JPH11208590A - Steering handle of outboard motor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To better the operability and operation feeling of a shift lever in combination. SOLUTION: In this steering handle of an outboard motor, where a throttle grip 33 is rotatably installed in the tip part of a housing 30A of this steering handle 30 to be connected to the upper part of an outbaord motor body, a lower part of a shift lever 34 rising upward in and around the throttle grip 33 is pivoted to a side face of the housing 30A of the said steering handle 30 free of longitudinal rotation, while an upper part of this shift lever 34 makes the upper part of a top face of the housing 30A overhang in a nearly doglegged form up to the vicinity of an almost center line C of the steering handle 30, while this shift lever 34 is rotated ahead and at the time of shift operating it to a forward movement (F), the overhung upper part is made so as to be adjacently adjoined to the vicinity of a rear end of the said throttle grip 33.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering handle for performing steering, throttle operation and shift operation of an outboard motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, an outboard motor 1 has a propulsion unit 2, an engine (not shown) is mounted on an upper portion of the propulsion unit 2, and an engine is mounted on a lower portion. (See, for example, JP-A-7-81689 and JP-A-8-248).
No. 9).

[0003] The outboard motor 1 is attached to the rear end of the hull 4.
Is fixed, and a swivel bracket 6 is pivotally attached to the clamp bracket 5 by a tilt shaft 7,
The propulsion unit 2 is pivotally attached to the swivel bracket 6 so as to be rotatable around a steering shaft 8.

[0004] A bracket 11 is fixed to the upper part of the propulsion unit 2, and a base end of a steering handle 10 is pivotally mounted on the bracket 11 so as to be vertically rotatable about a shaft 12. Is the throttle grip 13
A shift lever 14 is pivotally mounted on the outer surface of the steering handle 10 near the throttle grip 13 so as to be able to rotate back and forth. A trim control switch 20 is provided on the lower surface of the steering handle 10 between the shift lever 14 and the throttle grip 13.

In the steering handle 10, a shift lever 14 is pivotally mounted on an outer surface of the steering handle 10 facing away from the operator, and a tilt is provided on a lower surface of the steering handle 10 located forward of the shift lever 10. Control switch 2
0 is provided. Further, a throttle friction adjustment knob 15 is provided on the outer surface of the steering handle 10 located forward of the shift lever 10, and the shift lever 14
In some cases, a stop switch 16 is provided on the inner surface of the steering wheel 10 which is closer to the front.

[0006]

However, the lower portion of the shift lever 14 of the conventional steering wheel 10 is pivotally mounted on the outer surface of the steering wheel 10 facing away from the operator, and the upper portion is substantially straight. Since it was just raised upward, the upper part of the shift lever 14 is obliquely left front with respect to the throttle grip 13, and conversely, the throttle grip 13 is obliquely right rear with respect to the upper part of the shift lever 14. However, there is a problem that unless the arm is swung greatly during this time, the respective operations cannot be performed.

In particular, when an emergency occurs, the operator releases his / her finger from the throttle grip 13 and swings his fist toward the shift lever 14 to shift the shift lever 14 from forward (F) to neutral (N). When performing the operation, the arm must be swung obliquely left forward, so that the shift operation is likely to be delayed.

Further, since the shift lever 14 is made of an aluminum alloy or a synthetic resin, there is a problem that the softness is poor and the touch is poor, and when the hand is wet with seawater or the like, it is liable to slip.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a steering handle of an outboard motor having a shift lever with good operability and operation feeling. It is.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a ship in which a throttle grip is rotatably attached to a distal end portion of a housing of a steering handle connected to an upper part of an outboard motor body. In the steering handle of the external unit, a lower portion of a shift lever that rises upward in the vicinity of the throttle grip is pivotally attached to a side surface of the housing of the steering handle so as to be able to rotate back and forth.
The upper portion of the upper surface of the housing is overhanged in a substantially rectangular shape substantially to the vicinity of the center line of the steering handle. When the shift lever is rotated forward to shift forward, the overhanged upper portion is the throttle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a steering handle of an outboard motor, wherein the steering handle is arranged to approach the vicinity of the rear end of the grip.

