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:
Dec. 03, 1991
Filed:
Jul. 24, 1990
William A Henderson, Starkville, MS (US);
Zebco Corporation, Tulsa, OK (US);
Abstract
A servo controlled trolling motor steering system provides improved speed and steering control. The system includes apparatus for mounting the motor on a boat for rotation about an axis to effect steering of the boat. A foot pedal includes a base and a foot pad pivotally mounted to the base, the foot pad being pivotal by a user to command a desired steering direction. A membrane potentiometer senses rotational position of the motor to develop an electrical signal representative of the rotational position, the signal comprising a steering feedback signal. A second membrane potentiometer senses pivotal position of the foot pad relative to the base to develop an electrical signal representative of the pivotal position, the signal comprising a steering command signal. A steering control is mounted to the mounting apparatus for steering the trolling motor, including a servo driven gear set for rotating the trolling motor and an electrical control responsive to the steering command signal and the steering feedback signal for actuating the servo to rotate the trolling motor to steer the boat. Park and kill functions are provided to steer the trolling motor to a select part position when the trolling motor is moved to a stowed position and to subsequently disable the steering operation.