1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an outboard motor control system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there are proposed drive-by-wire (DBW) control systems that use actuators for driving a steering mechanism, shift mechanism and throttle valve of an internal combustion engine mounted on an outboard motor, as taught by, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-127986 (particularly paragraphs 0021 to 0026, 0043 to 0045, FIGS. 1, 2, etc.).
As described in another Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-52697 ('697; particularly paragraphs 0014 to 0017, FIG. 1, etc.), boats are commonly equipped with two or more outboard motors mounted side-by-side in what is called a “multiple outboard motor installation.” In this technique, sensors installed in a boat to detect manipulated variables of its steering wheel and shift/throttle lever and control units installed in individual multiple outboard motors to control the operation of actuators, are connected in series through an electric signal line.
With this configuration in which the sensors and control units installed in multiple outboard motors are connected in series through the electric signal line, as described in '697, when the operation of the actuators is controlled for each of the outboard motors, it needs to identify the respective outboard motors, i.e., to rewrite software for each of the outboard motors, resulting in increase of complicated tedious work.
An object of this invention is therefore to overcome this problem by providing an outboard motor control system that can control the operation of actuators installed in respective multiple outboard motors for each of the outboard motors with simple structure.
In order to achieve the object, this invention provides a system for controlling a plurality of outboard motors each adapted to be mounted on a stem of a boat and each having an internal combustion engine, a steering mechanism, a shift mechanism, an actuator adapted to drive at least one of the steering mechanism, the shift mechanism and a throttle valve of the engine, and a controller to control operation of the actuator, comprising: a steering wheel installed to be freely operable by an operator; a shift/throttle lever installed to be freely operable by the operator; and a manipulated variable detector adapted to produce an output indicative of manipulated variable of at least one of the steering wheel and the shift/throttle lever by the operator; the manipulated variable detector being separately connected to each of the controllers installed in the outboard motors through an electric signal line to send the output to each of the controllers.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the following description and drawings in which:
An outboard motor control system according to preferred embodiments of this invention will now be explained with reference to the attached drawings.
As shown in
As shown in
The upper portion of the swivel case 18 is installed with an electric steering motor (steering actuator) 24 that drives the shaft 22. The output shaft of the steering motor 24 is connected to the upper end of mount frame 20 via a speed reduction gear mechanism 26. Specifically, a rotational output generated by driving the steering motor 24 is transmitted via the speed reduction gear mechanism 26 to the mount frame 20 such that the outboard motor 12 is steered about the shaft 22 as a rotational axis to the right and left directions (i.e., steered about the vertical axis). Thus the mount frame 20 functions as the “steering mechanism” that uses the steering motor 24 to steer the outboard motor 12 laterally.
The outboard motor 12 is equipped with an internal combustion engine (hereinafter referred to as “engine”) 30 at its upper portion. The engine 30 comprises a spark-ignition water-cooled gasoline engine with a displacement of 2,200 cc. The engine 30 is located above the water surface and covered by an engine cover 32.
The engine 30 has an intake pipe 34 that is connected to a throttle body 36. The throttle body 36 has a throttle valve 38 installed therein and an electric throttle motor (throttle actuator) 40 is integrally disposed thereto to open and close the throttle valve 38. The output shaft of the throttle motor 40 is connected to the throttle valve 38 via a speed reduction gear mechanism (not shown) installed near the throttle body 36. Specifically, the throttle motor 40 is operated to open and close the throttle valve 38, thereby regulating air sucked in the engine 30 to control the engine speed.
The outboard motor 12 is equipped with a drive shaft 42 installed in parallel with the vertical axis and supported to be freely rotated thereabout. One end, i.e., the upper end of the drive shaft 42 is connected to a crankshaft (not shown) of the engine 30 and the other end, i.e., the lower end thereof is connected via a shift mechanism 44 with a propeller shaft 46 supported to be freely rotated about the horizontal axis. One end of the propeller shaft 46 is attached with the propeller 50.
The shift mechanism 44 comprises a forward bevel gear 52 and reverse bevel gear 54 which are connected to the drive shaft 42 to be rotated, and a clutch 62 which is rotated integrally with the propeller shaft 46 and is freely engaged with either one of the forward bevel gear 52 and reverse bevel gear 54 by displacement of a shift rod 56 and shift slider 60.
