[0001] This invention relates to a vehicle propulsion control handle, especially for underwater
vehicles, which can also be used to start engines of vehicles, change their speed,
and to trim vehicles and steer them in various directions.
[0002] Underwater vehicles have a wide range of applications, including: commercial applications
that involve seabed exploration, scientific and research applications as well as applications
relating to environmental protection that involve mapping the underwater structure
of seabeds and inland bodies of water, and special applications that involve defence
and location activities to defend and protect national ports and water borders, including
to promote water rescue operations that involve both people and property. Currently,
manufacturers of underwater vehicles offer a large number of products of various designs
that employ a variety of propulsion control methods. However, most of them treat as
confidential any information relating to additional equipment of their vehicles, the
internal systems and devices used as well as their arrangement or operational connectivity,
and do not intend to disclose such information.
[0003] The state of the art for this invention comprises the
Polish utility model application W.124239 for KH100 - a self-propelled remotely operated underwater vehicle, powered externally
and propelled by several electric drive units, provided with a submersible unit connected
by a cable line to the control station fitted with a manually operated movement control
console that is equipped with two 2-function lever manipulators, two 4-function slotted
push-button manipulators and seven monostable control switches. The manipulators and
control switches are both assigned specific functions by their respective manufacturers
so that their users can control the horizontal movement of the submersible unit, including
by reducing the operating range of the horizontally driven engines, the horizontal
movement of the submersible unit as well as the upward and downward movement of the
chamber and the brightness level of the lighting system.
[0004] The state of the art for this invention also comprises the US patent application
publication
US 2007141924A1 for an outboard motor adapted to be mounted on a stem of a boat and having power
sources constituted by an internal combustion engine and an electric motor which are
connected to a propeller to propel the boat and a bar handle whose free end projects
toward a cockpit of the boat so as to be operable for an operator to steer the boat.
The bar handle comprises a throttle grip provided at the free end of the bar handle
to be pushed-pulled in a longitudinal axis of the bar handle and to be rotated about
the axis by the operator and a power source selector provided at the throttle grip
which selects one of the two motors to connect to the propeller of said boat. The
bar handle also comprises an engine speed controller provided at the throttle grip
which controls a speed of the engine by regulating a throttle opening of the engine
in response to the rotational operation of the operator and a motor speed controller
provided at the throttle grip which controls a speed of the motor in response to the
rotational operation of the operator. To sum up, the outboard motor according to this
patent description is provided with a handpiece - the bar handle equipped with a throttle
grip enabling push-pull operation and rotate operation by the boat operator and with
three motors one of which is connected to the boat propeller in accordance with the
push-pull operation of the throttle grip, wherein the speeds of these motors are regulated
in accordance with the rotating operation of the throttle grip.
[0005] The state of the art for this invention comprises the US patent application publication
US2002090866A1 for a remote control device consisting of a front housing, control levers, steering
knob, locking mechanisms, selector switch, indicators, emergency stop switch, wherein
the locking mechanisms can hold the control levers in a neutral position. The housing
of the device is provided with potentiometers which are adapted to deliver electric
signal for engine control when the control levers are moved back and forth and a potentiometer
adapted to deliver electric signal for driving a steering mechanism when the steering
knob is moved from side to side.
[0006] The state of the art for this invention further comprises the US patent application
publication
US6675733B2 for a remote control device for a small vessel, consisting of: a portable housing
capable of being held by a steersman, at least one control lever attached to the housing
and rockable back and forth, a displacement sensor (for engine control) set in the
housing and adapted to deliver a forward-control signal for an engine when the control
lever is rocked forward and to deliver a reverse-control signal for the engine when
the control lever is rocked backward, a locking mechanism capable of holding the control
lever in a neutral position and an emergency stop switch provided on the housing for
stopping operation of the engine in case of emergency. Preferably, the device is provided
with a steering knob on the upper surface of the housing.
