US 7,530,870 B2
	Drive shaft sealing device for small watercraft
Hiroyuki Kishimoto, Shizuoka-ken (Japan); Tetsuya Mashiko, Shizuoka-ken (Japan); Hirohiko Kakuyama, Tokushima (Japan); and Syuuji Fujita, Tokushima (Japan)
Assigned to Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha, Shizuoka (Japan)
Filed on Sep. 28, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/864,493.
Claims priority of application No. 2007-200400 (JP), filed on Aug. 01, 2007.
Prior Publication US 2009/0036006 A1, Feb. 05, 2009
Int. Cl. B63H 23/36 (2006.01); B63H 23/34 (2006.01); F16J 15/00 (2006.01); F16J 15/40 (2006.01); F16J 15/32 (2006.01); B63H 1/00 (2006.01); F16J 9/00 (2006.01)

U.S. Cl. 440—112  [440/83; 277/349; 277/423; 277/424; 277/562; 277/563; 277/345; 277/572; 416/174]

15 Claims

1. A drive shaft sealing device for a small watercraft comprising a drive shaft configured to transmit engine power to a propulsion unit, a bearing rotatably supporting the drive shaft, a housing holding the bearing, and a sealing member interposed between the housing and the drive shaft and configured to prevent water from entering the bearing, the sealing member comprising a radially sealing section which contacts the drive shaft in a radial direction to seal a gap between the drive shaft and the housing in the radial direction, an axially sealing section extending in an axial direction, and a contact member which contacts the axially sealing section to seal the gap between the drive shaft and the housing in the axial direction, the contact member being connected to the drive shaft to rotate with the drive shaft, wherein the axially sealing section includes a lip extending generally in the axial direction, the lip also being tilted outwardly in the radial direction.