The interior of the engine cover 32 is disposed with an electric shift motor (shift actuator) 66 that drives the shift mechanism 44. The output shaft of the shift motor 66 is freely connected via a speed reduction gear mechanism 70 with the upper end of the shift rod 56 of the shift mechanism 44. Therefore, when the shift motor 66 is driven, its output displaces the shift rod 56 and shift slider 60, thereby driving the clutch 62 to be engaged with either the forward bevel gear 52 or the reverse bevel gear 54.
The rotational output of the drive shaft 42 is transmitted via the shift mechanism 44 to the propeller shaft 46 to rotate the propeller 50 in one of the directions making the boat 10 move forward or rearward. The engagement of the clutch 62 with one of the bevel gears 52, 54 can be released by driving the shift motor 66 to displace the shift slider 60 to an appropriate position. Specifically, the shift motor 66 is driven to operate the clutch 62 of the shift mechanism 44, thereby switching the shift position among forward, reverse and neutral positions.
Thus the outboard motor 12 is configured such that the steering mechanism (mount frame) 20, shift mechanism 44 and throttle valve 38 of the mounted engine 30 are operated by the motors 24, 40, 66. The outboard motor 12 is equipped with a power source (not shown) such as a battery or the like attached to the engine 30 to supply operating power to the motors 24, 40, 66, a lever position sensor unit (explained later) and other components.
The explanation of
The shift position sensor 74 is installed near the shift rod 56 and produces an output or signal indicative of shift position, i.e., rotation angle of the shift rod 56. The rudder angle sensor 76 installed near the shaft 22 produces an output or signal indicative of rotation angle of the shaft 22, i.e., steering angle of the outboard motor 12. Each of the outboard motors 12 is further equipped with a crank angle sensor 80 installed near the crankshaft of the engine 30 to produce an output or signal indicative of engine speed of the engine 30.
The three outboard motors 12 are equipped with ECUs (electronic control unit) 82a, b, c (assigned by reference numeral 82 when collectively called in the following). The ECU 82 is constituted as a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM and other devices and mounted in the engine cover 32 of the outboard motor 12. The ECU 82 comprises an engine control unit or engine controller 84 that controls the operation of the throttle motor 40 and shift motor 66, and an steering control unit or steering controller 86 that controls the operation the steering motor 24.
As shown in
The boat 10 is equipped with multiple, more precisely two in this embodiment, navigation units 90 installed to be freely manipulated by the operator. In the following, the navigation unit with reference numeral 90 having a suffix 1, namely 901, will be called the first navigation unit and the navigation unit with 90 having a suffix 2, namely 902, will be called the second navigation unit.
The first and second navigation units 901, 902 produce outputs or signals indicative of drive commands for the aforementioned motors in response to manipulation by the operator. Specifically, the first navigation unit 901 comprises a steering wheel 921 disposed to be freely rotated or manipulated by the operator, a plurality of, i.e., three remote control boxes 941a, b, c, and an indicator 961 that indicates the current wheel steering angle, boat speed and the like. Similarly, the second navigation unit 902 comprises a steering wheel 922, a plurality of, i.e., three remote control boxes 942a, b, c, and an indicator 962.
Among the six remote control boxes, the remote control boxes 941a, 942a produce outputs or signals indicating drive commands for the port outboard motor 12a, the remote control boxes 941b, 942b for the middle outboard motor 12b, and the remote control boxes 941c, 942c for the starboard outboard motor 12c, respectively.
The steering wheels 921, 922 are used or rotated by the operator to input rudder turning commands to the outboard motors 12, i.e., commands for operating the steering motors 24. Steering angle sensors (steering sensor; manipulated variable detector; steering angle detector) 981, 982 installed near the rotary shafts of the steering wheels 921, 922 produce outputs or signals indicative of the manipulated variables, namely, steering angles of the steering wheels 921, 922 manipulated by the operator.
The steering angle sensors 981, 982 are connected to steering angle sensor units (steering sensor unit; manipulated variable detector; steering angle detector) 1001, 1002, respectively, that are inputted with the outputs indicative of steering angles detected by the steering angle sensors.
