JP2004306643A - Outboard motor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an outboard motor integrating a fluid pressure mechanism for steering the outboard motor. <P>SOLUTION: The outboard motor 1 is attached to a stern of a hull through a bracket 5. An outboard motor body 2 and an attaching arm 3 can vertically tilt in regard to the bracket 5 about a tilting shaft 6 of the bracket 5, and the outboard motor body 2 can horizontally turn about a steering shaft 4 in the attaching arm 3. A pinion 7 is provided on the steering shaft 4, or a part of the steering shaft 4 is structured to be the pinion 7, and a hydraulic cylinder 9 having a rack type piston 8 engaged with the pinion 7 is integrally assembled to the attaching arm 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an outboard motor mainly mounted on a stern (transom) of a hull of a small boat such as a fishing boat, a motor boat, a yacht or the like via a bracket. The present invention relates to a steering device for turning and steering.
[0002]
[Prior art]
This type of outboard motor supports the outboard motor main body horizontally around a substantially vertical steering shaft in a mounting arm that supports the outboard motor main body and is connected to a bracket via a tilt shaft so as to be vertically tiltable. A small boat or the like is steered by turning in the direction, but this steering is performed mechanically via a push-pull cable by rotating the steering handle of the driver's seat or by hydraulic pressure via a hydraulic cylinder. Is common.
[0003]
When the outboard motor body is turned horizontally by a hydraulic cylinder, if the hydraulic cylinder is cantilevered, attach one end of the hydraulic cylinder to one side of the guide tube of the bracket, and attach the tip of the piston rod to the outboard motor body. (For example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
The cantilever support type is applied to an outboard motor having a relatively small horsepower. However, when the horsepower of the outboard motor increases, as shown in FIG. A hydraulic cylinder 109 having both ends supported is used in which the cylinder body 116 moves left and right to steer the outboard motor body 102. In this case, the base ends of a pair of left and right arms 113 that support the piston rod 114 of the hydraulic cylinder 109 on the distal end side are attached to both sides of the guide tube 106 of the bracket 103, respectively.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-6-156389 (pages 3 to 5, FIG. 1 or 3)
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-mentioned conventional outboard motor, a steering lever is fixed to a steering shaft that rotates integrally with the outboard motor main body, and the steering lever is directly moved by a driver manually turning a steering handle to directly move the outboard motor. The steering is performed by turning the main body left and right, but even when steering using hydraulic pressure, the steering lever is connected to the drive unit of the hydraulic cylinder via a link, so in any case, Is the same in that the steering is performed by turning the steering lever.
[0007]
The hydraulic cylinder constitutes a part of a steering device together with a steering or the like for remotely controlling the cylinder, and is generally purchased separately when the outboard motor is purchased. The hydraulic cylinder is mounted on the stern side of the hull with the arm or the like as described above in a state where the outboard motor is mounted on the stern of the hull with the bracket, but the mounting space is often limited. Therefore, the installation of the hydraulic cylinder requires skill and is troublesome.
[0008]
Moreover, when the outboard motor main body is steered by the hydraulic cylinder as described above, the hydraulic cylinder is integrally connected to the outboard motor main body via the steering lever. Is lowered around the tilt axis, and it is necessary to secure a space therefor.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide an outboard motor in which a fluid pressure mechanism for steering the outboard motor is integrated.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, an outboard motor according to the present invention is mounted on a stern of a hull via a bracket, and the outboard motor main body and its mounting arm are attached to the bracket around a tilt axis of the bracket. Can be tilted up and down, and the outboard motor body can turn horizontally around a steering axis (swing axis) in the mounting arm. Is formed as a pinion, and a rack meshing with the pinion and a cylinder mechanism capable of reciprocating the rack are integrated into the mounting arm.
