JP2015054654A - Control device for watercraft - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control device for a watercraft that selects an optimal pitch in a variable pitch propeller according to a travel state of the watercraft, particularly to an acceleration state of the watercraft and a slip ratio of the propeller, in order to improve traveling performance of the watercraft.SOLUTION: Provided is a control device for a watercraft which is driven by an internal combustion (engine) and in which a variable pitch propeller (propeller) whose pitch can be altered is mounted on the hull. The control device for a watercraft includes: throttle opening detection means (throttle opening sensor) for detecting a throttle opening TH of the internal combustion; slip ratio calculation means (S128 etc.) for calculating a slip ratio SP of the variable pitch propeller on the basis of a theoretical speed and an actual speed of the watercraft; and pitch alteration means (S108, S110, S128, S130, S138, S144, S150, S152, etc.) for altering a pitch of the variable pitch propeller on the basis of the detected throttle opening TH and the calculated slip ratio SP.

Description

  The present invention relates to a ship control apparatus, and more particularly to a ship control apparatus in which a variable pitch propeller that is driven by an internal combustion engine and can change a pitch is attached to a hull.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a ship control device that can change (adjust) the pitch of a propeller in accordance with a ship travel mode such as a cruise mode or a trolling mode (maneuvering mode) has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  The technique described in Patent Document 1 is configured to improve the traveling performance and fuel consumption performance of the ship by changing the pitch of the propeller according to the traveling mode of the ship.

Special table 2007-509792

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 only changes the pitch according to the traveling mode, and finely adjusts the pitch according to the traveling state of the ship (for example, the acceleration state of the ship and the slip ratio of the propeller). It does not change. For this reason, there is still room for improvement in the running performance of the ship.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to select the optimum pitch in the variable pitch propeller according to the traveling state of the ship, particularly the acceleration state of the ship and the slip ratio of the propeller, thereby improving the traveling performance of the ship. An object of the present invention is to provide a ship control apparatus that is improved.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ship control apparatus in which a variable pitch propeller that is driven by an internal combustion engine and is capable of changing a pitch is attached to a hull. Throttle opening detecting means for detecting the throttle opening; slip ratio calculating means for calculating the slip ratio of the variable pitch propeller based on the theoretical speed and the actual speed of the ship; the detected throttle opening and the Pitch changing means for changing the pitch of the variable pitch propeller based on the calculated slip ratio is provided.

  In the ship control device according to claim 2, the pitch changing means is configured such that the detected change amount of the throttle opening is not less than a predetermined value, and the calculated change amount of the slip ratio is not less than a specified value. At this time, the variable pitch propeller is changed so as to increase the pitch.

  In the ship control device according to claim 3, the pitch changing means changes the pitch of the variable pitch propeller to be increased, and then the calculated change amount of the slip ratio is less than the specified value. In this case, the pitch of the variable pitch propeller is changed so as to increase based on the calculated slip ratio.

  In the ship control device according to claim 4, the pitch changing means changes the pitch of the variable pitch propeller to increase, and then the calculated change amount of the slip ratio is less than the specified value. At this time, the pitch of the variable pitch propeller is changed so as to increase as the calculated slip ratio decreases.

  In the ship control device according to claim 5, the pitch changing means is configured to stop changing the pitch of the variable pitch propeller when the calculated slip ratio is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a ship control device that is driven by an internal combustion engine and has a variable pitch propeller capable of changing the pitch attached to the hull, the throttle opening of the internal combustion engine is detected, and Since the slip ratio of the variable pitch propeller is calculated based on the theoretical speed and the actual speed, and the pitch of the variable pitch propeller is changed based on the detected throttle opening and the calculated slip ratio, The optimum pitch can be selected in the variable pitch propeller according to the running state, particularly the acceleration state of the ship and the slip ratio of the propeller, and thus the running performance of the ship can be improved.

  In the ship control device according to claim 2, when the detected change amount of the throttle opening is not less than a predetermined value and the calculated change amount of the slip ratio is not less than a specified value, the pitch of the variable pitch propeller In addition to the effects described above, it is possible to select a more optimal pitch in the variable pitch propeller according to the acceleration state of the ship and the slip ratio of the propeller, and thus the running performance of the ship. Can be further improved.

