JPH0138719B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a simple remote control steering device for small fishing boats and the like.

On relatively small fishing boats, etc., the rudder is connected to a hydraulic cylinder, and a solenoid valve is inserted in the hydraulic oil passage connected to the hydraulic cylinder, and this solenoid valve is operated remotely to remotely control the rudder. Devices have been known for a long time.

In such a device, the rudder is connected to the hydraulic cylinder so as to steer the vehicle in accordance with the expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder.

Further, the solenoid valve opens the hydraulic oil passage, selectively switches the flow direction of the hydraulic oil to the hydraulic cylinder, or completely closes the hydraulic oil passage.

For example, when you press the rudder button on the remote control, the solenoid valve opens the hydraulic fluid passage and sends hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic cylinder, which activates the hydraulic cylinder and causes the rudder to move to the left at a constant speed. Turn the wheel.

Conversely, when the steering button is pressed, the solenoid valve switches the hydraulic oil passage and sends hydraulic oil in the opposite direction to the hydraulic cylinder, causing the hydraulic cylinder to retract and the rudder to turn to the right in the same manner.

When you stop pressing the rudder or steering button,
The solenoid valve completely closes the hydraulic fluid passage, so the hydraulic cylinder remains fixed in that position.
The rudder also maintains its steered position.

By the way, when making a ship go straight, it is necessary to turn the rudder to a neutral position. However, such conventional devices do not have a mechanism to automatically return the rudder to the neutral position, so at that time, the ship must be operated in a straight line by operating the rudder or steering button while observing the ship's actual course. .

In this case, there is inevitably a delay in response from when the rudder or steering button is pressed until the ship actually turns, so it is easy to turn the rudder too far and the ship continues to meander for a while until the ship starts to move straight. It may take a considerable amount of time.

The present invention has been made in view of these conventional problems, and includes a mechanism that automatically and stably returns the rudder to the central straight-ahead position, allowing the ship to be quickly steered from any state of steering. The object of the present invention is to provide a steering device that can shift to straight-ahead operation.

To this end, the present invention includes a hydraulic actuator that drives the rudder, a solenoid valve that controls the supply of hydraulic oil to the hydraulic actuator,
A steering system comprising: means for remotely controlling the solenoid valve; and means for detecting a rudder angle position of the rudder; and feedback control of the solenoid valve so that the rudder angle position approaches a neutral position in response to the detection signal. A plate that rotates together with the rudder and the rudder angle position detection means are arranged opposite to each other, and a detection knob of the detection means is adjustable to expand and contract in the radial direction with respect to the detection knob. A lever is provided to protrude toward the plate, and a radial longitudinal groove is formed in the plate, and the swinging end of the lever is rotatably and slidably fitted into the longitudinal groove.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a rudder, and 2 is a shaft integrally formed with the rudder 1. An arm 2a whose tip is connected to a hydraulic cylinder 3 is fixed to the upper end of the shaft 2. When the operating rod 4 of the hydraulic cylinder 3 extends, the arm 2a and the shaft 2 integrally rotate in the clockwise direction in the figure. 1 rotates.

Conversely, when the actuating rod 4 retracts, the rudder 1 rotates counterclockwise.

On the other hand, a solenoid valve 7 is interposed in the middle of a hydraulic oil passage system 6 consisting of a high pressure side and a low pressure side that connects the hydraulic cylinder 3 and the pump unit 5.

This solenoid valve 7, a remote control box 8 in which various switches are arranged, a battery 9, a terminal block 10 to which various lead wires are appropriately connected, etc. constitute a remote control mechanism, and specifically, as shown in FIG. It forms a circuit like this.

Now, if you press the rudder button on the remote control box 8, the rudder switch 11 will close and the rudder center switch 1 will close.
Current flows from the battery 9 to one excitation coil 7a of the solenoid valve 7 through the second contact 12a (normally closed), the surface rudder switch 11, and the surface rudder side limit switch 13 (normally closed).