[0011]
According to the outboard motor having the above configuration, the outboard motor itself incorporates a cylinder mechanism or the like for rotating the steering shaft, in other words, for turning the outboard motor main body. If mounted on the stern, the steering can be performed simply by connecting a fluid pressure source to the cylinder mechanism with a hose or the like. Moreover, the rack and the cylinder mechanism are integrated into the mounting arm of the outboard motor main body, and the tilting up of the mounting arm together with the outboard motor main body is performed outside the hull when tilting up. Therefore, it is not necessary to secure a space for installing the cylinder mechanism in the hull on the stern side or a space for the cylinder mechanism to descend at the time of tilt-up as in the related art, and to link the steering lever of the outboard motor to the cylinder mechanism. This eliminates the need for connection work.
[0012]
As described in claim 2, in the outboard motor according to the present invention, the cylinder mechanism may be a rotary cylinder including a rack-type piston.
[0013]
As described above, if the cylinder mechanism is provided with the piston having the rack, the steering shaft can be rotated by reciprocating the piston in the cylinder case. Therefore, since the rack only reciprocates in the cylinder case, it is possible to incorporate the rack and the cylinder mechanism in a small space as compared with a system in which the rack is moved by expanding and contracting a piston rod.
[0014]
As set forth in claim 3, in the outboard motor according to the present invention, a potentiometer may be connected to the steering shaft, and the rotation angle of the potentiometer may be fed back to the automatic steering device.
[0015]
As described above, the position of the rack of the cylinder mechanism can be automatically corrected by detecting the rotation angle of the steering shaft and feeding back the signal to the automatic steering device. This enables automatic control of the steering shaft.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of an outboard motor according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0017]
1 is a right side view showing a state in which the outboard motor of the present embodiment is mounted on the stern, FIG. 2 is a right side view showing a tilted state of the outboard motor of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is xx of FIG. It is sectional drawing expanded along the line. FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic view showing in detail the relationship between the pinion of the steering shaft and the rack-type piston of the rotary cylinder.
[0018]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outboard motor main body 2 of the outboard motor 1 is integrally supported by an inverted L-shaped mounting arm 3, and an upper front end 3a of the mounting arm 3 has a stern side hull (transom) A. Is connected to an upper end 5a of a bracket 5 fixed thereto by a tilt shaft 6 so as to be pivotable in the vertical direction. A steering shaft 4 is rotatably mounted on the mounting arm 3 in a substantially vertical direction, and the outboard motor main body 2 horizontally turns integrally with the steering shaft 4 with respect to the mounting arm 3. The steering shaft 4 partially projects above and below the mounting arm 3, and upper and lower projecting portions (not shown) are integrally connected to the outboard motor main body 2.
[0019]
The above configuration is a known configuration, and the features of the present invention will be described below.
[0020]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, rotating teeth are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on a part of the steering shaft 4 in the up-down direction, and are formed in a pinion 7. On the other hand, a rotary hydraulic cylinder 9 in which a rack-type piston 8 integrally provided with a rack 8a meshing with the pinion 7 reciprocates left and right by hydraulic pressure is provided immediately in front of the steering shaft 4 in the mounting arm 3. The rotary hydraulic cylinder 9 is provided with supply / discharge plugs 9a and 9b at both ends, and hydraulic oil in a hydraulic oil tank (not shown) mounted on the hull is pressurized by a compressor (not shown) to supply and discharge. One of the plugs 9a and 9b (for example, 9a) is supplied to the hydraulic cylinder 9, and the other supply / discharge plug 9b discharges the pressure oil of the hydraulic cylinder 9 to a hydraulic oil tank (not shown). As a result, the rack-type piston 8 moves from the supply / discharge plug 9a to the side 9b, and with this movement, the pinion 7 meshing with the rack 8a rotates clockwise (FIG. 3) integrally with the steering shaft 4, and The outer motor body 2 turns leftward about the steering shaft 4. At this time, the bow is steered to the left. Such an operation is performed, for example, by operating the steering (not shown) of the driver's seat of the boat.
