JP2000318691A - Steering force assisting method and device for small planing boat - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the steering property and to provide a good circumferential appearance by assisting the steering force in an engine speed of planing where a boat starts to plane or less so as to be lighter than the steering force in an engine speed exceeding the planing. SOLUTION: An outboard motor 2 has an on-board engine 5 and a tachometer 6 for detecting the engine speed. The outboard motor 2 further has a lateral moving mechanism 7 for steering. The signal of the engine speed detected by the tachometer 6 is inputted to a control circuit 11, and the engine speed is determined in the control circuit 11. The assist quantity is set according to the engine speed. The driving direction and driving force of an electric motor 8 are controlled by the control circuit 11 so that the steering force of a steering handle 3 can be assisted so as to be lighter. According to this, the steering property is improved, and a turnover accident by sudden steering can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for assisting steering force of a personal watercraft.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a personal watercraft, since the steering force of a steering wheel is directly transmitted to a rudder member via a wire, there has been a problem that the steering force becomes heavy especially at low speeds. For this reason, a method of assisting the steering force by using a hydraulic cylinder has been attempted as in the case of a power steering device in an automobile or the like.

[0003]

However, the above assisting method requires a large hydraulic cylinder and hydraulic piping, so that it is difficult to mount it on a small personal watercraft having a limited space. If it is an outboard motor and this outboard motor also serves as a rudder member, the hydraulic cylinders and hydraulic piping are exposed outside the boat, causing a problem that the appearance of the outer circumference is poor. At present, it has not been put to practical use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is intended to improve steering performance by assisting a steering force, to be mounted in a small space, and to have a good external appearance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a device for assisting steering force of a boat.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is to control a steering force at an engine speed equal to or lower than the planing speed at which the hull starts to slide, and a steering force at an engine speed equal to or higher than the planing speed. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for assisting steering power of a personal watercraft, wherein the assisting is performed so as to be lighter than the force.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the assisting is performed such that the steering force at the engine speed equal to or lower than the planing is smaller than the steering force at the engine speed equal to or higher than the planing based on the engine speed. In the following low-speed running, the steering force is reduced and the steering performance is improved, and in the high-speed running higher than the planing, the steering force is heavy and a rollover accident due to sudden turning can be prevented beforehand.

[0007] According to a second aspect of the present invention, the lower the steering speed, the lighter the steering force, and the higher the steering speed, the greater the steering force. It is possible to assist such that the steering angle becomes smaller as the angle is larger and the engine speed is higher.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an electric motor is provided between the steering wheel and the steering member for steering the steering member while assisting the steering force of the steering wheel, and detects the number of revolutions of the engine. An object of the present invention is to provide a steering power assist device for a personal watercraft, wherein the electric motor is assist-driven in accordance with a detection signal of a member.

According to the present invention, the engine speed is detected by the sensor member, and the electric motor is operated by the electric motor so that the steering force at the engine speed equal to or lower than the planing becomes smaller than the steering force at the engine speed equal to or higher than the planing. Since the steering wheel can be driven by assist, the steering force is reduced and the steering performance is improved, and the assist drive is a small electric motor, so it can be mounted in a small space, and since it only requires electric wiring, Also looks better.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, an outboard motor 2 is attached to a rear portion (transom) 1a of the personal watercraft 1, and a steering handle 3 is attached to a front portion thereof. The outboard motor 2 is steered by being moved left and right around the vertical axis 2a via the wires 4 and the like.

In this embodiment, the outboard motor 2 which moves left and right also serves as a rudder member. However, in a jet propulsion boat, a steering nozzle which injects water backward is a rudder member. A small planing boat of a type in which a rudder member is provided at a position behind a propeller rotated by an engine, and the rudder member is steered by a steering handle.

As shown in FIG. 1, an engine 5 is mounted on the upper part of the outboard motor 2. The engine 5 is provided with a tachometer (sensor member) 6 for detecting the engine speed. The outboard motor 2 has a vertical axis 2
A left-right movement mechanism 7 for moving the vehicle left and right for steering is provided. The left-right movement mechanism 7 is moved left and right by pushing and pulling the wire 4 (B).

A wire 4 (A) is connected to the steering handle 3.
Are connected, and the wire 4 (A) is pushed and pulled in response to the operation of the steering wheel 3.

On the other hand, an assisting electric motor 8 is provided, and a pinion 9 is fixed to an output shaft 8a of the electric motor 8, while the pinion 9 is connected to the wire 4 (A) on the steering wheel 3 side. Rack 1 with rear end connected
0A meshes with the rack 10B to which the front end of the wire 4 (B) on the side of the left-right movement mechanism 7 is connected.

Accordingly, in response to the operation of the steering wheel 3, the wire 4 (A) is pushed and pulled, and the rack 10
The pinion 9 is rotated by the reciprocation of A, the rack 10B is reciprocated by the rotation of the pinion 9, and the operation wire 4B is pushed and pulled, whereby the left and right movement mechanism 7 is operated to move left and right. The outer unit 2 is steered by being moved left and right around the vertical axis 2a.

The signal (voltage) of the engine speed detected by the tachometer 6 is input to a control circuit 11, which, as shown in FIG. V), the engine speed (rpm) is obtained.

In the following description, for convenience, the engine speed is set to about 1000 (rpm) in the idling state,
Planning starts at about 3000 (rpm), 60
It is temporarily set that about 00 (rpm) is a full throttle (fully open) state, about 1000 to 3000 (rpm) is a low speed running state, and about 3000 to 6000 (rpm) is a high speed running (planing) state.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the assist amount is set according to the engine speed. For example, 10
At 00 (rpm), the assist amount is 100%, 300
50% is set for 0 (rpm), and 30% for 6000 (rpm).

As a result, as shown in FIG.
When it is 00 (rpm), the steering torque of the steering wheel 3 is 1 (Kg / f), and when it is 3000 (rpm), it is 5 (Kg / f).
/ F) and 6000 (rpm) are set to 7 (Kg / f).

Based on these settings, the steering wheel 3
The control circuit 11 controls the driving direction and driving force of the electric motor 8 so that the steering force of the electric motor 8 can be reduced.

In the above configuration, the engine speed (r
pm), the steering force at an engine speed less than or equal to the planing (e.g., 3000 (rpm) or less) becomes greater than the engine speed (e.g., 300 or more at the planing).
0 (rpm) or more), the electric motor 8 assists the steering wheel 3 so that the steering force becomes lighter, so that the steering force of the steering wheel 3 becomes lighter at the time of low-speed running below the planing, thereby improving the steering performance. In addition, the steering wheel 3
The steering force of the steering wheel becomes heavy, and a rollover accident or the like due to sudden steering can be prevented.

Further, since the engine speed is detected by the tachometer 6 and the steering handle 3 is assist-driven by the electric motor 8, there is no need to provide a large hydraulic cylinder or a hydraulic pipe for assisting. Even the limited personal watercraft 1 can be mounted in a small space. Further, since the hydraulic cylinder and the hydraulic piping are not exposed outside the boat of the small-sized planing 1, the appearance of the outer circumference is improved.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), the steering speed (degree / second) of the steering handle 3 is rotated by the pinion 9 from the wire 4 (A) via the rack 10A. Since the control circuit 11 can detect the rotation of the rotor of the motor 8, the assist amount can be set according to the steering speed. For example, 100 (degrees /
Second), the assist amount is 100%, 150 (degrees / second)
Is set at 50%, and at 300 (degrees / second), 30%.

As a result, as shown in FIG.
When 0 (degrees / second), the steering torque of the steering wheel 3 is 1
(Kg / f), 5 (Kg / f) at 150 (degrees / second)
f) For 300 (degrees / second), 7 (Kg / f) is set.

Based on these settings, the steering force of the steering wheel 3 decreases as the steering speed decreases, and the steering force of the steering wheel 3 increases as the steering speed increases. Can be prevented beforehand.

As shown in FIG. 3 (f), the steering stroke [(mm) steering angle (degree)] increases as the engine speed decreases, and the steering stroke decreases as the engine speed increases. You can also.
For example, when the rotation speed is 1000 (rpm), the steering stroke is 200 [(mm) (steering angle 35 degrees)] and 3000 (rpm).
m), 100 [(mm) steering angle (17 degrees)], 6
000 (rpm), 50 [(mm) steering angle (8
Degrees)].

According to this setting, the steering stroke becomes larger and the steering is better when the engine speed is low, and the steering is better. When the engine speed is high, the steering stroke is smaller and the steering is less. As a result, it is possible to prevent a rollover accident or the like due to sudden turning of the vehicle.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, based on the engine speed, the steering force at the engine speed lower than the planing is higher than the steering force at the engine speed higher than the planing. Assistance is made to be lighter than power. Capsizing accidents can be prevented beforehand.

Further, the lower the steering speed, the lighter the steering force,
Assisting the steering force to increase as the steering speed increases (Claim 2), assisting the steering angle to increase as the engine speed decreases, and decreasing the steering angle as the engine speed increases (Claim 2). By performing item 3), it is possible to prevent a rollover accident or the like due to sudden turning of the vehicle.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric motor for detecting an engine speed by a sensor member so that a steering force at an engine speed equal to or lower than the planing is lower than a steering force at an engine speed equal to or higher than the planing. Since the steering wheel can be assist-driven, the steering force is reduced and the steering performance is improved, and the assist drive is a small electric motor, so it can be mounted in a small space, and since it is only electric wiring, Outer appearance also becomes better.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a steering force assist device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a planing watercraft, (a) is a side view, (b)
Is a plan view.

FIGS. 3A to 3F are graphs showing a setting method of a steering force assist.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Small personal watercraft 2 Outboard motor 3 Steering handle 4 (A, B) wire 5 Engine 6 Revolution meter (sensor member) 7 Left and right movement mechanism 8 Electric motor 11 Control circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. The steering force of a personal watercraft according to claim 1, wherein the steering force at an engine speed equal to or lower than the planing speed at which the hull starts to run is smaller than the steering force at an engine speed equal to or higher than the planing speed. Assist method. 2. The steering force assisting method for a small planing boat according to claim 1, wherein the steering force is assisted such that the steering force is lower as the steering speed is lower, and the steering force is higher as the steering speed is higher. 3. The steering power assisting method for a personal watercraft according to claim 1, wherein assisting is performed such that the steering angle increases as the engine speed decreases, and the steering angle decreases as the engine speed increases. 4. An electric motor for steering the steering member while assisting the steering force of the steering wheel is provided between the steering wheel and the steering member, and responds to a detection signal of a sensor member for detecting an engine speed. A steering power assisting device for a personal watercraft, wherein the electric motor is assist-driven.