[0007] The state of the art for this invention comprises the Chinese patent application
publication
CN113018801A for an underwater propulsion device comprising an underwater power system consisting
of a left power system and a right power system which is connected to an infinite
position speed regulation device comprising a battery pack, a relay and an infinite
position speed regulation component consisting of a knob switch, an encoder, an electronic
microswitch and a mainboard. The mainboard is connected to the battery pack, the relay,
the infinite position speed regulation component, a handheld control handle and an
underwater power system, wherein the relay is connected to the battery pack.
[0008] The object of this invention is to develop a vehicle propulsion control handle, especially
for underwater ve90hicles, that is simple, compact and rigid in structure and can
also be used to start engines of vehicles, change their speed, and to trim vehicles
and steer them in various directions, can be manually activated by the operator of
the vehicle and is adapted to be mounted in any place convenient to the operator,
mainly in the front part of the vehicle hull, and to be hand-held by the operator
controlling the vehicle.
[0009] This invention is also intended to design a control handle that is provided with
an ergonomically arranged set of operatively connected control elements for starting
vehicle engines, controlling their operation, including vehicle trimming for vehicles
equipped with such control handles.
[0010] A vehicle propulsion control handle, especially for underwater vehicles, according
to the present invention, characterised in that: the lower end of its handpiece is
connected in a detachable manner to an offset of the upper surface of the base and
to a lower inner offset, mounted thereon, of the profile lever arranged on the handpiece
slot, wherein said lever, above its lower inner offset, is provided with an inner
offset with a spring mounted thereon, whose other end is adjacent to the inner surface
of the handpiece, and with an upper offset with magnet M1 fitted loosely to a pin
in the handpiece slot. Inside the upper end of the handpiece, there is provided a
lower end of the housing with an outer ring-shaped offset and a bottom whose lower
surface has two offsets separated by a slot such that an upper lever offset is provided
in said slot, in said housing, there is set an electronic board permanently connected
to an encoder and to at least one Hall sensor H2, H3, arranged on the upper surface
of said board, and the Hall sensor H1 arranged on the lower surface of said board
such that electrical wires are led out of said board through a pass-through hole in
the housing offset. Next to each of the Hall sensors H2, H3 arranged on the upper
surface of said board, in the side surface of the housing, there is provided at least
one socket for a bistable slide function switch with magnet M2, M3. From top side,
the electronic board is covered with a sleeve-shaped lid having on its upper face
blind holes for springs with metal balls mounted thereon, wherein, on said lid, there
is mounted a sleeve-shaped knob with an upper bottom, connected to the lid in a detachable
manner, whose inner surface has an offset for the upper end of the profile encoder
and blind holes for said metal balls of the springs.
[0011] An offset for the upper surface of the base preferably consists of two segments separated
from each other by a rectangular slot for a lower inner offset for the profile lever,
said base being provided with mounting holes.
[0012] Preferably, the segments of the offset for the upper surface of the base are provided
with two round pass-through holes positioned coaxially and horizontally, the lower
end of the handpiece has two pass-through holes positioned coaxially to said holes
and also horizontally mounted, and the lower inner offset for the profile lever, diagonally
positioned, is provided with a pass-through hole, wherein a pin is mounted in the
holes.
[0013] Also preferably, in the front wall of the base, there is provided a horizontally
positioned blind hole with its inner end connected to the inner lower end of a vertically
positioned blind hole in the upper face of the segment of the offset for the upper
surface of the base.
[0014] Also preferably, in the lower part of the side surface of the segment of the offset
for the upper surface of the base, there is provided a diagonally oriented blind hole
with its inner end connected to the inner ends of the horizontally and vertically
positioned blind holes of the base.
[0015] Also preferably, the first offset for the lower surface of the bottom of the electronic
board housing has a horizontally arranged round pass-through hole, and its second
offset has a blind hole, made from inside and positioned opposite the hole of the
first offset, wherein both said holes are arranged along the axis of symmetry of the
handpiece slot and have a pin mounted therein that connects said handpiece to the
housing.
[0016] Also preferably, the second offset for the lower surface of the bottom of the electronic
board housing has a lower cylinder-shaped offset with a hole and a threaded cylinder-shaped
recess for an insulated cable gland with a vertically positioned pass-through hole
for electric wires.
