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EP-4242098-B1 - TILLERS FOR OUTBOARD MARINE DRIVES HAVING GRIP RESTRAINING DEVICE

EP4242098B1EP 4242098 B1EP4242098 B1EP 4242098B1EP-4242098-B1

Inventors

  • AHLSWEDE, SCOTT G.
  • NEEDHAM, Gary D.
  • PODELL, ROBERT A.
  • PRZYBYL, ANDREW J.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230210

Claims (14)

  1. A tiller (100) for a marine drive, the tiller (100) comprising: a base bracket assembly (102) configured for attachment to a marine drive, a tiller arm (104) extending from the base bracket assembly (102), a hand grip (220) on an outer end of the tiller arm (104), the hand grip (220) being rotatable relative to the tiller arm (104) so as to control a speed of the marine drive, a shaft (216) in the tiller arm (104), the shaft (216) being coupled to the hand grip (220) such that rotation of the hand grip (220) causes rotation of the shaft (216), and characterised by : a grip restraining device (106) configured to restrain rotation of the shaft (216) and thus rotation of the hand grip (220), wherein the grip restraining device (106) is located on a bottom (206) of the tiller arm (104) and is accessible from opposite sides (208, 210) of the tiller arm (104) for ambidextrous operation.
  2. The tiller (100) according to claim 1, wherein the grip restraining device (106) restrains rotation of the hand grip (220) by frictionally engaging the shaft (216).
  3. The tiller (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the grip restraining device (106) comprises a dial (254) mounted on the bottom (206) of the tiller arm (104), the dial (254) having an outer diameter which is accessible on the opposite sides (208, 210) of the tiller arm (104).
  4. The tiller (100) according to claim 3, wherein the dial (254) is located in a protective recess in the bottom (206) of the tiller arm (104).
  5. The tiller (100) according to claim 4, wherein the tiller arm (104) comprises a chassis, wherein the protective recess is in the chassis (212), and further comprising a first cutout (262) in the first side (208) of the chassis (212) which exposes the outer diameter of the dial (254) and a second cutout in the second side (210) of the chassis (212) which exposes the outer diameter of the dial (254).
  6. The tiller (100) according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein rotation of the dial (254) in a first rotational direction increases a restraining force on the rotation of the hand grip (220) and the shaft (216) and wherein rotation of the dial (254) in a second rotational direction which is opposite to the first rotational direction reduces the restraining force on the rotation of the hand grip (220) and shaft (216).
  7. The tiller (100) according to any one of claims 3-6, wherein the grip restraining device (106) further comprises a shuttle (260) coupled to the dial (254) such that rotation of the dial (254) in a first rotational direction causes the shuttle (260) to travel towards the shaft (216) and such that rotation of the dial (254) in a second rotational direction which is opposite to the first rotational direction causes the shuttle (260) to travel away from the shaft (216).
  8. The tiller (100) according to claim 7, wherein the shuttle (260) is coupled to the tiller arm (104) via a threaded connection.
  9. The tiller (100) according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a plunger (270) configured to frictionally engage with the shaft (216) when the shuttle (260) travels towards the shaft (216), optionally further comprising a spring (274) which biases the plunger (270) into engagement with the shaft (216), the spring (274) being operationally coupled between the shuttle (260) and the plunger (270).
  10. The tiller (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a detent mechanism (240) which provides tactile feedback to a user via the hand grip (220) when the hand grip (220) is rotated into a center position.
  11. The tiller (100) according to claim 10, wherein the detent mechanism (240) comprises a groove (242) on the shaft (216) which engages with a pin (244), wherein rotation of the shaft (216) into the center position aligns the groove (242) with the pin (244).
  12. The tiller (100) according to claim 11, further comprising ramp surfaces (246) on opposite sides of the groove (242), wherein rotation of the shaft (216) towards the center position causes the pin (244) to ride up the groove (242), providing gradually increasing resistance to rotational movement of the hand grip (220) prior to engaging with the groove (242) in the center position.
  13. The tiller (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hand grip (220) is spring-biased towards a center position.
  14. The tiller (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hand grip (220) is rotatable relative to the tiller arm (104) through at least 180 degrees, including at least 90 degrees away from a center position in a first rotational direction and at least 90 degrees away from the center position in a second rotational direction which is opposite to the first rotational direction.

