[0001] This invention relates to a ship maneuvering gear, and more particularly to a maneuvering
gear of a ship having two or more 360°-turning (also called Z-type) propulsion unit
each of which units includes a propeller that can turn about a vertical shaft perpendicular
to a propeller shaft thereof, so as to change the direction of propulsive force of
the ship at will.
[0002] Two maneuvering gears have been used heretofore to control two propellers. However,
it has been proposed recently to use one maneuvering gear with one lever or handle
to maneuver the two propellers so as to facilitate easy maneuver (for instance, Japanese
Patent Publication No. 47,234/76).
[0003] In a previously proposed one-lever maneuvering gear, propellers are turned in directions
corresponding to a direction given by the lever to cause the ship to move ahead and
turn, and the lever is also made to be inclined by a variable extent so that the propellers
are turned broadside in proportion to the inclination of the lever, so as to control
the speed of the ship.
[0004] In the aforesaid one-lever maneuvering gear of the prior art, the direction and the
inclination (angle of push or pull down) of the one lever are detected as a vector
quantity, and the vector quantity is decomposed into components along two horizontal
axes, and instructions as to the directions of the two propellers are produced by
complicated mathematical operations based on such components of the vector quantity.
Whereby, the direction and the magnitude of the vector sum of the propulsive forces
of the two propellers are controlled so as to coincide with the direction and the
inclination of the lever.
[0005] The one-lever system of the prior art has a shortcoming in that the system requires
complicated mathematical operations and a complicated arithmetic circuit is indispensable,
because the direction and the inclination of the lever are detected as a composite
vector quantity having components along two orthogonal coordinates and instructions
as to the turning directions of the two propulsion units can be given only after the
complicated mathematical operations based on the aforesaid components along the orthogonal
coordinates.
[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to obviate the abovementioned shortcoming
of the pior art, by providing an improved ship maneuvering gear.
[0007] To fulfil the object, in a ship maneuvering gear of the present invention, the rotation
and the inclination of one lever are separately detected by synchro motors (with a
trademark of SELSYN motor) or potentiometers, and the thus detected rotation and inclination
are applied to an arithmetic circuit so as to determine first quantity indicating
a turn of two propellers proportionate to the rotation of the lever and second quantities
indicating broadside turns of the propellers in proportion to the inclination of the
lever for causing a change in the ship speed and to add the first and second quantities
to produce an output signal which gives orientations to be assumed by the two propellers.
[0008] Thus, another object of the invention is to substantially simplify the arithmetic
circuit of the ship maneuvering gear.
[0009] For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
Fig. 1A is a schematic vertical sectional view of a ship maneuvering gear according
to the present invention;
Fig. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of a worm gearing means
in the maneuvering gear of Fig. lA;
Fig. 2 is a schematic partial plan view of a ship, showing the disposition of two
propellers mounted thereon;
Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an operating board in the maneuvering
gear of the invention;
Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the range in which a hand lever is moved;
Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the electic circuit of the ship maneuvering gear of the
invention;
Fig. 6 shows diagrammatic illustrations of the setting process of the ship maneuvering
gear of the invention;
Fig. 7 shows a maneuvering schedule of two propellers by the ship maneuvering gear
of the invention; and
Figs. 8 and 9 are block diagrams showing two examples of the arithmetic circuit and
servo amplifier.
[0010] Throughout different views of the drawings, 1 is a prime mover, 2 is a horizontal
intermediate shaft, 3 is an upper bevel gear, 4 is a vertical intermediate shaft,
5 is a lower bevel gear, 6 is a propeller shaft, 7
p, 7
s are propellers, 8
p, 8
s are hydraulic motors, 9 is a worm shaft, 10 is a vertical turning shaft, 11 is an
operating board, HL is a hand lever, P
X, Py are synchro motors or potentiometers, SR is a slip ring, MC is an arithmetic
circuit, A-P, A-S are servo amplifiers, F
p, F
s are feedback detector means, T
p, T
s are s
ynchro transmitters, R , R
s are registers, S/A is a synchro analog converter, COMP is a phase comparator, AD
is an adder, DS is a differential synchronizer, and SYR is a synchronous rectifier.
