JPH062575A - Engine control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lessen amounting space by decreasing size of an actuator for an electrically controlled engine control device. CONSTITUTION:A device comprises an actuator 6 provided with a single motor M, reduction gear 22, single operating shaft, shift arm 24 turned within a predetermined angle range of this operating shaft and a throttle arm 25 turned out of the range of this shaft, push-pull cables 7, 8 of connecting each arm 24, 25 to an engine 1, remote control box 4 of feeding a control signal to the motor M and a controller 5. In this way, a single equipment such as the motor M, reduction gear 22 and the controller 5 is only required, to simplify also a constitution of a control circuit.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an engine, and more particularly to an engine control device used for remotely controlling a power engine such as a ship or an industrial vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an engine control device in which an output end of an operation lever of a control box and an operated part of an engine are connected by a push-pull cable.
This one basically corresponds one control lever to one controlled part. However, it is also known that the shift switching operation is performed when the rotation angle of one operation lever is within a certain range, and the throttle adjustment operation is performed when the rotation angle exceeds the range (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-85611). .

Since the engine control device using the push-pull control cable mechanically transmits the operating force, it has the advantages of high reliability of operation and being less prone to failure.
If the distance between the operating part and the operated part is long, a long cable is required, and the frictional resistance becomes large. In addition, the longer the cable, the greater the backlash of the inner cable, which reduces the accuracy of the operation amount. Further, since the operation force becomes large, there is a problem that light and quick operation cannot be performed.

Therefore, recently, there has been proposed one in which the control cable is operated via an electric actuator such as a servomotor (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-249).
339). There is also known an accelerator actuator that automatically adjusts the engine speed of a construction machine to a desired value (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-146233).

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
The engine control device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 9 is basically a push-pull cable for remotely operating one operated lever with an electric servo mechanism interposed in the middle part. Therefore, in order to perform the shift operation and the throttle operation of the engine, two push-pull cable operation systems and electric servomechanisms interposed in the respective systems are required.

The devices disclosed in JP-A-3-220093 and JP-A-3-253494 control an electric servo actuator arranged near the engine by sending a command signal from an operating lever in the driver's seat. Yes, this also requires separate actuators for shift and throttle operations. As described above, each of the conventional electric control devices requires two independent operation lines for shift operation and throttle operation. Therefore, two sets of servo motor and speed reducer are required.

When switching from forward operation to reverse operation in engine control of a ship, for example, the operation amount of the throttle is once lowered to the "idling" state, and the shift is changed to "forward"-"neutral"-"reverse". After switching, it is necessary to raise the throttle again. Therefore, the operation is complicated, and the structure for electrically interlocking both operation systems becomes complicated. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has a technical object to reduce the components of an engine control device provided with an electric servo mechanism having such two types of conventional control objects, in particular, the actuator portion to reduce the total mounting space. . A further object of the present invention is to provide an engine control device that mechanically secures an interlock between two operation systems and can perform shift switching safely.

[0008]

An engine control device according to the present invention is a device for remotely operating shift switching and throttle adjustment of an engine, and includes (a) a command for shift switching and throttle adjustment by manual operation. A remote control unit that generates a signal, (b) a controller that receives a command signal from the remote control unit and generates a control signal for the motor, and (c) a motor that rotates forward and backward in response to the control signal from the controller, A reduction gear, an operation shaft mechanically connected to the output part of the reduction gear, a shift operation member that cooperates with the operation shaft within a predetermined rotation angle range including the neutral position of the operation shaft, and is locked outside the range. , And an actuator having a throttle operating member that is locked within the angular range of the operating shaft and cooperates outside the range; and (d) the shift operating member and the engine shaft. DOO operation portion, and a pair of mechanical connecting means for connecting the throttle operation member and the engine throttle operation unit, respectively.