  In the marine vessel control apparatus according to claim 3, the calculated slip ratio is calculated when the calculated slip ratio changes below a specified value after changing the pitch of the variable pitch propeller to increase. The pitch of the variable pitch propeller is changed so as to increase based on the above, so in addition to the above-described effects, a more optimal pitch can be selected in the variable pitch propeller according to the acceleration state of the ship and the slip ratio of the propeller Therefore, the traveling performance of the ship can be further improved.

  In the marine vessel control apparatus according to claim 4, when the change amount of the calculated slip ratio becomes less than a specified value after changing so as to increase the pitch of the variable pitch propeller, the pitch of the variable pitch propeller In addition to the effects described above, a more optimal pitch is selected in the variable pitch propeller in accordance with the acceleration state of the ship and the slip ratio of the propeller. Therefore, the traveling performance of the ship can be further improved.

  In the ship control device according to claim 5, since the change of the pitch of the variable pitch propeller is stopped when the calculated slip ratio is equal to or less than the predetermined value, in addition to the above effect, the ship navigation It is possible to prevent the speed from decreasing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is the schematic which shows the ship control apparatus concerning the Example of this invention generally including a hull. FIG. 2 is a partially sectional enlarged side view of the outboard motor shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the outboard motor shown in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows the shift position determination operation | movement of the electronic control unit shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a sub-routine flowchart showing a forward control operation of the flowchart of FIG. 4, more specifically, a propeller pitch control operation. 5 is a time chart for explaining the processing of the flow chart.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for implementing a ship control device according to the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 is a schematic view showing a ship control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as a whole including a hull, FIG. 2 is a partially sectional enlarged side view of the outboard motor shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. It is an enlarged side view of an outboard motor.

  1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a ship. In the ship 1, an outboard motor 10 is mounted on a hull (hull) 12.

  The outboard motor 10 is attached to the stern (stern) 12 a of the hull 12 via the stern bracket 14 and the tilting shaft 16. As shown in FIG. 2, an internal combustion engine (hereinafter referred to as “engine”) 18 is mounted on the outboard motor 10. The engine 18 is a spark ignition type water-cooled gasoline engine and has a displacement of 2200 cc. In the outboard motor 10, the engine 18 is located on the water surface and is covered by the engine cover 20.

  A throttle body 24 is connected to the intake pipe 22 of the engine 18. The throttle body 24 includes a throttle valve 26 inside, and a throttle electric motor 28 that opens and closes the throttle valve 26 is integrally attached thereto. The output shaft of the throttle electric motor 28 is connected to the throttle valve 26 via a reduction gear mechanism (not shown).

  A propeller 30 is attached to the lower portion of the outboard motor 10, and a propeller shaft 32 that is rotatably supported around a horizontal axis and transmits power from the engine 18 to the propeller 30 is disposed. Between the engine 18 and the propeller shaft 32, a transmission 34 having a plurality of shift stages such as first speed and second speed is inserted.

  The transmission 34 includes a transmission mechanism 36 that can switch a plurality of shift speeds, and a shift mechanism 38 that can switch the shift position to a forward position, a reverse position, and a neutral position. The speed change mechanism 36 includes an input shaft 40 connected to a crankshaft (not shown) of the engine 18, a counter shaft 42 connected to the input shaft 40 via gears, and a plurality of gears to the counter shaft 42. The output shaft 44 is connected to a parallel shaft type stepped transmission mechanism arranged in parallel.

  The propeller 30 includes a plurality of blades 30a (only one is shown in FIG. 2) and a boss 30b that constitutes the main body of the propeller 30 and to which the blades 30a are attached. The propeller 30 is a variable pitch propeller, and is configured such that the pitch angle of each blade 30a (the angle of the blade 30a with respect to the traveling direction) can be changed. Therefore, by changing the pitch angle, the pitch of the propeller 30 (the distance (inches) that the ship 1 (the hull 12) travels while the propeller 30 makes one revolution) can be changed.

  In the propeller 30, the pitch (pitch angle) is changed by the transition shaft 50 connected to each blade 30 a of the propeller 30 and the hydraulic mechanism 52 that controls the operation of the transition shaft 50.

