Outboard Marine Corporation

James L Holt

Guy D Payne

Robert G Dretzka

Jeffrey A Olson

John M Mahoney

Kenneth M McLeod

Robert P Otka

A marine propulsion device including a gauge including a magnet supported for pivotal movement, a first wire coil adjacent the magnet and adapted to be connected to a power source, a second wire coil magnetically adjacent and in electrical connection with the first coil and adapted to be connected to ground, and a variable resistor in parallel electrical connection with the second coil.

Marine propulsion device including gauge with adjustable sensitivity

Ignition pulses derived from an engine ignition coil primary are fed to the input of an ignition interruption circuit that employs an integrated circuit timer. The state of the output terminal of the timer is governed by an RC time constant circuit and by trigger signals supplied by a trigger circuit in response to occurrence of each ignition pulse. The timer output is coupled to the gate of an SCR which when it receives gate current as a result of the timer output being in a high state becomes conductive and bypasses ignition pulses to ground to thereby lower engine rpm to a preset minimum in which case gate current is removed and at least enough ignition pulses are allowed to be unbypassed for keeping the engine running above stalling speed. The timer, in effect, compares the interval between pulses with its time constant. When the intervals are longer than the time constant period the timer output remains low and provides no gate current, but when the opposite condition exists gate current is supplied until the intervals between ignition pulses equal or exceed the time constant period.

Marine propulsion unit having ignition interruption means to assist

Disclosed herein is an electronic lubricant metering system for an engine which includes a throttle for regulating the amount of fuel delivered to the engine, the system comprising a frequency to voltage converter for producing a first electrical signal representative of engine RPM, a potentiometer including a wiper coupled to move in response to movement of the engine throttle, the voltage appearing on the wiper producing a second electrical signal representative of the amount of fuel being delivered to the engine, an oil pump for supplying a variable amount of lubricant into the fuel delivered to the engine, and an electrical control circuit responsive to the first and second electrical signals for providing a control output which renders the oil pump operative to vary the lubricant/fuel ratio of the lubricant and fuel mixture delivered to the engine.

Electronic lubricant metering system

Disclosed herein is a digital read-out meter circuit including a digital read-out meter and a frequency multiplier arrangement for providing signal pulses coupled to the input of the digital meter counters, said signal pulses having a frequency so that the parameter value to be displayed can be counted and read out directly by the meter. A presetable up/down counter provides an output representative of the rate of change of the parameter value to be displayed, and a logic circuit arrangement is operable, subject to the up/down counter output, for allowing application of different frequency data update pulses to the data update strobe terminal of the meter so that the meter automatically switches from a slow to a fast data update rate when the rate of change in the parameter exceeds a predetermined limit. Also disclosed herein is a tachometer which can be used with different engines, the tachometer including a digital read-out meter circuit wherein the frequency multiplier arrangement includes selective switching means for multiplying 'X' number of pulses per engine revolution by different numbers so that engine rpm of different engines can be counted and read out directly by the digital meter.

Digital read-out meter circuit and tachometer with variable meter update

Disclosed herein is a marine propulsion device and apparatus and methods for assisting transmission shifting thereof. The marine propulsion device includes an internal combustion engine and a reversing transmission having a pair of bevel gears and a clutch dog movable between a neutral position out of engagement with the bevel gears and forward and reverse drive positions in full engagement with one of the bevel gears. The marine propulsion device also includes a shift assistance arrangement included in a shift mechanism for axially moving the clutch dog between the neutral and drive positions, and which includes a load sensing lost motion shift lever arrangement having a first switch which is actuated when the resistance to axially moving the clutch dog into a drive position exceeds an upper limit. The shift assistance arrangement also includes an ignition interruption circuit responsive to actuation of the first switch for selectively interrupting the ignition of the internal combustion engine to reduce the engine torque transmitted to the bevel gears to effect relative angular displacement of the clutch dog and the bevel gears to thereby assist the shift mechanism in moving the clutch dog into and out of a drive position. The ignition interruption circuit includes a control circuit having a first timer for providing a plurality of successive timed cycles, each cycle including an ignition-kill interval and an ignition-on interval, and also having a second timer for establishing an overall cycle during which the first timer is operative, subject to the first switch.

Growing community of inventors

Bristol, WI, United States of America

James L Holt