[0017] Also preferably, on the outer surface of the lid for the electronic board, there
is provided a circumferential groove for end points of the screws inserted into the
mounting holes in the side surface of the knob, preferably knurled, whereas the handpiece
has on its outer sleeve-shaped side surface evenly spaced and vertically arranged
trapezoid-shaped grooves.
[0018] Also preferably, the Hall sensors H1, H2, H3 and the encoder are connected by electric
wires to the external central electronics system of the vehicle.
[0019] A vehicle propulsion control handle, especially for underwater vehicles, has a rigid
base so that it can be mounted at any place in the vehicle convenient to the operator,
including in the front part of the vehicle hull. Whereas its rigid handpiece allows
the operator to hand hold the control handle to steer the vehicle by altering the
position of the operator's centre of gravity, i.e. to control the vehicle trajectory
by changing the position of the operator's body relative to the vehicle. Additionally,
on the side surface of the handpiece, there are provided grooves so that the control
handle can be grasped with ease, especially when the operator is wearing thick protective
gloves that reduce the precision and effectiveness of his/her hand movements.
[0020] Moreover, the use of the ergonomically arranged set of operatively connected control
elements, such as a knob, bistable switches and a lever, makes it easier for the operator
to start the engines, control their operation, including a trimming operation for
vehicles equipped with such a control handle. Whereas the control handle is fitted
with Hall sensors and an encoder such that control signals are delivered to the central
electronics system of the vehicle.
[0021] The object of the present invention according to an embodiment is shown in Figs.
1-10, in which: Fig. 1 - shows an isometric view of the vehicle propulsion control
handle, especially for underwater vehicles, Fig. 2 - shows a side view of the control
handle, Fig. 3 - shows a top view of the control handle, Fig. 4 - shows an isometric
view of the control handle disassembled into components, Fig. 5 - shows a vertical
cross-section of the control handle taken along line A-A, Fig. 6 - shows a vertical
cross-section of the control handle taken along line B-B, Fig. 7 - shows an enlarged
view of fragmentary portion C of the upper part of the control handle as shown in
the cross-section represented in Fig. 5, Fig. 8 - shows an enlarged view of fragmentary
portion D of the upper part of the control handle as shown in the cross-section represented
in Fig. 6, Fig. 9 - shows an exemplary embodiment of two such control handles in an
underwater vehicle, Fig. 10 - provides an enlarged view of fragmentary portion E that
shows how one of the control handles is mounted to the hull of the underwater vehicle.
[0022] A vehicle propulsion control handle, especially for underwater vehicles, according
to the present invention, has a metal cuboid-shaped base 1 with pass-through mounting
holes 2 arranged in its corners and with a longitudinal, horizontally oriented blind
hole 3 in its front wall, wherein an upper surface of said base has a cylinder-shaped
two-segment offset 4 along its axis of symmetry with a rectangular slot 5 along the
symmetry axis of the offset 4 whose both segments 6 and 6' are provided at their upper
ends with round pass-through holes 7 and 7', positioned coaxially and horizontally,
wherein the segment 6 has in its upper face a vertically positioned round pass-through
hole 8 with its lower inner end connected to the inner end of the hole 3 and to the
inner end of a diagonally positioned blind hole 8' in the lower side surface of said
segment 6 such that said blind hole facilitates the installation of electric wires.