At this moment, the solenoid valve 7 opens the hydraulic oil passage system 6 to send hydraulic oil from the pump unit 5 to the hydraulic cylinder 3, driving the hydraulic cylinder 3, for example, in the direction in which the actuating rod 4 extends. As a result, the rudder 1 is continuously steered to both rudder sides while rotating clockwise in the figure.

Conversely, when you press the steering button on the remote control box 8, the steering switch 14 closes and the rudder center switch 1 closes.
Current now flows from the battery 9 to the other excitation coil 7b of the solenoid valve 7 via the second contact 12a, the steering switch 14, and the steering side limit switch 15 (normally closed).

At this moment, the solenoid valve 7 changes the flow direction of the hydraulic oil to the hydraulic cylinder 3 for the first time, and this time, for example, the hydraulic cylinder is driven in the direction in which the actuating rod 4 is retracted, and the rudder 1 is rotated counterclockwise. Continuously steers to the steering side in the opposite direction.

Then, when you stop pressing the rudder button and the steering button, the rudder switch 11 and the steering switch 14 open, so the current to each excitation coil 7a, 7b is cut off, and the solenoid valve 7 completely opens the hydraulic oil passage system 6. close. As a result, the actuating rod 4 stops extending and retracting at that position, so that the rudder 1 maintains its steered position fixedly.

In this case, in order to prevent the rudder angle of the rudder 1 from becoming larger than necessary, for example, there are
Two limit switches 13 and 15 are provided, and the rudder 1
When the rudder angle exceeds a predetermined value, this switch 1
3 or 15 is set to open, the current to the excitation coil 7a or 7b is forcibly cut off, and the steering operation of the rudder 1 is stopped even if the surface rudder switch 11 or the steering switch 14 is in the closed state. I have to.

On the other hand, a metering pump M is interposed in the hydraulic oil passage system 6 in parallel with the solenoid valve 7 of this remote control mechanism.

Then, when the wheel W connected to the metering pump M is rotated, the flow rate of hydraulic oil to the hydraulic cylinder 3 changes continuously according to the amount of rotation, so the hydraulic cylinder 3 is operated accordingly. Rod 4 also expands and contracts.

Therefore, by manually rotating the wheel W, the rudder 1 can be steered according to the amount of rotation.

By the way, a feature of the present invention is that it includes a mechanism for automatically returning the steering position of the rudder 1 to the neutral position.

This mechanism detects the rudder angle of the rudder 1 using a rudder angle detector 16, and controls the solenoid valve 7 in a feedback manner in response to this detection signal in a direction in which the rudder angle approaches the neutral position.

Specifically, first, a fan-shaped plate 17 is fixed to the shaft 2 so as to rotate together with the rudder 1, and at the center of the periphery of this plate 17, as shown in FIG. A vertical groove 18 is formed toward the shaft 2.

On the other hand, a detection knob 19 protrudes from the steering angle detector 16 disposed at a position facing the plate 17, and one end of a lever 20 is attached to the detection knob 19 as a base end.

A roller 21 is rotatably attached to the free end of the lever 20, and this roller 21 is fitted into the longitudinal groove 18 of the plate 17.

Therefore, in response to the turning of the rudder 1, the plate 17
When the lever 20 rotates, the lever 20 moves to the plate 17 due to the movement of the roller 21 in conjunction with the movement of the vertical groove 18.
The detection knob 19 rotates in the opposite direction.

By the way, the detection knob 19, which rotates as the rudder 1 is turned in this manner, is connected to a surface rudder area switch 22 and a steering area switch 23 shown in FIG. Staggered rudder 1
When the steering wheel is in the steering area, the steering area switch 22 is closed, and when the steering area is in the steering area, the steering area switch 23 is closed.