[0011] Fig. 1 through Fig. 5 illustrate an embodiment of the ship maneuvering gear according
to the present invention as applied a ship with two 360°-turning propulsion (Z-type
propulsion) units.
[0012] Figs. lA, 1B and 2 show the mechanism of a 360°-turning propulsion unit. Output power
from a prime mover 1 is transmitted to a port or starboard propeller 7
p or 7
s through a horizontal intermediate shaft 2, an upper bevel gear 3, a vertical intermediate
shaft 4, a lower bevel gear 5, and a propeller shaft 6. A hydraulic motor 8
p or 8
s is connected to a worm shaft 9, so as to turn the propeller 7
p or 7
s about the axis of a vertical turning shaft 10 by the movement of the worm shaft 9
activated by the hydraulic motor 8
p or 8
s.
[0013] Figs. 3 through 5 show the structure and formation of the ship maneuvering gear of
the invention. Referring to Fig. 3, an operating board 11 of the maneuvering gear
has a hand lever HL. As shown in Fig. 4, the hand lever HL is maneuvering lever which
can be inclined relative to a vertical center line 0 up to a certain predetermined
angle (up to 35° in the illustrated embodiment) and can be freely rotated about the
center line 0 within a circle h defined by a 360° rotation of the upper end H' of
the hand lever HL with a 35° inclination. P
x and Py are synchro motors or potentiometers to detect the rotation and inclination
of the hand lever HL, and the outputs thereof are applied to an arithmetic circuit
MC so as to produce signals to actuate the hydraulic motors 8 p and 8
s through servo amplifiers A-P and A-S. The hydraulic motors 8
p and 8
s turn the propellers 7
p and 7
s respectively, while feedback potentiometers F
p and F
s compares the actual orientations of the propellers 7 p and 7
s against set values determined by the arithmetic circuit MC. Synchro transmitters
T
p and T
s transmit signals representing the actual orientations of the propellers 7 p and 7
s to the operating board 11, and registers Rand R including servo receivers indicate
the actual orientations of the propellers 7p and 7
s in response to the signals from the synchro transmitters T
p and T
s respectively.
[0014] The synchro motor or potentiometer P
X to detect the rotation of the hand lever HL may be disposed above or below the slip
ring SR of Fig. 3 in tandem therewith, which slip ring SR is disposed along the vertical
central axis Z of Figs. 3 and 4.
[0015] With the ship maneuvering gear of the aforesaid formation according to the present
invention, the direction of propelling the ship is set by rotating the hand lever
HL while the magnitude of the propulsive power or the ship speed is controlled by
regulating the inclination of the hand lever HL.
[0016] The process of setting the two propellers 7p and 7
s at desired orientations by the one hand lever HL of the maneuvering gear of the invention
will be described now by referring to Fig. 6.
[0017] In the top view of Fig. 6, if the hand lever HL is rotated to the right or clockwise
by an angle 6 and if the hand lever HL is pushed down forward by an inclination 35°,
the arithmetic circuit MC gives output signals to turn the two propellers 7 p and
7
s counterclockwise by an angle -6 (the clockwise direction being assumed to be plus
in this case).
