1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering system for a marine vessel and, in particular, to a steering system for a marine vessel which has a primary propulsion unit and an auxiliary propulsion unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Marine vessels are often provided with a primary propulsion unit and an auxiliary propulsion unit. Typically a tie bar couples the primary propulsion unit and the auxiliary propulsion unit. U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,340 to Fetchko et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,626 to Dudra et al., the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, both disclose using a tie bar to couple a primary propulsion unit and an auxiliary propulsion unit. This allows the propulsion units to be steered simultaneously.
It is also known to use a cable to couple a primary propulsion unit and an auxiliary propulsion unit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,812 to Griffiths, the full disclosure of which is also incorporated herein by reference, discloses using a cable to couple a hydraulic cylinder of a primary propulsion unit to a steering arm of an auxiliary propulsion unit. Coupling the propulsion units with a cable provides the advantage of a flexible and rotatable connecting member. However, connecting the cable to the hydraulic cylinder of the primary propulsion engine may limit rotation of the cable and/or unduly twist the cable when primary propulsion unit is tilted. This may result in jamming and less motion being transmitted to the auxiliary propulsion unit.
There is accordingly a need for an improved steering system for a marine vessel which has a primary propulsion unit and an auxiliary propulsion unit.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved steering system for a marine vessel which has a first propulsion unit and a second propulsion unit.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved steering system for a marine vessel in which a cable couples a primary propulsion unit to an auxiliary propulsion unit.
There is accordingly provided a steering system which comprises a steering assembly for steering a first propulsion unit. The steering assembly includes an actuator for imparting steering movement to the first propulsion unit. A push/pull cable operatively connects the actuator to a second propulsion unit. The push/pull cable extends through a tilt tube of the first propulsion unit and is capable of transmitting steering movement from the actuator to the auxiliary propulsion unit. The first propulsion unit may be a primary propulsion unit and the second propulsion unit may be an auxiliary propulsion unit. The push/pull cable may extend through a tilt tube of the second propulsion unit.
There is further provided a steering system which comprises a transom bracket provided with a support rod having a passageway extending therethrough. A steering assembly for steering the first propulsion unit is mounted on the transom bracket. The steering assembly includes an actuator for imparting steering movement to the first propulsion unit. A push/pull cable extends between the first propulsion unit and a second propulsion unit for operatively connecting the actuator of the first propulsion unit to the second propulsion unit. The push/pull cable extends through the support rod and the push/pull cable is capable of transmitting steering movement from the actuator of the first propulsion unit to the second propulsion unit. The first propulsion unit may be a primary propulsion unit in the form of a stern drive and the second propulsion unit may be an auxiliary propulsion unit in the form of an outboard motor.
The steering system may be mounted on the transom bracket. The push/pull cable may extend through a tilt tube of the second propulsion unit. A connecting arm may operatively connect the push/pull cable to the actuator of the first propulsion unit. A steering arm may operatively connect the push/pull cable to a steering member of the second propulsion unit. The actuator of the first propulsion unit may include a hydraulic cylinder having a piston rod reciprocatingly mounted therein. The support rod and the piston rod may be substantially parallel. At least a portion of the push/pull cable is coaxial with the support rod. At least a portion of the push/pull cable is coaxial with the tilt tube of the second propulsion unit.
There is still further provided a method for coupling a first propulsion unit to a second propulsion unit. One embodiment of the method comprises:
providing a support rod of the first propulsion unit with an axial passageway which extends therethrough;
providing a tilt tube of the second propulsion unit with an axial passageway which extends therethrough;
connecting a push/pull cable to a steering assembly of the first propulsion unit;
extending the push/pull cable through the passageway in the support rod and the passageway in the tilt tube of the second propulsion unit; and
steeringly connecting the push/pull cable to the second propulsion unit so that the push/pull cable is capable of transmitting steering movement from the actuator of the first propulsion unit to the second propulsion unit.