According to the present invention, the upper portion of the shift lever which rises upward in the vicinity of the throttle grip overhangs above the housing in a substantially rectangular shape substantially to the vicinity of the center line of the steering wheel, and moves the shift lever forward. When performing a shift operation to rotate forward, it comes close to the vicinity of the rear end of the throttle grip, so from the operator's perspective,
The upper part of the shift lever is right beside the throttle grip, and conversely, the throttle grip is right beside the upper part of the shift lever.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the operator releases his / her finger from the throttle grip and swings his fist almost straight toward the shift lever,
It is preferable that the central part of the fist is overhanged so as to abut.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the shift lever is
It is preferable that the housing has a prismatic shape and is pivotally attached to an inner surface of the housing facing the operator.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that a soft material plate in which fine uneven portions for preventing slipping are formed at least at the upper portion on the outer surface of the shift lever is attached.

[0015]

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

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outboard motor 21 has a propulsion unit 22. An engine (not shown) is mounted in a cowling 61 on the upper part of the propulsion unit 22, and an engine is mounted on a lower part. A propeller 23 is provided which is driven to rotate by the motor.

The outboard motor 21 is attached to the rear end of the hull 24. A clamp bracket 25 is fixed to a tail plate 24a of the hull 24, and a swivel bracket 26 is turned on the clamp bracket 25 by a tilt shaft 27. The propulsion unit 22 is pivotally attached to the swivel bracket 26 so as to be rotatable around a steering shaft 28.

A bracket 31 is fixed to a front upper portion of the propulsion unit 22. The bracket 31 has a base end 30a of a handle housing 30A of the steering handle 30 bent in an L shape from the front to the rear. Are pivotally mounted so as to be vertically rotatable. The center line C of the handle housing 30A is set so as to be bent outward with respect to the center line C1 in the width direction of the propulsion unit 22, and
The propulsion unit 22 is set to be bent upward with respect to the horizontal line C2.

The tip 3 of the handle housing 30A
0b, a throttle grip 33 is rotatably mounted, and a shift lever 34 that rises up and down on an inner side surface (a surface on a ship operator's (starboard side) side) of the handle housing 30A near the throttle grip 33. It is freely pivoted.

A throttle friction adjustment knob 40 is rotatably mounted on the inner surface of the handle housing 30A between the throttle grip 33 and the shift lever 34, and the handle housing 30A is almost directly below the throttle friction adjustment knob 40. Fig. 3
Up / down switch 4 for trim control as shown in
1 is mounted inward. In addition, this up
The down switch 44 may also serve as tilt control.

An inner side surface between the base end portion 30a and a position slightly behind the mounting portion of the shift lever 34 of the handle housing 30A is formed with a concave portion 30c which is outwardly flattened. 30c, the shift lever 3
The width (thickness) W of the handle housing 30A between the base portion 30a and the position slightly behind the mounting portion 4 is narrowed outward.

The recess 30 of the handle housing 30A
At the rearward position of the inner surface of c, a bulging portion 30d that rises in an inverted V-shape at a predetermined angle inward is formed,
The inclined surface 30e of the bulging portion 30d on the shift lever 34 side.
Is provided with a stop switch 42, and the stop switch 42 is provided with a curl cord 4 for connecting with a ship operator.
A kill switch 43 having 3a is detachably mounted. In addition, the concave portion 30c located at the front position of the bulging portion 30d
Marks 44 indicating the remaining amount of oil and the temperature of the cooling water are attached to the inner side surface of each of them, and respective warning lamps 45 are attached directly below the marks 44.

FIG. 4A shows the handle housing 30.
A handle cover 30A is formed in an inverted U-shaped cross-section with the upper surface, the inner surface, and the outer surface removed, and a rectangular closed shape is provided by attaching the lower surface cover. A cross section is formed, and a shift mechanism and a throttle mechanism are incorporated in the handle housing 30A. The trim control up / down switch 41 is attached to the lower cover.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 5, the shift lever 34 of the shift mechanism is provided with a lower shaft through a through hole of a boss 30f projecting inward from the inner surface of the handle housing 30A. The portion 34a is rotatably fitted, and the boss portion 3 is
The shaft portion 35a of the cam plate 35 is rotatably fitted into the through hole 0f, and a bolt 48 inserted into the shaft portion 34a of the shift lever 34 is screwed into the shaft portion 35a of the cam plate 35, and the shift lever The cam plate 35 is integrally fixed to 34.

