Shift control device of outboard motor, shift control method of outboard motor and program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9481436-B2
Application number	US-201314409056-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2013
Priority date	Jun 25, 2012
Publication date	Nov 1, 2016
Grant date	Nov 1, 2016

Abstract

A shift control device of an outboard motor having an electrical shift device for switching a propulsion direction has a rotation switching unit electrically switching whether to drive the outboard motor for regular rotation or for counter rotation, and a rotation determination unit determining whether the outboard motor drives for regular rotation or for counter rotation. Desired performances can be obtained by the outboard motor for regular rotation and the outboard motor for counter rotation without complicating the operation even when the propulsion unit for regular rotation and the propulsion unit for counter rotation are made as a common unit.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A shift control device of an outboard motor having an electrical shift device for switching a propulsion direction, the shift control device comprising:
a rotation switching unit electrically switching whether to drive the outboard motor for regular rotation or for counter rotation,
a propulsion direction detecting unit detecting a propulsion direction of the outboard motor,
a rotation determination unit determining whether the outboard motor drives for regular rotation or for counter rotation based on a shift position of a remote control lever for switching the propulsion direction of the outboard motor and a propulsion direction detected by the propulsion direction detecting unit,
a judgment unit judging whether the shift position of the remote control lever and the propulsion direction detected by the propulsion direction detecting unit match or not; and
a notification unit giving a notification that the shift position and the propulsion direction are different when the judgment unit judges that the shift position and the propulsion direction do not match.

2. The shift control device of the outboard motor according to claim 1 , wherein
the outboard motor includes a bracket device for attaching the outboard motor main body to a hull, and
the propulsion direction detecting unit detects the propulsion direction of the outboard motor according to a relative displacement between the bracket device and the outboard motor main body.

3. The shift control device of the outboard motor according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an interruption unit interrupting transfer of drive of an engine of the outboard motor when the judgment unit judges that the shift position and the propulsion direction do not match.

4. The shift control device of the outboard motor according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a judgment unit judging whether a shift position of a remote control lever for switching the propulsion direction of the outboard motor and a propulsion direction detected by the propulsion direction detecting unit match or not; and
an engine speed control unit controlling the engine speed of the outboard motor not to be equal to or more than a predetermined engine speed when the judgment unit judges that the shift position and the propulsion direction do not match.

5. The shift control device of the outboard motor according to claim 1 , wherein the rotation switching unit electrically switches rotation based on rotation information indicating whether the outboard motor is to be driven for regular rotation or for counter rotation, which is inputted by a boat operator via an input device or a selection device.

6. The shift control device of the outboard motor according to claim 1 ,
wherein the rotation switching unit electrically switches whether to drive the outboard motor for regular rotation or for counter rotation when the judgment unit judges that the shift position and the propulsion direction do not match.

7. The shift control device of the outboard motor according to claim 6 , further comprising
a storage processing unit storing rotation information of rotation switched by the rotation switching unit in a rewritable non-volatile memory,
wherein shift of the outboard motor is controlled based on the rotation information stored by the storage processing unit and a shift position of a remote control lever for switching the propulsion direction of the outboard motor.

8. A shift control method of an outboard motor having an electrical shift device for switching a propulsion direction, the method comprising:
a rotation switching step of electrically switching whether to drive the outboard motor for regular rotation or for counter rotation,
a rotation determination step of determining whether the outboard motor drives for regular rotation or for counter rotation,
a step determining whether a shift position of the remote control lever and a propulsion direction of the outboard motor match or not; and
a notification step notifying a boat operator that the shift position and the propulsion direction do not match when the shift position of the remote control lever and the propulsion direction of the outboard motor do not match.

9. A computer readable non-transitory recording medium with program for controlling an outboard motor having an electrical shift device for switching a propulsion direction, the program causing a computer to execute:
a rotation switching step of electrically switching whether to drive the outboard motor for regular rotation or for counter rotation,
a rotation determination step of determining whether the outboard motor drives for regular rotation or for counter rotation,
a step determining whether a shift position of the remote control lever and a propulsion direction of the outboard motor match or not; and
a notification step notifying a boat operator that the shift position and the propulsion direction do not match when the shift position of the remote control lever and the propulsion direction of the outboard motor do not match.

Assignees

• Suzuki Motor Corp

Inventors

• Shomura Nobuyuki
• Matsumura Hitoshi
• Nanba Masahiro

Classifications

• B63H21/21

  Control means for engine or transmission, specially adapted for use on marine vessels · CPC title

• B63H21/213

  Levers or the like for controlling the engine or the transmission, e.g. single hand control levers · CPC title

• B63J99/00

  Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass · CPC title

• B63H20/14 Primary

  Transmission between propulsion power unit and propulsion element · CPC title

• B63J2099/006

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic