DE4214305C2 - Control device for a ship's engine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a control device for a marine engine with a trim angle sensor to generate a trim angle sensor signal according to a trim angle between a ship and one attached to the ship Ship engine, an ignition timing control device for Controlling the ignition timing of the ship's engine, and one Fuel supply control device for controlling the Amount of fuel supplied to the ship's engine.

Such a control device is known from US-A-4 955 831 known. In particular, it is proposed to compensate for occurring trim effects an ignition timing adjustment for to carry out the marine engine attached to a ship.

Furthermore, DE 41 12 192 A1 describes a control system for a Ship engine described in the above a control lever Propeller shaft speed is adjustable. A Control electronics defines the current operating state in Dependence on the operating parameters of the Ship engine and / or the transmission. The control system is suitable especially for use with ships Multi-motor drive systems.  

General is for outboard marine engines for ships Improve the operational efficiency of an operational propeller powered by the ship's engine, when the ship's engine is pivotable on the hull is fixed, usually, a trim angle of the ship's engine or the ship engine unit related to the hull suitably adapt, the ship engine unit the actual ship engine includes, as well as a gear and a propeller provided on a housing. Accordingly for outboard marine engines, the trim angle of the Ship engine adjusted and changed so that the Driving comfort and the acceleration behavior of the ship be improved.

In Figs. 10 and 11, a typical example is shown of a known control device for an outboard marine engine. Fig. 10 shows a part of the stern of a ship 2, in which, for example, which is secured 4,955,831 US-A-known control apparatus of. As shown in FIG. 10, a ship's engine identified by the reference numeral 1 is pivotally attached to a ship's hull 2 a and its stern via a clamp bracket 3 and a rotary bracket 5 . The clamp bracket 3 is fixedly connected to the hull 2 a, and the rotary bracket 5 is pivotally connected to the clamp bracket 3 relative to a transverse or inclined axis of rotation 4 . The ship's engine unit 1 contains the actual ship's engine 7 , a drive unit 6 with a transmission (not shown), which has a drive shaft which is connected to the ship's engine 7 at its upper end and to a propeller 8 at its lower end.

A tilt cylinder 9 is rotatably attached to the lower end with the clamp bracket 3 and at the upper end with the rotary bracket 5 , so that the rotary bracket can be inclined up and down together with the marine engine unit 1 . Furthermore, a pair of trim cylinders 10 is provided between the clamp bracket 3 and the drive unit 6 for adjusting the trim angle of the marine engine unit 1 . The trim angle is defined as the angle between the longitudinal center line of the ship engine unit 1 and the vertical. A control bracket 11 is connected to rotate the drive unit 6 about an axis of rotation (not shown) relative to the rotary bracket 6 in order to control the ship 2 .

Although not shown, the tilt cylinder 9 and the trim cylinder 10 are driven to expand or contract under the action of hydraulic pressure generated by a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic pump is driven by an electric motor to pivot the ship engine unit 1 up or down and to adjust the trim angle. The trim angle is set by controlling the direction and speed of the electric motor. As a result, the thrust direction of the propeller 8 is controlled by adjusting the trim angle of the ship's engine 1 as a function of the angle of inclination in the longitudinal direction - in particular the ship's longitudinal direction - of the hull 2 a and / or the speed of the ship 2 . As a result, an optimal speed and an improved gasoline consumption and an improved acceleration behavior are achieved.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram of a general arrangement of the known control device. This includes a speed sensor 12 for detecting the speed of the ship's engine, an intake air sensor 13 for detecting a flow amount of the intake air that is drawn into the ship's engine, a first signal generator 14 for generating a differential crank angle signal that indicates a fixed reference crank angle of the ship's engine, and a second signal generator 15 for generating a crank angle signal synchronized with the rotation of the ship's engine or the crankshaft, a control device 16 designed as a microcomputer, a crank angle detection device 17 for detecting the crank angle of the ship's engine or the crankshaft, and a fuel supply control device 18 for setting a fuel quantity contained in the Ship engine is injected via a fuel injection 19 . The crank angle detection device 17 and the fuel supply control device 18 can be implemented by assigned control programs.

A voice coil (not shown) is attached to the actual marine engine 7 in the marine engine unit 1 and attached to the outer peripheral surface of the crankshaft for each cylinder of the marine engine such that each revolution of the permanent magnet is located in front of the voice coil when the crankshaft rotates. Accordingly, an electric pulse is induced in the voice coil for each cylinder of the ship's engine during a complete revolution of the crankshaft.

