Engine control apparatus
AssigneeNHK Spring Co., Ltd.
InventorSachio Ooshita
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An engine control apparatus includes a lever member, an input shaft, a potentiometer, an output gear, a motor, a shift arm, a reduction gear mechanism, and a force transmission mechanism. The force transmission mechanism includes a damper unit. When the lever member moves in a first direction or a second direction, the motor rotates based on an output of the potentiometer. The rotation of the motor is transmitted to the shift arm via the reduction gear mechanism. This moves the shift arm to a forward-side shift positon or a backward-side shift position. When the lever member is located within a predetermined angle from the neutral position, the damper unit deforms in a state where the output gear stops. This allows the rotation of the input axis.
Claims6
An engine control apparatus, comprising:
- a base member;
- a lever member rotating about an input shaft provided on the base member, the lever member moving from a neutral position in a first direction and a second direction;
- an output gear provided on the input shaft, the output gear being capable of relatively rotating about the input shaft;
- a motor arranged on the base member, the motor rotating in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction;
- a potentiometer outputting a signal causing the motor to rotate in the first rotational direction in a state where the lever member moves in the first direction, the potentiometer outputting a signal causing the motor to rotate in the second rotational direction in a state where the lever member moves in the second direction;
- a shift arm rotating about a shift arm shaft provided on the base member, a shift cable being connected to the shift arm;
- a shift arm driving gear provided on the shift arm shaft, the shift arm driving gear engaging with the output gear;
- a reduction gear mechanism transmitting rotation of the motor to the shift arm driving gear;
- and
- a force transmission mechanism including a damper unit provided between the input shaft and the output gear, the force transmission mechanism allowing the input shaft to rotate in a state where the output gear stops by the damper unit deforming, when the lever member is located within a predetermined angle from the neutral position, and transmitting the rotation of the input shaft to the output gear via the damper unit, when the lever member has an angle more than the predetermined angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.