Ships – Steering mechanism – Remote control steering excluding manual operation
Patent
1993-10-14
1995-04-25
Sotelo, Jesus D.
Ships
Steering mechanism
Remote control steering excluding manual operation
440 62, B63H 2500
Patent
active
054089450
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a steering device comprising a steering cable, connected between a steering-wheel mechanism and a steering mechanism, and consisting of a flexible sheath and a flexible operating core displaceble in the sheath, said steering cable being arcuately curved over at least a portion thereof.
Steering devices of this type with so called push-pull cable have cables which normally extend from the steering wheel out to the side of the hull and then aft along the hull to a point just forward of the transom where the cable is curved about 90.degree. in an arc towards the boat steering mechanism, which for example can comprise a steering arm on a rudder shaft or a steerable outboard drive unit. Especially in boats with double engines with outboard drive units, problems can rise in steering due to the small amount of space available athwartships (i.e. transversely to the boat) between the hull and the steering arm. The smaller the space available, the less will be the radius of curvature of the cable and the more the cable will strive by its resilience to press against the servo steering tube or sleeve, which is limitedly displaceable relative to a servo valve which is in turn controlled by the reactive force from the cable sheath created by the operating movement.
The problem with variation in the radius of curvature of the cable can be solved in a known manner by forming the curved portions of the sheath as rigid tubes. One disadvantage of such an arrangement is however that the steering cable sheath must be specially manufactured for each type of installation.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a steering device of the type described by way of introduction which eliminates the above mentioned problem of small radius of curvature of the steering cable without the need to have the steering cable specially made for the installation in question. This is achieved according to the invention by virtue of the fact that the arcuate portion of the cable sheath is fixed to a rigid load removing element adapted to the curvature of the sheath and which has an open trough adapted to the cross section of the cable sheath to hold the same.
Such a steering device can be easily adapted to the installation in question by virtue of the fact that the cable can be laid into the trough from the side and fixed to the load removing element by a pair of ordinary tube or hose clips for example. This is significantly more simple than replacing the curved portions of the flexible sheath with rigid portions.
The invention will be described in more detail with reference to an example shown in the accompanying drawing, where
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a servo assisted steering device with a load removing element according to the invention and
FIG. 2 a cross section along the line II--II in FIG. 1.
In the Figure, 1 designates a boat steering-wheel which is connected to a transmission device 2, which, upon turning the wheel provides a displacement of a flexible cable core 4 in a flexible cable sheath 3. The device can be of any suitable type known per se as can be sheath 3 and the cable core 4 forming a so called push-pull cable common to boat steering mechanisms.
The cable sheath 3 is screwed securely to the end of a valve tube 5, which forms a guide for an operating rod 6 joined to the cable core 4. The valve tube 5 extends through a valve housing 7 to a servo valve with the general designation 8. The valve housing 7 is made in one piece with a hydraulic cylinder 9 of a double acting piston-cylinder device 10. The valve tube 5 is limitedly displaceable in the valve housing 7 and cooperates with a valve slide (not shown), which control the supply of hydraulic fluid to one or the other cylinder chamber in the cylinder 9 from a motor driven hydraulic pump 11 depending on the position of the valve tube relative to the valve housing. The servo valve 8, the valve tube 5 and the piston-cylinder device are units known per se.
The operating rod 6 and the piston rod 12 of the piston-cylinder device 10 ar
REFERENCES:
patent: 3050025 (1962-08-01), Atkeson
patent: 4237656 (1980-12-01), Hess et al.
AB Volvo Penta
Sotelo Jesus D.
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