The shift lever 34 is disposed so as to rise upward in the vicinity of the throttle grip 33, and the upper portion of the shift lever 34 has a handle housing 30A as shown in detail in FIG. The upper part of the steering wheel 30 is formed so as to overhang in a substantially rectangular shape up to substantially the vicinity of the center line C of the steering handle 30. As shown in FIG. 6, the upper portion of the shift lever 34 faces close to the rear end of the throttle grip 33 when the shift lever 34 is rotated forward and the shift operation is performed in the forward (F) direction. Is formed. Further, the upper part of the shift lever 34 is overhanged so that the center part of the fist abuts when the operator releases his / her finger from the throttle grip 33 and swings the fist almost straight to the shift lever 34 side. ing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the shift lever 3
Numeral 4 is a quadrangular prism made of an aluminum alloy or a synthetic resin, and a rectangular step 34b which is long in the vertical direction is formed on the outer surface thereof, and a synthetic step is formed on the inner surface of the step 34b. A resin bracket 80 is fixed with a plurality of screws 81.

The outer surface of the bracket 80 is slightly lower than the outer surface of the shift lever 34, and the heads of the screws 81 do not protrude from the outer surface of the bracket 80. Submerged in
At the lower portion of the bracket 80, a locking hole 80b into which the head of the bolt 48 is loosely fitted is formed, and at the middle and upper portions of the bracket 80, locking holes 80b are formed respectively.

The concave step 3 on the outer surface of the shift lever 34
4b, a soft material plate (for example, rubber) 82 is fitted along the outer surface of the bracket 80, and the soft material plate 82 has a plurality of hook portions 82a formed on the inner surface.
Of the bracket 80 while being flexed into the respective locking holes 80b of the bracket 80.
The outer surface of the bracket 80 is covered. The outer surface of the soft material plate 82 is set so as to slightly protrude from the outer surface of the shift lever 34 so as to give a soft feeling to the feel of the shift lever 34. On the upper part of the outer surface of the soft material plate 82 which is touched by hand, fine uneven portions 82b for preventing slip are formed vertically and horizontally.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the cam plate 35 has a plurality of detent recesses 3 for the shift lever 34.
5b is formed, and a moderation spring 49 is engaged with one of the moderation recesses 35b to provide moderation to the forward (F), neutral (N), and reverse (R) rotation operations of the shift lever 34. Become like As shown in FIG. 5A, a mark 53 indicating each of the forward (F), neutral (N), and reverse (R) rotational operation directions of the shift lever 34 is attached to the upper surface of the handle housing 30A. It is attached.

The cam plate 35 is provided with a link shaft portion (engaging member) 35c which overhangs a throttle shaft 37 described later from the upper surface of the handle housing 30A and projects sideward. 35
4C, the other end of the shift cable 51 having one end connected to the shift device built in the propulsion unit 22 as shown in FIG. By rotating the shift lever 34, the rotation of the shift lever 34 is shifted by the cam plate 35 to the shift cable 51.
And the shift device in the propulsion unit 22 is switched via the shift cable 51 to the forward (F), neutral (N), and reverse (R) shift states.

In the handle housing 30A, a throttle shaft 37 is disposed along the center line C in the longitudinal direction thereof, and the tip of the throttle shaft 37 moves forward from the tip 30b of the handle housing 30A. It extends into the extending throttle grip holding portion 30g, is rotatably supported by the front bearing member 52 in the throttle grip holding portion 30g, and the rear end of the throttle shaft 37 is connected to the base of the handle housing 30A. It extends to the vicinity of the end 30a and is rotatably supported by the rear bearing member 53 in the handle housing 30A. The throttle shaft 37 is connected to the throttle grip 33 so as to rotate in conjunction with the rotation operation of the throttle grip 33.

A friction member 54 is engaged with the throttle shaft 37 between the throttle grip 33 and the shift lever 34.
Although not specifically shown, the rotation of the throttle friction adjustment knob 40 is expanded and narrowed to apply friction to the rotation of the throttle shaft 37.

The cam plate 35 of the shift lever 34
Is fixed to the throttle shaft 37 in the vicinity of.