[0018] Then, if the hand lever HL is pulled up to reduce the ship speed, the starboard propeller
7
s is turned from the position of -8 (position lp of Fig. 6) up to a -90° position (position
2s of Fig. 6), while the port propeller 7p is turned from the position of -θ (position
lp of Fig. 6) up to a 90° position (position 2p of Fig. 6). More specifically, the
rotating angle 6 of the hand lever HL is detected by the synchro motor or potentiometer
P
x of Figs. 3 and 5, and the output signal thereof representing the hand lever rotating
angle is applied to the arithmetic circuit MC, while the inclination of the hand lever
HL is detected by the synchro motor or potentiometer Py and the output signal thereof
representing the hand lever inclination is applied to the arithmetic circuit MC through
the slip ring SR. The arithmetic circuit MC of Fig. 5 responds to the aforesaid output
signals from the synchro motors or potentiometers P
x and Py in the following manner: namely, the starboard propeller 7
s is turned to the -θ position in response to the rotating angle θ of the hand lever
HL, and if the hand lever is pushed down forward by 35° an additional turning angle
of 0° is added to the aforesaid -6, while if the hand lever HL is pulled up 35° to
the upright position (in line with the Z axis) an additional turning angle of (-90°+θ)
is added to the aforesaid angle -θ for the starboard propeller 7
s; and the port propeller 7
p is turned to the -θ position in response to the rotating angle θ of the hand lever
HL, and if the hand lever HL is pushed down forward by 35° an additional turning angle
of 0° is added to the aforesaid -θ, while if the hand lever HL is pulled up to the
upright position an additional turning angle of (+90°+θ) is added to the aforesaid
-θ for the port propeller 7
p. Thus, the two propellers 7
s and 7
p are turned to the positions 1
s and 1
p, i.e., in counterclockwise direction by an angle -θ, and if the hand lever HL is
then pulled up to the upright position, the starboard propeller 7
s is turned from the position ls to the position 2s whose angular displacement is -θ-90°+θ=-90°
relative to the X
s axis while the port propeller 7
p is turned from the position 1
p to the position 2
p whose angular displacement is -θ+90°+θ=+90° relative to the X
p axis. If the hand lever HL is pulled down backward by a maximum limit of 35° from
the upright position as shown by the dotted line of the top view of Fig. 6, the propellers
7
s and 7p are turned to positions 3c and 3p of the lower views of Fig. 6. More specifically,
such pull down of the hand lever HL is detected as a change in the inclination thereof
by the synchro motor or potentiometer Py, and the output signal therefrom representing
the maximum pull down is applied to the arithmetic circuit MC, so as to generate a
signal for the starboard propeller 7
s to turn by an additional angle of (-90°+θ) and a signal for the port propeller 7
p to turn by an additional angle of (+90°+θ).
[0019] The aforesaid output from the arithemetic circuit MC for the pulling up of the hand
lever HL from the solid line position of the top view of Fig. 6 to the dotted line
position thereof through the upright position fully coincides with that for the clockwise
rotation of the hand lever HL from the aforesaid solid line position to the dotted
line position with an angular displacement of (180°+θ) along the circular path of
the same view. More specifically, when the rotating angle of the hand lever HL becomes
(180°+8), which is in the third quadrant in the top view of Fig. 6, the response of
the maneuvering gear to the signal from the synchro motor or potentiometer P
x is changed from that for the first quadrant, and the starboard propeller 7
s turns counterclockwise by (-180°+θ) relative to the X
s axis while the port propeller 7 p also turns counterclockwise by (-180°+θ) relative
to the X
p axis, which can be reached by clockwise rotation of (180°+θ), so that the aforesaid
full coincidence is fulfilled.
[0020] In the foregoing, the hand lever HL is rotated from the first quadrant to the third
quadrant in the top view of Fig. 6, and the operation of the maneuvering gear is similar
to what has been described in the foregoing, even when the hand lever HL is turned
from the second quadrant to the fourth quadrant.
[0021] If the hand lever HL is rotated counterclockwise into the fourth quadrant at first
and then rotated further, the turning direction of the propellers 7
s and 7
p becomes clockwise, but other operations are similar to what has been described above.
[0022] Fig. 7 shows a manuevering schedule of the maneuvering gear of the invention in terms
of the relationship among the position of the hand lever HL, orientations of the propellers
7
s and 7 p as indicated by the registers R
s and R
p (arrows in Fig. 7), and the moving direction of the ship (arrows in Fig. 7). For
instance, Operation No. 1 shows that the hand lever HL is held upright with its top
H' at the neutral position so as to keep the ship at rest. Operations No. 2 and No.
3 show that the ship moves ahead at full speed and at middle speed and that the orientations
of the propellers vary with the ship speed even when the ship moves straightly ahead.
Operations No. 4 and No. 5 show that the ship moves ahead, while turning port and
starboard and that the two propellers assume identical orientations at full speed
but the two propellers assume different positions at middle speed as shown by the
dotted lines of Fig. 7. Similarly, the ship can be maneuvered so as to turn starboard
and port about one point or to move back simply by setting the hand lever HL accordingly
as shown in Fig. 7.