As shown in
The explanation of the navigation units 901, 902 in
Lever position sensors (manipulated variable detector; lever position detector) 1221a, b, c, 1222a, b, c are installed near the shift/throttle levers 1201a, b, c, 1202a, b, c. The lever position sensors 1221a, b, c, 1222a, b, c produce outputs or signals indicative of the manipulated variables or manipulated positions of the shift/throttle levers 1201a, b, c, 1202a, b, c by the operator, i.e., lever positions.
The lever position sensors 1221a, b, c, 1222a, b, c are connected to lever position sensor units (shift/throttle sensor unit; manipulated variable detector; lever position detector) 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c that are inputted with outputs indicative of the lever positions detected by the lever position sensors.
As shown in
The isolation section 1281a comprises a communication processing block 1441a connected to the steering angle sensor unit 1001, precisely the communication processing block 1161 of the steering angle sensor unit 1001 (neither shown in
Next, the connections between the steering angle sensor units 1001, 1002 and lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c installed in the boat 10, and the engine control units 84a, b, c and steering control units 86a, b, c installed in the three outboard motors 12a, b, c, will be explained.
Before making the explanation with reference to
However, with this configuration in which the units are connected in series through the one electric signal line 160p, when the operation of the actuators, i.e., the steering motors 24a, b, c, throttle motors 40a, b, c, shift motors 66a, b, c, of the outboard motors 12 is controlled for each of the outboard motors, it is necessary to identify the respective outboard motors, i.e., to rewrite software for each of the outboard motors, resulting in increase of complicated tedious work.
In this embodiment, therefore, it is configured to connect the steering angle sensor units 1001, 1002 and lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c installed in the boat 10 to the engine control units 84a, b, c and steering control units 86a, b, c installed in the three outboard motors 12a, b, c through electric signal lines (digital communication lines) separately, i.e., in parallel for the individual outboard motors.
The details will be explained in reference to
The lever position sensor unit 1241a (precisely, the communication processing block 1401a, analog pulse output block 1501a and analog output block 1521a (not shown in
Similarly, the lever position sensor unit 1241b of the first navigation unit 901 and the lever position sensor unit 1242b of the second navigation unit 902 are connected to the engine control unit 84b and steering control unit 86b of the middle outboard motor 12b through an electric signal line 160b. The lever position sensor unit 1241c of the first navigation unit 901 and the lever position sensor unit 1242c of the second navigation unit 902 are connected to the engine control unit 84c and steering control unit 86c of the starboard outboard motor 12c through an electric signal line 160c. The electric signal lines 1601, 1602, 160a, b, c are each connected at its both ends with the communication stabilizers 162.
The operation of the outboard motor control system thus configured will be explained taking the first navigation unit 901 and port outboard motor 12a as an example. The steering angle sensor unit 1001 determines a desired rudder angle of the port outboard motor 12a (i.e., desired rudder angle of the three outboard motors 12a, b, c because the outboard motors 12a, b, c are steered in a synchronized manner) based on the output of the steering angle sensor 981, and sends the determined desired rudder angle to the steering control unit 86a through the electric signal line 160a. The steering control unit 86a controls the operation of the steering motor 24a so that the output of the rudder angle sensor 76a becomes equal to the desired rudder angle.
The lever position sensor unit 1241a determines a desired shift position based on the output of the lever position sensor 1221a (namely, the direction of manipulation of the shift/throttle lever 1201a) and sends an output or signal indicative of the desired shift position to the engine control unit 84a through the electric signal line 160a. The engine control unit 84a controls the operation of the shift motor 66a so that the output of the shift position sensor 74a becomes equal to the desired shift position.
When it is detected from the output of the shift position sensor 74a that the desired shift position has been established (shift position change has been completed), the lever position sensor unit 1241a determines a desired throttle opening based on the output of the lever position sensor 1221a (namely, the amount of manipulation of the shift/throttle lever 1201a) and sends an output or signal indicative of the desired throttle opening to the engine control unit 84a through the electric signal line 160a. The engine control unit 84a controls the operation of the throttle motor 40a so that the output of the throttle opening sensor 72a becomes equal to the desired throttle opening.
Thus two kinds of signals, i.e., the output of the steering angle sensor unit 1001 (signal indicating the steering angle) and the output of the lever position sensor unit 1241a (signal indicating the lever position) are forwarded to the engine control unit 84a or steering control unit 86a through the electric signal line 160a.
