ASPHALT MILLING MACHINE CONTROL AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A road milling machine control for a road milling machine of the type which mills a pavement surface over which the road milling machine travels, said road milling machine having a milling machine body, a rotatable milling drum mounted on the lower portion of said milling machine body, said bottom surface of said milling drum contacting said pavement surface to mill said surface to a design elevation, said milling machine further including a plurality of machine body supports which may be adjusted to raise or lower the height of the milling machine body and the rotatable milling drum with respect to the pavement surface, thereby defining the elevation of the surface that results from milling with said drum, said control comprising:
- a floating plate, mounted to the side of said milling machine and said rotatable milling drum, for sliding over the unmilled pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled, said floating plate being vertically movable with respect to said machine body and said rotatable milling drum,a GNSS receiver on said machine body for determining the two dimensional coordinates of said floating plate,a memory storing data defining a three dimensional map of said unmilled pavement surface, and storing data defining a design surface which is to be milled by said road milling machine,a sensor for detecting the relative vertical position of said floating plate with respect to said machine body and the rotatable milling drum and providing a sensor output, anda processor, responsive to said GNSS receiver and said sensor, and operating in conjunction with said memory, for determining the desired elevation of said design surface in the area where the milling machine drum is in operation, for determining the elevation of said bottom surface of said milling drum, and for generating a correction value specifying the amount by which the milling machine drum is to be raised or lowered to bring the bottom surface of said milling machine drum to the desired elevation of said design surface.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An asphalt milling machine control is provided for an asphalt milling machine of the type which mills an asphalt pavement surface over which the machine travels. The machine has a milling machine body, and a rotatable milling drum mounted on the lower portion of the milling machine body, the bottom surface of the milling drum contacting the asphalt pavement surface to mill the surface to a design elevation. The machine further includes a plurality of machine body supports which are adjusted to raise or lower the height of the milling machine body and the rotatable milling drum with respect to the asphalt pavement surface. This defines the elevation of the surface that results from milling with the drum. The control includes a floating plate, mounted to the side of the milling machine and the rotatable milling drum, or a pair of floating plates mounted to either side of the machine, for sliding over the surface adjacent to the area to be milled. The floating plates have associated sensors and are vertically movable with respect to the machine body and the rotatable milling drum. The control includes a GNSS receiver on the machine body for determining the two dimensional coordinates of the floating plate or plates. The control includes a memory which stores a map of the unmilled asphalt pavement surface, and data defining a desired design surface. The control includes a sensor for detecting the relative vertical position of the floating plate with respect to the machine body and an inclinometer. Finally, the control includes a processor, responsive to the GNSS receiver, the inclinometer, and the sensors. Cross checking of various measurements may be made to determine error conditions.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A road milling machine control for a road milling machine of the type which mills a pavement surface over which the road milling machine travels, said road milling machine having a milling machine body, a rotatable milling drum mounted on the lower portion of said milling machine body, said bottom surface of said milling drum contacting said pavement surface to mill said surface to a design elevation, said milling machine further including a plurality of machine body supports which may be adjusted to raise or lower the height of the milling machine body and the rotatable milling drum with respect to the pavement surface, thereby defining the elevation of the surface that results from milling with said drum, said control comprising:
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a floating plate, mounted to the side of said milling machine and said rotatable milling drum, for sliding over the unmilled pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled, said floating plate being vertically movable with respect to said machine body and said rotatable milling drum, a GNSS receiver on said machine body for determining the two dimensional coordinates of said floating plate, a memory storing data defining a three dimensional map of said unmilled pavement surface, and storing data defining a design surface which is to be milled by said road milling machine, a sensor for detecting the relative vertical position of said floating plate with respect to said machine body and the rotatable milling drum and providing a sensor output, and a processor, responsive to said GNSS receiver and said sensor, and operating in conjunction with said memory, for determining the desired elevation of said design surface in the area where the milling machine drum is in operation, for determining the elevation of said bottom surface of said milling drum, and for generating a correction value specifying the amount by which the milling machine drum is to be raised or lowered to bring the bottom surface of said milling machine drum to the desired elevation of said design surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of milling asphalt at a design height with an asphalt milling machine, said asphalt milling machine having a milling machine body, a rotatable milling drum mounted on the lower portion of said milling machine body, said bottom surface of said milling drum contacting said asphalt pavement surface, comprising
receiving the result of a survey of the unmilled asphalt pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled, storing the result of such survey in a computer memory, storing in the computer memory a map of the design surface specifying the design elevation of the milled surface over the area to be milled, sensing the relative elevation of the unmilled asphalt pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled with respect to the machine body and rotatable milling drum, determining the elevation of the bottom surface of the rotatable milling drum using a computer processor, and automatically adjusting the elevation of the milling machine body and the rotatable milling drum such that the milling drum mills the asphalt surface to the design elevation over the area to be milled.
