JP2002187597A - Steering device for small sized ship - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering device for a small sized ship easily ensuring a space for arranging a cable in a hull and capable of improving the flexibility of a layout of a cable arrangement. SOLUTION: This steering device of the small sized ship, in which an outboard motor 1 is placed in a stern 2a to be capable of rocking in the ship width direction, and the outboard motor 1 is rocked according to the operation amount of a steering wheel 8, comprises a driving motor 48 placed and contained in the outboard motor 1 for driving and rocking the outboard motor 1; a manipulated variable detecting means for detecting the manipulated variable of the steering wheel 8; ECU 53 (steering control means) for driving and controlling the driving motor 48 based on a detected value (a) of the manipulated variable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering system for a small boat in which an outboard motor arranged at the stern is swung right and left by operating a steering wheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a small boat such as a motor boat, an outboard motor is mounted on the stern, and the outboard motor is swung right and left by rotating a steering handle provided in a cockpit. This turns the hull.

Conventionally, as such a steering device for remotely controlling the outboard motor, a mechanical device for transmitting the turning operation of the steering wheel to the outboard motor by a wire cable, a link mechanism, or the like, or a steering device for the steering wheel. A hydraulic type in which a rotation operation is transmitted to an outboard motor by hydraulic pressure generated by a hydraulic pump is generally used.

[0004]

When the above-mentioned conventional mechanical and hydraulic remote controls are employed, it is necessary to secure a special space for laying wire cables and hydraulic piping on the hull. Yes, and wire cable,
Due to the structure of the hydraulic piping, there is a problem that the wiring layout is restricted and the degree of freedom in design is low.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and can easily secure a wiring space.
An object of the present invention is to provide a steering device for a small boat capable of improving the degree of freedom of a wiring layout.

[0006]

According to the present invention, an outboard motor is arranged at the stern so as to be swingable in the width direction of the stern, and the outboard motor is swung according to the operation amount of a steering wheel. In a steering device for a small boat, a drive motor housed in the outboard motor and configured to swing and drive the outboard motor, operation amount detection means for detecting an operation amount of the steering wheel, and the operation amount detection value. And a steering control means for controlling the drive of the drive motor.

[0007]

According to the steering apparatus of the present invention, the operation amount of the steering wheel is detected by the operation amount detection means, and the outboard motor is controlled by the drive motor based on the control signal from the steering control means based on the detection value. Since the swing driving is performed, the operation amount detecting means of the steering wheel, the steering control means, and the drive motor are connected to each other by electric wiring. The space required for laying the hydraulic piping can be smaller than the space required, and the wiring space for electric wiring can be easily secured in the hull, and the degree of freedom of the wiring layout can be increased.

Further, since the drive motor is housed in the outboard motor, it is possible to prevent the entire device from being enlarged when the drive motor is externally attached to the outside of the outboard motor or to the hull side. A waterproof structure can be eliminated.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 4 are views for explaining a steering apparatus for a small boat according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the steering apparatus, and FIG. 2 is provided with the steering apparatus. FIG. 3 is a side view of an outboard motor mounted on the hull, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a forward / reverse switching mechanism of the outboard motor.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an outboard motor mounted on a stern 2a of a hull 2, and the outboard motor 1 swings up and down by a clamp bracket 7 fixed to the hull 2 via a swivel arm 7a. It is pivotally supported so as to be able to swing in the left-right direction via a pivot shaft 7b. The hull 2
A cockpit 2b is provided in the center of the cockpit.
A steering handle 8 is disposed in front of b, and a shift device 9 that constitutes a hull-side portion of a forward / reverse switching device 23 described later is disposed laterally.

The outboard motor 1 has an engine 5 mounted on a lower case 4 composed of a lower case 4a and an upper case 4b in which the propulsion unit 3 is disposed, and surrounds the outer periphery of the engine 5. It is of a schematic structure in which a cowling 6 is mounted on the vehicle.

The engine 5 is arranged vertically so that a crankshaft 5a is substantially vertical when traveling, and a drive shaft 10 supported by a lower case 4 is connected to the crankshaft 5a. A throttle actuator 14 for opening and closing the throttle valve is connected to a throttle valve (not shown) of the engine 5.

The propulsion device 3 has a propulsion shaft 11 inserted and disposed in the lower case portion 4a so as to face horizontally. And a propeller 13 is attached to the rear end of the propulsion shaft 11.