[0021]
According to the outboard motor 1 of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, the outboard motor 1 is fitted into the hull A of the stern with the bracket 5 fitted downward from above, and is fastened and fixed by a fixture (not shown). In this state, if the ends of the hoses 10 and 11 from the steering device (not shown) are connected to the supply / discharge plugs 9a and 9b, the mounting operation of the steering device is completed. Therefore, the steering lever 112 as shown in FIG. The work of connecting the hydraulic cylinder 109 and the hydraulic cylinder 109 becomes unnecessary. When the outboard motor 1 is tilted up, the outboard motor main body 2 rotates upward together with the mounting arm 3 around the tilt shaft 6. At this time, since the hydraulic hoses 10 and 11 are curved and there is no great change, there is no need to secure a space in the hull where the cylinder mechanism and the like descend in the conventional manner.
[0022]
Although illustration is omitted, when an automatic steering device called an autopilot is provided, a potentiometer is attached to the steering shaft 4 in the above embodiment, and the rotation angle of the steering shaft 4 is detected at any time, and the automatic steering device is used. By performing the feedback, the steering can be automatically performed while correcting the movement amount of the rotary hydraulic cylinder 9 as necessary.
[0023]
One embodiment of the outboard motor according to the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the outboard motor can be implemented as follows.
[0024]
1. A hydraulic motor is directly connected to the upper end or the lower end of the steering shaft 4 for turning the outboard motor body 2, and the steering shaft 4 is rotated by the hydraulic motor to rotate the outboard motor body 2.
[0025]
2. The steering shaft 4 of the mounting arm 3 for turning the outboard motor body 2 and the drive shaft of the hydraulic motor mounted on the mounting arm 3 are connected by a belt, a chain, or the like, and the steering shaft 4 is rotated by the hydraulic motor to outboard. The machine body 2 is turned.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, the outboard motor of the present invention has the following excellent effects.
[0027]
Since a cylinder mechanism or the like for turning the outboard motor main body is incorporated, if the outboard motor is mounted on the stern of the hull with a bracket, steering can be performed simply by connecting a fluid pressure source to the cylinder mechanism with a hose or the like. Moreover, since the rack and the cylinder mechanism are integrated into the mounting arm of the outboard motor main body, the mounting arm together with the outboard motor main body tilts outwardly of the hull when tilting up. Therefore, it is not necessary to secure a space for installing the cylinder mechanism in the hull on the stern side or a space for the cylinder mechanism to descend at the time of tilt-up as in the related art, and to link the steering lever of the outboard motor to the cylinder mechanism. This eliminates the need for connection work.
[0028]
If the cylinder mechanism is a rotary cylinder equipped with a rack-type piston, the fluid operation unit can be made compact, and thus it can be applied to an outboard motor with relatively small horsepower. Further, if a potentiometer is connected to the steering shaft and the detected rotation angle is fed back to the automatic steering device, the ship can be automatically navigated.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a right side view showing a state in which an outboard motor according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a stern.
FIG. 2 is a right side view showing a state in which the outboard motor of FIG. 1 is tilted up.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view enlarged along a line xx in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a pinion and a rack-type pinion of a rotary cylinder with respect to a steering shaft of the present embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a steering section of a conventional outboard motor.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outboard motor 2 Outboard motor main body 3 Mounting arm 4 Steering shaft 5 Bracket 6 Tilt shaft 7 Pinion 8 Rack type piston 9 Hydraulic cylinder

Claims (3)

Attached to the stern of the hull via a bracket, the outboard motor main body and its mounting arm can be tilted up and down with respect to the bracket about the tilt axis of the bracket, and the steering shaft in the mounting arm is centered. In the outboard motor where the outboard motor body can turn horizontally,
Either a pinion is provided on the steering shaft or a part of the steering shaft is formed as a pinion, and a rack meshing with the pinion and a cylinder mechanism capable of reciprocating the rack are integrated into the mounting arm. An outboard motor characterized in that: The outboard motor according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder mechanism is a rotary cylinder having a rack-type piston. 3. The outboard motor according to claim 1, wherein a potentiometer is connected to the steering shaft, and a rotation angle of the potentiometer is fed back to an automatic steering device.

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