A ring gear (not shown) with a plurality of engagement teeth formed on the inner surface thereof is fixedly connected to the crankshaft in such a way that they come into engagement with a rotor of a starter motor. The second signal generator is fixedly spaced from the actual ship engine 7 and is arranged opposite the outer circumferential surface of the ring gear in such a way that an electrical pulse is induced by the second signal generator whenever one of the engagement teeth of the ring gear is arranged in front of the second signal generator 15 during the rotation of the crankshaft . Accordingly, during a complete revolution of the crankshaft, the voice coil generates several electrical pulses in the form of reference crank angle signals, which correspond in number to the number of cylinders of the ship's engine and the specified angular positions of the crankshaft. Thus, the voice coil functions as the first signal generator 14 for generating a reference crank angle signal such that the angular position of the crankshaft can be detected by counting the number of pulses generated by the second signal generator 15 starting from the time of generation of a pulse by the voice coil.

The voice coil also works as a speed sensor 12 . This means that the voice coil generates a fixed number of pulses during one revolution of the crankshaft, which corresponds to the number of cylinders, so that the crankshaft speed or the engine speed of the ship can be detected by detecting the time between successive pulses generated by the voice coil .

A throttle valve sensor in the form of a potentiometer, which works as an intake air sensor 13 , generates a voltage proportional to the setting angle of a throttle valve. The throttle valve is moved via a throttle cable. Overall, the degree of opening of the throttle valve is detected in order to detect the intake quantity of the intake air drawn into the ship's engine.

The microcomputer 16 is installed in the ship's engine 1 and includes the crank angle detection device 17 and the fuel supply control device 18 for controlling the fuel injector 19 . As described above, the crank angle detector 17 counts the number of pulses generated by the second signal generator after the first signal generator 14 in the form of a voice coil has generated a pulse, and thus detects the rotational position or the crank angle of the crankshaft.

Based on the thus detected speed, the amount of intake air and the crank angle of the ship's engine, the fuel supply control device 18 controls the amount of fuel injected by the fuel injector 19 in the ship's engine. Accordingly, the fuel supply controller 18 controls the amount of fuel by controlling the width of a pulse that is supplied to the fuel injector 19 .

By the control device for a ship's engine described above, the trim angle of the ship's engine unit 1 is controlled so that the driving feeling, the driving comfort and the acceleration behavior are improved. However, a change in the trim angle leads to a changed position of the ship engine unit 1 and thus also the intake pipe of the ship engine 7 . Accordingly, the amount of fuel injected into the ship's engine 7 by the fuel injector 19 changes due to the change in position of the intake pipe regardless of the fact that the amount of intake air drawn into the ship's engine 7 is relatively independent of a change in the position of the ship's engine. Accordingly, a change in the trim angle leads to a significant change in the air-fuel ratio supplied to the ship's engine, so that the output power of the ship's engine is reduced.

Furthermore, the optimal ignition timing of the Marine engine, since the marine engine load during the Control changes due to the changed trim angle. At the known control device in this case However, ignition timing is not generally controlled so that a Adaptation to a change in the ship's engine load takes place. Accordingly, the actual ignition timing shifts compared to the optimal ignition timing forward or backward rear due to the changed ship engine load, which is a insufficient output power of the marine engine for Consequence. Especially in the case where the ignition timing is late compared to the optimal ignition timing, keeps - especially with two-stroke engines - the combustion of air Fuel mixture even after opening an exhaust valve still on, so that so-called re-ignition can occur. In particular, misfire can occur during the time in which the throttle opening is relatively limited, whereby the The ship's engine becomes unstable.

There is thus a total of the known control device the problem that they do not have sufficient output power from the Ship engine and not a sufficiently stable speed of the Can guarantee ship engine.

The object of the invention is therefore to create a control device for controlling a ship's engine such that even with a change in the trim angle of the Ship engine has sufficient output power and / or a stable speed can be achieved.  

This task is the beginning of a control device mentioned type solved by the trim angle sensor with the Ignition timing control device and the fuel supply Control device is connected directly, so that the Ignition timing of the ship's engine and the one supplied to it Fuel quantity simultaneously based on the trim angle are controllable.

Since not only the Timing of the ship's engine correctly and precisely in Is controlled according to the ship's engine load, but also the amount of fuel that the ship’s engine needs Is made available, it is possible enough Output power at a stable engine speed regardless of the location or position of the ship and the Generate load condition of the ship's engine.