[0023] Figs. 8 and 9 show two examples of the arithmetic circuit MC and the servo amplifiers
A-P and A-S, in which examples the detecting means P
x and Py are assumed to be synchro motors whose outputs are applied to the arithmetic
circuit MC so as to produce signals applicable to the hydraulic motors 8p and 8
s through the servo amplifiers A-P and A-S.
[0024] In the example of Fig. 8, the two output signals from the synchro motors P
x and Py are applied to synchro analog converters S/A of the arithmetic circuit MC
for analog conversion. Outputs from the synchro analog converters S/A are applied
to and processed by an adder AD, and the output from the adder AD is amplified by
an amplifier AMP. The amplified signal from this amplifier AMP is applied to feedback
adders FAD to which signals from the feedback potentiometers F
p and F
s for the propellers 7p and 7
s are also applied, so as to effect arithmetic operations necessary for the desired
feedback control.
[0025] The feedback detector means F and F of this p s examples can be potentiometers.
[0026] The output signals from the feedback adders FAD are amplified by amplifying circuits
AMP of the servo amplifiers A-P and A-S. In the servo amplifiers A-P and A-S of this
example, phase comparators COMP receive the amplified signals from the amplifying
circuits AMP thereof and compare the received signals against a reference so as to
separate clockwise instruction signals from counterclockwise instruction signals.
Each servo amplifier A-P or A-S is connected to two magnetic valves MV, so that the
corresponding hydraulic motor 8 p or 8
s is selectively driven either clockwise or counterclockwise.
[0027] In the example of Fig. 9, the signal from each of the synchro motors P
x and Py is applied to both of two differential synchronizers DS of the arithmetic
circuit MC respectively. The differential synchronizers DS of this example also receive
signals from the feedback synchro motors F
p and F
s for the propellers 7
p and 7
s, so as to effect the arithmetic operations necessary for the desired feedback control.
The output signals from the arithmetic circuit MC are applied to the servo amplifiers
A-P and A-S, where synchronous rectifiers SYR separate clockwise instruction signals
from counterclockwise instruction signals based on the nature of the output signals
from the arithmetic circuit MC, e.g., potentials thereof, and the thus separated instruction
signals are amplified by amplifier circuits AMP provided for each of the clockwise
and counterclockwise instruction signals. Each servo amplifier A-P or A-S is connected
to the corresponding hydraulic motor 8p or 8
s through two magnetic valves MV, as in the case of the example of Fig. 8.
[0028] As noted above, the example of Fig. 9 uses feedback synchro motors F
p and F instead of the feedback potentiometers F
p and F
s of Fig. 8.
[0029] When either one or both of the detecting means P
x and Py are potentiometers, only the example of Fig. 8 can be used, and the operations
of the maneuvering gear with such detecting potentiometers are similar to those with
the detecting synchro motors as described in the foregoging, except that the synchro
analog converters S/A can be dispensed with in the case of detecting potentiometers.
[0030] As described in the foregoing, in the ship maneuvering gear of the invention, the
hand lever HL can be rotated and inclined to any position in the 360° range, so that
the ship can be maneuvered to move not only ahead and back but also sideways, and
the composite propulsive power of the two propellers 7
p and 7
s can be varied from zero to the maximum by controlling the inclination of the hand
lever HL while maintaining the constant propulsive powers at the individual propellers.
Accordingly, the ship speed can be controlled from stop as instructed by the upright
or neutral position of the hand lever HL to the full speed as instructed by the maximum
inclination of the hand lever HL.
[0031] As explained above, the ship manuevering gears of the prior art have shortcomings
in the need of complicated arithmetic circuit, the requirement of much man power for
manufacture and the high manufacturing cost, but the ship maneuvering gear of the
invention uses a very simple arithmetic circuit as compared with that of the prior
art, so that the maneuvering gear of the invention can be manufactured easily at a
low cost; namely, the mathematic circuit in the invention is simplified by separately
detecting the rotation and the inclination of hand lever, determining a first quantity
to turn the propellers in response to the detected rotation of the hand lever, determining
second quantities to turn the propellers broadside in response to the detected inclination
of the hand lever representing a change of ship speed, and summing the first and second
quantities in the arithmetic circuit so as to give orientations to be assumed by the
two propellers.
[0032] Although the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity,
it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example
and that numerous change in details of construction and the combination and arrangement
of parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter
claimed.