The operation of the lever position sensor unit 1241b with the middle outboard motor 12b and the lever position sensor unit 1241c with the starboard outboard motor 12c is substantially the same as that of the lever position sensor unit 1241a with the port outboard motor 12b, so the explanation will be omitted. Also, the operation of the second navigation unit 902 will not be explained due to its operation same as that of the first navigation unit 901.
As described, the outboard motor control system according to this embodiment is a DBW (Drive By Wire) control system without any mechanical connection between the navigation units and the outboard motors, and the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c installed in the boat 10 are connected to the engine control units 84a, b, c and steering control units 86a, b, c installed in the three outboard motors 12a, b, c through the electric signal lines 160a, b, c separately, i.e., in parallel for the individual outboard motors. With this, it becomes possible to control the operation of the actuators installed in the outboard motors separately for the individual outboard motors in spite of simple structure, specifically, without work to identify the respective outboard motors.
Further, since it is configured such that the outputs of the steering angle sensor units 1001, 1002 and outputs of the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c are sent to the engine control units 84a, b, c or steering control units 86a, b, c through the electric signal lines 160a, b, c, specifically, the two kinds of signals are sent through the electric signal lines, the lever position sensor unit installed in the boat can be connected to the engine control unit and steering control unit installed in the outboard motor via the one electric signal line, thereby enabling to simplify the structure.
Next, an operating power source of the outboard motor control system, specifically, a power source that supplies operating power to the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c will be explained.
As shown in
The power source 164b of the middle outboard motor 12b is connected to the main processing sections 1261b, 1262b and DC/DC converters 1301b, 1302b of the lever position sensor units 1241b, 1242b through a network power line 166b. Similarly, the power source 164c of the starboard outboard motor 12c is connected to the main processing sections 1261c, 1262c and DC/DC converters 1301c, 1302c of the lever position sensor units 1241c, 1242c through a network power line 166c.
In the first navigation unit 901, the isolation sections 1281a, b, c and DC/DC converters 1301a, b, c of the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c are interconnected through a network power line 1661. In the second navigation unit 902, the isolation sections 1282a, b, c and DC/DC converters 1302a, b, c of the lever position sensor units 1242a, b, c are interconnected through a network power line 1662.
Specifically, the power source 164a of the port outboard motor 12a is directly connected to the main processing sections 1261a, 1262a of the lever position sensor units 1241a, 1242a, while being indirectly connected to the isolation sections 1281a, 1282a through the DC/DC converters 1301a, 1302a. The connections between the other power sources and the lever position sensor units have the same structures.
Before further explaining the network power line 166, a network power line connecting outboard motors to the lever position sensor units according to a prior art will be explained in reference to
As shown in
Specifically, the power sources 164a, b, c of the outboard motors are connected to all the lever position sensor units via the corresponding DC/DC converters 168a, b, c mounted on the outboard motors. As a result, the operating power is supplied to the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c 1242a, b, c by the power sources 164a, b, c of the outboard motors through the DC/DC converters 168a, b, c and network power line 166p.
In a boat on which multiple, i.e., three outboard motors are mounted, occasionally, merely one outboard motor among three is operated, while the other two outboard motors are stopped. In the following, the explanation will be made taking as an example the case where the port outboard motor 12ap is operated and the middle outboard motor 12bp and starboard outboard motor 12cp are stopped.
In the stopped outboard motors, i.e., the middle outboard motor 12bp and starboard outboard motor 12cp, although engines and engine control units thereof are stopped, their steering control units and steering motors are supplied with operating power because the outboard motors 12bp, 12cp should be steered in synchronization with the operated outboard motor, i.e., the port outboard motor 12ap.
As mentioned above, the drive command to the steering control unit is inputted from the steering wheel by manipulation by the operator and transmitted through the steering angle sensor unit, lever position sensor unit and the like to the steering control unit. Therefore, in this case, the lever position sensor units 1241b, c, 1242b, c (i.e., isolation sections 1281b, c, 1282b, c of the lever position sensor units) corresponding to the stopped middle and starboard outboard motors 12bp, 12cp are also needed to be supplied with operating power to be operated.
Specifically, as shown in
Due to this configuration, when, for instance, the power consumption of the main processing section 1261a and that of the isolation section 1281a is both 10 watts, the capacity of the DC/DC converter 168a of the port outboard motor 12ap needs to be 120 watts in order to supply operating power to all the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c. As a result, the DC/DC converters mounted on the outboard motors should have the relatively large capacity and it may cause a difficulty in ensuring network power. In addition, as the capacity becomes large, the DC/DC converter increases in size, resulting in increase of the outboard motor size disadvantageously.