  The transition shaft 50 is composed of a piston rod inserted through the hollow propeller shaft 32 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and a piston 50 a is formed on one end side (right side in the drawing) of the transition shaft 50.

  A plurality of protrusions 50b (only one is shown in FIG. 2) projecting in the radial direction are provided on the outer peripheral surface in the vicinity of the distal end portion (the other end side) of the knot shaft 50. The protrusion 50b is configured to be able to fit into a groove formed in the lower portion of the blade shaft of each blade 30a.

  When the protrusion 50b moves in the axial direction along with the movement (expansion / contraction) of the knot shaft 50, the blade 30a moves (rotates) in a direction to change the pitch angle in conjunction with the movement of the protrusion 50b in the axial direction. . That is, the axial movement of the protrusion 50b is converted into the movement of the pitch angle of the blade 30a through the groove below the blade shaft.

  The hydraulic mechanism 52 includes a gear pump 52a, a pipe 52b connecting the gear pump 52a and the oil chamber 32a in the propeller shaft 32, a solenoid valve (electromagnetic valve) 52c for controlling the amount of hydraulic oil from the gear pump 52a, and the like.

  The gear pump 52 a is driven by a pump driving gear 52 d that is fixed to the outer periphery of the output shaft 44 and rotates together with the output shaft 44. Since the pump driving gear 52d is connected to the drive gear 52a1 in the gear pump 52a, when the pump driving gear 52d rotates, the drive gear 52a1 is also rotated accordingly. Further, when the drive gear 52a1 rotates, the driven gear 52a2 that meshes with the drive gear 52a1 is also rotated.

  The gear pump 52a sucks the working oil in the gear pump oil chamber 52a3 and discharges the sucked working oil from the opposite side when the drive gear 52a1 and the driven gear 52a2 mesh with each other while rotating. The hydraulic oil discharged from the gear pump 52a is supplied to the oil chamber 32a through the pipe 52b, and the piston 50a is moved leftward in the drawing by the supplied hydraulic oil.

  The solenoid valve 52c is provided in the pipe 52b and adjusts the discharge amount of the hydraulic oil from the gear pump 52a. Therefore, the pitch of the propeller 30 can be changed to a predetermined pitch by exciting (or demagnetizing) the solenoid of the solenoid valve 52c. The oil chamber 32a is provided with a piston position sensor 54 that generates an output indicating the position of the piston 50a. Therefore, the pitch of the propeller 30 can be calculated based on the output value of the piston position sensor 54.

  In the vicinity of the swivel case 56, a power tilt trim unit 58 capable of adjusting a tilt angle or a trim angle with respect to the hull 12 of the outboard motor 10 is disposed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a throttle opening sensor (throttle opening detecting means) 60 is attached in the vicinity of the throttle valve 26, and outputs a signal indicating the opening (throttle opening) TH of the throttle valve 26. A crank angle sensor 62 is mounted near the crankshaft of the engine 18 and outputs a pulse signal for each predetermined crank angle.

  The output of each sensor described above is input to an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as “ECU”) 70 mounted on the outboard motor 10. The ECU 70 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and is disposed inside the engine cover 20 of the outboard motor 10.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 1, a steering wheel 74 and a shift / throttle lever 76 that can be operated by a ship operator (not shown) are disposed near the cockpit 72 of the hull 12. The shift / throttle lever 76 can be swung back and forth with respect to the hull 12 from the initial position, and inputs an engine speed instruction including a forward / backward instruction from the ship operator and an acceleration / deceleration instruction to the engine 18. .

  A shift position sensor 78 is mounted in the vicinity of the shift / throttle lever 76, and a signal (signal corresponding to the rotation angle of the rotation shaft of the shift / throttle lever 76) SHPS according to the operation of the shift / throttle lever 76 by the vessel operator. Output. The outputs of these sensors are also input to the ECU 70.

  The ECU 70 and each sensor are communicatively connected by a communication method (for example, NMEA2000, specifically CAN (Controller Area Network)) standardized by, for example, NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association).