[0023] On the cylinder-shaped two-segment offset 4 for the base 1, there is mounted the
lower end of a metal sleeve-shaped handpiece 9 having on its side surface a vertically
positioned rectangular pass-through slot 10 and coaxially and horizontally positioned
mounting holes 11 and 11', with a pass-through hole 12 arranged above the hole 11',
whereas the handpiece 9 between the holes 11, 11' and 12 has on its outer sleeve-shaped
side surface evenly spaced and vertically arranged trapezoid-shaped grooves 13 so
that the control handle can be easily held by hand. In the vertically positioned slot
10 for the handpiece 9, there is mounted a profile plate-shaped lever 14 having a
triangle-like profile in the side view, the lower end of said lever being fitted with
an inwardly facing, diagonally arranged, rectangular lower offset 15 with its rounded
end and a pass-through mounting hole 16 made therein, whereas the upper end of the
lever 14 is also provided with an inwardly facing upper U-shaped offset 17 with magnet
M1 mounted therein, wherein the offset 17 is fitted loosely to a pin 18 push fitted
into an upper hole 12 of the handpiece 9, whereas, above the lower offset 15, the
lever 14 is also provided with an inwardly facing cylinder-shaped offset 19. The lower
offset 15 for the lever 14 is pivotally connected to the sleeve-shaped handpiece 9
and connected to the two-segment offset 4 using a pin 20 mounted in the hole 16 of
the offset 15 for said lever and partially in the holes 7 and 7' of both segments
6 and 6' of the offset 4, wherein, onto the threaded ends of the pin 20, there are
screwed mounting nuts 20' that are also partially mounted in the holes 7 and 7' of
both segments 6 and 6' of the offset 4 and in the holes 11, 11' of the handpiece 9.
Whereas the offset 19 for the lever 14 is fitted with a cylinder-shaped spring 21
with its end adjacent to the inner surface of the sleeve-shaped handpiece 9.
[0024] Inside the upper end of the sleeve-shaped handpiece 9, there is mounted the lower
end of a housing 22 of the electronics system constituted by a sleeve-shaped upper
part 23 with an outer ring-shaped offset 24 and a bottom 25 with its lower surface
having two identical offsets 26 and 26' with a circular segment profile, positioned
vertically and opposite one another, separated by a rectangular slot 27 for the offset
17 for the lever 14, wherein the offset 26' has a horizontally arranged round pass-through
hole 28 and the offset 26 has a blind hole 29, made from inside (on the side of the
slot 27) and positioned opposite the hole 28 and along the axis of symmetry of the
hole 12 for the sleeve-shaped handpiece 9, whereas the face of the offset 26 has a
lower cylinder-shaped offset 30 with a vertically arranged pass-through hole 31 in
both said offsets 26 and 30, said hole having in its lower part a threaded cylinder-shaped
recess 31' for an insulated cable gland 30' with a vertically arranged pass-through
hole 31" along its symmetry axis for electric wires (not shown in the drawing) to
protect the housing 22 against water ingress, wherein the wires in the hole 30" are
potted with epoxy resin to provide additional sealing.
[0025] Both said offsets 26 and 26' of the housing 22 are mounted inside the upper end of
the sleeve-shaped handpiece 9 so that the lower face of the ring-shaped offset 24
is adjacent to the upper face of said handpiece; and in the pass-through hole 28 of
the offset 26' and in the blind hole 29 of the offset 26, there is mounted the pin
18 that connects said handpiece to the housing 22. Whereas, above the bottom 25 and
in the circumferential recess 25' of the sleeve-shaped housing 22, there is mounted
an electronic board 32 with a microprocessor (not shown in the drawing), said board
32 having a profile encoder 33 and three Hall sensors H1, H2 and H3 soldered thereto,
wherein the Hall sensors H2 and H3 are arranged on the upper surface of said board
32 on both sides of the encoder 33 in its front part, and the third Hall sensor H1
is soldered to the lower surface of said board in its back part and detects the magnetic
field generated by magnet M1 of the inner offset 17 for the lever 14 when the control
handle operator presses said lever 14. The board 32, together with electronic elements
arranged thereon, is covered from the top by a two-stage sleeve-shaped lid 34 fitted
in the upper part of its side surface with a circumferential groove 34' (larger in
diameter). In the upper face of the lid 34, there are positioned two opposing round
pass-through holes 35 and 35' having cylinder-shaped compression springs 36 and 36'
mounted thereon with metal balls 37 and 37' mounted on their upper faces. On the lid
34, there is provided a sleeve-shaped knurled knob 38 with an upper bottom 39 whose
inner surface has a vertically positioned coaxial sleeve-shaped offset 40 with an
upper end of the profile encoder 33 fitted therein, whereas the side surface of said
knob 38 has along its perimeter and every 90° four threaded mounting holes 41 for
screws 42 with their inner ends mounted in the groove 34' of the lid 34, thereby stabilising
the position of the knob 38.
