Systems and methods for facilitating shift changes in marine propulsion devices

1. A method of facilitating shift changes in a marine propulsion device, the marine propulsion device having an internal combustion engine and a shift linkage that operatively connects a shift control lever to a transmission for effecting the shift changes amongst a reverse gear, a neutral gear and a forward gear, the method comprising:

sensing a position of the shift linkage;

sensing a speed of the engine;

comparing the speed of the engine to a stored engine speed; and

modifying, based upon the position of the shift linkage when the speed of the engine reaches the stored engine speed, a neutral state threshold that determines when the speed of the engine is no longer reduced to facilitate a shift change.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the stored engine speed is a known speed at which the engine changes from a crank state in which the engine is cranking to a run state in which the engine is running.

3. The method according to claim 2 , comprising identifying the position of the shift linkage when the speed of the engine reaches the stored engine speed and adding positive and negative calibrated amounts to identify a lower neutral state threshold and an upper neutral state threshold, respectively.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the shift change is from the forward gear to the neutral gear and wherein the upper neutral state threshold also designates a threshold of a forward-to-neutral state in which the speed of the engine is no longer reduced to facilitate the shift change.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the shift change is from the reverse gear to the neutral gear and wherein the lower neutral state threshold designates a threshold of a reverse-to-neutral state in which the speed of the engine is no longer reduced to facilitate the shift change.

6. The method according to claim 1 , comprising sensing the position of the shift linkage with a potentiometer that outputs analog-to-digital counts (ADC) to a control circuit.

7. The method according to claim 1 , comprising continuing to sense the position of the shift linkage after the shift linkage reaches the neutral state threshold and thereafter ceasing to reduce speed of the engine when the shift linkage returns to the neutral state threshold.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the stored engine speed is a known speed that occurs upon a shift change from one of the forward and reverse gears to the neutral gear.

9. The method according to claim 8 , comprising disregarding an occurrence of when the speed of the engine reaches the stored engine speed if the shift linkage position is not near the current thresholds.

10. The method according to claim 8 , comprising disregarding an occurrence of when the speed of the engine reaches the stored engine speed the shift linkage has not changed position by more than a stored rate.

11. A system for facilitating shift changes in a marine propulsion device, the system comprising:

an internal combustion engine;

a shift linkage that operatively connects a shift control lever to a transmission for effecting shift changes amongst a reverse gear, a neutral gear and a forward gear;

a position sensor that senses position of the shift linkage;

a speed sensor that senses speed of the engine; and

a control circuit that compares the speed of the engine to a stored engine speed;

wherein the control circuit modifies, based upon the position of the shift linkage when the speed of the engine reaches the stored engine speed, a neutral state threshold that determines when the control circuit ceases reducing the speed of the engine to facilitate a shift change.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the stored engine speed is a known speed at which the engine changes from a crank state in which the engine is cranking to a run state in which the engine is running.

13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the control circuit identifies the position of the shift linkage when the speed of the engine reaches the stored engine speed and adding positive and negative calibrated amounts to identify an upper neutral state threshold and a lower neutral state threshold, respectively.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the shift change is from the forward gear to the neutral gear and wherein the upper neutral state threshold also designates a threshold of a forward-to-neutral state in which the control circuit ceases reducing the speed of the engine to facilitate the shift change.

15. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the shift change is from the reverse gear to the neutral gear and wherein the lower neutral state threshold also designates a threshold of a reverse-to-neutral state in which the control circuit ceases reducing the speed of the engine to facilitate the shift change.

16. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the position sensor comprises a potentiometer that outputs analog-to-digital counts (ADC) to the control circuit.

17. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the control circuit continues to sense the position of the shift linkage after the shift linkage reaches the neutral state threshold and thereafter the control circuit ceases to reduce speed of the engine when the shift linkage returns to the neutral state threshold.

18. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the stored engine speed is a known speed that occurs upon a shift change from one of the forward and reverse gears to the neutral gear.

19. The system according to claim 18 , wherein the control circuit disregards an occurrence of when the speed of the engine reaches the stored engine speed if the shift linkage position is not near the current thresholds.

20. The system according to claim 18 , wherein the control circuit disregards an occurrence of when the speed of the engine reaches the stored engine speed if the shift linkage has not changed position by more than a stored rate.