Description

FIELD The present disclosure relates to marine drives and particularly to tillers for marine drives. BACKGROUND The following U.S. Patents provide background information. U.S. Patent No. 11,186,352 discloses a tiller system for steering a marine propulsion device. The tiller system includes a tiller arm rotatably coupled to the marine propulsion device. The tiller arm is rotatable from a down position to an up position through a plurality of lock positions therebetween. A toothed member is coupled to one of the tiller arm and the marine propulsion device. The toothed member defines a plurality of teeth corresponding to the plurality of lock positions for the tiller arm. A pawl is coupled to another of the tiller arm and the marine propulsion device, where the pawl engages with the plurality of teeth to prevent the tiller arm from rotating downwardly through the plurality of lock positions. U.S. Patent No. 11,097,826 discloses a tiller for an outboard marine drive including a tiller body that is elongated along a tiller axis between a fixed end connected to an outboard marine drive and a distal end. A lanyard switch on the tiller body is configured to prevent operation of the outboard marine drive when a lanyard clip is not attached to the lanyard switch. A controller is configured to identify that an operator has provided user input to start the outboard marine drive and that the lanyard clip is not connected to the lanyard switch. The controller then generates a lanyard error alert identifying that the lanyard clip is not connected to the lanyard switch. U.S. 10,787,236 discloses a tiller system for steering an outboard motor. The tiller system includes a tiller arm that is rotatably coupled to the outboard motor. The tiller arm is rotatable from a down position to an up position through a plurality of lock positions therebetween. A tilt lock system is coupled between the tiller arm and the outboard motor and is configured to be activated and deactivated. When activated, the tilt lock system prevents the tiller arm from rotating downwardly through each of the plurality of lock positions. The tiller arm is further rotatable into an unlock position, whereby rotating the tiller arm into the unlock position automatically deactivates the tilt lock system such that the tiller arm is freely rotatable downwardly through the plurality of lock positions. U.S. Patent No. 10,696,367 discloses a tiller for an outboard motor has a throttle grip which is manually rotatable through first and second ranges of motion into and between an idle position in which the outboard motor is controlled at an idle speed, and first and second open-throttle positions, respectively, in which the outboard motor is controlled at an above-idle speed. A throttle shaft is coupled to the throttle grip and is configured so that rotation of the throttle grip causes rotation of the throttle shaft, which changes a throttle position of a throttle of the outboard motor. A rotation direction switching mechanism is manually position-able into a first position in which rotation of the throttle grip through the first range of motion controls the throttle of the outboard motor and alternately manually position-able into a second position in which rotation of the throttle grip through the second range of motion controls the throttle position. U.S. Patent No. 10,246,173 discloses a tiller is for an outboard motor and has a manually operable shift mechanism configured to actuate shift changes in a transmission of the outboard motor amongst a forward gear, reverse gear, and neutral gear. The tiller also has a manually operable throttle mechanism configured to position a throttle of an internal combustion engine of the outboard motor into and between the idle position and a wide-open throttle position. An interlock mechanism is configured to prevent a shift change in the transmission out of the neutral gear when the throttle is positioned in a non-idle position. The interlock mechanism is further configured to permit a shift change into the neutral gear regardless of where the throttle is positioned. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0268729 describes a steering arm structure for an outboard motor having a rotatable throttle grip, wherein a throttle adjusting knob acts directly to restrain rotation of the throttle grip. SUMMARY According to the present invention there is provided a tiller for a marine drive as claimed in claim 1. In non-limiting examples disclosed herein, a tiller is for controlling a marine drive. The tiller comprises a tiller arm, a base bracket assembly comprising a yaw bracket configured for fixed attachment to a marine drive and a steering bracket which pivotably couples the tiller arm to the yaw bracket for movement about a yaw axis, and a yaw lock configured to lock the steering bracket and tiller arm in a plurality of yaw positions relative to the yaw axis, wherein unlocking the yaw lock facilitates movement of the tiller arm into a new