The stopper 38 is connected to the cam plate 35
Is set so as to be located almost right beside the link shaft portion (engaging member) 35c of the cam plate 35 when the is rotated to the neutral (N) together with the shift lever 34,
Even if the throttle grip 33 is rotated to increase the throttle opening in this state, the stopper 38 is engaged with the link shaft (engaging member) 35c of the cam plate 35, and the throttle operation of the throttle grip 33 is performed. It becomes regulated (throttle opening regulation mechanism).

The stopper 38 is connected to the cam plate 3.
5 is rotated forward (F) or backward (R) together with the shift lever 34, the throttle grip 33
When the throttle opening is increased by rotating the lever, the stopper 38 does not engage with the link shaft portion (engaging member) 35c of the cam plate 35.
Throttle operation is no longer regulated.

This cam plate 35 serves as a shift lever 34
When the shift lever 34 is shifted to neutral (N) during throttle operation beyond the restriction on throttle operation of the throttle grip 33 in a state where the throttle lever 33 is rotating forward (F) or reverse (R). In this case, the link shaft portion (engaging member) 35c of the cam plate 35 comes into contact with the tip side surface portion of the stopper 38 rotated together with the throttle shaft 37, so that the shift lever 34 cannot be shifted to neutral (N).

In order to prevent the deflection of the throttle shaft 37, as shown in FIG. 4A, the throttle shaft 37 near the stopper 38 is stopped by
A rectangular leaf spring member (deflection restricting member) 56 for restricting the deflection of the throttle shaft 37 in the direction perpendicular to the axis is provided.

In the handle housing 30A, a concave stepped portion 30h into which the rear portion of the leaf spring material 56 is fitted from above.
Is formed, and in the state where the rear portion of the leaf spring material 56 is fitted into the concave stepped portion 30h and is prevented from rotating, one bolt 57
The rear part of the leaf spring material 56 is fixed to the concave step portion 30h, and the deflection of the throttle shaft 37 is regulated by contacting the outer periphery of the throttle shaft 37 with the leading end of the leaf spring material 56. Become like

As shown in FIG. 4A, a pulley 58 is fixed to the rear end of the throttle shaft 37 rotatably supported by the rear bearing member 53. The other end of a throttle cable 59, one end of which is connected to a throttle device incorporated in the propulsion unit 22, is wound and connected, and the throttle shaft 37 is rotated by the throttle grip 33, whereby the throttle shaft is rotated. The rotation of 37 is converted into a linear motion of a throttle cable 59 by a pulley 58, and the propulsion unit 22 is
The opening degree of the throttle valve of the throttle device inside is adjusted.

In the above configuration, the shift lever 34
The upper part of the shift lever 34 is supported by the lower part of the steering handle 3 near the throttle grip 33 and the upper part of the steering handle 3A.
When the gear is overhanged substantially in the shape of a letter to the vicinity of the center line C of 0 and a shift operation is performed to rotate the shift lever 34 forward (F) (see FIG. 6), the shift lever 34 is positioned near the rear end of the throttle grip 33. The upper part of the shift lever 34 is located on the left side of the throttle grip 33 and the throttle grip 33 is located on the right side of the upper part of the shift lever 34 when viewed from the boat operator. The operability is improved because the ship operator can operate each of them without swinging the arms greatly during this time.

The upper part of the shift lever 34 is provided when the operator releases his / her finger from the throttle grip 33 and swings his fist almost straight toward the shift lever 34 side.
Since the center portion of the fist is overhanged so as to abut, particularly in the event of an emergency, the operator releases his / her finger from the throttle grip 33 and swings the fist toward the shift lever 34 to shift the shift lever 34. When performing a shift operation of switching from the forward (F) to the neutral (N), if the arm is shaken straight to the left, the center portion of the fist will surely abut on the upper part of the shift lever 34, so that there is no delay in the shift operation.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the shift operation for switching the shift lever 34 between the neutral (N) and the reverse (R) is performed, the shift operation can be performed smoothly.

