Electronic control system for marine vessels
First Claim
1. A control system for a marine vessel having a first engine, a first transmission associated with the first engine, a second engine, and a second transmission associated with the second engine, the control system comprising:
- a control arm having an operating range;
a first electronic control unit (ECU), electrically coupled to the arm position means and coupled to a communications link, comprising;
first control means for controlling a throttle of the first engine and a shift position of the first transmission based on a position of the control arm within its operating range, and first output means for providing a control signal that represents the position of the control arm within its operating range; and
a second ECU, coupled to the communications link, comprising;
second input means for receiving the control signal from the first ECU via the communications link, and second control means for controlling the throttle of the second engine and the shift position of the second transmission based on the control signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system for a marine vessel having one or more engines and a transmission associated with each engine includes one or more control stations, each having a control arm. The system includes one or more electronic control units, each of which is electro-mechanically coupled to an engine and a transmission. A first electronic control unit (ECU) controls a throttle of a first engine and a shift position of a first transmission based on the electrical signal. The second ECU is coupled to the first ECU via the communications link, and controls the throttle of a second engine and the shift position of a second transmission based on a control signal from the first ECU.
102 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A control system for a marine vessel having a first engine, a first transmission associated with the first engine, a second engine, and a second transmission associated with the second engine, the control system comprising:
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a control arm having an operating range;
a first electronic control unit (ECU), electrically coupled to the arm position means and coupled to a communications link, comprising;
first control means for controlling a throttle of the first engine and a shift position of the first transmission based on a position of the control arm within its operating range, and first output means for providing a control signal that represents the position of the control arm within its operating range; and
a second ECU, coupled to the communications link, comprising;
second input means for receiving the control signal from the first ECU via the communications link, and second control means for controlling the throttle of the second engine and the shift position of the second transmission based on the control signal. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
a control arm position sensor that senses the current position of the control arm within its operating range.
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16. The control system of claim 15, wherein the control arm position sensor includes a potentiometer.
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17. The control system of claim 1, further comprising:
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arm position means coupled to the control arm for providing an electrical signal that represents the position of the control arm within its operating range, wherein the first ECU further comprises;
first input means for receiving the electrical signal, and first control means for controlling the throttle of the first engine and shift position of the first transmission based on the electrical signal.
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18. The control system of claim 17, wherein the first ECU determines, from a voltage level of the electrical signal, the current position of the control arm.
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19. The control system of claim 18, wherein the first ECU causes shift and throttle actuator rods to be set based on the current position of the control arm.
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20. The control system of claim 19, wherein the first ECU further comprises a first ECU memory that contains a conversion table from which the first ECU can determine respective positions to which the shift and throttle actuator rods should be set.
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21. The control system of claim 18, wherein the operating range of the control arm is divided into a number of discrete sub-ranges.
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22. The control system of claim 21, wherein the operating range of the control arm is divided into 1024 discrete sub-ranges.
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23. The control system of claim 21, wherein each discrete sub-range corresponds to a voltage of the electrical signal.
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24. The control system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second ECUs comprises an ECU memory having a offset table stored therein, the offset table including predefined data indicating a difference between a percent throttle of the first and second engines when the first and second engines are operating within a predefined range of speeds, and the second control means is adapted to control the throttle of the second engine based at least in part on the predefined data.
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25. The control system of claim 24, wherein at least one of the first and second ECUs is adapted to compare a difference between an actual percent throttle of the first and second engines when the first and second engines are operating within the predefined range of speeds and to update the predefined data based differences between the predefined data and the actual percent throttle.
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2. A control system for a marine vessel having an engine and a transmission associated with the engine, the control system comprising:
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a first control station comprising a first control arm having an operating range and first arm position means coupled to the first control arm for providing a first electrical signal that represents a position of the first control arm within its operating range;
a second control station comprising a plurality of command input devices, a second control arm having an operating range, and second arm position means coupled to the second control arm for providing a second electrical signal that represents a position of the second control arm within its operating range; and
an electronic control unit (ECU) comprising;
signal input means, electrically coupled to the first arm position means and the second arm position means, for receiving the first and second electrical signals, command input means, electrically coupled to the command input devices, for receiving a sequence of input command signals from the second control station, and control means for comparing the sequence of input command signals to a predefined input command sequence to identify one of the first and second control station as a master station, and, means for controlling a throttle of the engine and shift position of the transmission based on the electrical signals received from the master station. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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3. A control system for a marine vessel having an engine, the control system comprising:
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a control arm having an operating range;
arm position means coupled to the control arm for providing an electrical signal that represents a position of the control arm within its operating range;
a memory that contains first and second throttle range values, each said throttle range value corresponding to the operating range of the control arm;
first input means, coupled to the memory, for receiving at least one of the first and second throttle range values;
second input means for receiving a current throttle range indicator that identifies one of the first and second throttle range values as a current throttle range value; and
an electronic control unit (ECU) that is electrically coupled to the arm position means comprising;
input means for receiving the electrical signal from the arm position means, and control means for controlling a throttle of the engine based on the electrical signal and the current throttle range value. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A control system for a marine vessel having an engine, the control system comprising:
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a control arm having an operating range;
arm position means coupled to the control arm for providing an electrical signal that represents a position of the control arm within its operating range; and
an electronic control unit (ECU) that is electrically coupled to the arm position means comprising;
input means for receiving the electrical signal from the arm position means;
an ECU memory having a table stored therein, the table comprising data representing a predefined amount of power required to move a throttle actuator for a throttle of the engine at a predefined rate; and
control means for controlling the throttle actuator based on the electrical signal and the predefined amount of power, wherein the ECU is adapted to monitor an actual amount of power required move the actuator at the predefined rate, and to update the data to account for differences between the actual amount of power and the predefined amount of power.
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39. A control system for a marine vessel having an engine, the control system comprising:
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a control arm having an operating range;
arm position means coupled to the control arm for providing an electrical signal that represents a position of the control arm within its operating range; and
an electronic control unit that is electrically coupled to the arm position means comprising;
input means for receiving the electrical signal from the arm position means; and
means for controlling a throttle and a transmission of the engine based on the electrical signal, for causing an actuator of the transmission to place the transmission in neutral when power is applied to the control system, and for causing the transmission to remain in neutral until the control arm is moved to a neutral position. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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Specification