It is preferable that the engine control device is provided with a feedback circuit that detects the operation amount of the actuator as an electric signal and feeds it back to the controller. The remote control unit may be individually provided with a clutch switch for switching forward / neutral / reverse of shift and an accelerator volume switch for continuously increasing / decreasing a throttle amount. Further, the remote control unit may be provided with a manual operation lever that rotates around an axis and a detector that detects a rotation angle of the manual operation lever and outputs the command signal to the controller.

The actuator is provided with a warm-up clutch that shuts off the cooperative relationship between the operating shaft and the shift operating member in a predetermined rotation angle range, and a solenoid that controls opening and closing of the warm-up clutch. It is preferable that the remote control unit is provided with an operation switch for controlling. It is possible to attach a manual operation lever for an emergency operation to the operation shaft of the actuator and to provide means for freeing the connection between the operation shaft and the speed reducer.

[0011]

The actuator mechanically switches between the shift operation and the throttle operation according to the rotation angle of the operation shaft. That is, when the operating shaft is rotated in one direction from the neutral position, the shift operating portion of the engine is switched to the "forward" side via the shift operating member. When the engine is further rotated beyond the predetermined angle range, the throttle of the engine is operated to open it through the throttle operating member that cooperates with the operating shaft. Conversely, when the operating shaft is rotated in the reverse direction from the neutral position, the shift operating portion of the engine is switched to the "reverse" side. Then, further rotating in that direction opens the throttle of the engine.

Therefore, only one motor is required to drive the operation shaft of the actuator, and this motor can be easily electrically controlled by the command signal generated by the remote control unit and the controller for converting the command signal into the motor control signal.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention,
2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an actuator according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the actuator, and FIG.
3 is a perspective view of the speed reducer portion of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the actuator of FIG. 2, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are side views and backside plan views of another embodiment of the actuator according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention.

The engine control apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a throttle operating section 2 and a shift operating section 3 of an engine 1 of a ship,
It is operated by a remote control box 4 from a cabin or the like separated from the engine 1. The remote control box 4 is electrically connected to an actuator 6 via a controller 5 including a motor control circuit and the like. And push-pull cables 7 and 8 from the actuator 6 to the engine 1
Mechanically linked by.

Reference numeral 9 in FIG. 1 is a battery for supplying power to the controller 5 and the like. Further, in FIG. 1, a lever-operated type remote control operation unit 10 used in place of or together with the remote control box 4 is shown by an imaginary line. The remote control box 4 is a selector switch 11 for shift switching (forward / neutral / reverse of the hull).
And a volume switch 12 for operating the throttle of the engine. Push button 1 for warm-up
Equipped with 3. If the remote control box 4 is detachably installed in a cabin or the like, it can be used in the case of devoting itself to the control of a ship. It can also be used when the cord 14 is extended and the pilot is maneuvering while performing other work on a deck or the like. Switches 11 and 12 and push button 1
No. 3 maintains the state once set, and the operator does not have to be always on.

On the other hand, the remote control operating portion 10 with the operating lever is provided with a single operating lever 16 so that the selector switch 11 and the volume switch 12 of the remote control box 4 can be operated.
It is what makes both of them. That is, the operating lever 1
The rotary shaft 6 is provided with a potentiometer, and the output of the potentiometer is sent to the controller 5 as a motor control command value. However, the operating lever 16
It is also possible to output three kinds of selection signals (forward / neutral / reverse) similar to the selector switch 11 according to the rotation direction of, and to output a continuous signal similar to the volume switch 12 depending on the size of the rotation angle. Good.

The controller 5 has an analog or digital motor control circuit for sending a forward / stop / reverse rotation signal to the motor M of the actuator 6 in response to a switch operation of the remote control box 4. As the motor M, any of a DC motor, a servo motor, a stepping motor and the like can be adopted. However, the motor control circuit is a potentiometer (see FIG. 3) provided in the speed reducer 22 of the actuator 6.
It is preferable to receive the feedback from P) and stop at the target value. Further, it is preferable to include a dynamic braking circuit so as to immediately stop the motor M at the throttle operation limit or the neutral position.

