JPH0494431A - Engine control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control an engine, even when a motor gets inoperative, by providing a rack position switching mechanism, power transmitting member, manually operated gear and a manually turning handle. CONSTITUTION:When a movable rack 17 is placed in the first position in a normal use condition, a drive gear 16 is meshed with the first tooth part 18 of the movable rack 17. In the case that a motor 3 is disabled from operating due to some cause, the second tooth part 19 is meshed with a manually operated gear 60 while releasing meshing of the movable rack 17 with the drive gear 16 by switching the movable rack 17 to the second position. Accordingly, when the manually operated gear 60 is moved by a manually turning handle 62, the movable rack 17 is moved in accordance with the direction of rotation of the gear 60 to enable a power transmitting member to move in a desired direction of engine control. In this way, the engine can be controlled even when the motor 3 is in operation inability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an engine control device used for remotely controlling an engine of a small ship, an industrial vehicle, or the like.

[Prior Art] In a conventional control device for performing shift control and throttle control of an engine of a small boat, the output end of a control box equipped with an operation lever and the controlled part of the engine are connected to a mechanical cable such as a push-pull cable. connected by a control cable. Movement of the operating lever is transmitted to the controlled section via the control cable. Engine control devices that use such control cables have problems such as the longer the distance from the operating lever to the controlled part, the greater the frictional resistance when operating the control cable and the greater the play in each part. occurs.

Therefore, it has been proposed to provide an engine control device with a built-in motor near the controlled part, and to move the controlled part by the torque of the motor. The starting and stopping of the motor of this type of engine control device is controlled by an operating lever located in a cockpit or the like via an electric cable, and controlled parts are controlled according to the direction or amount of rotation of the motor.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in an engine control device using a motor, if the motor stops working due to some reason such as a failure in the electrical system, the engine will become uncontrollable. There was a need for a backup system that would allow direct manual operation of the control cable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an engine control device having a backup function that allows direct manual operation of the control cable even if the motor becomes inoperable.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention, which was developed to achieve the above object, includes a motor provided in a housing, a drive gear rotationally driven by the motor, and an axis of the guide member along the guide member. The drive gear is capable of reciprocating in the direction and has a first tooth portion and a second tooth portion on both sides, and the first tooth portion and the drive gear engage with each other from a first position to the first position. a movable rack held so as to be displaceable over a second position where the tooth portion and the drive gear are disengaged; and a rack position that selectively holds the movable rack in either the first position or the second position. a switching mechanism; a power transmission member connected to the movable rack; a manual gear that meshes with a second tooth of the movable rack when the movable rack is displaced to the second position; and a manual gear that rotates the manual gear. It is equipped with a hand crank for operation.

[Function] In normal use, the movable rack is held at the first position. In this case, the rotational force of the motor is transmitted to the movable rack via the drive gear, and the movable rack moves according to the rotational direction of the motor.

The engine is controlled by driving a power transmission member such as a control cable connected to the movable rack.

If the motor becomes inoperable for some reason,
Switch the movable rack to the second position. By doing this, the movable rack and the drive gear are disengaged, and the second tooth portion meshes with the manual gear. Therefore, when the manual gear is rotated by the handwheel, the movable rack moves in accordance with the direction of rotation, and the power transmission member can be moved in a desired engine control direction.

[Example] The first example of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 7.
Description will be given with reference to an engine control device 1 for a small boat shown in the figure.

The illustrated engine control device 1 includes a motor 3 inside a housing 2 having a honeycomb structure. As shown in FIG. 3 and the like, a worm 4 is provided on the output shaft of the motor 3.

The worm 4 is meshed with a worm wheel 5. The worm 4 and the worm wheel 5 are housed in a gear case 6. Gear case 6 is fixed to partition plate 7.

A control circuit section 8 used to control starting and stopping of the motor 3 is provided on the back side of the partition plate 7. The motor 3 is a control circuit section 8
Remote control is performed via an electric cable 9 and an operating lever (not shown). The above-mentioned operating lever is provided in a cockpit or the like. A buzzer 10 is built into the housing 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the shaft 15 of the worm wheel 5
A drive gear 16 is connected to.

The drive gear 16 meshes with the movable rack 17.

The movable rack 17 is provided with a first tooth portion 18 and a second tooth portion 19 that are parallel to each other on both sides thereof. First tooth part 1
8 is located on the drive gear 16 side.

The movable rack 17 is held by a rod-shaped guide member 21 so as to be movable in the axial direction.

That is, a through hole 22 is provided in the center of the movable rack 17 along the axial direction, and the guide member 21 is inserted through the through hole 22 so as to be relatively movable. The base 23 of the guide member 21 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 25 on a bracket 24 provided on the housing 2.
It can swing within the range of angle θ shown in the figure. Therefore, movable rack 1
7 can be displaced over a position shown in FIG.