[0026] Moreover, thirty-two blind holes 43 are arranged on the inner surface of the bottom
39 of the knurled knob 38, evenly spaced on a circle with a diameter adjusted to the
spacing of the holes 35 and 35' of the lid 34, for the metal balls 37 and 37' of the
springs 36 and 36', thereby enabling step changes in the position of the knob 38.
[0027] Whereas, in the side surface of the ring-shaped offset 24 of the housing 22, there
are provided, next to the Hall sensors H2 and H3 of the board 32, two rectangular
sockets 44 and 44' with bistable slide function switches 45 and 45' with an inner
channel 46 mounted thereon, said channel 46 being fitted with magnets M2 and M3 whose
magnetic field is detected by said sensors when the operator of the control handle
changes the position of the function switches 45 and 45'.
[0028] Electric wires (not shown in the drawing) for electronic elements of the board 32
are led out of said board 32 and led out of the control handle through the holes 31,
31", 8 and 3, said wires being connected to the central electronics system of the
vehicle (not shown in the drawing) that receives and processes control signals, including
the signal from the electronics system of the control handle.
[0029] In another exemplary embodiment (not shown in the drawing), in the bottom 39 of the
knurled knob 38, there were provided eight or sixteen blind holes 43 for the metal
balls 37 and 37' of the springs 36 and 36', wherein the number of said holes 43 was
adapted to the type of the encoder 33'; moreover, the control handle had only one
socket 44 with the function switch 45 fitted with M2 magnet and its board 32 was equipped
with only one Hall sensor H2; whereas in the holes 7 and 7' of both segments 6, 6'
of the offset 4 for the base 1, in the holes 11 and 11' of the lower end of the handpiece
9 and in the hole 16 of the inner offset 15 for the lever 14, there is push fitted
the longitudinal pin 20.
[0030] The plate-shaped base 1 of the control handle according to the present invention
is fastened to a hull 48 of an underwater vehicle 49 by means of screws 47 arranged
in the corner holes 2 of said base, wherein, in the front part of the hull, two control
handles are preferably mounted symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the underwater
vehicle 49 (as shown in Fig. 9), whereupon the electric wires (not shown in the drawing)
are connected to the central electronics system of the underwater vehicle 49.
[0031] In order to start engines 50 of the underwater vehicle 49, the lever 14 of the control
lever is pressed such that its magnet M1 is moved into the area covered by the Hall
sensor H1 that sends a signal to the central electronics system of the underwater
vehicle 49, whereupon the knurled knob 38 of said control handle that controls both
engines 50 of the underwater vehicle 49 is turned to select the appropriate gear (from
0 to 9) of the engines 50, and, if the gear is set to 0 (neutral), the engines 50
do not start independently of the signals from any other systems that control and
support the operation of said engines 50. The position of the knurled knob 38 is read
by the encoder 33 that transmits the signal to the central electronics system of the
underwater vehicle 49. Whereas, when one of the bistable function switches 45 or 45'
of the housing 22 is moved, magnet M2 or M3 is moved into the area covered by the
Hall sensor H2 or H3 that transmits the signal to the central electronics system of
the underwater vehicle 49 to stop the vehicle and engage the reverse gear. When the
bistable function switches 45 and 45' are moved again, the engines 50 accelerate until
the preset speed of the knurled knob 38 is reached.
[0032] In the case where the vehicle is equipped with two control handles, the knurled knob
38 of the second control handle is used for vehicle trimming, i.e. weight distribution
(vehicle balancing), such that the vehicle can be appropriately positioned on the
water surface and controlled by changing its trimming angle. Whereas the second bistable
function switches 45 or 45' can be freely programmed as appropriate, e.g. so as to
maintain a constant speed of the underwater vehicle 49.