On the other hand, the shift lever 34 has a prismatic shape, and is pivotally mounted on the inner surface of the handle housing 30A facing the operator, so that the shift lever 34 having a prismatic shape can be shifted from any direction. Therefore, the operability is improved, and the shift lever 34 is disposed on the inner surface instead of the outer surface of the handle housing 30A, and the upper portion does not protrude from the outer surface. Is not caught between the floor and the floor, so it is hard to be damaged.

Further, a soft material plate 82 in which fine uneven portions 82b for preventing slippage are formed vertically and horizontally is attached to the upper part of the outer surface of the shift lever 34.
Is made of an aluminum alloy or a synthetic resin, the soft material plate 82 produces a soft feeling to improve the touch, and the fine unevenness 82b makes the hand less slippery even when the hand is wet with seawater or the like. Will also be good.

[0045]

As is apparent from the above description, the steering handle of the outboard motor according to the present invention has the upper part of the shift lever raised upward in the vicinity of the throttle grip. When the gear was overhanged in a substantially rectangular shape near the line and the shift lever was rotated forward to move forward, it was made to approach the vicinity of the rear end of the throttle grip.
The upper part of the shift lever is directly to the left of the throttle grip, and the throttle grip is right of the upper part of the shift lever, so the operator can operate each without having to swing his arm significantly during this time. ,
Operability is improved.

The upper part of the shift lever is overhanged so that the center part of the fist comes into contact when the operator lifts his / her finger from the throttle grip and swings the fist almost straight toward the shift lever. In particular, when an emergency occurs, the operator releases his / her finger from the throttle grip, swings his fist toward the shift lever, and switches the shift lever from forward to neutral. When the player swings his arm straight to the left, the center part of the fist surely comes into contact with the upper part of the shift lever, so that there is no delay in the shift operation.

Further, when the shift lever is formed in a prismatic shape and is pivotally attached to the inner side surface of the housing facing the operator, the shift lever having the prismatic shape can be shifted from any direction. The operability can be improved from this point, and the shift lever is located on the inner surface instead of the outer surface of the steering wheel, and the upper part does not protrude from the outer surface. Since the shift lever is not pinched between the floor and the floor, the shift lever is hardly damaged.

Further, when a soft material plate having fine irregularities for preventing slipping is formed at least at the upper portion on the outer surface of the shift lever (claim 4).
Even if the shift lever is made of aluminum alloy or synthetic resin, the soft material plate gives a soft feeling and improves the touch, and the fine unevenness makes the hand less slippery even if the hand is wet with seawater etc. Will also be good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an outboard motor provided with a steering handle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an inner surface side of the steering wheel.

FIG. 4A is a bottom view of the steering handle with a handle cover removed, and FIG. 4B is a front view of a main part of a moderating portion of a throttle friction adjustment knob.

5A is a plan view of a shift lever, and FIG. 5B is a side sectional view of the shift lever.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a steering wheel in which a shift lever is shifted forward, and FIG. 6B is a side view of FIG.

7A is a plan view of a steering wheel in which a shift lever is shifted backward, and FIG. 7B is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view of an outboard motor provided with a conventional steering wheel.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Outboard motor 30 Steering handle 30A Handle housing 33 Throttle grip 34 Shift lever 82 Soft material plate 82b Irregularities

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A steering handle of an outboard motor in which a throttle grip is rotatably attached to a tip of a housing of the steering handle connected to an upper part of the outboard motor main body. The lower part of the shift lever that rises upward near the throttle grip is pivotally mounted to be able to rotate back and forth, and the upper part of this shift lever is formed in a substantially rectangular shape above the upper surface of the housing to almost the center line of the steering handle. An outboard motor that is overhanged, and that when the shift lever is rotated forward to perform a forward shift operation, the overhanged upper portion faces close to the vicinity of the rear end of the throttle grip. Steering wheel. 2. An upper portion of the shift lever is overhanged so that the center portion of the fist comes into contact when the operator releases his / her finger from the throttle grip and swings the fist almost straight toward the shift lever. The steering handle of an outboard motor according to claim 1, wherein 3. The shift lever has a prismatic shape,
3. The steering handle of an outboard motor according to claim 1, wherein the steering handle is pivotally attached to an inner surface of the housing facing the operator. 4. The outboard motor according to claim 1, wherein a soft material plate having fine irregularities for preventing slipping is formed at least at an upper portion on an outer surface of the shift lever. Steering wheel.