Marine motor assembly and method for changing lubricant in a marine motor assembly

Inventors: Mike Dean Davenport (Pleasant Prairie, WI); Dillon Savage (Waterford, WI); John Valek (Burlington, WI); Michael James Lavalley (West Allis, WI)

B63H23/06 B63H21/386

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12662228
App. No.: 18/362,053
Granted: Jun 23, 2026
Kind: B2

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Abstract

A marine motor assembly for a watercraft includes a housing, a motor, a housing gearset, a gearcase gearset and a propulsion device. The housing includes an upper housing portion and a gearcase connected to the upper housing portion. The gearcase includes a gearcase chamber, and a gearcase fluid port disposed on an exterior surface of the gearcase. The housing also includes a housing chamber spaced from the gearcase chamber, a housing fluid port that is disposed on an exterior surface of the housing and that is fluidly connected to the housing chamber, and a fluid conduit that fluidly connects the gearcase chamber to the housing chamber. The housing gearset is disposed in the housing chamber. The gearcase gearset is disposed in the gearcase chamber. A method for changing a lubricant in the marine motor assembly via the gearcase fluid port and the housing fluid port is also disclosed.

Claims (33)

1 . A marine motor assembly for a watercraft, the marine motor assembly comprising:

a housing comprising:

an upper housing portion;

a gearcase connected to the upper housing portion, the gearcase comprising:

a gearcase chamber; and

a gearcase fluid port disposed on an exterior surface of the gearcase,

a housing chamber spaced from the gearcase chamber;

a housing fluid port disposed on an exterior surface of the housing, the housing fluid port being fluidly connected to the housing chamber; and

a fluid conduit fluidly connecting the gearcase chamber to the housing chamber, a motor disposed in the housing;

a housing gearset disposed in the housing chamber, the housing gearset being operatively connected to the motor; and

a gearcase gearset disposed in the gearcase chamber, the gearcase gearset being operatively connected to the housing gearset; and

a propulsion device operatively connected to the gearcase gearset.

2 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing gearset includes bevel gears.

3 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a driveshaft operatively connecting the housing gearset to the gearcase gearset.

4 . The marine motor assembly of claim 3 , wherein the motor is an internal combustion engine, and the driveshaft is oriented generally perpendicularly relative to a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine.

5 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the gearcase gearset includes bevel gears.

6 . The marine motor assembly of claim 5 , wherein the gearcase gearset includes a first bevel gear, a second bevel gear, and a pinion engaging the first and second pinion bevel gears, the pinion being operatively connected to the housing gearset; and

the marine motor assembly further comprising: a dog-clutch assembly selectively operatively connecting one of the first and second bevel gears to the propulsion device.

7 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing chamber is located vertically above the gearcase chamber.

8 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing chamber is in the upper housing portion.

9 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing fluid port is disposed on the upper housing portion.

10 . The marine motor assembly of claim 9 , wherein the housing fluid port is disposed on a downward facing surface of the upper housing portion.

11 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the gearcase fluid port is disposed on a bottom of the gearcase.

12 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fluid conduit extends upwardly from the gearcase chamber to the housing chamber.

13 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fluid conduit includes a gearcase section and a housing section, the gearcase section being a pipe extending in the gearcase, and the housing section being a channel defined in the upper housing portion.

14 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing chamber includes an inlet fluidly connected to the fluid conduit, and an outlet fluidly connected to the housing fluid port.

15 . The marine motor assembly of claim 14 , wherein the outlet is fluidly connected to the housing fluid port via a secondary fluid conduit extending generally downwardly from the housing chamber.

16 . The marine motor assembly of claim 14 , wherein the outlet is disposed vertically higher than a lower edge of all gears of the housing gearset when the marine motor assembly is in a neutral position.

17 . The marine motor assembly of claim 14 , wherein the outlet is spaced from a top of the housing chamber for providing clearance for a compressible gas.

18 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , wherein the gearcase chamber is fluidly sealed from a rest of the gearcase by a bracket.

19 . The marine motor assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:

a gearcase plug for selectively plugging the gearcase fluid port for preventing flow of fluid therethrough; and

a housing plug for selectively plugging the housing fluid port for preventing flow of fluid therethrough.