in the deck and located above the engine in such a manner that an outside region of the body is in communication with an interior of the engine room through the engine maintenance opening;
a hinge member provided on the deck and located in front of the engine maintenance opening;
a handle pole mounted to the hinge member in such a manner that the handle pole is vertically pivotable;
at least one duct mounting hole provided in the deck at a location that is different from a location of the engine maintenance opening in such a manner that the outside region of the body is in communication with the interior of the engine room through the at least one duct mounting hole;
at least one ventilation duct fitted to the at least one duct mounting hole to guide air from the outside region of the body to the engine room; and
an engine hood covering the engine maintenance opening and an air inlet of the at least one ventilation duct.

2. The personal watercraft according to claim 1 ,
wherein the air inlet of the at least one ventilation duct is disposed above an upper surface of a portion of the deck, the portion surrounding the duct mounting hole.

3. A personal watercraft comprising:
a body including a deck and a hull, the body being provided with an engine room in an interior of the body;
an engine disposed in the engine room;
a maintenance opening provided in the deck and located above the engine in such a manner that an outside region of the body is in communication with an interior of the engine room through the maintenance opening;
at least one duct mounting hole provided in the deck at a location that is different from a location of the maintenance opening in such a manner that the outside region of the body is in communication with the interior of the engine room through the at least one duct mounting hole;
at least one ventilation duct fitted to the at least one duct mounting hole to guide air from the outside region of the body to the engine room; and
an engine hood covering the maintenance opening and an air inlet of the at least one ventilation duct,
wherein the at least one ventilation duct includes a flange member mounted to the deck, and a tube member disposed in the interior of the engine room in a state in which the tube member is connected to the flange member,
wherein the flange member includes a tubular section fitted to the duct mounting hole and a flange section protruding outward from an outer peripheral surface of the tubular section, and
wherein the tubular section includes a lower portion protruding downward to be lower than the flange section, and an upper portion protruding to be higher than the flange section and provided with the air inlet.

4. The personal watercraft according to claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one duct mounting hole includes a pair of duct mounting holes, and
wherein the pair of duct mounting holes are disposed on right and left sides of the hinge member, respectively.

5. A personal watercraft comprising:
a body including a deck and a hull, the body being provided with an engine room in an interior of the body;
an engine disposed in the engine room;
a maintenance opening provided in the deck and located above the engine in such a manner that an outside region of the body is in communication with an interior of the engine room through the maintenance opening;
at least one duct mounting hole provided in the deck at a location that is different from a location of the maintenance opening in such a manner that the outside region of the body is in communication with the interior of the engine room through the at least one duct mounting hole;
at least one ventilation duct fitted to the at least one duct mounting hole to guide air from the outside region of the body to the engine room;
an engine hood covering the maintenance opening and an air inlet of the at least one ventilation duct; and
an air-intake passage which guides the air from the interior of the engine room to the engine,
wherein a suction opening of the air-intake passage is disposed rearward relative to the engine in the interior of the engine room, and
wherein the at least one ventilation duct is disposed in the interior of the engine room in a state in which the ventilation duct is curved in such a manner that an air outlet of the ventilation duct is located in front of the engine and in front of the air inlet.

6. The personal watercraft according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a fuel tank disposed in front of the engine in the interior of the engine room,
wherein the air outlet of the at least one ventilation duct is disposed on an upper side of the fuel tank.

Assignees

• Kawasaki Heavy Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Araki Toshio
• Kato Hironori

Classifications

• B63B34/10

  Power-driven personal watercraft, e.g. water scooters (water jet propulsion B63H11/00; jet steering B63H25/46); Accessories therefor · CPC title

• B63J2/06 Primary

  of engine rooms · CPC title

• B63H21/24

  the vessels being small craft, e.g. racing boats · CPC title

• B63B35/731

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic