Twin fan control system and method
First Claim
1. A control system for controlling the speed of a plurality of fans for cooling a plurality of fluids in a work machine, each of said plurality of fluids being operative between a predetermined minimum threshold temperature and a predetermined maximum threshold temperature, said control system comprising:
- a plurality of sensors positioned to sense the temperature of each of the plurality of fluids, each sensor being operable to output a signal indicative of the temperature of that particular fluid;
an electronic controller coupled with said plurality of sensors for receiving signals therefrom, said controller being operable to receive a signal from each of said plurality of sensors indicative of a temperature for each of the plurality of fluids;
said controller being further operable to determine a desired fan speed for each of said plurality of fans based upon signals received from said plurality of sensors; and
said controller outputting a signal to each of said plurality of fans to individually control the speed thereof, each output signal being indicative of a desired fan speed for a particular fan and each output signal being based upon a comparison of at least some of the signals received from said plurality of sensors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system and method for controlling the speed of a plurality of fans for cooling a plurality of fluids in a work machine in accordance with the heat dissipation requirements of the particular heat transfer cores, the present control system including a plurality of sensors positioned to sense the temperature of each of the plurality of fluids, each sensor being operable to output a signal indicative of the temperature of that particular fluid. An electronic controller coupled to the sensors receives signals indicative of the temperature of each of the plurality of fluids, determines therefrom a desired fan speed for each fan, and outputs a signal to individually control the speed of each fan. Each output signal is based upon a comparison of at least some of the temperature error signals determined from the plurality of sensor signals.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A control system for controlling the speed of a plurality of fans for cooling a plurality of fluids in a work machine, each of said plurality of fluids being operative between a predetermined minimum threshold temperature and a predetermined maximum threshold temperature, said control system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors positioned to sense the temperature of each of the plurality of fluids, each sensor being operable to output a signal indicative of the temperature of that particular fluid;
an electronic controller coupled with said plurality of sensors for receiving signals therefrom, said controller being operable to receive a signal from each of said plurality of sensors indicative of a temperature for each of the plurality of fluids;
said controller being further operable to determine a desired fan speed for each of said plurality of fans based upon signals received from said plurality of sensors; and
said controller outputting a signal to each of said plurality of fans to individually control the speed thereof, each output signal being indicative of a desired fan speed for a particular fan and each output signal being based upon a comparison of at least some of the signals received from said plurality of sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A control system for controlling the speed of two fans for cooling four fluids in a work machine, each fluid being associated with a particular heat transfer core and each fluid being operable between a predetermined minimum threshold temperature and a predetermined maximum threshold temperature, the control system comprising:
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a first sensor positioned to sense the temperature of the first fluid and to output a signal indicative thereof;
a second sensor positioned to sense a temperature of the second fluid and to output a signal indicative thereof;
a third sensor positioned to sense a temperature of the third fluid and to output a signal indicative thereof;
a fourth sensor positioned to sense a temperature of the fourth fluid and to output a signal indicative thereof;
an electronic controller coupled with said first, second, third and fourth sensors for receiving signals therefrom, said controller being operable to receive a signal from each of said sensors indicative of the temperature of said first, second, third and fourth fluids respectively;
said controller being further operable to determine a first temperature error for the signal received from said first sensor, a second temperature error for the signal received from said second sensor, a third temperature error for the signal received from said third sensor, and a fourth temperature error for the signal received from said fourth sensor, each of said temperature errors being computed based upon a difference between a predetermined desired threshold temperature for that particular fluid and the temperature of that particular fluid as indicated by the signal received from that fluid'"'"'s sensor;
said controller being further operable to determined a fan speed for said first and second fans based upon a comparison of at least some of the temperature errors determined from said first, second, third and fourth sensors; and
said controller being further coupled to the drive motor of said first fan and to the drive motor of said second fan and outputting a signal respectively thereto to control the speed of said first and second fans, each output signal being indicative of a desired fan speed for that particular fan. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for controlling the speed of a plurality of fans for cooling a plurality of fluids in a work machine, each of said plurality of fluids being operative between a predetermined minimum threshold temperature and a predetermined maximum threshold temperature, said method comprising the steps of:
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positioning a plurality of sensors to sense the temperature of each of the plurality of fluids, each sensor being operable to output a signal indicative of the temperature of that particular fluid;
coupling an electronic controller with said plurality of sensors for receiving signals therefrom, said controller being operable to receive a signal from each of said plurality of sensors indicative of a temperature for each of the plurality of fluids;
operably determining a desired fan speed for each of said plurality of fans based upon signals received from said plurality of sensors utilizing said controller; and
outputting a signal to each of said plurality of fans to individually control the speed thereof utilizing said controller, each output signal being indicative of a desired fan speed for a particular fan and each output signal being based upon a comparison of at least some of the signals received from said plurality of sensors. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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Specification