  The ECU 70 controls the operation of the electric motor 28 for throttle, the pitch angle of the transmission 34, the propeller 30 and the like based on the input sensor output. The control device for the ship 1 according to this embodiment is an operation system. It consists of a DBW (Drive By Wire) system device in which the mechanical connection between the steering wheel 74 and the shift / throttle lever 76 and the outboard motor 10 is cut off.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the shift position determination operation of the ECU 70. The illustrated program is executed by the ECU 70 at predetermined intervals.

  In the following, first, in S (step) 10, the shift position is detected based on the output value (output voltage) SHPS of the shift position sensor 78. Specifically, based on the output value SHPS of the shift position sensor 78, it is determined whether the shift position is forward (forward), neutral (neutral), or reverse (reverse). In this embodiment, for example, when the output value SHPS of the shift position sensor 78 is 2V or less, it is determined to be reverse, when it exceeds 2V, but when it is 3V or less, neutral, when it exceeds 3V, it is determined to be forward.

  When the output value SHPS of the shift position sensor 78 exceeds 3V in the process of S10, it can be determined that the shift position is forward. Therefore, the process proceeds to S12, and forward control, that is, forward control is executed. On the other hand, when the output value SHPS of the shift position sensor 78 exceeds 2V but is 3V or less, since the shift position can be determined to be neutral, the process proceeds to S14 to execute neutral control, that is, neutral control. Further, when the output value SHPS of the shift position sensor 78 is 2 V or less, the shift position can be determined to be reverse, so that the process proceeds to S16 and reverse control, that is, reverse control is executed. Since neutral control and reverse control are not directly related to the present invention, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a sub-routine flowchart showing a forward control operation, more specifically, a propeller pitch control operation.

  First, in S100, it is determined whether or not the bit of the gear IN pitch change flag is set to 1. The gear IN pitch change flag is a flag that is set to 1 when the pitch becomes the acceleration standby pitch after the shift position is set to forward and geared in. The acceleration standby pitch means a pitch at which the ship 1 is brought into a very low speed navigation speed state (acceleration standby state), in other words, a pitch at which the navigation speed of the ship 1 becomes a low speed of, for example, 5 knots or less like a trolling speed. Accordingly, at the acceleration standby pitch, the ship 1 advances only slightly with respect to the rotation of the propeller 30 (in this embodiment, the acceleration standby pitch is 5 inches).

  Since the bit of the gear IN pitch change flag is reset to 0 in the first program loop, the result of S100 is negative and the process proceeds to S102, the pitch is changed to the acceleration standby pitch, and the process proceeds to S104, where the gear IN pitch change flag is set. Set the bit to 1.

  When the bit of the gear IN pitch change flag is set to 1, the next program loop is affirmed in S100 and proceeds to S106, and a predetermined time (unit time) of the throttle opening TH is determined based on the output value of the throttle opening sensor 60. For example, a change amount ΔTH per 500 msec) is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the calculated change amount ΔTH is greater than or equal to ΔTH0.

  Since S106 is a process for determining (determining) whether or not the ship 1 is decelerating, that is, whether or not the throttle opening TH has changed by a predetermined amount in the closing direction, ΔTH0 is a negative value (for example, − 0.5 deg). In the first program loop, since the ship 1 is usually not in a decelerating state, the result of S106 is negative and the program proceeds to S108, where it is determined whether or not the bit of the accelerating flag is reset to zero. The accelerating flag is a flag for determining whether or not the ship 1 is in an acceleration state, and is reset to 0 when the ship 1 is not accelerating, and is set to 1 when the accelerating is being performed.

  In the first program loop, since the bit of the acceleration flag is reset to 0, the result in S108 is affirmative and the process proceeds to S110, and the acceleration state of the ship 1 is determined based on the change amount ΔTH of the throttle opening TH.

  Specifically, the state in which the ship 1 is not accelerating at all, that is, the amount of change ΔTH of the throttle opening TH is 0 deg, or the state in which the ship 1 is slowly accelerating (gradual acceleration), that is, the amount of change ΔTH is 0 deg. It is determined (determined) whether it is in a state of exceeding ΔTH1 (predetermined value, for example, 5 deg), or the vessel 1 is in a rapid acceleration state, that is, the amount of change ΔTH is not less than ΔTH1.