Next, the structure of the actuator 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. The actuator 6 includes a speed reducer 22, a motor M and a pulley 23 on the front side of the base plate 21.
Is arranged, and a lever mechanism such as a shift arm 24 and a throttle arm 25 is arranged on the back surface side. The speed reducer 22 and the motor M are arranged concentrically, and the pulley 2
Reference numeral 3 is fixed to the shaft end of an operation shaft 26 that penetrates the base plate 21. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the speed reducer 22 is a two-stage speed reducer including a first speed reducer 27 and a second speed reducer 28.

The first reduction gear unit 27 has a Ferguson's paradox gear type reduction gear mechanism including a pinion 30 fixed to the output shaft 29 of the motor M, a fixed internal gear 31, a rotating internal gear 32, and a planetary gear 33. Second speed reducer 2
Reference numeral 8 denotes a sun gear 35 formed on the boss 34 of the rotating internal gear 32, and an internal gear 37 formed on the inner circumference of the output pulley 36.
And an idle gear 38. The shaft 39 of the idle gear 38 is fixed to the housing 40.

Further, a potentiometer P is connected to the end of the boss 34 of the rotary internal gear 32. That is, this one has an output pulley 36 serving as an output part to open a central part, and a detector (potentiometer P) for detecting the number of rotations (rotation angle) of the motor M is provided therein, whereby I am trying to save space. Between the output pulley 36 and the pulley 23 fixed to the operation shaft 26, two pull cables 41 and 42 are laid around in opposite directions, and forward and reverse rotations are transmitted. Further, the pulley 23 and the operating shaft 26 are configured to surely transmit torque by serration or the like.

Next, the intermittent gear and the lever mechanism on the rear surface side of the base plate 21 will be described. Note that this mechanism may be substantially the same as the operation mechanism of a so-called one-lever type engine control device. A sub plate 44 is fixed to the back surface side of the base plate 21 via three spacer pins 43. The outside of the sub plate 44 (see FIG.
The throttle arm 25 is swingably attached to the lower side) by a pin 45. The throttle arm 25 is provided with a substantially V-shaped cam groove 46. On the other hand, a boss 47 is fixed to the base end of the operation shaft 26, and a cam roller 48 is rotatably attached to the eccentric position of the boss 47. The cam roller 48 is engaged so as to roll in the cam groove 46. The free end of the throttle arm 25 is connected to a rope end rod (not shown) of the throttle push-pull cable 7.

On the other hand, the following shift switching mechanism is provided between the base plate 21 and the sub plate 44. This shift switching mechanism is rotatably supported on the outer periphery of the operation shaft 26 via a meshing clutch 49 and a drive disk 50 and both plates 21 and 44, and an intermittent gear of the drive disk 50. 5
The driven disk 53 includes a driven-side intermittent gear 52 that meshes with the driven gear 1, and a shift arm 24 that is fixed so as to rotate together with the driven disk 53. Shift arm 24
The free end of is connected to a rope end rod (not shown) of the shift push-pull cable 8.

In this embodiment, the push-pull cable 8
"Pull" is equivalent to "forward" engine, and "push"
The shift arms extend to the left and right to accommodate both types of engine, which corresponds to "forward". The throttle arm 25 can also be attached with the front and back reversed so as to be compatible with both push-pull type engines. In this case, the boss 47
The cam roller 48 is attached to the other attachment hole 54a. This is because the throttle range differs between the case of forward movement and the case of reverse movement.

Further, the dog clutch 49 operates to engage and disengage the clutch by a rod 54 which is provided in the operating shaft 26 so as to be movable in the axial direction. Rod 54
Is constantly urged toward the "engaged" side of the clutch by a spring 55, and is "disengaged" at appropriate times by a solenoid 56. When the dog clutch 49 is "disengaged", the drive disk 50 becomes free from the operating shaft 26 and fitted to the base plate 21 to securely fix the shift gear. Therefore, only the boss 47 can be freely rotated to enable the throttle operation with the shift being in the neutral position, whereby the warm-up operation can be performed.

