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US 7,442,102 B2Granted
Boat
AssigneeYamaha Marine Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsMakoto Ito, Takashi Yamada
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A remote control operation unit can have a remote control shift lever through which a boat operator can remotely control a forward drive mode, a neutral mode, and a reverse drive mode. A boat propulsion unit can have a shift switching device for shifting and a shift actuator for operating the shift switching device. A controller can be used to control the operation of the shift actuator in response to the operation amount of the remote control shift lever. The controller can also be configured to control the shift actuator such that in the case where the remote control shift lever has been shifted between a neutral position and a forward position or reverse position, when an engine is stopped and when shifting is not completed within a certain period of time, the shift actuator stops shifting operation.
Claims19
A boat comprising:
- a remote control operation unit comprising a remote control shift lever configured to allow a boat operator to remotely control a forward drive mode, a neutral mode, and a reverse drive mode of the boat;
- a boat propulsion unit comprising a shift switching device configured to selectively shift between the forward drive mode, the neutral mode, and the reverse drive mode, and a shift actuator configured to operate the shift switching device;
- and
- a control means for controlling the operation of the shift actuator in response to the operation amount of the remote control shift lever, when the remote control shift lever has been operated within a predetermined range of a shift range;
- wherein the control means controls the shift actuator such that in the case where the remote control shift lever has been shifted between a neutral position and a forward position or reverse position, when an engine is stopped and when shifting is not completed within a certain period of time, the shift actuator stops shifting operation.
2 more elements
A boat comprising:
- a remote control operation unit comprising a remote control shift lever configured to allow a boat operator to remotely control a forward drive mode, a neutral mode, and a reverse drive mode of the boat;
- a boat propulsion unit comprising a shift switching device configured to selectively shift between the forward drive mode, the neutral mode, and the reverse drive mode, and a shift actuator configured to operate the shift switching device;
- and
- a control means for controlling the operation of the shift actuator in response to the operation amount of the remote control shift lever, when the remote control shift lever has been operated within a predetermined range of a shift range;
- wherein the control means controls the shift actuator such that in the case where the remote control shift lever has been shifted between a neutral position and a forward position or reverse position, when an engine is stopped and when shifting is not completed within a certain period of time, the shift actuator stops shifting operation, and wherein the control means controls the shift actuator to produce smaller shifting forces when the engine is stopped and to produce larger shifting forces when the engine is in operation.
2 more elements
A boat comprising:
- a remote control operation unit comprising a remote control shift lever configured to allow a boat operator to remotely control a forward drive mode, a neutral mode, and a reverse drive mode of the boat;
- a boat propulsion unit comprising a shift switching device configured to selectively shift between the forward drive mode, the neutral mode, and the reverse drive mode, and a shift actuator configured to operate the shift switching device;
- and
- a control means for controlling the operation of the shift actuator in response to the operation amount of the remote control shift lever, when the remote control shift lever has been operated within a certain range of a shift range,
- wherein the control means controls the shift actuator such that in the case where the remote control shift lever has been shifted between a neutral position and a forward position or reverse position, when an engine is stopped and when shift speed is below a certain value after a lapse of a certain period of time from the start of shifting, the shift actuator stops shifting operation.
2 more elements
A boat comprising:
- a remote control operation unit comprising a remote control shift lever configured to allow a boat operator to remotely control a forward drive mode, a neutral mode, and a reverse drive mode of the boat;
- a boat propulsion unit comprising a shift switching device configured to selectively shift between the forward drive mode, the neutral mode, and the reverse drive mode, and a shift actuator configured to operate the shift switching device;
- and
- a control means for controlling the operation of the shift actuator in response to the operation amount of the remote control shift lever, when the remote control shift lever has been operated within a predetermined range of a shift range,
- wherein the control means controls the shift actuator such that in the case where the remote control shift lever has been shifted between a neutral position and a forward position or reverse position, when an engine is stopped and when shift speed is below a certain value after a lapse of a certain period of time from the start of shifting, the shift actuator stops shifting operation, and wherein the control means controls the shift actuator to produce smaller shifting forces when the engine is stopped and to produce larger shifting forces when the engine is in operation.
2 more elements
A boat comprising:
- a remote control operation unit comprising a remote control shift lever configured to allow a boat operator to remotely control a forward drive mode, a neutral mode, and a reverse drive mode of the boat;
- a boat propulsion unit comprising a shift switching device configured to selectively shift between the forward drive mode, the neutral mode, and the reverse drive mode, and a shift actuator configured to operate the shift switching device;
- and
- a control means for controlling the operation of the shift actuator in response to the operation amount of the remote control shift lever, when the remote control shift lever has been operated within a certain range of a shift range,
- wherein the control means controls the shift actuator such that in the case where the remote control shift lever has been shifted between a neutral position and a forward position or reverse position, when an engine is stopped and when the amount of electric current applied to the shift actuator is above a certain value for a certain period of time, the shift actuator stops shifting operation.
2 more elements
A boat comprising:
- a remote control operation unit comprising a remote control shift lever configured to allow a boat operator to remotely control a forward drive mode, a neutral mode, and a reverse drive mode of the boat;
- a boat propulsion unit comprising a shift switching device configured to selectively shift between the forward drive mode, the neutral mode, and the reverse drive mode, and a shift actuator configured to operate the shift switching device;
- and
- a control means for controlling the operation of the shift actuator in response to the operation amount of the remote control shift lever, when the remote control shift lever has been operated within a predetermined range of a shift range,
- wherein the control means controls the shift actuator such that in the case where the remote control shift lever has been shifted between a neutral position and a forward position or reverse position, when an engine is stopped and when the amount of electric current applied to the shift actuator is above a certain value for a certain period of time, the shift actuator stops shifting operation, wherein the control means controls the shift actuator to produce smaller shifting forces when the engine is stopped and to produce larger shifting forces when the engine is in operation.
2 more elements
A boat comprising:
- a remote control operation unit comprising a remote control shift lever configured to allow a boat operator to remotely control a forward drive mode, a neutral mode, and a reverse drive mode of the boat;
- a boat propulsion unit comprising a shift switching device configured to selectively shift between the forward drive mode, the neutral mode, and the reverse drive mode, and a shift actuator configured to operate the shift switching device;
- and
- a controller configured to control the operation of the shift actuator in response to the operation amount of the remote control shift lever, when the remote control shift lever has been operated within a predetermined range of a shift, range;
- wherein the controller is configured to control the shift actuator to stop shifting operation when the remote control shift lever has been shifted between a neutral position and a forward position or reverse position, when an engine is stopped and at least one of (a) when shifting is not completed within a certain period of time, (b) when shift speed is below a certain value after a lapse of a certain period of time from the start of shifting, and (c) when the amount of electric current applied to the shift actuator is above a certain value for a certain period of time.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.