Outboard Engine Cowling

Abstract

A cowling for an outboard marine engine includes an upper motor cover, a lower motor cover and a gear case that covers an engine that propels a watercraft. The upper motor cover mates with the lower motor cover and is configured to assist with alignment during assembly. The lower motor cover is configured to be assembled to one of a plurality of upper motor covers depending on engine size, and each upper motor cover is configured to be assembled to one of a plurality of top caps depending on whether the engine uses an electric starter or a pull starter. An illuminator, in the form of a lamp, a removable light or a reflector, is provided on the cowling.

1 . An outboard engine assembly comprising: 
 an engine;    a vertically oriented driveshaft operatively coupled to the engine;    a drive mechanism operatively coupled to the driveshaft;    a gear case that houses at least a portion of the drive mechanism;    a cowling disposed around the engine, wherein the cowling includes an upper motor cover that surrounds at least an upper part of the engine, a lower motor cover that surrounds a lower part of the engine, the cowling having four sides, including a front side, a rear side, a left side, and a right side;    wherein on at least one of the sides of the cowling, the upper motor cover has a lower edge and the lower motor cover has an upper edge, the lower edge and the upper edge being shaped as viewed from the side elevation view to permit the upper motor cover to self-align with the lower motor cover when the upper motor cover is placed over the lower motor cover while the driveshaft is disposed vertically, and    wherein the upper edge of the lower motor cover mates along substantially its entire length with the lower edge of the upper motor cover and the upper motor cover is detachably attached to the lower motor cover and separable therefrom along the respective edges.