Agricultural working machine

• US 10,321,622 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2016
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CLAAS Industrietechnik GmbH (CLAAS KGaA mbH)
• Original Assignee: CLAAS Industrietechnik GmbH (CLAAS KGaA mbH)
• Inventors: Muemken, Philipp, Claas, Helmut, Obermeier-Hartmann, Robert, Schulze Zumkley, Hendrik, Schulte, Thomas, Hammacher, Carolin
• Primary Examiner(s): Whittington, Jess
• Application Number:
  US15/146,169
• Publication Number:
  US 20160325782A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,140 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 69/008 automatic
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 11/003 Electric or electronic control systems
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 11/24 Endless track steering specially adapted for vehicles having both steerable wheels and endless track
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 9/002 combined with means for differentially distributing power on the deflectable wheels during cornering

Abstract

An agricultural working machine has a first axle and a second axle, multiple ground-engaging means disposed at the first and second axles that are at least partially drivable by a drive engine or are steerable using steering-knuckle steering, a steering-angle sensor disposed at a steerable ground-engaging means for detecting a set steering angle (δ_th) and a steering brake for the selective braking of one or more drivable, ground-engaging means for steering support. A control unit controls and regulates the at least one steering brake based on a steering angle (δ_th, δ_tat) or a slip angle (α) of at least one of the steerable ground-engaging means.

Claims

1. An agricultural working machine comprising:

a first axle disposed at a front of the machine;

a second axle disposed at a rear of the machine;

multiple ground-engaging means disposed at the first axle and the second axle, wherein the multiple ground engaging means are configured to be drivable by a drive engine or are configured to be steerable using steering-knuckle steering means or are configured to be both drivable by a drive engine and steerable using steering-knuckle steering means;

at least one steering-angle sensor disposed at an associated steerable ground-engaging means for detecting a set steering angle (δ

_th) of the associated steerable ground-engaging means;

at least one steering brake for the selective braking of one or more of the drivable ground-engaging means on the second axle for steering support; and

a controller for controlling and regulating the at least one steering brake;

wherein a slip angle (α

) of the steerable ground-engaging means is determined, and the controller is configured for automatically activating the at least one steering brake during a turning action of the agricultural machine in response to an operator turning a steering wheel, depending on the slip angle (α

) or both the set steering angle (δ

_th) and the slip angle (α

), wherein based on said configuration of the controller, manual activation of the steering brake during the turning action is not required, and the turning rate can be increased due to activation of the at least one steering brake.

2. The agricultural working machine according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls and regulates the at least one steering brake depending on the set steering angle (δ

_th), an output speed of a transmission of the working machine and a circumferential speed (v_i, v_a) of at least one drivable ground-engaging means, which is disposed on an inside of a curve.

3. The agricultural working machine according to claim 2, wherein the slip angle (α

) of the at least one steerable ground-engaging means is determined depending on the steering angle (δ

_th), a working machine geometry (I, s) and the circumferential speeds (v_i, v_a) on an inside of a curve and on an outside of a curve of the at least one steerable ground-engaging means.

4. The agricultural working machine according to claim 1, wherein an activation of the at least one steering brake is carried out depending on a ratio between a theoretical circumferential speed (v_{i, th}, v_{a, th}) and an actual circumferential speed (v_{i, tat}, v_{a, tat}) of at least one driven ground-engaging means.

5. The agricultural working machine according to claim 1, wherein the at least one steering brake is activated if the machine speed drops below a limiting speed (v_G).

6. The agricultural working machine according to claim 1, wherein the at least one steering brake is activated if a steering angle exceeds a limiting steering angle (δ

_G), if a slip angle exceeds a limiting slip angle (α

_G) or both.

7. The agricultural working machine according to claim 1, further comprising a gyroscope for detecting an angular velocity (ω

) of the working machine.

8. The agricultural working machine according to claim 7, wherein the gyroscope determines an actual steering angle (δ

_{i, tat}, δ

_{a, tat}).

9. The agricultural working machine according to claim 1, further comprising a navigation system that is satellite-supported and provides position data for determining a curve radius (R_HA, R_VA) of one of the first axle and the second axle.

10. The agricultural working machine according to claim 8, wherein the actual steering angle (δ

_{i, tat}, δ

_{a, tat}) is determined by a curve radius (R_HA, R_VA).

11. The agricultural working machine according to claim 1, wherein one of the multiple ground-engaging means is a wheel or a crawler track.

12. A steering-support method for an agricultural working machine comprising at least a first axle located at a front of the machine and a second axle located at a rear of the machine, multiple ground-engaging means disposed at the at least first and second axles (12, 14) that are at least partially drivable by a drive engine, are steerable using steering-knuckle steering, or both, at least one steering-angle sensor disposed at a steerable one of the multiple ground-engaging means for detecting a set steering angle (δ

_th) of the steerable one of the multiple ground-engaging means, at least one steering brake for the selective braking of a driving one of the multiple ground-engaging means on the second axle for steering support and a control unit for the controlling and regulating the at least one steering brake, the method comprising the steps of;

determining a slip angle (α

) of at least one steerable ground-engaging means or determining a set steering angle (δ

_th) and a slip angle (α

) of at least one steerable ground-engaging means; and

automatically controlling and activating the at least one steering brake depending on the slip angle (α

) or both the set steering angle (δ

_th) and the slip angle (α

) during a turning action of the agricultural machine in response to an operator turning a steering wheel of the agricultural working machine, wherein manual activation of the steering brake during the turning action is not required.

13. The steering-support method according to claim 12, further comprising activating the at least one steering brake depending on one or more of the group consisting of at least one of the following:

a ratio between a set circumferential speed (v_{i, th}, v_{a th}) and an actual circumferential speed (v_{i, tat}, v_{a, tat}) of at least one driven ground-engaging means, a limiting speed (v_G), a limiting steering angle (δ

_G) and a limiting slip angle (α

_G).

14. The steering-support method according to claim 13, further comprising determining an angular velocity of the working machine using a gyroscope.

15. The steering-support method according to claim 14, further comprising determining the slip angle (α

) of the at least one ground-engaging means using the gyroscope.

16. The steering-support method according to claim 14, further including determining a curve radius (R_HA, R_VA) of at least one of the first axle and the second axle using a satellite-supported navigation system.