The drive-side intermittent gear 51 has a shape in which two involute teeth 57 project, as shown in FIG. On both sides of each involute tooth 57, an arcuate sliding surface 59 centering on the rotation center of the drive disk 50 is formed through an incomplete valley 58. The drive disk 50
The rear part is provided with three notches 60 corresponding to forward, neutral and reverse positions. These notches 60 mesh with notch rollers 60a that are elastically pressed to lock the drive disk 50 at the respective positions. The driven-side intermittent gear 52 has one complete involute tooth 61, incomplete teeth 62 on both sides thereof, and an arcuate concave sliding contact surface 63 following the tooth.

Next, the operation of the drive disk 50 and the driven disk 53 constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

Neutral Position (FIG. 5A) When the intermittent gear 51 of the drive disk 50 faces the driven disk 53 side, the shift arm 24 is in the neutral position.

Forward position (FIG. 5B) When the drive disc 50 is rotated in the direction of arrow f from this state, the driven disc 53 and the shift arm 24 are rotated in the direction of arrow F by the meshing of the involute teeth 57 and 61. As a result, the shift operation unit of the engine is switched to "forward". During this time, the cam roller 4
Since 8 moves in the concentric arc portion 64 of the cam groove 46, the throttle operation is not performed and the idling state is maintained.

Throttle open in forward state (FIG. 5C) In this state, the sliding surface 59 of the drive disk 50 and the concave sliding contact surface 63 of the driven disk 53 come into contact with each other, and the drive disk 50 is further rotated in the direction of arrow f. Even driven disk 5
3 does not rotate and is locked in its original angle. on the other hand,
Since the cam roller 48 comes to the end of the cam groove 46,
With the rotation of the drive disk 50 in the direction of arrow f, the throttle arm 25 is rotated in the direction of arrow U. As a result, the throttle of the engine is opened via the push-pull cable for throttle, and the boat accelerates and advances.

Reverse position (Fig. 5D) When the ship is moved backward (when the propeller is rotated in the reverse direction)
Rotates the drive disk 50 in the arrow r direction from the neutral position (FIG. 7A), and rotates the driven disk 53 and the shift arm 24 in the arrow R direction.

Reverse acceleration (FIG. 5E) When the drive disk 50 is further rotated in the direction of arrow r from that state, the throttle arm 25 can be rotated in the direction of arrow U and the boat is accelerated backward.

As described above, it is possible to control the two objects to be controlled, that is, shift switching and throttle adjustment, by rotating only one operating shaft. Although it seems that the cam roller 48 is attached to the drive disk 50 in FIG. 5, the cam roller 48 is actually attached to the boss 47 as shown in FIG. During warm-up operation, the dog clutch 49 is released and the drive disk 50 is rotated in the direction of arrow f to open the throttle at the neutral position.

Next, another embodiment of the actuator will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In the actuator 65 of FIG. 6, the manual operation lever 16 is attached to the operation shaft 26, and the pulley 23 and the operation shaft 26 are engaged with each other by a detachable pin 66. This one should
When a failure occurs in the electric system, the pin 66 can be removed and the manual operation lever 16 can directly control the engine. Note that FIG.
67 is a warm-up button that is manually operated.
As shown in FIG. 7, the other part of the actuator 65 is similar to that shown in FIG.
~ 4 actuators.

The apparatus of FIG. 8 employs an electric remote controller 68 with an actuator in which the actuator 6 of FIG. 1 and the remote controller operating unit 10 are combined. The electric remote controller 68 with an actuator is installed in the cabin, and the other remote controller boxes 4 are installed in the deck or the like. When this is operated by rotating the manual operation lever 16, the angle of its rotation axis is detected by the potentiometer P2, and this is sent to the controller 5 as a command signal. Then, the motor control signal is returned from the controller 5 to the motor M of the actuator.

