Claims
- 1. A system for assisting shifting of a marine engine that recognizes an open circuit or short circuit faults and automatically reduces the engine speed comprising:
a shift force detection unit including a switch responsive to an excessive force applied to the shift lever, an electronic control unit coupled to the engine to control the timing and duration of the fuel injection cycle of said engine and the ignition timing of said engine, a current detector within said electronic control unit for detecting a current flow from said shift force detection unit and automatically reducing the engine RPM when the said current flow is greater than or less than a value of N, said shift force detection unit including a current generator comprising a resistor in parallel with said switch, a current flow of valve N being produced when the battery voltage is across the resistor and the switch is open, a current value greater than N being produced when the switch closed, a current value greater than N being produced when the switch i s abnormally short circuit, and a current value less than N being produced when the shift detection unit is open circuit or disconnected.
- 2. A system for assisting shifting of an engine having a shift force detection unit including:
a switch responsive to an excessive force applied to the shift lever, an electronic control unit coupled to the engine to control the timing and duration of the fuel injection cycle of said engine and the ignition timing of said engine, a current detector within said electronic control unit for detecting a current flow from said shift force detection unit and automatically reducing the engine RPM when the said current flow is greater than or less than a value of N, said shift force detection unit including a current generator comprising a resistor in parallel with said switch, a current flow of value N being produced when the battery voltage is across the resistor and the switch is open, a current value greater than N being produced when the switch closed, and a current value greater than N being produced when the switch is abnormally short circuit.
- 3. A system for assisting shifting of an engine having a shift force detection unit including:
a switch responsive to an excessive force applied to the shift lever, an electronic control unit coupled to the engine to control the engine output power, a current detector within said electronic control unit for detecting a current flow from said shift force detection unit and automatically reducing the engine output power when the said current flow is greater than or less than a value of N, said shift force detection unit including a current generator comprising a resistor in parallel with said switch, a current flow of value N being produced when the battery voltage is across the resistor and the switch is open, a current value greater than N being produced when the switch closed, a current value greater than N being produced when the switch is abnormally short circuit, and a current less than N being produced when the shift detection unit is open circuit or disconnected.
- 4. The system of claim 3 including an alarm coupled to said electronic control unit, said electronic control unit including a timer for activating said alarm when a current greater than N flows for a predetermined period of time.
- 5. The system of claim 4 when said predetermined period is greater than a normal shift occurrence during which said switch is closed.
- 6. A system for assisting shifting of an engine having a shift force detection unit including:
a switch responsive to an excessive force applied to the shift lever, an electronic control unit coupled to the engine to control the engine output power, a current detector within said electronic control unit for detecting a current flow from said shift force detection unit and automatically reducing the engine output power when the said current flow is greater than or less than a value of N, said shift force detection unit including a current generator comprising a resistor in parallel with said switch, a current flow of value N being produced when the battery voltage is across the resistor and the switch is open, a current value greater than N being produced when the switch closed, a current value greater than N being produced when the switch is abnormally short circuit, a current less than N being produced when the shift detection unit is open circuit or disconnected, and a current less than N being produced when the battery voltage falls below a predetermined value.
- 7. An outboard motor having a transmission unit, an electronic control unit, and a shift assist arrangement, said motor including an internal combustion engine having an engine block, a crankshaft, and a driveshaft communicating with the transmission unit, a shift assist control system including a force detecting unit comprising shift force detecting switch and parallel resistor circuit.
- 8. The shift assist control system of claim 7, wherein the shift force detecting switch is connected to a shift mechanism, the force detecting unit being in communication with the electronic control unit.
- 9. The shift assist control system of claim 8, wherein the shift mechanism is connected to a dog clutch in a transmission unit.
- 10. The shift assist control system of claim 8, wherein the electronic control unit lowers the engine torque dependent on the value of the current traveling through the force detecting unit.
- 11. The shift control system of claim 8, wherein the shift mechanism includes a neutral detection switch.
- 12. The shift assist control system of claim 8, wherein the communication means between the force detecting unit and the electronic control unit includes an easily accessible connector.
- 13. The shift assist control system of claim 10, wherein the electronic control unit lowers the engine torque by varying the fuel injection duration, the fuel injection timing, the ignition timing, and through an air bypass valve.
- 14. The shift assist control system of claim 10, wherein the electronic control unit lowers the engine torque by varying the fuel injection duration, the fuel injection timing, the ignition timing, or through an air bypass valve.
- 15. The method of assisting shifting of an engine having an electronic control unit which is not adversely affected by electrical short circuit or an electrical disconnect of the shift force detection unit comprising:
supplying a normal current value N to the electronic control unit, detecting within the electronic control unit when the current value exceeds or is less than the value N by a predetermined amount, and automatically reducing the engine RPM when the current value exceeds or is less than the value N by a predetermined amount.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said current value N is produced by supplying the battery voltage across a resistor within the shift force detection unit.
- 17. The method of claim 15 wherein said current value is increased above N by a predetermined amount by closing a switch upon application of a force on the shift lever greater than a predetermined value, said switch being electrically connected in parallel with said resistor so that said resistor is shorted when said switch is closed.
- 18. The method of claim 15 wherein an abnormal short circuit condition within said shift force detection unit is automatically detected, wherein said current supplied to the ECU is greater than N by a predetermined value when the shift force detection unit is shorted out to automatically result in the electronic control unit decreasing the engine RPM.
- 19. The method of claim 15 wherein an abnormal open circuit condition causes said current value to be substantially zero or value lower than N by a predetermined value to automatically result in the electronic control unit decreasing the engine RPM.
- 20. The method of claim 15 wherein a low battery voltage causes said current value to be lower than N to automatically result in the electronic control unit decreasing the engine RPM.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2000-361067 |
Nov 2000 |
JP |
|
PRIORITY INFORMATION
[0001] This application is based on and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-361067, filed Nov. 28, 2000 and to the Provisional Application No. 60/322192, filed Sep. 13, 2001, (Attorney Docket No. FS.17312US0PR) the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60322192 |
Sep 2001 |
US |