The bevel gear mechanism 12 has a drive bevel gear 15 fixed to the drive shaft 10 meshed with a forward bevel gear 16 and a reverse bevel gear 17 rotatably mounted on the propulsion shaft 11. The front and rear bevel gears 16 and 17 are rotatably supported by the lower case portion 4a with bearings 18 and 19 interposed therebetween.

Further, the bevel gear 1 in front of and behind the propulsion shaft 11
A cylindrical dog clutch 20 is spline-connected between the shafts 6 and 17 so as to be movable in the axial direction. The dog clutch 20 includes a neutral position N that does not mesh with any of the front and reverse bevel gears 16 and 17 and a front and reverse bevel gear 1.
Clutch-in position C1, C engaged with any one of
2 and can be moved to the neutral position N.
, The rotational force of the drive shaft 10 is transmitted to the propulsion shaft 11 when the drive shaft 10 is moved to any one of the clutch-in positions C1 and C2.

The propulsion unit 3 includes the forward / reverse switching device 23
The outboard motor-side portion is disposed and has the following structure. An insertion hole 11b extending in the axial direction from the front end surface of the propulsion shaft 11 is formed, and the rear half of the dog shaft 25 is inserted into the insertion hole 11b so as to be slidable in the axial direction. The dog clutch 20 is connected and fixed to the dog shaft 25 via a cross pin 26. The cross pin 26 can be moved in the axial direction by a long hole 11a formed in the propulsion shaft 11 so as to penetrate the insertion hole 11b.

An electromagnetic drive mechanism (actuator) 30 is provided in the front half of the dog shaft 25. The electromagnetic drive mechanism 30 is housed and arranged in a housing space portion 4c formed in the lower case portion 4a, and is attached to and fixed to the dog shaft 25. ) 31 and a pair of front and rear electromagnetic coil members 32 and 33 arranged to face the movable iron member 31 with a predetermined gap therebetween. It is supported and fixed to the lower case part 4a.

Further, springs 35 and 36 are interposed between the movable iron member 31 and the two electromagnetic coil members 32 and 33. The springs 35 and 36 connect the movable iron member 31 to the dog shaft 25 in the neutral position. N is urged to stand still. Spring receiving seats 34, 34 are provided between the electromagnetic coil members 32, 33 and the springs 35, 36.

Further, the storage space portion 4c communicates with the outside near the clamp bracket 7 from the lower case portion 4a through the inside of the upper case portion 4b.
An electric wire (not shown) for supplying power to each of the electromagnetic coil members 32 and 33 is routed in c.

The shift device 9 has a shift lever 40 pivotally supported by a shift box 41 so as to be rotatable in the longitudinal direction of the hull. The shift lever 40 has a neutral position N at an intermediate position in the front-rear direction, and a forward clutch-in position C in which the forward bevel gear 16 is coupled to the propulsion shaft 11 by rotating forward from the neutral position N.
By rotating the throttle actuator 14 further forward from the clutch-in position C1, the throttle actuator 14 rotates in accordance with the rotation amount between a forward traveling position F in which the throttle valve is opened. A reverse clutch-in position C2 in which the reverse bevel gear 17 is coupled to the propulsion shaft 11 by rotating backward from the neutral position N, and in accordance with the amount of rotation by rotating further backward from the clutch-in position C2. Thus, the throttle actuator 14 rotates between a reverse traveling position R in which the throttle valve is opened.

The outboard motor 1 is provided with a steering device 45. The steering device 45 has the following structure. The steering device 45 is housed and disposed in the lower case 4, and fixes the worm wheel 46 to the pivot shaft 7 b in the lower case 4.
And a drive motor 48 is connected to the worm 47 via a speed reduction mechanism. The electric wire for supplying power to the drive motor 48 is routed in the storage space 4c together with the electric wires of the electromagnetic coil members 32 and 33 up to a certain point.

The outboard motor 1 includes a control unit 50 for controlling the drive of the throttle actuator 14, the electromagnetic clutch mechanism 30, and the drive motor 48.
The control unit 50 is housed in the shift box 41 and amplifies and outputs signals from the respective sensors, an amplifier 51 for preventing malfunction, a forward / reverse switching control means, ECU 53 functioning as throttle control means and steering control means
It has.