Further advantages and features of the present invention result from the following description in Connection with the accompanying drawings; show it:  

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a general arrangement of a control apparatus for a ship's engine in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the manner in which the engine control device according to the invention and the ship's engine unit are rotatably attached to a ship's hull.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart according to the operation of the engine control device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the increase in the amount of fuel injection and the trim angle in the engine control device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but another example of the relationship between the increase in the amount of fuel injection and the trim angle in the engine control device of FIG. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram according to the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 6;

Fig. 8 is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the amount of change in the ignition timing and the trim angle in the embodiment of Fig. 6;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, but another example of the relationship between the amount of change in the ignition timing and the trim angle in the embodiment of FIG. 6;

Fig. 10 is a side view of an engine unit rotatably attached to a ship's hull and connected to the control device of the present invention to which a known control device for a ship's engine can be applied; and

Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the general arrangement of the known control device for a marine engine.

The same or corresponding parts are shown in the drawings identified by the same reference numerals.

Embodiments of the present invention are now described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, Figs. 1 through 5 show a control device for a marine engine in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention. In the following description, the present invention is described in connection with the control of a ship engine unit 1 , which, as shown in Fig. 10, is rotatably attached to the ship's hull 2 a. As shown in Fig. 1, in addition to the elements 12 to 15 , which are the same as those of the aforementioned known control device shown in Fig. 11, the control device includes a trim angle sensor 20 for detecting a trim angle of the marine engine unit 1 (namely, an angle of a longitudinal center line (fore and aft) of the marine engine unit 1 with respect to the vertical) and for generating a corresponding output signal, and a control device 16 A, which comprises a crank angle detection device 17 , which is the same as that shown in Fig. 11, and a fuel supply control device 18 A for adjusting one Amount of fuel which is supplied to the ship's engine 7 from the ship's engine unit 1 by a fuel supply device 19 and for controlling the fuel supply device 19 on the basis of the fuel quantity thus set. In the example shown, the fuel supply device 19 comprises a fuel injection for injecting an amount of fuel into an intake pipe of the marine engine 7 . Other types of fuel supply devices can also be used.

As shown in Figure 2, the trim angle sensor 20 includes a main body which is fixedly attached to a clamp bracket 3 which is fixedly connected to a stern part of the hull 2 a, and a rotatable lever which with a tensioning device such. B. a coil tension spring is tensioned to rotate about an axis of rotation in a vertical position so as to abut against a rotary bracket 5 , which is rotatably connected via an inclination or rotation axis 4 with the clamp bracket 3 , so that the marine engine unit 1 rotatable is supported as shown in Fig. 10. , Which is mounted between the clamp bracket 3 and the swivel mount 5 when the marine engine unit 1 through the pivot cylinder 9 (see Fig. 10), is pivoted upwards, the pivot bracket is offset in upward rotation in the counterclockwise direction of FIG. 2 5 so that the rotary lever 21 , which is tensioned upward or counterclockwise from FIG. 2, from a tensioning device, not shown, which follows the upward or counterclockwise rotation of the rotary holder 5 , while maintaining the system engagement. Such movement or rotation of the rotatable lever 21 is converted into a corresponding electrical signal, which represents a trim angle θ of the motor unit 1 , and is detected by an electrical device which is built into the body of the trim angle sensor 20 , which is not new, but more well known State of the art.

In this embodiment, the control device 16 a for controlling the fuel supply to the ship's engine comprises a microcomputer including the fuel quantity supply control device 18 A and the crank angle detection device 17 .

The operation of the above-mentioned embodiment will be described with reference to in Fig. Flowchart shown 3, illustrating the operation of the amount of fuel supply control device 18 A, and with reference to the Fig. 4, the relation between the increased amount of fuel, which is now in detail is fed to the ship's engine, and illustrates the trim angle. In Fig. 4, the abscissa denotes the trim angle (in degrees) and the ordinate the increase (in%) of the fuel quantity.

The fuel quantity supply control device 18 A of the microcomputer 16 a calculates a basic quantity of fuel which is supplied to the ship's engine, based on the speed of the ship's engine, the amount of intake air which is drawn into the ship's bog, and the crank angle of the ship's engine, in the same manner as in the previously explained engine control apparatus shown in Fig. 11. Furthermore, it also calculates an increase (namely, an amount of change) in the fuel supply in the following process and adds it to the above basic amount of fuel which is suitable for a modified optimum Amount of fuel is determined, and it generates a corresponding signal for the fuel supply device 19 in the form of a pulse with a pulse width corresponding to the changed optimal amount of fuel.

