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:
Jun. 19, 2012
Filed:
Oct. 16, 2009
Koji Kuriyagawa, Saitama, JP;
Hajime Yoshimura, Saitama, JP;
Hikaru Ikeda, Saitama, JP;
Yoshiyuki Matsuda, Saitama, JP;
Koji Kuriyagawa, Saitama, JP;
Hajime Yoshimura, Saitama, JP;
Hikaru Ikeda, Saitama, JP;
Yoshiyuki Matsuda, Saitama, JP;
Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In an apparatus for controlling an outboard motor mounted on a stern of a boat and having an internal combustion engine to power a propeller, a drive shaft that connects the engine and the propeller, and a torque converter that is interposed between the engine and the drive shaft and is equipped with a lockup clutch, it is configured to have a planing determiner that determines whether the boat is planning and a clutch ON unit that makes the lockup clutch ON when the boat is determined to be planing. With this, it becomes possible to appropriately make the lockup clutch ON after completing acceleration, thereby improving speed performance.