In this embodiment, therefore, the DC/DC converter is installed in the lever position sensor unit in order to discontinue transmitting an output of the lever position sensor unit to the controller, i.e., engine control unit of the outboard motor that does not need to receive the output from the lever position sensor unit. In other words, it is configured to discontinue transmitting an output of the lever position sensor unit to the engine control unit by ceasing supplying operating power to a section (the main processing section) that transmits the output to the engine control unit of the stopped outboard motor.
Specifically, as shown in
On the other hand, since the middle and starboard outboard motors 12b, c are stopped, operating power from the power sources 164b, c of the outboard motors 12b, c is not supplied. Specifically, operating power is not supplied to the main processing sections 1261b, c, 1262b, c of the lever position sensor units 1241b, c, 1242b, c corresponding to the stopped outboard motors 12b, 12c, thereby discontinuing forwarding an output to the engine control units of the outboard motors 12b, 12c.
As can be seen from
Thus, it is configured to discontinue transmitting an output of the lever position sensor unit to the engine control unit of the stopped outboard motor among the plural outboard motors, specifically to discontinue transmitting an output of the lever position sensor unit to the engine control unit of the outboard motor that does not need to receive the output from the lever position sensor unit by ceasing supplying operating power to the lever position sensor unit (specifically, the main processing section of the lever position sensor unit). Owing to the configuration, it becomes possible to decrease the capacity of the DC/DC converters 1301a, b, c, 1302a, b, c and decrease power consumption of portions related to communication between the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c and engine control units 84a, b, c, thereby achieving good cost performance.
Next, an outboard motor control system according to a second embodiment of this invention will be explained.
The explanation will be made with focus on points of difference from the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, as shown in
Similarly, the lever position sensor units 1241b, 1242b of the first and second navigation units 901, 902 and the engine control unit 84b of the middle outboard motor 12b are connected through an electric signal line, i.e., second signal line 172b. The lever position sensor units 1241c, 1242c of the first and second navigation units 901, 902 and the engine control unit 84c of the starboard outboard motor 12c are connected through an electric signal line, i.e., second signal line 172c.
Specifically, the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c are connected to the engine control units 84a, b, c installed in the outboard motors 12a, b, c in parallel through the electric signal lines 172a, b, c, respectively. With this, in the second embodiment of the invention, similar to the first embodiment, it becomes possible to control the operation of the actuators installed in the outboard motors separately for the individual outboard motors in spite of simple structure, specifically, without setting IDs and doing other works.
The remaining configuration is the same as that in the first embodiment.
As stated above, it is configured in the first and second embodiments to have a system for controlling a plurality of, i.e., three outboard motors 12a, b, c each adapted to be mounted on a stem of a boat 10 and each having an internal combustion engine 30, a steering mechanism (mount frame 20), a shift mechanism 44, an actuator (electric steering motor 24a, b, c, electric throttle motor 40a, b, c, electric shift motor 66a, b, c) adapted to drive at least one of the steering mechanism, the shift mechanism and a throttle valve 38 of the engine, and a controller (engine control unit 84a, b, c, steering control unit 86a, b, c) to control operation of the actuator, comprising: a steering wheel 921, 922 installed to be freely operable by an operator; a shift/throttle lever 1201a, b, c, 1202a, b, c installed to be freely operable by the operator; and a manipulated variable detector (steering angle sensor 981, 982, steering angle sensor unit 1001, 1002, lever position sensor 1221a, b, c, 1222a, b, c, lever position sensor unit 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c) adapted to produce an output indicative of manipulated variable of at least one of the steering wheel and the shift/throttle lever by the operator; the manipulated variable detector being separately connected to each of the controllers installed in the outboard motors through an electric signal line 160a, b, c to send the output to each of the controllers.
In the system, the manipulated variable detector includes: a steering angle detector (steering angle sensor 981, 982, steering angle sensor unit 1001, 1002) adapted to produce an output indicative of steering angle of the steering wheel; and a lever position detector (lever position sensor 1221a, b, c, 1222a, b, c, lever position sensor unit 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c) adapted to produce an output indicative of a manipulated position of the shift/throttle lever; and sends the outputs to each of the controllers through the electric signal line.