In particular, in step 30 in FIG. 3, the fuel quantity supply control device 18 A first determines the trim angle θ of the ship 2 based on the output signal of the trim angle sensor 20 . Then, in step 31, it is determined whether the trim angle θ thus determined is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value A in degrees (e.g. 15 °). If the answer to this question is YES (namely A ≧ θ), then in step 32 the basic amount of fueling is increased by a predetermined first amount or increase a% (e.g. 2%) and this is followed by Returned to step 30 . However, if the answer in step 31 is NO (e.g., θ <A), the program goes to step 33 , where it is further determined whether the trim angle θ is equal to or less than a second predetermined value B in degrees (e.g. B. 20 °). If the answer to this question is YES (e.g. B ≧ θ <A), then in step 34 the base amount of fuel is increased by a second predetermined amount or increase b% (e.g. 5%) and then a return is made to step 30 . On the other hand, if the answer in step 33 is NO (namely, θ <B), then in step 35 it is determined whether the trim angle θ is equal to or less than a third predetermined value C in degrees (e.g., 25 °). If the answer in step 35 is YES (namely C ≧ θ <B), then in step 36 the basic fuel quantity is increased by a third predetermined amount or an increase c in% (e.g. 7%), and then a return is made to step 30 . On the contrary, if the answer in step 35 is NO (namely, θ <C), then in step 37 the amount of fueling is increased by a predetermined fourth amount or increase d% (e.g. 10%) and one Return is then made to step 30 .

The relationship between the increased amount of fuel injection and the trim angle θ, which is controlled in the above-mentioned manner, is shown in FIG. 4. Thus, it is established that A <B <C and a <b <c <d, as is clear from the prediction.

According to this embodiment, the position of the ship's engine unit 1 with respect to the ship's hull 2 a is detected by the trim angle sensor 20 , and the amount of the basic fuel, which is determined on the basis of the output signals from the speed sensor 12 , intake air sensor 13 and first and second crank angle sensors 14 and 15 , can be changed in accordance with the output signal of the trim angle sensor 20 so as to prepare an optimal air-fuel ratio according to the current operating state of the ship or the ship's engine. Accordingly, a sufficient output power and stable speed of the ship's engine can be achieved, regardless of the position or position (namely the trim angle) of the ship's engine unit 1 , based on the ship's hull 2 a.

Although in the above description the amount of increase in the fuel supply is changed in a stepwise manner, it can be changed linearly or continuously with respect to the increasing trim angle as shown in Fig. 5 with substantially the same results. In this case, the marine engine output can be controlled more precisely or smoothly than with the step control of FIG. 4.

FIGS. 6 to 9 show another embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 6, this embodiment is substantially the same as the embodiment of FIG. 1 except for the fact that a control device 16 B contains, in addition to a crank angle detection device 17 and a fuel quantity supply control device 18 A, an ignition timing control device 22 A, for setting the ignition timing of the ship's engine based on the output signals from the speed sensor 12 , intake air sensor 13 , and the trim angle sensor 20 and an ignition signal generating device 23 for generating an ignition signal based on the output signals from the ignition timing control device 22 A and the crank angle detection device 17 to a conventional ignition system 30 to control the ship's engine. As is well known in the art, the ignition system 30 includes a power-generating coil 24 , a diode 25 , a thyristor 26 , an ignition capacitor, an ignition coil 28 with a primary winding connected at one end to the ignition capacitor 27 and the diode 25 with the power-generating coil Coil 24 is connected, and a secondary winding, which is connected to a spark plug 29 . One terminal of thyristor 26 is connected to a connection between diode 25 and capacitor 27 , and another terminal is connected to ground. A control gate is connected to receive an ignition signal from the ignition signal generating device 23 , whereby this is switched on or made conductive when the ignition signal is received by the ignition signal generating device 23 . Accordingly, the charge of the capacitor 27 discharges through the primary winding of the ignition coil 28 , whereby the spark plug 29 generates a spark. In this embodiment, the ignition timing control device 22 A and the fuel quantity supply control device 18 A can be implemented by control programs which are executed by the microcomputer 16 B.

The operation of this embodiment is substantially the same as that of the previous embodiment of FIG. 1 with the following exception. The crank angle detector 17 and the fuel amount supply controller 18 A operate so that the amount of fuel supplied to the marine engine is properly controlled based on the output signals from the first and second crank angle sensors 14 and 15 and the trim angle sensor 20 in the same manner as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 3. On the other hand, the ignition timing control device 22 A and the ignition signal generating device 23 work in such a way that the ignition timing of the ship's engine is controlled on the basis of the output signals from the speed sensor 12 , the intake air sensor 13 and the crank angle detection device 17 , the ignition timing control device 22 a calculating a basic ignition timing from this, in which the spark plug 29 generates a spark when the trim angle θ is zero. The basic ignition timing, which is thus calculated, is then corrected or changed in accordance with the trim angle θ of the marine engine unit 1 , which is detected by the trim angle sensor 20 . Such correction or change of the basic ignition timing is carried out in a manner as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7.