  When it is determined in S110 that the ship 1 is not accelerating at all, the subsequent processing is terminated. On the other hand, when it is determined that the ship 1 is in the slowly accelerating state, the process proceeds to S112 and the slow acceleration pitch switching flag is set. It is determined whether or not the bit of is reset to 0.

  The slow acceleration pitch switching flag is a flag that is set to 1 when the ship 1 is in the slow acceleration state and the pitch is the optimum fuel economy pitch. Further, the optimum fuel efficiency pitch means a pitch at which the maximum fuel efficiency is obtained at a certain speed, that is, a pitch that places importance on fuel efficiency, and is determined to be, for example, 19 inches by experiments.

  When the result in S112 is affirmative, that is, when it is determined that the bit of the slow acceleration pitch switch flag is reset to 0, the process proceeds to S114, the pitch is changed to the optimum fuel efficiency pitch, and then the process proceeds to S116. The bit is set to 1 and the process is terminated.

  When the bit of the slow acceleration pitch switching flag is set to 1, in the next program loop, the result is negative in S112 and proceeds to S118, and the throttle opening TH is fully opened based on the output value of the throttle opening sensor 60 (fully opened or in the vicinity thereof). It is determined whether the same applies to the following.

  When the result in S118 is negative, the process ends. When the result is positive, the process proceeds to S120, and the pitch is changed to the movement efficiency optimum pitch. The movement efficiency optimum pitch means a pitch with the best movement efficiency of the ship 1, in other words, a pitch at which the maximum speed can be easily obtained. Specifically, it means a pitch at which the speed of the ship 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed (more specifically, the maximum speed or the vicinity thereof) when the ship 1 is navigated at the engine speed at which the output of the engine 18 is maximum. To do.

  For example, in the case of an engine that exhibits the maximum output at 6000 rpm, the ship 1 is navigated at 6000 rpm, and the navigation speed of the ship 1 is measured while changing the pitch to 10 inches, 11 inches, 12 inches, and so on. Then, the pitch at which the navigation speed is maximized is specified, and this is set as the movement efficiency optimum pitch. In this embodiment, the optimum pitch for moving efficiency is, for example, 17 inches.

  In the flow chart of FIG. 5, when the change amount ΔTH is equal to or greater than ΔTH1 in S110, that is, when the ship 1 is determined to be in the rapid acceleration state, the process proceeds to S122, and the bit of the acceleration flag is set to 1.

  When the bit of the acceleration flag is set to 1, in the next program loop, the result in S108 is negative and the program proceeds to S124, in which it is determined whether or not the bit of the pitch control end flag is reset to 0. The pitch control end flag is a flag that is set to 1 when the propeller pitch control shown in the flowchart is ended.

  When the result in S124 is negative, the process ends. When the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to S126, and it is determined whether or not the bit of the acceleration initial pitch switching flag is reset to zero. The acceleration initial pitch switching flag will be described later.

  Since the bit of the acceleration initial pitch switching flag is reset to 0 in the first program loop, the result is affirmed in S126 and proceeds to S128, and the change amount ΔSP per predetermined time of the slip ratio (slip ratio) SP of the propeller 30 is calculated. In addition, it is determined whether or not the calculated change amount ΔSP is less than ΔSP1 (specified value).

The slip ratio SP of the propeller 30 is calculated by the following equation (1) based on the theoretical speed Va and the actual speed V of the ship 1 (the hull 12). The theoretical speed Va is calculated by the following equation (2) based on the operating state of the engine 18 and the transmission 34 and the specifications of the propeller 30.
Slip rate SP = (theoretical speed Va (km / h) −actual speed V (km / h)) / theoretical speed Va (km / h) (1)
Theoretical speed Va (km / h) = (engine speed NE (rpm) × propeller pitch (inch) × 60 × 2.54 × 10 ⁻⁵ ) / (speed reduction ratio) (2)

In equation (1), the actual speed V is calculated from the output value (position information) of a GPS receiver (not shown) mounted on the ship 1. Further, the speed reduction ratio of the gear stage in the equation (2) is the speed reduction ratio of the speed stage currently selected in the transmission 34, and for example, the speed reduction ratio at the second speed is 1.9. The numerical value of 60 is for converting the engine speed NE per minute into a value per hour, and the numerical value of 2.54 × 10 ⁻⁵ is for converting the propeller pitch from inches to kilometers. Is.

