Patent ID: 6659911
Filing Date: 2003-12-09
Classification: B63H,F02B,F02D,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A system for assisting shifting of a fuel injected marine engine that recognizes an open circuit or short circuit faults and automatically reduces the engine speed comprising:a shift force detection unit including a switch responsive to an excessive force applied to a shift lever that is involved with shifting the marine engine, an electronic control unit coupled to the engine to control the timing and duration of the fuel injection cycle of said engine and the ignition timing of said engine, a current detector within said electronic control unit for detecting an amount of current from said shift force detection unit and automatically reducing the engine RPM when said amount of current is greater than or less than a value of N, said shift force detection unit including a current generator comprising a resistor in parallel with said switch, an amount of current of value N being produced when the battery voltage is across the resistor and the switch is open, an amount of current greater than N being produced when the switch closed, an amount of current greater than N being produced when the switch is abnormally short circuited, and an amount of current less than N being produced when the shift detection unit has an open circuit or is disconnected from the electronic control unit.