Patent ID: 8968040
Filing Date: 2015-03-03
Classification: B63H

Abstract:
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.