Abstract:
A snowmobile is provided with a windshield attachment assembly which permits the windshield to be releasably snapped into place. The cowl of the snowmobile is provided with a V-shaped groove and a plurality of slots which extend through the groove. A lug retainer or keeper extends away from the lower surface of the cowl below each of the slots, and each lug retainer includes a camming surface extending away from the cowl and a lug retaining surface. The windshield includes a plurality of generally planar lugs which extend downwardly from the bottom edge of the windshield, and each of the lugs is provided with an opening therethrough. The windshield is attached by inserting each of the lugs through one of the slots in the cowl, and as each lug extends through the slot, it is cammed away from the lower surface of the cowl by the lug retainer until the lug retainer passes through the opening in the lug. The lug then snaps back into its original position, and the bottom edge of the opening is positioned below the retaining surface of the lug retainer to prevent withdrawal of the lug from the slot. When the windshield is to be removed, each lug can be successively flexed away from the lug retainer to permit upward movement of the lug past the lug retaining surface. If desired, each lug can be provided with a reduced lateral dimension and adjacent the bottom edge of the windshield to permit the windshield to break away from the cowl under a predetermined impact in the event of a crash. The lugs will fracture preferentially across the reduced lateral portions when a forward force is applied to the windshield.
Abstract:
The noise emitted by an air cooled internal combustion engine in a vehicle installation is suppressed by an air duct assembly which is light weight and easily removable to permit access to the engine and related components for routine adjustments and servicing. The duct assembly includes relatively rigid air intake and air exhaust ducts, each of which is integrally molded from plastic with sound absorbing qualities. For axial fan cooled engines, the fan and cylinder cooling fins are enclosed by a shroud provided with air intake and exhaust openings. The cowl of the vehicle which encloses the engine is also provided with air intake and exhaust openings. The intake duct extends between the air intake opening of the vehicle cowl and the air intake opening in the engine shroud, and the exhaust duct extends between the exhaust opening of the engine shroud and the exhaust opening in the vehicle cowl. Each duct provides a baffled or tortuous air passage so that noise cannot escape through the duct without being reflected from the walls of the duct, and each duct is removably secured to either the engine shroud or the cowl by spring latches which permit quick removal of the ducts when desired. The duct assembly also supplies combustion air through a baffled path to a carburetor plenum chamber.