JPH1120793A - Steering device for ship - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ship steering device whereby a hand steering mode is selected forcibly to provide a fail-safe when a connector or a connection cable to connect between a steering mode selector switch and a steering mode display circuit or the steering mode display circuit and a steering unit selector circuit is come off or disconnected. SOLUTION: In a ship steering device which is provided with steering units 12 to 14 for each steering mode corresponding to multiple steering modes, a steering unit selector circuit 8 to select a steering unit to be used from the multiple steering units, and a steering mode selector switch 1 to select a steering mode to be used and which steers a ship by selecting a steering unit using the signals from the switch 1, a specified steering unit is selected when the signals from the steering mode selector switch do not reach the steering unit selector circuit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a marine vessel steering system, and more particularly to an autopilot steering mode switching mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a steering apparatus for a boat, steering by an autopilot is generally used except for a very small boat.
It has three types of steering modes, a remote steering mode and an automatic steering mode. These steering modes are switched by a steering mode selection switch, selected, and steered.

When a hand steering mode is selected by a steering mode selection switch, an operator inputs a numerical value of a steering angle to a hand mode steering unit, so that the rudder is driven to the designated angle and steered. When the remote steering mode is selected by the steering mode selection switch, the operator automatically inputs the value of the steering angle to the remote controller to automatically steer the steering to the designated angle. When the automatic steering mode is selected by the steering mode selection switch, the steering angle is automatically determined from the difference between the current operation position of the ship and the planned operation course plotted on the map in advance in real time. Is driven. Such a steering state by the autopilot is called a follow-up steering state.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional steering mode switching mechanism. In FIG. 2, a steering mode selection switch 1 includes cam switches H, R, and A, respectively, and corresponds to a hand steering mode, a remote steering mode, and an auto steering mode, respectively, and any one of these steering modes is selected. And sends a ground signal. This ground signal is transmitted to the steering mode display circuit 2 via the connector 3, and causes the light emitting diode of the selected steering mode among the light emitting diodes 4 to 6 to emit light.

[0005] Further, the steering mode display circuit 2 is connected to the steering unit selection circuit 8 via the connectors 9 and 10 and turns on the corresponding steering mode contact of the analog switch 11 in accordance with the ground signal. By turning on the contact of the analog switch 11, the steering unit 12 in the hand steering mode and the steering unit 1 in the remote steering mode
3 and the steering unit 14 in the automatic steering mode,
The steering unit whose contact is turned on by the analog switch is selected, a steering angle signal output θ output from the selected steering unit is transmitted, and the steering angle signal θ and the actual steering angle are output by a signal processing circuit (not shown). The signals were compared and the rudder of the ship was driven to the left or right.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned method involves the following steps: between the steering mode selection switch and the steering mode display circuit;
Or, when the connector connecting the steering mode display circuit and the steering unit selection circuit is disconnected or the connection cable is disconnected, no mode is selected, and the follow-up steering state is in a state called non-follow, The steering angle signal output θ is output as “neutral”, and the rudder of the boat returns to the straight traveling position. In this state, the operator has to operate the steering wheel called a non-follow lever to drive the rudder artificially, and there is a problem that the determination of the steering angle has to rely on the intuition of the operator.

The present invention has been made under such a background, and a connector for connecting between a steering mode selection switch and a steering mode display circuit or between a steering mode display circuit and a steering unit selection circuit is disconnected or a connection cable is provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a marine vessel steering device in which a hand steering mode is forcibly selected in the case where the vehicle is disconnected, and can be made fail-safe.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A steering mode selection switch for selecting a steering mode to be used from a plurality of steering modes, a steering unit selection circuit for selecting a steering unit to be used from the plurality of steering units,
A steering unit for each of the steering modes corresponding to the plurality of steering modes, and a marine vessel steering device for selecting and steering one of the plurality of steering units according to a signal of the steering mode selection switch, A marine vessel steering system is provided wherein a predetermined steering unit is selected when an accident occurs in which a signal of the steering mode selection switch does not reach the steering unit selection circuit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the plurality of steering modes are steered by a signal supplied by a manual operation, and the remote steering mode is steered by a signal input to a remote control unit. And an automatic steering mode in which a deviation from a predetermined operation course is detected and the steering is performed so as to automatically correct the deviation. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the marine vessel steering device according to the first aspect, the predetermined steering mode is a hand steering mode in which steering is performed by a signal supplied by a manual operation.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a steering mode switching mechanism of a marine vessel steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a hand steering mode,
A steering mode selection switch for selecting a remote steering mode or an automatic steering mode. The steering mode is selected when an operator turns on one of the cam switches H, R, and A. Reference numeral 2 denotes a steering mode display circuit, which is connected to the steering mode selection switch 1 via a connector 3 and causes a light emitting diode of a selected one of the light emitting diodes 4 to 6 to emit light, thereby displaying the steering mode. .

