| US 7,354,325 B2 | ||
| Outboard motor control system | ||
| Hiroshi Mizuguchi, Saitama (Japan); and Shinsaku Nakayama, Saitama (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Filed on May 15, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/434,031. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 2005-143647 (JP), filed on May 17, 2005; and application No. 2005-148016 (JP), filed on May 20, 2005. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0264129 A1, Nov. 23, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. B63H 20/20 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 440—75 [440/61 S; 440/86] | 11 Claims |
| 1. A system for controlling shift change of an outboard motor mounted on a stem of a boat and having an internal combustion
engine to power a propeller, said system comprising:
a clutch being engageable with a forward gear to make the boat propel in a forward direction or a reverse gear to make the
boat propel in a reverse direction;
an actuator for moving the clutch to one position selected from among a first position to engage with the forward gear to
establish a forward position, a second position to engage with the reverse gear to establish a reverse position, and a third
position to engage neither with the forward gear nor with the reverse gear to establish a neutral position;
a switch for producing an output signal when the clutch is moved to the third position; and
a controller which controls operations of said actuator, said controller including:
a clutch position memorizer for memorizing a position of the clutch as the neutral position when the switch produces the output;
and
a clutch position determiner for determining a position of the clutch corresponding to the first position or the second position
based on the memorized position of the clutch.
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