  Since S128 is a process for determining whether the change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP is a positive value or a negative value, ΔSP1 is set to 0, for example. Accordingly, when the determination is negative in S128, that is, when the change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP is 0 (ΔSP1) or more, in other words, when the change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP is determined to be 0 or a positive value, the process proceeds to S130 and the pitch is determined. Increase (rise) at a rate (change the pitch angle so that the pitch increases at a predetermined rate). Specifically, for example, the pitch is increased based on an increase amount determined so that the pitch increases by 5 inches per second.

  On the other hand, when the determination in S128 is affirmative, that is, when the change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP is less than 0 (ΔSP1), in other words, when the change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP is determined to be a negative value, the process proceeds to S132 and the acceleration initial pitch switching flag is set. Set the bit of.

  When the bit of the acceleration initial pitch switching flag is set to 1, in the next program loop, the result in S126 is negative and the program proceeds to S134, in which it is determined whether or not the throttle opening TH is fully opened.

  When the result in S134 is negative, the program proceeds to S136 and the pitch is changed to the optimum acceleration pitch. When the result is affirmative, the program proceeds to S138 and it is determined whether or not the slip ratio SP is equal to or less than SP1 (for example, 40%).

  Note that the optimum acceleration pitch means a pitch at which the navigation acceleration of the ship 1 increases, specifically, a pitch at which the acceleration performance of the ship 1 is most exhibited, and more specifically, the maximum torque of the engine 18 is generated. This means a pitch at which the acceleration of the ship 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined acceleration (specifically, the maximum acceleration or its vicinity) when the ship 1 is navigated at the engine speed.

  Therefore, for example, in the case of the engine 18 that exhibits the maximum torque at 4500 rpm, the ship 1 is navigated at 4500 rpm, the pitch at which the acceleration is most obtained at that time is specified, and the specified pitch is determined as the optimum acceleration pitch (for example, 14 inches). And

  When the result in S138 is negative, that is, when it is determined that the slip ratio SP exceeds SP1, the process is terminated. When the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to S140 and it is determined whether or not the bit of the slip ratio determination flag is reset to 0. To do. The slip ratio determination flag is a flag that is set to 1 when the slip ratio SP is equal to or less than SP1.

  When the result in S140 is affirmative, the program proceeds to S142, the bit of the slip ratio determination flag is set to 1, and then the program proceeds to S144 to increase the pitch by 1 inch, and then the program proceeds to S146 and the slip ratio update value is set to zero. The slip rate update value will be described later.

  When the bit of the slip ratio determination flag is set to 1, in the next program loop, the result in S140 is negative and the process proceeds to S148, and it is determined whether or not the slip ratio update value is α (for example, −10%). The slip ratio update value is a value indicating how much the slip ratio SP calculated in the current program loop has changed with respect to the slip ratio SP calculated in the previous program loop. For example, when the slip ratio SP calculated in the current program loop is 30% and the slip ratio SP calculated in the previous program loop is 40%, the slip ratio update value is −10%.

  When the result in S148 is negative, the process ends. When the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to S150, and it is determined whether or not the slip rate SP is equal to or less than SP2 (default value, for example, 10%). When the result in S150 is negative, the program proceeds to S152 to increase the pitch by 1 inch, and then the program proceeds to S154 to set the slip rate update value to 0. When the result in S150 is affirmative, the program proceeds to S156 and the pitch control end flag is set. Set the bit to 1.

  On the other hand, if the determination in S106 is affirmative, that is, if it is determined that the change amount ΔTH of the throttle opening TH is less than ΔTH0, the routine proceeds to S158, and the bits of the acceleration flag, acceleration initial pitch switching flag, and slow acceleration pitch switching flag are set to 0, respectively. Reset to finish the process.

