1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shift system for outboard motors, which is configured to detect a vessel operator's shift operation and operate a motor-driven shift actuator in response to the detected vessel operator's shift operation, to thereby perform a shift operation for the outboard motor in a motor-driven manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been proposed shift systems for outboard motors, which include a motor-driven shift actuator, and are configured to detect a vessel operator's shift operation and operate the motor-driven shift actuator in response to the detected vessel operator's operation, for performing a shift operation in a motor-driven manner (see e.g. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications (Kokai) No. 2004-245350 and No. 2004-244003). In the shift system disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-245350, a motor-driven actuator is provided with a manually operable emergency gear, for failsafe function in case of failure of the motor-driven actuator fails.
However, in the shift system disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-245350, the motor-driven actuator is connected to a shift rod via a plurality of reduction gears and shift rod-side gears and the like, and hence it is difficult for the shift system be compatible with a conventional outboard motor of a type for which the shift operation is manually performed using a shift cable.
On the other hand, the shift system disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-244003 is designed without giving sufficient consideration to the orientation of a motor output shaft or the disposition of a motor-driven shift actuator, for compactness thereof, which results in an increase in the size of the whole shift system. Further, the shift system has a position sensor projecting upward in an upper part thereof, which increases the vertical dimension of the system. Furthermore, a neutral switch is incorporated in the motor-driven shift actuator, which increases the size of the motor-driven shift actuator.