The invention will be more readily understood from the following description of following embodiments thereof given, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to the drawings and first to
The steering system 10 includes a hydraulic steering assembly 20 which steers the primary propulsion unit 14. The steering assembly 20 includes an actuator in the form of hydraulic cylinder 22 with a piston rod 24 reciprocatingly mounted therein allowing for relative movement of the cylinder 22 along a piston rod axis 100. The cylinder 22 has a pair of spaced-apart cylinder arms 26 and 28 which extend radially outward of the cylinder 22. A pivot plate 30 is pivotably connected to each of the cylinder arms 26 and 28 by means of pivot pins 27 and 29, respectively. The pivot plate 30 extends between the cylinder arms 26 and 28 and can pivot about the pins 27 and 29. A steering member or tiller 32 of the primary propulsion unit 14 is pivotably connected to the pivot plate 30 by a pivot pin 31. Support arms 34 and 36 connect respective ends of the piston rod 24 to a support rod 38 of a tilt tube 40 of the primary propulsion unit 14. This is better shown in
Referring back to
The relative linear movement of the cylinder 22 is also transmitted by a connecting member, in the form of a push/pull cable 46, to the auxiliary propulsion unit 16, thereby causing the auxiliary propulsion unit 16 to be steered. The push/pull cable 46 is a conventional push/pull cable. The push/pull cable 46 is provided with cable rods 48 and 50 at opposite ends thereof. As shown in
The push/pull cable 46 extends from the connecting arm 56, through both the tilt tube 40 of the primary propulsion unit 14 and a tilt tube 74 of the auxiliary propulsion unit 16, to the steering arm 68. In one embodiment the tilt tubes 40 and 74 are substantially aligned along a common horizontal axis. The push/pull cable 46 accordingly extends substantially linearly in the horizontal direction. However, the cable is also flexible, allowing it to curve if required, for example, if the tilt tubes 40 and 74 are not aligned. The bend shown in
Referring now to
The push/pull cable 46 also has a cable portion 84. The cable portion 84 extends between the cable rods 48 and 50. As seen in
The push/pull cable 46 further includes an outer sleeve or jacket 86 which extends between the propulsion units 14 and 16 and, at least partially, houses the cable portion 84. As shown in
In operation, an operator steers the primary propulsion unit 14 by actuating the helm pump to pump hydraulic fluid to the cylinder 22 of the steering system 20. This causes the cylinder 22 to reciprocate linearly with respect to the marine vessel 12 as described above. This relative linear movement of the cylinder 22 causes the tiller 32 of the primary propulsion unit 14 to pivot, thereby causing the primary propulsion unit 14 to be steered. The relative linear movement of the cylinder 22 is also transmitted to the auxiliary propulsion unit 16, thereby causing the auxiliary propulsion unit 16 to be steered. In particular, the relative linear movement of the cylinder 22 is transmitted through the bracket 58 and connecting arm 56 to the first cable rod 48 of the push/pull cable 46. This causes the first cable rod 48 to move linearly. The linear movement of the first cable rod 48 is transmitted through the cable portion 84 of the push/pull cable 46 to the second cable rod 50. This cause the second cable rod 50 to move linearly. Movement of the second cable rod 50, through the steering arm 68, causes the tiller 70 of the auxiliary propulsion unit 14 to pivot thereby causing the auxiliary propulsion unit to be steered.
Extending the push/pull cable 46 through tilt tubes 40 and 74 and, in particular through the support rods of the tilt tubes, allows for independent tilting of the primary propulsion unit 14 and the auxiliary propulsion unit 16. Furthermore, twisting of the push/pull cable 46 is minimized.
Referring now to
The hydraulic steering assembly 120 is mounted on mounting bracket which is a transom bracket 121 in this example. The transom bracket 121 is provided with a support rod 138 as best shown in
Accordingly, the steering system disclosed herein may be retrofitted to existing marine vessels by boring through the tilt tubes of existing propulsion units or by providing support rods for the tilt tubes with central passageways or bores to receive a push/pull cable. For example, the steering system disclosed herein may be retrofitted to the SEA STARĀ® steering system.
It will further be understood by a person skilled in the art that many of the details provided above are by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention which is to be determined with reference to the following claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 12/501,332 filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Jul. 10, 2009 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,151,723, and priority to which is claimed.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3756186 | Nordling | Sep 1973 | A |
3863593 | Borst et al. | Feb 1975 | A |
4009678 | North | Mar 1977 | A |
4300888 | Warning | Nov 1981 | A |
4311471 | Queen | Jan 1982 | A |
4573930 | Queen | Mar 1986 | A |
4710141 | Ferguson | Dec 1987 | A |
4836812 | Griffiths | Jun 1989 | A |
5108321 | Nelson | Apr 1992 | A |
5154651 | Binversie et al. | Oct 1992 | A |
6224438 | Hase | May 2001 | B1 |
6276977 | Treinen et al. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6406340 | Fetchko et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6413126 | Johnson | Jul 2002 | B1 |
7128626 | Dudra et al. | Oct 2006 | B2 |
7128627 | Ferguson | Oct 2006 | B2 |
8151723 | Winiski et al. | Apr 2012 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2100214 | Jan 1995 | CA |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20120247381 A1 | Oct 2012 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 12501332 | Jul 2009 | US |
Child | 13442747 | US |