Method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system, marine vessel propulsion system, and marine vessel including the same
A marine vessel includes a plurality of turning mechanisms provided respectively in correspondence to a plurality of outboard motors. Each turning mechanism includes a hydraulic pump, an electric motor to drive the hydraulic pump, a hydraulic cylinder including two cylinder chambers partitioned by a piston, and a normally-closed bypass valve to put the two cylinder chambers of the hydraulic cylinder into communication with each other. Upon judging that there is a malfunction in the turning angle control of at least one of the outboard motors, a main ECU displays on a display an operation guidance screen to urge a marine vessel operator to open the bypass valve of the turning mechanism corresponding to the malfunctioning outboard motor. Also, the main ECU keeps a power transmission between an engine and a propeller in the malfunctioning outboard motor in an interrupted state.
1. A method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system including a plurality of outboard motors, each of the plurality of outboard motors including a motor and a propeller rotated by the motor, and a steering apparatus arranged to control turning angles of the plurality of the outboard motors and the steering apparatus including a steering member and a plurality of turning mechanisms arranged to turn each of the plurality of outboard motors individually in accordance with an operation of the steering member and each of the turning mechanisms including a hydraulic cylinder including two cylinder chambers partitioned by a piston and a normally-closed bypass valve arranged to put the two cylinder chambers of the hydraulic cylinder in communication with each other, the method of operating the marine vessel propulsion system comprising:
a step of judging whether or not there is a malfunction in a turning angle control of at least one of the outboard motors;
a step of putting the bypass valve of a malfunctioning turning mechanism in an open state when it is judged that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of the at least one of the outboard motors; and
a step of controlling power transmission between the motor and the propeller of the at least one of the outboard motors judged to have the malfunction in the turning angle control in a neutral state, and controlling power transmission between the motor and the propeller of the outboard motor or motors, other than the at least one of the outboard motors judged to have the malfunction in the turning angle control, in a power transmittable state while maintaining the open state of the bypass valve.
2. The method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a step of urging a marine vessel operator to open the bypass valve of the turning mechanism corresponding to the at least one of the outboard motors judged to have the malfunction in the turning angle control when it is judged that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of the at least one of the outboard motors.
3. The method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a step of judging whether there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors or there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of the at least one of the outboard motors; and
a step of urging a marine vessel operator to open the bypass valve of the turning mechanism corresponding to the outboard motor judged to have the malfunction in the turning angle control when it is judged that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of the at least one of the outboard motors.
4. The method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a step of notifying the marine vessel operator that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors when it is judged that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors.
5. The method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a step of moving all of the outboard motors to respective turning angle midpoints and at least one of the plurality of outboard motors is made to generate a propulsive force in a state when all of the outboard motors are fixed at the respective turning angle midpoints when it is judged that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors.
6. The method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 5 , further comprising:
a step of opening the bypass valves of all of the turning mechanisms and moving all of the outboard motors to the respective turning angle midpoints and then closing the bypass valves of all of the turning mechanisms when it is judged that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors.
7. The method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a step of controlling rotational speeds of the motors to be restricted to no more than a predetermined value in all of the outboard motors when it is judged that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors.
8. The method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 1 , wherein the power control step includes a step of restricting the rotational speed of the motor in the other outboard motor or outboard motors to no more than a predetermined value.
9. The method of operating a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a step of controlling the marine vessel to run at a vessel speed lower than a maximum vessel speed corresponding to a maximum propulsive force generated by all of the outboard motors when it is judged that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of the at least one of the outboard motors.
10. A marine vessel propulsion system comprising:
a plurality of outboard motors, each of the plurality of outboard motors including a motor and a propeller rotated by the motor; and
a steering apparatus arranged to control turning angles of the plurality of the outboard motors, the steering apparatus including a steering member and a plurality of turning mechanisms arranged to turn each of the plurality of outboard motors individually in accordance with an operation of the steering member, and each of the turning mechanisms including a hydraulic cylinder including two cylinder chambers partitioned by a piston and a normally-closed bypass valve arranged to put the two cylinder chambers of the hydraulic cylinder in communication with each other;
a malfunction judging unit arranged to judge whether or not there is a malfunction in the turning angle control of at least one of the outboard motors;
a notifying unit that, when the malfunction judging unit judges that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of the at least one of the outboard motors, urges the marine vessel operator to open the bypass valve of the turning mechanism corresponding to the at least one of the outboard motors judged to have the malfunction in the turning angle control; and
a power control unit arranged to control power transmission between the motor and the propeller of the at least one of the outboard motors judged to have the malfunction in the turning angle control in a neutral state, and to control power transmission between the motor and the propeller in the outboard motor or outboard motors, other than the at least one of the outboard motors judged to have the malfunction in the turning angle control, in a power transmittable state.
11. The marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 10 , further comprising:
a restricting unit that, when the malfunction judging unit judges that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of the at least one of the outboard motors, restricts a rotational speed of the motor to no more than a predetermined value in the at least one of the outboard motors judged to have the malfunction in the turning angle control.
12. The marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 10 , wherein each of the bypass valves is a manually opened/closed bypass valve.
13. The marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 10 , wherein each of the bypass valves is an automatically opened/closed bypass valve.
14. The marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 10 , further comprising:
a turning angle control stopping unit that, when the malfunction judging unit judges that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors, stops the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors.
15. The marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 10 , wherein the malfunction judging unit is arranged to judge that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of all of the outboard motors when a malfunction due to an input system in common to all of the turning mechanisms is detected and to judge that there is the malfunction in the turning angle control of the at least one of the outboard motors when a malfunction due to output systems of the respective turning mechanisms is detected.
16. The marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 15 , wherein the malfunction due to the input system includes a malfunction of an operation amount detection sensor arranged to detect an operation amount of the steering member, and the malfunction due to the output systems includes a malfunction of turning angle sensors arranged to detect the turning angles of the outboard motors and a malfunction of the respective turning mechanisms.
17. A marine vessel comprising:
a hull; and
a marine vessel propulsion system according to claim 10 attached to the hull.