  As described above, in the present invention, the ship 1 is in an acceleration state, specifically, in a rapid acceleration state (No in S108), and the change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP is greater than or equal to ΔSP1 (0), that is, 0 or a positive value. Is determined (No in S128), the pitch is increased by a predetermined rate (for example, 5 inches per second) (S130), and thereafter, the change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP is determined to be a negative value (in S128). (Yes), the pitch is increased according to the slip ratio SP until the slip ratio SP reaches SP2 (10%) (S138, S144, S150, S152).

  As described above, the cavitation of the propeller 30 can be suppressed and the acceleration performance of the ship 1 can be improved by changing the pitch based on the slip ratio SP during rapid acceleration. Further, by changing the pitch from the optimum acceleration pitch to the optimum movement efficiency pitch based on the slip rate SP, the engine speed can be increased smoothly, and the ship 1 can be smoothly accelerated to the maximum speed.

  Further, if the pitch is increased while the slip rate SP is low, the navigation speed of the ship 1 may decrease. Therefore, when the slip rate SP is determined to be SP2 (10%) or less, the pitch control is terminated, in other words. By stopping the change of the pitch, the navigation speed of the ship 1 is not lowered.

  FIG. 6 is a time chart for explaining a part of the above-described processing by taking as an example the case where the ship 1 is accelerated from the trolling state.

  First, when the shift position is set from neutral to forward at the time t1 and the gear is engaged, the pitch is changed to 5 inches (acceleration standby pitch) (S102).

  Thereafter, when the change amount ΔTH of the throttle opening TH becomes equal to or greater than 5 deg (ΔTH1) after the time t2, the engine speed NE and the slip ratio SP also increase. Although the slip rate SP continues to increase until time t3 (the amount of change ΔSP of the slip rate SP is a positive value until time t3), while the slip rate SP continues to increase, a predetermined rate is obtained until the pitch becomes 14 inches (acceleration optimum pitch). (S128, S130).

  When the slip ratio SP starts to decrease at time t3 (when the change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP becomes a negative value), the pitch that has been increased at a predetermined rate is now changed based on the change of the slip ratio SP. (S138, S144, S150, S152). For example, when the slip rate SP is 40% at time t4, the pitch is 14 inches, when the slip rate SP is 30% at time t5, the pitch is 15 inches, and when the slip rate SP is 20% at time t6, the pitch is 16 inches. The pitch is raised according to the change of the slip ratio SP.

  Thereafter, when the slip ratio SP becomes 10% at time t7, the pitch control (change) is stopped (S150, S156). In the figure, the slip ratio indicated by a broken line is a slip ratio when the propeller is not a variable pitch propeller but a fixed pitch propeller. As shown in the figure, in the case of a variable pitch propeller, an increase in the slip ratio during sudden acceleration can be suppressed more than in the case of a fixed pitch propeller. Therefore, the acceleration performance of the ship 1 can be improved by changing the pitch according to the slip rate SP.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the control of the ship 1 in which the variable pitch propeller (propeller) 30 that is driven by the internal combustion engine (engine) 18 and can change the pitch is attached to the hull 12. In the apparatus, the throttle opening degree detecting means (throttle opening degree sensor) 60 for detecting the throttle opening degree TH of the internal combustion engine, and the slip ratio SP of the variable pitch propeller based on the theoretical speed Va and the actual speed V of the ship. Slip rate calculating means (ECU 70, S128, etc.) for calculating the pitch, and pitch changing means (ECU 70, S108, S108) for changing the pitch of the variable pitch propeller based on the detected throttle opening and the calculated slip rate. S110, S128, S130, S138, S144, S150, S152, etc.) Therefore, the optimum pitch can be selected in the variable pitch propeller according to the traveling state of the ship 1, particularly the acceleration state of the ship 1 and the slip ratio SP of the propeller 30, and thus the traveling performance of the ship 1 can be improved. .

  Further, the pitch changing means is configured such that when the detected change amount ΔTH of the throttle opening TH is not less than a predetermined value (ΔTH1) and the calculated change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP is not less than a specified value (ΔSP1). Since the variable pitch propeller is configured to be changed so as to increase the pitch (ECU 70, S108, S110, S128, S130), the variable pitch propeller is further layered according to the acceleration state of the ship 1 and the slip ratio SP of the propeller 30. An optimum pitch can be selected, and thus the traveling performance of the ship 1 can be further improved.