In the system, the steering angle detector is connected, in series, to each of the controllers (steering control unit 86a, b, c) through a first one of the electric signal line (first signal line 170) to send the output thereto, while the lever position detector is connected, in parallel, to each of the controllers (engine control unit 84a, b, c) through a second one of the electric signal line (second signal line 172a, b, c) to send the output thereto.
In the system, sending of the output of the manipulated variable detector (lever position sensor unit 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c) to one of the controllers (engine control unit 84a, b, c) is discontinued when the outboard motor in which the one of the controllers is installed is out of operation.
In the system, the number of the outboard motors is three.
In the system, each end of the electric signal line is connected to a communication stabilizer 162.
In the system, the actuator is an electric motor.
Further it is configured to have a system for controlling a plurality of, i.e., three outboard motors 12a, b, c each adapted to be mounted on a stem of a boat 10 and each having an internal combustion engine 30, a steering mechanism (mount frame 20), a shift mechanism 44, a plurality of actuators (electric steering motor 24a, b, c, electric throttle motor 40a, b, c, electric shift motor 66a, b, c) each adapted to drive the steering mechanism, the shift mechanism and a throttle valve 38 of the engine, and a controller (engine control unit 84a, b, c, steering control unit 86a, b, c) to control operation of the actuators, comprising: a steering wheel 921, 922 installed to be freely operable by an operator; a shift/throttle lever 1201a, b, c, 1202a, b, c installed to be freely operable by the operator; and a manipulated variable detector (steering angle sensor 981, 982, steering angle sensor unit 1001, 1002, lever position sensor 1221a, b, c, 1222a, b, c, lever position sensor unit 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c) adapted to produce outputs indicative of manipulated variable of the steering wheel and the shift/throttle lever by the operator; the manipulated variable detector being separately connected to each of the controllers installed in the outboard motors through an electric signal line 160a, b, c to send the output to each of the controllers.
In the system, the manipulated variable detector includes: a steering angle detector (steering angle sensor 981, 982, steering angle sensor unit 1001, 1002) adapted to produce an output indicative of steering angle of the steering wheel; and a lever position detector (lever position sensor 1221a, b, c, 1222a, b, c, lever position sensor unit 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c) adapted to produce an output indicative of a manipulated position of the shift/throttle lever; and sends the outputs to each of the controllers through the electric signal line.
In the system, the steering angle detector is connected, in series, to each of the controllers (steering control unit 86a, b, c) through a first one of the electric signal line (first signal line 170) to send the output thereto, while the lever position detector is connected, in parallel, to each of the controllers (engine control unit 84a, b, c) through a second one of the electric signal line (second signal line 172a, b, c) to send the output thereto.
In the system, sending of the output of the manipulated variable detector (lever position sensor unit 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c) to one of the controllers (engine control unit 84a, b, c) is discontinued when the outboard motor in which the one of the controllers is installed is out of operation.
In the system, the number of the steering wheels is two and the number of the shift/throttle levers is the same as that of the actuators.
It should be noted that although, in the foregoing, three outboard motors are mounted or fixed on the boat 10, the invention can also be applied to multiple outboard motor installations comprising two or four outboard motors or more.
It should further be noted that the number of the steering wheel can be one or three, or more, instead of two. Also, although the number of the shift/throttle lever is configured to be the same as that of the outboard motor, it can be one, two or four, or more. The point is that, as far as the configuration enables drive commands to be inputted to the outboard motors separately, the number thereof is not a problem. In that sense, the descriptions of “a steering wheel” and “a shift/throttle lever” are used in Claims.
It should further be noted that, although the capacity of the DC/DC converters 1301a, b, c, 1302a, b, c, power consumption of the lever position sensor units 1241a, b, c, 1242a, b, c, displacement of the engine 30 and the like are indicated with specific values in the foregoing, they are only examples and not limited thereto.
It should further be noted that, although electric motors are used to exemplify all of the actuators for outboard motor steering and the like, it is possible instead to utilize hydraulic cylinders or any other kinds of actuators.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-313463 filed on Nov. 20, 2006, is incorporated herein in its entirety.
While the invention has thus been shown and described with reference to specific embodiments, it should be noted that the invention is in no way limited to the details of the described arrangements; changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.
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