1. A vehicle propulsion control handle, especially for underwater vehicles, fitted with
a handpiece having a lever and a knob and with a board having a microprocessor and
an encoder, characterized in that: the lower end of its handpiece (9) is connected in a detachable manner to an offset
(4) of the upper surface of the base (1) and to a lower inner offset (15), mounted
thereon, of the profile lever (14) arranged on a slot (10) of the handpiece (9), wherein
the profile lever (14) is provided above the offset (15) with an inner offset (19)
with a spring mounted thereon (21) whose other end is adjacent to the inner surface
of the handpiece (9), and with an upper offset (17) with magnet M1 fitted loosely
to a pin (18) in the slot (12) of the handpiece (9), inside the upper end of said
handpiece, there is provided the lower end of the housing (22) with an outer ring-shaped
offset (24) and a bottom (25) whose lower surface has two offsets (26, 26') separated
by a slot (27) such that an upper offset (17) for the lever (14) is provided in said
slot; in said housing (22), there is set an electronic board (32) permanently connected
to an encoder (33) and to at least one Hall sensor (H2, H3), arranged on the upper
surface of the board (32), and the Hall sensor (HI) arranged on the lower surface
of said board such that electrical wires are led out of said board through a pass-through
hole (31) in the offset (26) of the housing (22); next to each of the Hall sensors
(H2, H3), in the side surface of the housing (22), there is provided at least one
socket (44, 44') for a bistable slide function switch (45, 45') with a magnet (M2,
M3), from top side, the electronic board (32) is covered with a sleeve-shaped lid
(34) having on its upper face blind holes (35, 35') for springs (36, 36') with metal
balls (37, 37') mounted thereon, wherein, on said lid (34), there is mounted a sleeve-shaped
knob (38) with an upper bottom (39), connected to the lid in a detachable manner,
whose inner surface has an offset for the upper end of the profile encoder (33) and
blind holes (43) for said metal balls (37, 37') of the springs (36, 36').
2. A control handle according to claim 1, characterised in that: the offset (4) of the base (1) consists of two segments (6, 6') separated from each
other by a rectangular slot (5) for the offset (15) of the profile lever (14), with
the base (1) further comprising mounting holes (2).
3. A control handle according to claims 1 or 2, characterised in that: the segments (6, 6') of the offset (4) for the base (1) are provided with coaxially
and horizontally positioned round pass-through holes (7, 7'), the lower end of the
handpiece (9) has two pass-through holes (11 and 11') positioned coaxially to said
holes and also horizontally mounted, and the lower inner offset (15) for the profile
lever (14), diagonally positioned, is provided with a pass-through hole (16), wherein
a pin (20) is mounted in the holes (7, 7', 11, 11', 16).
4. A control handle according to claims 1 or 2 or 3, characterised in that: in the front wall of the base (1), there is provided a horizontally positioned blind
hole (3) with its inner end connected to the inner lower end of a vertically positioned
blind hole (8) in the upper face of the segment (6) of the offset (4) for the base
(1).
5. A control handle according to claim 4, characterised in that: in the lower side surface of the segment (6) of the offset (4) for the base (1),
there is provided a diagonally oriented blind hole (8') with its inner end connected
to the inner ends of the holes (3, 8) of the base (1).
6. A control handle according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that: the offset (26') of the housing (22) has a horizontally arranged round pass-through
hole (28), and the offset (26) has a blind hole (29), made from inside and positioned
opposite the hole (28), wherein both said holes (28, 29) are arranged along the axis
of symmetry of the slot (12) of the handpiece (9) and have a pin (18) mounted therein.
7. A control handle according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that: the offset (26) has a lower cylinder-shaped offset (30) with a hole (31) and a threaded
cylinder-shaped recess (31') for an insulated cable gland (30') with a vertically
positioned pass-through hole (31") for electric wires.
8. A control handle according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that: on the outer surface of the lid (34), there is provided a circumferential groove
(34') for end points of the screws (42) inserted into mounting holes (41) in the side
surface of the knob (38).
9. A control handle according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that: the knob (38) is knurled, whereas the handpiece (9) is provided on its outer sleeve-shaped
side surface with evenly spaced and vertically arranged trapezoid-shaped grooves (13).
10. A control handle according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that: the Hall sensors (H1, H2, H3) and the encoder (33) are connected by electric wires
to the external central electronics system of the vehicle.