A rack position switching mechanism 30 is provided on the free end 26 side of the guide member 21. Illustrated example rack position switching mechanism 3
0 is equipped with a knob 31 having a shape that can be grasped with fingers. The guide member 21 is inserted into a through hole 32 passing through the center of the knob 31 so as to be movable in the axial direction. A protrusion 33 is provided on the end surface of the knob 31. The protrusion 33 fits into a locking hole 35 provided in the housing 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the locking hole 35 is connected to the first fitting portion 3.
6 and a second fitting part 37, these fitting parts 36
．． The protrusion 33 of the knob 31 can be selectively fitted into one of the knobs 37. When the convex portion 33 is fitted into the first fitting portion 36, the guide member 21 is held in the first position, and the convex portion 33 is in the second position.
In the state where the guide member 2 is fitted into the fitting portion 37, the guide member 2 is held at the second position described above.

A spring 39 is provided in a compressed state between a spring seat 38 provided on the guide member 21 and the knob 31. This spring 39 biases the knob 31 in a direction that causes the convex portion 33 to fit into the locking hole 35 .

A control cable 45, which is an example of a power transmission member, is connected to the movable rack 17.

An example of control cable 45 is a bush-pull cable as shown in FIG. In the illustrated control cable 45, a core 47 is inserted into an outer tube 46 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and a rod 48 is fixed to the tip of the core 47. Further, a hub 52 is fixed to the distal end side of the outer tube 46, and a sleeve 53 is connected to the distal end of the hub 52.

The connecting portion 54 between the hub 52 and the sleeve 53 has a joint structure that allows it to swing within a certain angular range. The above-mentioned support shaft 25 is located near the movable connecting portion 54, so that the guide member 21 and the sleeve 53 can each swing within a range of angle θ. The outside of the movable connection portion 54 is covered with a cover 55. The hub 52 is connected to a cable support section 57 provided in the housing 2.
is fixed.

The rod 48 projects outside the sleeve 53.

The end of the rod 48 is fixed to the movable rack 17 using a connecting part 58. control cable 4
The other end of the core 5 is connected to a controlled part such as a shift lever or a throttle lever of the engine (not shown), so that the engine can be controlled according to the movement of the core 47.

A manual gear 60 is provided at a position facing the second tooth portion 19 of the movable rack 17. When the movable rack 17 is in the first position, the manual gear 60 is separated from the movable rack 17 by a distance G, as shown in FIG. 1, but when the movable rack 17 is moved to the second position. Sometimes,
When the distance G becomes zero, the second tooth portion 19 of the movable rack 17
It is designed to mesh with the A hand crank 62 is attached to the shaft 61 of the manual gear 60. A hand crank 62 is external to the housing 2.

A potentiometer 65 is provided to detect the axial position of the movable rack 17. potentiometer 6
An arm 67 is fixed to a shaft 66 of 5. arm 67
An elongated hole 68 is provided on the tip side, and a bottle 69 is fitted into this elongated hole 68. The pin 69 is attached to a bottle holding section 70 provided on the movable rack 17. Therefore, the axial position of the movable rack 17 is
The rotation angle is detected by the potentiometer 65.

Next, the operation of the engine control device 1 having the above configuration will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the movable rack 17 is in the first position, the drive gear 16 meshes with the first tooth portion]8 of the movable rack 17. When the motor 3 is rotated in this state, the torque of the motor 3 is applied to the worm wheel 5.
The drive gear 16 is rotated through the
The movable rack 17 is rotated according to the direction of rotation of the guide member 2.
1 along the axial direction. For example, drive gear 1
6 rotates counterclockwise, the movable rack 17 moves upward in the figure as shown in FIG. 2, and when the potentiometer 65 detects that it has reached a predetermined position, the motor 3 stops.

When the motor 3 stops moving for some reason, the knob 31 is pulled by hand against the elasticity of the spring 39 to disengage the convex portion 33 and the locking hole 35, as shown in FIG. Later, as shown in FIG. 7, the protrusion 33 is attached to the second fitting part 3.
7.

By doing this, the guide member 21 is tilted by the angle θ about the support shaft 25, and the second tooth portion 1 of the movable rack 17 is tilted.
9 meshes with manual gear 60. At this time, the control cable 45 also connects the guide member 21 at the movable connection portion 54.
lean in the same direction.

By the above switching operation, the movable rack 17 is moved to the manual gear 60.
．． , and then rotate the manual handle 62 by hand. In this way, the movable rack 17 can be moved in a desired direction in accordance with the rotation of the manual gear 60, and the control cable 45 can be operated. At this time, the movable rack 17
Since the gear 16 and the drive gear 16 are in a disengaged state, manual operation using the hand crank 62 can be performed without any problem.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 8 to 10. This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the rack position switching mechanism 80, but the other structure and operation are the same as in the first embodiment. The rack position switching mechanism 80 will be explained below.

