EP4273662A1 - Ensemble levier de commande pour un navire - Google Patents

Ensemble levier de commande pour un navire Download PDF

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Publication number
EP4273662A1
EP4273662A1 EP22172004.8A EP22172004A EP4273662A1 EP 4273662 A1 EP4273662 A1 EP 4273662A1 EP 22172004 A EP22172004 A EP 22172004A EP 4273662 A1 EP4273662 A1 EP 4273662A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
control lever
lever assembly
neutral position
sensor
rotation axis
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP22172004.8A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Paolo MORUZZI
Ferruccio Basurto
Massimo TRANQUILLINI
Gianluca Straccio
Danilo Selvaggi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF Padova SRL
Original Assignee
ZF Friedrichshafen AG
ZF Padova SRL
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ZF Friedrichshafen AG, ZF Padova SRL filed Critical ZF Friedrichshafen AG
Priority to EP22172004.8A priority Critical patent/EP4273662A1/fr
Publication of EP4273662A1 publication Critical patent/EP4273662A1/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
    • B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
    • B63H21/00—Use of propulsion power plant or units on vessels
    • B63H21/21—Control means for engine or transmission, specially adapted for use on marine vessels
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
    • B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
    • B63H21/00—Use of propulsion power plant or units on vessels
    • B63H21/21—Control means for engine or transmission, specially adapted for use on marine vessels
    • B63H21/213—Levers or the like for controlling the engine or the transmission, e.g. single hand control levers
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05G—CONTROL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS INSOFAR AS CHARACTERISED BY MECHANICAL FEATURES ONLY
    • G05G1/00—Controlling members, e.g. knobs or handles; Assemblies or arrangements thereof; Indicating position of controlling members
    • G05G1/04—Controlling members for hand actuation by pivoting movement, e.g. levers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
    • B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
    • B63H21/00—Use of propulsion power plant or units on vessels
    • B63H21/21—Control means for engine or transmission, specially adapted for use on marine vessels
    • B63H2021/216—Control means for engine or transmission, specially adapted for use on marine vessels using electric control means