1. A maneuvering gear of a ship having two propellers each of which propellers can
be turned about a vertical axis perpendicular to a propeller shaft thereof, said maneuvering
gear comprising a hand lever adapted to be rotated about an axis by a variable rotating
angle and to be inclined relative to said axis by a variable inclination, a detecting
means to separately detect the rotating angle and the inclination of said hand lever,
an arithmetic circuit adapted to respond to the thus detected rotating angle and inclination
of the hand lever so as to determine a first and second quantities and to produce
an output signal by adding said first and second quantities, said first quantity indicating
a turn of said propellers proportionate to said hand lever rotating angle, said second
quantities indicating turns of said propellers to cause a speed change of the ship
proportionate to said hand lever inclination, and an actuating mans adapted to control
said propellers in response to said output signal from the arithmetic circuit.
2. A maneuvering gear as set forth in claim 1, wherein said detecting means includes
a synchro motor responding to said rotating angle of the hand lever and a synchro
motor responding to said inclination of the hand lever.
3. A maneuvering gear as set forth in claim 1, wherein said detecting means includes
a potentiometer responding to said rotating angle of the hand lever and a potentiometer
responding to said inclination of the hand lever.
4. A maneuvering gear as set forth in claim 1, wherein said actuating means includes
two hydraulic motors coupled to said propellers through worm gearing means.
5. A maneuvering gear as set forth in claim 1, wherein said maneuvering gear further
comprises synchro transmitters producing signals representing orientations of the
propellers and registers including synchro receivers to receive said signals from
the synchro transmitters so as to indicate the orientations of the propellers.
6. A maneuvering gear as set forth in claim 1, wherein said maneuvering gear includes
feedback detector means to detect orientations of said propellers so as to give signals
showing such orientations and servo amplifier means to receive signals from said arithmetic
circuit so as to deliver amplified signals to said actuating means; said arithmetic
circuit includes two synchro analog converters to convert signals from said detecting
means, an adder to add converted signals from said synchro analog converters, and
feedback adders to receive signals both from said adder and from said feedback detector
means so as to produce output signals of the arithmetic circuit; and said servo amplifier
means includes amplifier circuits to amplify signals from said arithmetic circuit
and comparator means to differentiate clockwise instruction signals to said propellers
from counterclockwise instruction signals thereto by comparing signals from said amplifier
circuits against a reference.
7. A maneuvering gear as set forth in claim 1, wherein said maneuvering gear includes
feedback detector means to detect orientations of said propellers so as to give signals
showing such orientations and servo amplifier means to receive signals from said arithmetic
circuit so as to deliver amplified signals to said actuating means; said arithmetic
circuit includes differential synchronizer means to receive signals both from said
detecting means and from said feedback detector means so as to produce output signals
of the arithmetic circuit; and said servo amplifier means includes synchronous rectifier
means to differentiate clockwise instruction signals to said propellers from counterclockwise
instruction signals thereto depending on nature of said output signals of the arithmetic
circuit and amplifier circuits to amplify the thus differentiated signals from said
synchronous rectifier means.
8. A maneuvering gear as set forth in any one of claims 6 and 7, wherein said feedback
detector means are synchro motors coupled to said propellers.
9. A maneuvering gear as set forth in any one of claims 6 and 7, wherein said feedback
detector means are potentiometers coupled to said propellers.
-10. A maneuvering gear as set forth in claim 1, wherein said detecting means are
potentiometers coupled to said hand lever so as to detect the rotation and inclination
of said hand lever, said maneuvering gear further comprising feedback potentiometers
to detect orientations of said propellers so as to give signals showing such orientations
and servo amplifier means to receive signals from said arithmetic circuit so as to
deliver amplified signals to said actuating means; said arithmetic circuit includes
an adder to add signals from said potentiometers of said detecting means, and feedback
adders to receive signals both from said adder and from said feedback potentiometers
so as to produce output signals of the arithmetic circuit; and said servo amplifier
means include amplifier circuits to amplify signals from said arithmetic circuit and
comparator means to differentiate clockwise instruction signals to said propellers
from.counterclockwise instruction signals thereto by comparing signals from said amplifier
circuits against a reference.