The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 28, 2020
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2018
Brp Us Inc., Sturtevant, WI (US);
Samuel McGinley, Milwaukee, WI (US);
Darrell Wiatrowski, Libertyville, IL (US);
Jeremiah Gillis, Milwaukee, WI (US);
BRP US INC., Sturtevant, WI (US);
Abstract
A steering system for a watercraft has steering position sensors sensing a steering position of first and second outboard motors, hydraulic steering actuators for steering the outboard motors, a hydraulic helm selectively supplying hydraulic fluid to the steering actuators, at least one valve for reversing a direction of flow of hydraulic fluid into the steering actuators, and a steering controller. The steering controller executes a realignment process including: receiving signals indicative of the steering positions of the outboard motors from the steering position sensors; based at least in part on the signals, determining if the outboard motors are misaligned; and, if the outboard motors are misaligned, actuating the at least one valve to direct the flow of hydraulic fluid into a corresponding steering actuator in a direction opposite to that corresponding to an active steering direction set by the hydraulic helm so as to reduce misalignment of the outboard motors.