The rack position switching mechanism 80 of this second embodiment includes a switching lever 82 that is rotatable about a shaft 81. This switching lever 82 is connected to a first recess 8 provided in a holder 85.
3 or the second recess 84, and can also swing to some extent in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 10. The holder 85 is fixed to the housing 2.

The switching lever 82 is biased in the direction of fitting into the recess 83 (or 84) by a biasing mechanism 90 shown in FIG. The biasing mechanism 90 in the illustrated example includes a pusher 91 such as a steel ball, and a compression spring 92 that urges the pusher 91. The elasticity of the spring 92 causes the pusher 91 to move toward the switching lever 82. Being pushed. 2 in Figure 10
As shown by the dotted chain line, when the switching lever 82 is lifted against the elasticity of the spring 92, the switching lever 82 can be removed from the recess 83 (or 84).

An elongated hole 93 is provided in the longitudinally intermediate portion of the switching lever 82, and the guide member 21 is inserted through this elongated hole 93. The guide member 21 can swing within the range of angle θ about the support shaft 25 as in the first embodiment.

When the switching lever 82 is fitted into the first recess 83 (FIG. 8), the first tooth 18 of the movable rack 17 is engaged with the drive gear 16, and the switching lever 82 is fitted into the second recess 84. When fitted, the drive gear 16 and the first
The movable rack 17 is disengaged from the toothed portion 18, and the second toothed portion 19 of the movable rack 17 is meshed with the manual gear 60.

In both the first and second embodiments, a rod-shaped guide member 21 is inserted through the through hole 22 of the movable rack 17, and the guide member 21 and the control cable 45 are located at approximately the same position. A certain support shaft 25
Since the head can be swung around the movable connecting portion 54, it can be constructed compactly and the structure can be simple.

However, the guide member 21 is not limited to a rod shape; for example, a rail member having a concave cross-section or a bullet-shaped guide member having a guide surface that makes sliding contact with the outer surface of the movable rack 17 may be adopted. Also, instead of the control cable 45, power transmission members such as rods and links are used in the movable rack 1.
7 may be connected.

In addition to marine engines, the present invention can also be applied to systems for remotely controlling hydraulic control valves, etc. of industrial vehicles, construction machinery, etc., for example.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, even if the motor becomes inoperable due to a failure of the electrical system, the power transmission members such as the control cable connected to the movable rack can be moved directly by the hand crank, and the engine is always operated. Control is possible and high reliability can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 7 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a front view with a part of the engine control device housing removed, Figure 2 is a front view with the control cable operated, and Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Figure 1. , FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 1, and FIG.
The figure is a side view partially showing the control cable, Figure 6 is a front view showing how the knob operates, Figure 7 is a front view with the movable rack displaced to the second position, and Figure 8 is a front view showing the operation of the knob. A front view of an engine control device showing a second embodiment of the present invention, No. 9
This figure is a plan view of the engine control device shown in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a side view of a part of the engine control device shown in FIG. 1... Engine control device, 2... Housing, 3...
Motor, 16... Drive gear, 17... Movable rack, 18... First tooth portion, 19... Second tooth portion, 2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Guide member, 25... Support shaft, 30... Rack position switching mechanism, 31... Knob, 45... Control cable, 54... Movable connection part, 60... Manual gear , 62... Hand-cranked handle, 80... Rack position switching mechanism. Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 6 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 7 Ward 8 Figure 9

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A motor provided in the housing, a drive gear rotationally driven by the motor, and a drive gear that is reciprocally movable along the guide member in the axial direction of the guide member, and has a first tooth portion and a second tooth portion on both sides. It has a toothed portion and is held movably from a first position where the first toothed portion and the drive gear mesh with each other to a second position where the first toothed portion and the drive gear are disengaged. a movable rack, a rack position switching mechanism that selectively holds the movable rack in either the first position or the second position, a power transmission member connected to the movable rack, and the movable rack. An engine control device comprising: a manual gear that meshes with the second teeth of the movable rack when the movable rack is displaced to the second position; and a hand-cranked handle for rotating the manual gear. (2) The guide member according to claim 1, wherein the base portion of the guide member is pivotably mounted on a support shaft, and the guide member is inserted into a through hole provided in the movable rack along the axial direction. engine control device. (3) A knob movable in the axial direction of the guide member is provided on the free end side of the guide member, and a part of the knob is connected to the first fitting portion of the locking hole provided on the housing side. Alternatively, the movable rack can be selectively fitted to either of the second fitting parts, and when the knob is fitted to the first fitting part, the first teeth of the movable rack are engaged with the drive gear. 3. The engine control device according to claim 2, wherein the second tooth portion of the movable rack meshes with the manual gear when the knob is fitted into the second fitting portion.