Here, when the rudder center button of the remote control box 8 is pressed, the contact 12b of the rudder center switch 12 closes instead of the contact 12a. If the rudder 1 deviates from the neutral position region and is in the surface rudder region at this time, the surface rudder region switch 22 closes, so that the contact point 12b, the surface rudder region switch 22, and the steering side limit switch 15 are closed.
A current flows through the excitation coil 7b of the solenoid valve 7 (which is naturally closed at this time).

As a result, the rudder 1 is continuously steered toward the steering side as described above, approaching the neutral position. Thereafter, when the neutral position area is reached, the surface rudder area switch 22 is opened, so the steering operation is stopped and the rudder 1 is fixed in the neutral position area.

Conversely, if the rudder 1 is in the steering area at that time, the steering area switch 23 is closed this time, so the operation that is completely opposite to the above is performed, and in the end, in this case as well, the rudder 1 approaches and reaches the neutral position. By the way, it is fixed.

In this way, if you press the rudder center button when the rudder 1 is out of the neutral position area, the rudder 1 will automatically approach the neutral position and be fixed when it reaches it, so the rudder 1 will be fixed in the minimum amount of time. 1 can be steered to the central neutral position area, and the ship can be quickly shifted to straight-ahead operation.

In addition, in order to prevent hunting in such automatic control, a dead zone is provided in which both the surface rudder area switch 22 and the steering area switch 23 are not closed.
A predetermined width is provided to the neutral position area.

The width of this dead zone, that is, the neutral position, is determined by the groove 20 provided on the lever 20 with respect to the detection knob 19.
By moving the lever 20 along the axis a, changing the length from its base end to the roller 18, and changing the rotation ratio of the detection knob 19 with respect to the rudder 1, it can be freely varied. This width is set to a predetermined value according to the characteristics of the ship to ensure stable control.

By the way, when the rudder button and the steering button are pressed at the same time, current flows through both excitation coils 7a and 7b of the solenoid valve 7, so the solenoid valve 7 may operate extremely unstable.

As a countermeasure against this problem, as shown in Fig. 4, the surface rudder switch 11 and the steering switch 14 are configured as a double switch, so that when the surface rudder or the steering button is pressed, the excitation coil is activated via the switch on the other side. All you have to do is make sure to cut off the electricity to.

As explained above, in the present invention, since a mechanism for automatically returning the rudder to the center position is provided, the ship can be quickly shifted to straight-line operation from any steering position.

In addition, in the present invention, the rotation of the rudder is transmitted to the rudder angle detector via a lever whose turning radius is adjustable, so by adjusting the length of the lever, the rudder angle detector can be set to an appropriate value according to the characteristics of the ship. A dead zone can be provided, and hunting near the neutral position can therefore be prevented, resulting in a stable neutral position return operation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram of the remote control mechanism in the device shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the steering angle detector and its surroundings in the device shown in Fig. 1. 4 are other circuit diagrams of the remote control mechanism in the apparatus of FIG. 1. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Rudder, 3... Hydraulic cylinder, 5... Pump unit, 6... Hydraulic oil passage system, 7... Solenoid valve, 7a, 7b... Solenoid valve excitation coil, 8... Remote control box, 11... ... Surface rudder switch, 12 ... Rudder center switch, 14 ...
Steering switch, 16... Rudder angle detector, 17... Plate, 18... Vertical groove, 19... Detection knob, 20
...Lever, 21...Roller, 22...Rudder area switch, 23...Steering area switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering device comprising a hydraulic actuator that drives a rudder, a solenoid valve that controls the supply of hydraulic oil to the hydraulic actuator, and means for remotely operating the solenoid valve,
means for detecting the rudder angle position of the rudder; and neutral return means for feedback-controlling the solenoid valve so that the rudder angle position approaches the neutral position in response to the detection signal; A steering angle position detecting means is arranged to face the plate, and a detection knob of the detecting means is provided with a lever that can be extended and contracted in a radial direction with respect to the detection knob and protrudes toward the plate. A remote control steering device characterized in that a vertical groove is formed in the vertical direction, and a swinging end of the lever is fitted into the vertical groove so as to freely rotate and slide.