Marine drive weed deflector
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 
     The invention relates to weed deflectors for marine drives. 
     The invention provides a particularly simple and effective weed deflector which may be added to a conventional marine drive. For background art, reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,054,374, 2,135,162, 2,244,217, 2,319,640, 2,470,874, 2,894,477, 3,025,825, 3,035,538, 4,565,533, and 4,680,017. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a marine drive with a weed deflector in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1 and shows a further embodiment. 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2. 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 2. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a marine drive 10 having a lower depending driveshaft housing 12 including a strut portion 14 extending downwardly to a gearcase or torpedo housing 16 having a lower depending skeg 18. Cooling water inlets 20 on the side of strut portion 14 supply cooling water to the marine drive. Propeller 22 at the rear of torpedo housing 16 propels the marine drive. Strut portion 14 of driveshaft housing 12 extends vertically downwardly and includes laterally extending anti-splash plate 24 and laterally extending anit-ventilation plate 26, as is standard in the art. 
     In accordance with the invention, weed deflector 28 comprises a bar 30 having a frontal surface area with a cross sectional width substantially no wider than the width of the leading edge of the drive shaft housing 36, and having a side surface area with a cross sectional width substantially the same as the cross sectional width of the frontal surface area. The bar 30 is mounted to driveshaft housing 12 of the marine drive and extends forwardly therefrom to a forward leading tip 32 and then tapers back to and is mounted to the driveshaft housing, preferably at gearcase 16 or skeg 18. The space 34 between the forward leading tip 32 of bar 30 and the leading edge 36 of strut portion 14 of driveshaft housing 12 is open so that it does not affect steering of the marine drive. The tapered portion 38 of the bar forces weeds to slide downwardly and rearwardly therealong off the driveshaft housing. Bar 30 prevents weeds from wrapping around strut portion 14 and covering cooling water inlets 20 or interfering with propeller 22 or propeller efficiency. 
     Torpedo housing 16 has a leading nose 40. Skeg 18 has a leading edge 42 extending downwardly and rearwardly from leading nose 40 of torpedo housing 16. Bar 30 extends downwardly and rearwardly at portion 44 past leading nose 40 of torpedo housing 16 and is mounted to leading edge 42 of skeg 18. The tapered portion of bar 30 has a first section as shown at 38 extending rectilinearly from forward leading tip 32 downwardly and rearwardly to leading nose 40 of torpedo housing 16 at a given angle to horizontal, and has a second section as shown at 44 extending downwardly and rearwardly along and parallel to leading edge 42 of skeg 18. Second section 44 of the tapered portion of bar 30 extends rectilinearly at a given angle to horizontal different than the noted angle of first section 38. Bar 30 extends substantially horizontally forwardly at portion 46 from driveshaft housing 12 to leading tip 32 parallel to water flow therepast and is integrally bent downwardly and rearwardly from leading tip 32 at portion 38. Bar 30 at forward leading tip 32 forms an acute angle substantially less than 90° between portion 46 and portion 38. Leading tip 32 at horizontal forward extension 46 of bar 30 is the forward-most spaced portion of the bar from driveshaft housing 12. Leading tip 32 is spaced above cooling water inlets 20. 
     Top portion 46 of bar 30 is mounted at upper mounting plate 48 to strut portion 14 of driveshaft housing 12 at anti-splash plate 24, FIG. 1, or to anti-ventilation plate 26a, FIG. 2, in those drives where the anti-ventilation plate is extended forwardly all the way to the front of the strut portion of the driveshaft housing. Mounting plate 48 is welded to bar 30 at top portion 46, and is bifurcated at notch 50 to stradle strut portion 14. Mounting plate 48 is mounted to anti-splash plate 24 or anti-ventilation plate 26a by bolts 52, 54. Mounting plate 48 is a flat planar horizontal member extending forwardly of leading strut portion edge 36. Mounting plate 48 has tapered leading edges 56 to 58 on each side of the top portion 46 of bar 30 welded thereto. Tapered leading edges 56 and 58 minimize water drag, and reduce cavitation burn on the driveshaft housing. 
     Bar 30 is mounted to skeg 18 at leading edge 42 by a lower mounting plate 60 comprising a generally V-shaped member, FIG. 4, having legs 62 and 64 stradling skeg 18 and mounted thereto by pin 66. Legs 62 and 64 are welded to bar potion 44. Mounting plate 60 has upper and lower ends 68 and 70 which are tapered to be substantially horizontal when installed, such that ends 68 and 70 are substantially parallel to water flow therepast, and minimize water drag and cavitation burn on the driveshaft housing, including skeg 18. 
     It is recognized that various equivalents, alternatives and modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims.