| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20100252392 | CLUTCH DETENT MECHANISM FOR OUTBOARD MOTOR - A clutch detent mechanism for an outboard motor includes a ball movable with a clutch dog member, a ball retainer member provided in a propeller shaft for retaining the ball in a predetermined position, and a compression coil spring acting on the ball to resiliently force the ball against the ball retainer member. The ball retainer member has a recessed portion for receiving therein the ball to thereby retain the clutch dog member in a neutral position, a front tapered portion provided on one side of the recessed portion for retaining the ball in a position to keep the clutch dog member in a forward shift position, and a rear tapered portion provided on the other side of the recessed portion for retaining the ball in a position to keep the clutch dog member in a reverse shift position. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100282563 | DOG CLUTCH MECHANISM FOR OUTBOARD MOTOR - A dog clutch mechanism incorporated in an outboard motor includes a sliding clutch dog member splined to a propeller shaft and having recesses on each end face thereof, and a row of gear teeth formed on an end face of each of a pair of driven gears rotatably mounted on the propeller shaft. Each of the recesses has a bottom surface stepped to provide a corner edge at a stepped portion thereof. Each of the gear teeth has a beveled surface formed at a rear edge as viewed from a rotating direction of the driven gear. When the gear teeth are in mesh with the recesses of the clutch dog member, the corner edge of the stepped bottom surface of each recess is in contact with the beveled surface of the mating gear tooth. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20110124250 | OUTBOARD MOTOR - An outboard motor includes a transmission mechanism mounted between an output shaft of an engine and a propeller drive shaft. The transmission mechanism includes a clutch. An oil pump for generating a hydraulic pressure so as to switch the clutch is disposed underneath a lowermost one of transmission gears closely thereto. An oil pan is disposed underneath the oil pump and is placed inside an exhaust channel of a gear case. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110143609 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling operation of an outboard motor having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, and a transmission being selectively changeable in gear position to establish speeds including a first speed and a second speed and transmitting power of the engine to the propeller with a gear ratio determined by established speed, engine speed is detected, it is determined whether acceleration is instructed when the second speed is established, and operation of the transmission is controlled to change the gear position from the second speed to the first speed when the acceleration is determined to be instructed, and then change back the gear position from the first speed to the second speed based on the detected engine speed, thereby enabling to control the transmission optimally. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110143610 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling operation of an outboard motor having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, and a transmission being selectively changeable in gear position to establish speeds including a first speed and a second speed and transmitting power of the engine to the propeller with a gear ratio determined by established speed, it is determined whether acceleration is instructed to the engine when the second speed is established and whether a preset condition is met, and operation of the transmission is controlled to change the gear position from the second speed to the first speed when the acceleration is determined to be instructed and the preset condition is met, thereby improving the acceleration performance of immediately after the acceleration is started. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110143612 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling operation of an outboard motor having an internal combustion engine and a transmission being selectively changeable in gear position to establish speeds including at least a first speed and a second speed and transmitting power of the engine to the propeller with a gear ratio determined by established speed, it is determined whether acceleration is instructed to the engine when the second speed is established and operation of the engine is controlled to increase a fuel amount to be supplied to the engine when detected engine speed is greater than a predetermined speed, thereby improving the performance immediately after acceleration is started. | 06-16-2011 |
| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20100099309 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling an outboard motor having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, and a torque converter interposed between the engine and a drive shaft and equipped with a lockup clutch, it is configured to have a throttle opening detector that detects throttle opening of a throttle valve of the engine, a throttle opening change amount calculator that calculates a change amount of the calculated throttle opening, and a clutch ON unit that makes the lockup clutch ON when the calculated change amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and keeps the lockup clutch ON during a predetermined time period. With this, it becomes possible to improve acceleration performance immediately after the engine speed is accelerated. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100099310 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling an outboard motor mounted on a stern of a boat and having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, a drive shaft that connects the engine and the propeller, and a torque converter that is interposed between the engine and the drive shaft and is equipped with a lockup clutch, it is configured to have a planing determiner that determines whether the boat is planning and a clutch ON unit that makes the lockup clutch ON when the boat is determined to be planing. With this, it becomes possible to appropriately make the lockup clutch ON after completing acceleration, thereby improving speed performance. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100099311 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling an outboard motor mounted on a stern of a boat and having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, a drive shaft that connects the engine and the propeller, a torque converter that is interposed between the engine and the drive shaft and is equipped with a lockup clutch, a water pump connected to the drive shaft to be driven by the drive shaft, and a shift mechanism interposed between the drive shaft and the propeller, comprising a neutral position detector that detects the shift mechanism being set in a neutral position; and a clutch ON unit that makes the lockup clutch ON to increase operation speed of the water pump when it is detected that the shift mechanism is set in the neutral position. With this, it becomes possible to improve cooling performance, thereby preventing a defect such as overheat of the engine. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100099538 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling an outboard motor having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller and a torque converter interposed between the engine and a drive shaft and equipped with a lockup clutch, it is configured to, based on input rotation speed and output rotation speed of the torque converter, calculate a speed ratio of the torque converter and a change amount of the input rotation speed, and make the lockup clutch ON/OFF based on the calculated speed ratio and change amount. With this, it becomes possible to appropriately make the lockup clutch ON/OFF, thereby improving speed performance. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100267293 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling operation of an outboard motor mounted on a boat and having a torque converter equipped with a lockup clutch, it is configured to calculate a speed ratio of the torque converter based on an input rotation speed and output rotation speed of the torque converter, detect manifold absolute pressure of the engine, control the lockup clutch to ON when the calculated speed ratio has been equal to or greater than a reference value, and control the lockup clutch to OFF when the manifold absolute pressure has been decreased by a first predetermined value or more. With this, it becomes possible to prevent the boat speed from decreasing even when the resistance of water flow acting on the boat increases due to the influence of a wave etc., thereby maintaining the maximum speed. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100267294 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling operation of an outboard motor mounted on a boat and having a torque converter equipped with a lockup clutch, it is configured to have a clutch controller that controls the lockup clutch to ON when a speed ratio of the torque converter is equal to or greater than a reference value, the clutch controller being configured to determine whether a throttle valve is at about a fully-opened position and to control the lockup clutch to ON when the speed ratio becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value set smaller than the reference value before the speed ratio reaches the reference value, and the throttle valve is discriminated to be at about the fully-opened position. With this, it becomes possible to reliably make a lockup clutch ON when the acceleration is completed, so that the boat speed can reach the maximum speed. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100267296 | OUTBOARD MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - In an apparatus for controlling operation of an outboard motor mounted on a boat and having a torque converter equipped with a lockup clutch, it is configured to regulate a trim angle relative to the boat by trim-up operation and trim-down operation; calculate a speed ratio of the torque converter based on an input rotation speed and output rotation speed of the torque converter; and control operation of the trim angle regulator based on the calculated speed ratio. With this, it becomes possible to mitigate a deceleration feel to be generated after the acceleration is completed, and easily sets a trim angle of after the trim-up operation to an optimal value. | 10-21-2010 |