  Further, the pitch changing means changes the calculated pitch rate when the change amount ΔSP of the calculated slip rate SP becomes less than the specified value after changing the pitch of the variable pitch propeller to increase. Since the variable pitch propeller is configured to increase the pitch based on SP (ECU 70, S126, S128, S132, S138, S144, S150, S152), it depends on the acceleration state of the ship 1 and the slip ratio SP of the propeller 30. A more optimal pitch can be selected in the variable pitch propeller, and thus the traveling performance of the ship 1 can be further improved.

  Further, the pitch changing means changes the pitch of the variable pitch propeller to increase, and then when the calculated change amount ΔSP of the slip ratio SP becomes less than the specified value, the pitch of the variable pitch propeller Is changed so as to increase as the calculated slip ratio SP decreases (ECU 70. S126, S128, S132, S138, S144, S150, S152), so the acceleration state of the ship 1 and the slip of the propeller 30 A more optimal pitch can be selected in the variable pitch propeller according to the rate SP, and thus the traveling performance of the ship 1 can be further improved.

  The pitch changing means is configured to stop changing the pitch of the variable pitch propeller when the calculated slip ratio SP is equal to or less than a predetermined value (SP2) (ECU 70, S150, S156). It is possible to prevent the navigation speed of the vehicle from decreasing.

  In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given based on the example in which the outboard motor 10 is mounted as the ship 1. However, the ship 1 is not necessarily limited to this, and is configured by, for example, an inboard motor. Also good.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the optimum fuel efficiency pitch is obtained through experiments. Specifically, first, the optimum movement efficiency pitch is specified, and then the most efficient fuel consumption is achieved by gradually changing the pitch from the optimum movement efficiency pitch. Search for a good pitch. In the embodiment, the optimum fuel efficiency pitch is 2 inches larger than the optimum movement efficiency pitch, but this is an experiment that the best fuel efficiency is obtained when the optimum fuel efficiency pitch is increased by 2 inches from the optimum movement efficiency pitch. This is because of this. However, how much the optimum fuel efficiency pitch is increased with respect to the optimum movement efficiency pitch also depends on the specifications of the propeller 30. Therefore, what is increased by 2 inches from the optimum movement efficiency pitch does not necessarily become the optimum fuel efficiency pitch. .

  In the above-described embodiments, ΔTH0, ΔTH1, SP1, SP2, ΔSP1, acceleration standby pitch, optimum fuel consumption pitch, optimum movement efficiency pitch, optimum acceleration pitch, and the like are shown as specific values, but these are only examples. It is not limited.

  1 ship, 12 hull, 18 engine (internal combustion engine), 30 propeller (variable pitch propeller), 60 throttle opening sensor (throttle opening detecting means), 70 ECU (electronic control unit, slip ratio calculating means, pitch changing means)

Claims (5)

  In a marine vessel control apparatus which is driven by an internal combustion engine and has a variable pitch propeller capable of changing the pitch attached to the hull, a throttle opening degree detecting means for detecting the throttle opening degree of the internal combustion engine, and the ship theory Slip rate calculating means for calculating the slip rate of the variable pitch propeller based on the speed and the actual speed, and changing the pitch of the variable pitch propeller based on the detected throttle opening and the calculated slip rate And a pitch changing means.   The pitch changing means increases the pitch of the variable pitch propeller when the detected change amount of the throttle opening is a predetermined value or more and the calculated change amount of the slip ratio is a predetermined value or more. The ship control device according to claim 1, wherein the ship control device is changed.   The pitch changing means, after changing to increase the pitch of the variable pitch propeller, when the calculated change amount of the slip ratio becomes less than the specified value, based on the calculated slip ratio The marine vessel control device according to claim 2, wherein the pitch of the variable pitch propeller is changed to increase.   The pitch changing means changes the pitch of the variable pitch propeller so as to increase, and then calculates the pitch of the variable pitch propeller when the calculated change amount of the slip ratio becomes less than the specified value. 4. The marine vessel control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a change is made to increase as the slip ratio decreases.   5. The ship control device according to claim 1, wherein the pitch changing unit stops changing the pitch of the variable pitch propeller when the calculated slip ratio is equal to or less than a predetermined value. 6. .

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