A detection signal supply line for inputting signals from various sensors is connected to the control unit 50. The control signal supply line from the control unit 50 and the power supply line from the battery are integrated into one. The bundled wire harness 55 is an empty space of the hull 2,
For example, the cable is routed to the outboard motor 2 along the inside of the side wall, and is connected to the throttle actuator 14, the electromagnetic drive mechanism 30, the drive motor 48, and the like through the storage space 4c.

The steering wheel 8 is provided with a steering angle sensor (not shown), and a steering angle detection value a of the steering angle sensor is inputted to the control unit 50. The shift lever 40 is provided with a shift position sensor (not shown). A detection signal b corresponding to each shift position F-C1-N-C2-R of the position sensor is input to the control unit 50. You.

The ECU 53 outputs a forward clutch drive signal c to the electromagnetic drive mechanism 30, for example, when the detection signal b from the shift position sensor is the forward clutch in C1. Then, the electromagnetic coil member 3 on the forward side
2, the movable iron member 31 is attracted and the dog shaft 25 moves forward, and the dog clutch 20
Meshes with the forward bevel gear 16. Thus, the rotational power of the drive shaft 10 is transmitted to the propulsion shaft 11 via the forward bevel gear 16 and the dog clutch 20. When the shift lever 40 is further rotated forward from this state, a throttle drive signal d corresponding to the amount of the rotation is input to the throttle actuator 14. Then, the throttle actuator 14 opens the throttle valve, thereby increasing the engine speed. When the reverse operation is performed from the neutral position N, the same control operation as described above is performed.

The ECU 53 outputs a steering drive signal e corresponding to a detection value a from the steering angle sensor to the drive motor 48.
Output to Then, the drive motor 48 swings the outboard motor 1 right and left through the worm 47 and the worm wheel 46. Thereby, the hull 2 turns at an angle corresponding to the operation amount of the steering wheel 8.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

According to the present embodiment, the steering angle of the steering wheel 8 is detected by the steering angle sensor, and the outboard motor 1 is driven by the drive motor 48 by the control signal of the ECU 53 in accordance with the detected angle.
Is turned, and the shift position of the shift lever 40 is detected by a shift position sensor. The dog clutch 20 is moved forward and backward by the electromagnetic drive mechanism 30 by the control signal of the ECU 53 corresponding to the detected shift position.
2 are electrically connected to each other, but the space required for the wiring of the wire harness 55 in which these various electric wires are bundled into one is the conventional space. The space required for arranging the wire cables and the hydraulic pipes can be made smaller than the space required for arranging the wire harness 55, and the arranging space for the wire harness 55 can be easily secured by utilizing the empty space of the hull 2. Further, since the wire harness 51 has flexibility and can be bent freely, the degree of freedom of the wiring layout can be increased.

In this embodiment, the drive motor 48 and the worm gears 46 and 47 are housed and arranged in the lower case 4 and the electromagnetic drive mechanism 30 is arranged on the dog shaft 25 in the lower case 4. In addition to preventing an increase in the size of the entire device when it is externally attached to the outside of the machine 1 or the hull 2 side, a special waterproof structure can be eliminated because water is unlikely to be applied, and a cost increase can be suppressed.

The electromagnetic drive mechanism 30 is connected to the dog shaft 25
Because the dog clutch 20 is directly driven by the electromagnetic drive mechanism 30, the dog clutch 20 is also directly driven by the electromagnetic drive mechanism 30 compared with the case where the dog clutch is driven via a cable or the like by a conventional actuator disposed on the hull side. The whole device can be miniaturized and the structure can be simplified.

Further, the electromagnetic drive mechanism 30 is connected to the dog shaft 2
5 and a movable iron member 31
1 and a pair of front and rear electromagnetic coil members 32 and 33 disposed opposite to each other, so that the outboard motor 1 can be compactly stored in a small space and the outboard motor 1 has electric wires. , And transmission members such as conventional shift rods and crankpins can be eliminated, the structure can be simplified, and the entire outboard motor can be further miniaturized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a steering device for a small boat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a hull provided with the steering device.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an outboard motor mounted on the hull.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a forward / reverse switching mechanism of the outboard motor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 outboard motor 2 hull 2 a stern 8 steering handle 48 drive motor 53 ECU (steering control means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] An outboard motor is provided at the stern so as to be swingable in the width direction of the boat, and the outboard motor is swung according to an operation amount of a steering wheel. A drive motor housed in the outboard motor for swinging the outboard motor, operation amount detection means for detecting the operation amount of the steering wheel, and driving control of the drive motor based on the operation amount detection value A steering device for a small boat, comprising: steering control means.