In Fig. 7, the trim angle, first, in step 40 θ detected by the trim angle sensor 20, and then it is determined in step 41 whether the trim angle θ equal to or less than a fifth predetermined angle W (z. B. 20 °). If this is the case (W ≧ θ), the basic ignition point t is advanced in step 42 by a first predetermined angle of w degrees (eg 1 °), and a return is made to step 40 . However, if the answer in step 41 is negative (namely, θ <W), it is further determined in step 43 whether the trim angle θ is equal to or less than a sixth predetermined angle X (e.g., 25 °). If the answer to this question is positive (namely X ≧ θ <W), then in step 44 the basic ignition timing is advanced by a second predetermined angle of x degrees (e.g. 3 °), and this returns to step 40 executed. On the other hand, if the answer in step 43 is negative (namely θ <X), then in step 45 it is determined whether the trim angle θ is equal to or less than a seventh predetermined angle Y (e.g. 30 °). If the answer to this question is positive (namely Y <θ), then in step 46 the basic ignition timing t is advanced by a third predetermined angle of y degrees (e.g. 6 °), and a return is made to step 40 . If the answer in step 45 is negative (namely θ <Y), then in step 47 the basic ignition timing t is advanced by a fourth predetermined angle of z degrees (e.g. 8 °). Then a return is made to step 40 .

The ignition timing control described above according to which W <X <Y and w <x <y <z applies is explained with reference to the illustration in FIG. 8. In this regard, W, X and Y can be A, B and C, respectively.

According to the embodiment described above, based on the position of the ship engine unit 1 detected as the trim angle by the trim angle sensor 20 , not only the amount of fuel provided to the ship engine is controlled to optimize the air-fuel ratio of a mixture, but the ignition timing of the ship's engine is also properly controlled or changed in accordance with the ship's engine load, whereby the ship's engine can produce enough stable-speed output regardless of the position of the ship and the load condition of the ship's engine. All of this can be achieved with a relatively simple and inexpensive structure, such as. B. by using control programs.

Although in the embodiment described above, the degree of correction or change (e.g., advancing the angle) in the ignition timing control is changed in a stepwise manner, it can be changed linearly or continuously as shown in the illustration of FIG. 9 , with essentially the same results. In this case, however, the engine output can be controlled more precisely or smoothly than with the step control of FIG. 8.

Furthermore, although in the embodiment, the fuel amount and the ignition timing are both controlled to change, based on the trim signal of the ship engine unit 1 , only one of the two can be controlled as desired to achieve substantially the same results.

In addition, although in the above description, the present invention is applied to a To control four-stroke marine engine, as it were applied to other types of internal combustion engines, for example Two-stroke engines.

Claims (7)

1. Control device for a ship engine with

• a) a trim angle sensor ( 20 ) for generating a trim angle sensor signal according to a trim angle (θ) between a ship ( 2 ) and a ship engine ( 1 ) attached to the ship ( 2 ),
• b) an ignition timing control device ( 22 A) for controlling the ignition timing of the ship's engine ( 1 ), and
• c) a fuel supply control device ( 18 A) for controlling the amount of fuel supplied to the ship's engine ( 1 ),

characterized in that

• a) the trim angle sensor ( 20 ) with the ignition timing control device ( 22 A) and the fuel supply control device ( 18 A) is directly connected so that the ignition timing of the ship's engine ( 1 ) and the amount of fuel supplied to it simultaneously on the basis of the trim angle (θ ) are controllable.

2. Control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the fuel supply control device ( 18 A) increases the amount of fuel when the trim angle (θ) increases. 3. Control device according to claim 2, characterized in that the fuel supply control device ( 18 A) gradually increases the amount of fuel when the trim angle (θ) increases. 4. Control device according to claim 2, characterized in that the fuel supply control device ( 18 A) increases the fuel quantity linearly when the trim angle (θ) increases. 5. Control device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the ignition timing control device ( 22 A) advances the ignition timing when the trim angle (θ) increases. 6. Control device according to claim 5, characterized in that the ignition timing control device ( 22 A) gradually advances the ignition timing when the trim angle (θ) increases. 7. Control device according to claim 5, characterized in that the ignition timing control device ( 22 A) linearly advances the ignition timing when the trim angle (θ) increases.