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a control lever assembly for the control of a propulsion system in a marine vessel.
  • control lever assembly for marine vessels has been disclosed in US 2008/0283732 A1 . It describes a control lever assembly comprising an optical potentiometer with a light emitter and a light collector.
  • the optical potentiometer further comprises an opaque screen element for transmitting the light through the screen and detecting the light transmitted through the screen.
  • the optical potentiometer is used to convert a rotational motion of the lever into a change in electrical signals. Such electrical signals can be used as control parameters regarding the propulsion system of the marine vessel.
  • the purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved control lever assembly for a marine vessel, especially with respect to a simple and compact design and a highly reliable function in a wide range of applicability.
  • the control lever assembly comprising a stationary base, a control lever which is mounted rotatable about a rotation axis on the stationary base and a rotation sensor which is configured to determine a rotational position of the control lever.
  • the control lever assembly comprises further a neutral position sensor which is arranged for determining a neutral position of the control lever.
  • the neutral position may be an indexed position between several forward and several reverse positions of the control lever.
  • the full range of rotation about the rotation axis of the control lever covers a forward range, a reverse range and the neutral position.
  • the neutral position may correspond to a middle position of the control lever between the forward range and the reverse range.
  • the neutral position may further correspond to zero movement of the control lever. While in the forward and reverse range there will be torque provided by the propulsion system of the marine vessel to drive at least one propeller, in the neutral position there will be no torque and driving power provided to drive the propeller.
  • the control lever assembly contains at least two sensors.
  • a first sensor namely the rotation sensor to detect the rotational positioning of the control lever in its full range of rotation
  • a second sensor namely the neutral position sensor to detect the neutral position of the control lever.
  • the neutral position sensor enhancing the reliability and safety of the control system because the neutral position sensor acts independently from the rotation sensor and can be of a different technology.
  • Both sensors generating at the output thereof an electric signal which is representative of the movement and/or position of said lever, and the control lever assembly may further comprise signal processing means for processing the electric signal generated at the output of said converter means.
  • the rotation sensor can be positioned in the rotation axis, while the neutral position sensor can be positioned with a radial offset to the rotation axis. This way both sensors can be placed with some space between each other in one radial plane. Hence, space in the axial direction can be saved.
  • the terms axial and radial in this specification refer to the rotation axis of the control lever if no other reference is given.
  • the rotation sensor can be a hall sensor, as an example.
  • the rotation sensor may detect the full range of rotation of the control lever including the neutral position. Hence, the additional neutral position sensor is installed for getting a redundant signal for higher reliability.
  • the neutral position sensor is an optical sensor and comprises a light emitter a reflector and a light detector to detect a light signal emitted by the light emitter.
  • the term light is used for electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength and not only for visible light.
  • the neutral range position will be detected with a sensor based on optical reflection.
  • the detector can comprise a silicon phototransistor that is triggered by the detection of reflected light from the reflector.
  • the optical sensor can work with infrared light.
  • the reflector allows to position the light emitter and the light detector in one plane opposite to the reflector.
  • the light emitter and the light detector can both be positioned stationary with regard to the base, while the reflector is mounted to rotate with the control lever.
  • the reflector is mounted to the control lever in such a position to reflect the light to the light detector when the control lever is in the neutral position.
  • One benefit of such an embodiment is the freedom to regulate the rotation angle of visibility of the reflector just by changing the dimension of the reflector. Additionally, the rotation angle of visibility can be adjusted by signal acquisition in an electronic circuit described below.
  • One embodiment features a control lever with a shaft which is arranged to rotate about said rotation axis.
  • the reflector in this embodiment is fixed to the shaft with a radial offset to the rotation axis.
  • the reflector may be fixed to one end of the shaft in a first plane which is perpendicular to the rotation axis.
  • the light emitter and the light detector can be positioned in another plane which is parallel to the first plane with a little distance between the first and second plane. This distance can be called the working distance or the working gap of the optical sensor consisting of the light emitter, the reflector and the light detector.
  • the light emitter and the light detector are both mounted on a printed circuit board, known as PCB.
  • This PCB can be positioned in said second plane which is arranged perpendicular to the rotation axis of the control lever.
  • the neutral position sensor or parts of it can be integrated in the signal processing unit as discrete components being soldered onto the PCB in a very compact design.
  • the rotation sensor or parts of it can as well be integrated in the signal processing unit and being soldered onto the PCB.
  • the light emitter is arranged to emit a frequency signal and the light detector is arranged to detect such a frequency signal.
  • the optical sensor can be driven by a photodiode emitting a frequency signal.
  • the acquisition of the signal is also based on reading the frequency and not an on/off level of the signal.
  • the use of frequency signal instead of on/off signal guarantees the detection of malfunction on the sensor or in the microcontroller. Reliability is further improved by this feature.
  • the control lever assembly 1 shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 comprises a stationary base 3, a control lever 2 which is mounted rotatable about a rotation axis 4 on the stationary base 3.
  • a PCB 10 is part of the stationary base 3.
  • the control lever assembly 1 further comprises a rotation sensor 5 which is configured to determine a rotational position of the control lever 2.
  • This rotation sensor 5 of this embodiment is a hall effect rotary sensor which it is positioned at the rotation axis 4.
  • a neutral position sensor 6 is arranged at the control lever assembly 1 to determine a neutral position of the control lever 2.
  • the neutral position sensor 6 is positioned with a radial offset to the rotation axis 4. Hence, the neutral position sensor 6 and the rotation sensor 5 are positioned with a distance between each other in radial direction.
  • the neutral position sensor 6 comprises a light emitter 7 a reflector 9 and a light detector 8.
  • the light emitter 7 and the light detector 8 are both mounted on the PCB 10 and hence are stationary with regard to the base 3.
  • the reflector 9 is fastened to the shaft 11 and rotates with the control lever 2 about rotation axis 4.
  • the PCB 10 with the light emitter 7 and the light detector 8 is put in a vertical plane in a way, that there is only a small gap between the light emitter 7 and reflector 9.
  • Said small gap is the working distance of the optical neutral position sensor 6 and can be in a range of about 1 mm. This allows a very compact arrangement of the sensors.
  • the whole control lever assembly 1 can be of a simple and compact design.
  • the rotation sensor 5 comprises a magnet 12 as a moving element of the rotation sensor 5.
  • the magnet 12 is fixed to the shaft 11 and rotating with the control lever 2 about the rotation axis 4, while a stationary part of the rotation sensor 5 is fixed onto the PCB 10.
  • FIG. 4 shows a diagram with the electric signaling of the rotation sensor 5 and the neutral position sensor 6 depending on the rotational position of the control lever 2.
  • the position of the control lever 2 is plotted against the horizontal axis.
  • a neutral position is defined as a small range from N' to N around the exact middle po sition at 0°.
  • the electric signals of the sensors 5 and 6 in the connected electronic circuit are plotted against the vertical axis.
  • a dashed line indicates the response to the signal of the rotation sensor 5.
  • the control logic of the rotation sensor 5 in this embodiment covers a rotation range of the control lever between - 70° and + 70° with regard to an exact middle position at 0 °, wherein -70° corresponds to full astern command and +70° corresponds to a full ahead command of the user.
  • a bold continuous line indicates the response of the optical state logic based on the signal of the neutral position sensor 6 that can be adjusted by calibration of the electronic circuit and by the dimension of the mechanical reflector 8.
  • the neutral detection by the neutral position sensor 6 is calibrated to overlap the band of the defined neutral position between N' and N by a certain margin.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Mechanical Control Devices (AREA)
EP22172004.8A 2022-05-06 2022-05-06 Ensemble levier de commande pour un navire Pending EP4273662A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP22172004.8A EP4273662A1 (fr) 2022-05-06 2022-05-06 Ensemble levier de commande pour un navire

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP22172004.8A EP4273662A1 (fr) 2022-05-06 2022-05-06 Ensemble levier de commande pour un navire

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP4273662A1 true EP4273662A1 (fr) 2023-11-08

Family

ID=81585628

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP22172004.8A Pending EP4273662A1 (fr) 2022-05-06 2022-05-06 Ensemble levier de commande pour un navire

Country Status (1)

Country Link
EP (1) EP4273662A1 (fr)

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7247066B2 (en) * 2004-08-25 2007-07-24 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Remote operation system for outboard motor
US20080283732A1 (en) 2005-10-28 2008-11-20 Aimbridge Pty Ltd Optical Potentiometer with Temperature Drift Compensation
US20120077394A1 (en) * 2010-09-27 2012-03-29 Compx International Inc. Electronic ski control
EP3418851A1 (fr) * 2017-03-01 2018-12-26 Aqualisa Products Limited Organe de commande

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7247066B2 (en) * 2004-08-25 2007-07-24 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Remote operation system for outboard motor
US20080283732A1 (en) 2005-10-28 2008-11-20 Aimbridge Pty Ltd Optical Potentiometer with Temperature Drift Compensation
US20120077394A1 (en) * 2010-09-27 2012-03-29 Compx International Inc. Electronic ski control
EP3418851A1 (fr) * 2017-03-01 2018-12-26 Aqualisa Products Limited Organe de commande

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