Therefore, the operation lever 16 and the operation shaft 26 are constantly synchronized, and the operation device with power assist can be operated lightly like a power steering of an automobile. Since this model uses the same cabling as the conventional push-pull control cable type engine control unit, it can be easily added to the existing engine control unit.
There are advantages that can be applied.

Further, the axis of the operation lever 16 and the operation axis of the electric remote controller 68 with an actuator shown in FIG. 8 (26 in FIG. 2).
The clutch and the like may be engaged with and disengaged from each other, and the operation shaft 26 and the speed reducer may be coupled with each other such that they can be engaged / disengaged as in the embodiment of FIG. In this embodiment, the operating lever 16 and the operating shaft 26 are normally free, and the operating shaft 26 and the motor M are connected to each other, and the output of the potentiometer P2 of the operating lever 16 and the potentiometer P of the operating shaft 26 are connected. The motor M is driven based on the difference between the outputs of the.

On the other hand, if a failure occurs in the electrical system,
The shaft of the operation lever 16 and the operation shaft 26 are directly connected, and the connection between the operation shaft and the speed reducer is released. In this way, the operation lever 16 can directly control the engine.

[0038]

Since the engine control apparatus of the present invention performs throttle operation and shift switching by the motor, control can be performed with a light operating force, and control can be performed quickly and reliably.
Furthermore, since only one motor is required for two control targets, the motor can be configured more compactly than the conventional electric control device, the manufacturing cost is low, the mounting space is small, and the mounting flexibility is high. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an actuator according to the present invention.

3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the actuator of FIG.

4 is a perspective view of the speed reducer portion of FIG. 3. FIG.

5 is an operation explanatory view of the actuator of FIG. 2. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing another embodiment of the actuator according to the present invention.

7 is a rear side plan view of the actuator of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Engine 2 Throttle Operation Section 3 Shift Operation Section 4 Remote Control Box 5 Controller 6 Actuator 10 Remote Control Operation Section 22 Reducer 23 Pulley 24 Shift Arm 25 Throttle Arm 26 Operation Axis M Motor P Potentiometer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A device for remotely operating shift switching and throttle adjustment of an engine, comprising: (a) a remote control unit for manually generating a command signal for shift switching and throttle adjustment; and (b). A controller that receives a command signal from the remote control unit to generate a control signal for the motor, (c) a motor and a speed reducer that rotate in the normal and reverse directions according to the control signal from the controller, an output unit of the speed reducer, and a machine. Of the operating shaft, a shift operating member that cooperates with the operating shaft within a predetermined rotation angle range including the neutral position of the operating shaft, and is locked outside the range, and a lock within the angular range of the operating shaft. And an actuator with a throttle operating member that cooperates outside the range,
(D) An engine control device including a shift operation member and a shift operation unit of the engine, and a pair of mechanical connecting means for connecting the throttle operation member and the throttle operation unit of the engine, respectively. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a feedback circuit that detects an operation amount of the actuator as an electric signal and feeds it back to a controller. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the remote control unit includes a clutch switch for switching forward / neutral / reverse of shift, and an accelerator volume switch for continuously increasing / decreasing a throttle amount. 4. The remote control unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a manual operation lever that rotates about an axis, and a detector that detects a rotation angle of the manual operation lever and outputs it as a command signal to the controller. apparatus. 5. The actuator is provided with a warm-up clutch that cuts off a cooperative relationship between the operation shaft and the shift operation member in a predetermined rotation angle range, and a solenoid that controls opening and closing of the warm-up clutch. The device according to claim 1, wherein an operation switch for controlling the solenoid is provided in the remote control unit. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a manual operation lever is attached to the operation shaft of the actuator, and means for freeing the connection between the operation shaft and the speed reducer is provided.