US 7,247,066 B2Granted

Remote operation system for outboard motor

AssigneeHonda Motor Co., Ltd.

InventorsYoshihiro Harada, Shinsaku Nakayama, Taiichi Otobe

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Abstract

A remote operation system for an outboard motor includes a remote control box installed at a cockpit of the boat and a lever attached to a support shaft that is rotatably accommodated in the remote control box for being manipulated by an operator, a plurality of sensors, such as a potentiometer and a rotary encoder provided to generate outputs indicative of an angle of rotation of the support shaft through the lever manipulation, respectively, and a control unit which controls operation of a throttle actuator and a shift actuator based on at least one of the outputs of the sensors, thereby improving reliability and enabling continued regulation of throttle opening and change of shift position even if a failure occurs in one of sensors.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A remote operation system for an outboard motor mounted on a stem of a boat and having an internal combustion engine and a propeller powered by the engine to propel the boat in a forward direction or in a reverse direction in response to a shift position selected by a shift mechanism, comprising:

a remote control box installed at a cockpit of the boat;
a throttle actuator installed in the outboard motor and connected to a throttle valve of the engine to open and close the throttle valve;
a shift actuator installed in the outboard motor and operating a clutch of the shift mechanism to select the shift position from among a forward position, a reverse position and a neutral position;
a lever attached to a support shaft that is rotatably accommodated in the remote control box for being manipulated by an operator;
a plurality of sensors disposed within the remote control box operatively connected to the support shaft and each generating an output indicative of an angle of rotation of the support shaft through the lever manipulation;
and
a control unit electrically connected to the throttle actuator, the shift actuator and the sensors, and controlling operation of the throttle actuator and the shift actuator based on at least one of the outputs of the sensors.

4 more elements

A remote operation system, for an outboard motor mounted on a stern of a boat and having an internal combustion engine and a propeller powered by the engine to propel the boat in a forward direction or in a reverse direction in response to a shift position selected by a shift mechanism, comprising:

a remote control box installed at a cockpit of the boat;
a throttle actuator installed in the outboard motor and connected to a throttle valve of the engine to open and close the throttle valve;
a shift actuator installed in the outboard motor and operating a clutch of the shift mechanism to select the shift position from among a forward position, a reverse position and a neutral position;
a lever attached to a support shaft that is rotatably accommodated in the remote control box for being manipulated by an operator, wherein the support shaft has an elliptical section profile that is pressed by a presser mechanism such that a manipulation load is imparted to the lever;
a plurality of sensors operatively connected to the support shaft and each generating an output indicative of an angle of rotation of the support shaft through the lever manipulation;
and
a control unit electrically connected to the throttle actuator, the shift actuator and the sensors, and controlling operation of the throttle actuator and the shift actuator based on at least one of the outputs of the sensors.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.