Reference numeral 8 denotes a steering unit selection circuit, which is connected to the steering mode display circuit 2 via connectors 9 and 10, and based on a steering mode selection signal from the steering mode selection switch 1, a contact of an analog switch 11 is connected. One of them becomes ON. By turning on the one contact, the steering signal output θ from the steering unit in the selected steering mode among the hand mode steering unit 12, the remote mode steering unit 13 and the auto mode steering unit 14 is set.
Is sent to a signal processing circuit (not shown), and is driven until the rudder reaches a predetermined angle.

In such a device configuration, if the operator turns on the cam switch A of the steering mode selection switch 1 to select the automatic steering mode, a ground signal of this steering mode is sent to the steering mode display circuit 2. As a result, the light emitting diode 6 lights up, and the display of the automatic steering mode is performed. The ground signal for the automatic steering mode selection is also sent to the steering unit selection circuit 8, and the anode side of the diode 17 is fixed to the ground potential, and the analog switch 1
The sw3 of 1 is turned on. When the sw3 is turned on, the auto mode steering unit 14 is selected, and its output is sent to a signal processing circuit (not shown) as a steering angle instruction signal θ to drive the steering until the steering angle reaches a predetermined angle.

In this case, the anodes of the diodes 15 and 16 connected to the selection cam switches of the hand steering mode and the remote steering mode, which are the unselected steering modes, have a high potential, and the sw1 of the analog switch 11 is high. And sw2 are not turned ON, and the output of the steering unit in the steering mode that is not selected does not contribute to the driving of the rudder.

Although the ground signal also fixes the anode side of the diode 23 to the ground potential, the presence of the NOT circuit 25 keeps the sw4 of the analog switch 11 in the OFF state. The same operation is performed when another cam switch is selected by turning on another cam switch of the steering mode selection switch 1, and the corresponding steering mode is selected, and the steering is performed based on the output.

Next, the operation when the connector 3 or the connectors 9 and 10 are disconnected for some reason or the mode switch 1 and the connection cable are disconnected from the state of operating in the automatic steering mode. explain. The operation in this case is such that the ground signal is not supplied to the diode of the steering unit selection circuit 8 from the signal line of any steering mode, and the sw1 to sw of the analog switch 11
3 does not turn on, but a high potential is applied to all the anode sides of the diodes 21 to 23.

For this reason, the output side of the NOT circuit 25 becomes low potential, and the switch sw4 connected in parallel with the switch sw1 of the analog switch 11 is turned on to forcibly form the hand steering mode to avoid the non-follow state. And a fail-safe steering system. As described above, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings.
The present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and includes any design change or the like within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the steering mode selection signal of the steering mode selection switch of the marine vessel steering device is used to release the steering unit because the connector is disconnected or the cable is disconnected. Even if the signal is not transmitted to the selection circuit, the hand steering mode is forcibly switched to the non-follow state in which the rudder must be manually operated, and the reliability of the boat steering device can be improved. Is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a steering mode switching mechanism of a marine vessel steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a steering mode switching mechanism of a conventional marine vessel steering device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 steering mode selection switch 2 steering mode display circuit 3 connector 4, 5, 6 light emitting diode 7 resistor 8 steering unit selection circuit 9, 10 connector 11 analog switch 12 hand mode steering unit 13 remote mode steering unit 14 auto mode steering unit 15, 16, 17 Diode 18, 19, 20 Resistance 21, 22, 23 Diode 24 Resistance 25 NOT circuit 26 Resistance 27 + 5 / ± 15V power supply 28 + 24V power supply

Claims (3)

[Claims] A steering mode selection switch for selecting a steering mode to be used from a plurality of steering modes; a steering unit selection circuit for selecting a steering unit to be used from a plurality of steering units; and a steering unit corresponding to the plurality of steering modes. A marine vessel steering apparatus comprising: a steering unit for each steering mode; and a steering unit selection unit for selecting and steering one of the plurality of steering units according to a signal of the steering mode selection switch. The means determines whether or not the signal of the steering mode selection switch has reached the steering unit selection circuit, and if not, selects a predetermined steering unit. 2. The plurality of steering modes include a hand steering mode that is steered by a signal supplied by a manual operation, and a remote steering mode that is steered by a signal input to a remote control unit. 2. The marine vessel steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the marine vessel steering apparatus is in an automatic steering mode in which a deviation from an operation course is detected and the steering is performed so as to automatically correct the deviation. 3. The marine vessel steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined steering mode is a hand steering mode in which steering is performed by a signal supplied by a manual operation.