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11. A control for an asphalt milling machine which mills an asphalt pavement surface over which the asphalt milling machine travels, said asphalt milling machine having a milling machine body, a rotatable milling drum mounted on the lower portion of said milling machine body, said bottom surface of said milling drum contacting said asphalt pavement surface to mill said surface to a design elevation, said asphalt milling machine further including a plurality of machine body supports which may be adjusted to raise or lower the milling machine body and the rotatable milling drum, thereby defining the elevation of the surface that results from milling with said drum, said control comprising:
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a sensor for detecting the relative vertical position of the unmilled asphalt surface adjacent the area to be milled with respect to said machine body and the lower surface of said rotatable milling drum, and providing a sensor output, a GNSS receiver on said machine body for determining the coordinates of said unmilled asphalt surface adjacent the area to be milled, a memory storing data defining a three dimensional map of said unmilled asphalt pavement, and storing data defining a design surface which is to be milled by said asphalt milling machine, a processor, responsive to said GNSS receiver and said sensor, and operating in conjunction with said memory, for determining the desired elevation of said design surface in the area being milled by said milling drum, for determining the elevation of said bottom surface of said milling drum, and for generating a correction value specifying the amount by which the milling machine drum is to be raised or lowered to bring the bottom surface of said milling machine drum to the desired elevation of said design surface. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of milling asphalt at a design elevation with an asphalt milling machine, said asphalt milling machine having a milling machine body, and a rotatable milling drum mounted on the lower portion of said milling machine body, said bottom surface of said milling drum contacting said asphalt pavement surface, comprising
receiving the result of a survey of the unmilled asphalt pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled, storing the result of such survey in a computer memory, storing in a computer memory a map of the design surface specifying the design elevation of the milled surface over the area to be milled, sensing the relative elevation of the unmilled asphalt pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled with respect to said milling machine body and rotatable milling drum, determining the elevation of the bottom surface of the rotatable milling drum by determining the X and Y coordinates of the unmilled pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled, referring to the survey of the asphalt pavement surface stored in computer memory to determine the elevation of the unmilled pavement surface adjacent the area to be milled, and combining the elevation of the unmilled pavement surface stored in computer memory with the sensed relative elevation of the unmilled pavement surface, and automatically adjusting the elevation of the milling machine body and the milling drum such that the milling drum mills the asphalt surface to the design elevation over the area to be milled.
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22. An asphalt milling machine control for an asphalt milling machine of the type which mills an asphalt pavement surface over which the asphalt milling machine travels, said asphalt milling machine having a milling machine body, a rotatable milling drum mounted on the lower portion of said milling machine body, said bottom surface of said milling drum contacting said asphalt pavement surface to mill said surface to a design elevation, said asphalt milling machine further including a plurality of machine body supports which may be adjusted to raise or lower the height of the milling machine body and the rotatable milling drum with respect to the asphalt pavement surface, thereby defining the elevation of the surface that results from milling with said drum, said control comprising:
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a floating plate, mounted to the side of said milling machine and said rotatable milling drum, for sliding over the unmilled asphalt pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled, said floating plate being vertically movable with respect to said machine body and said rotatable milling drum, a GNSS receiver on said machine body for determining the two dimensional coordinates of said floating plate, a memory storing data defining a three dimensional map of said unmilled asphalt pavement surface, and storing data defining a design surface which is to be milled by said asphalt milling machine, a sensor for detecting the relative vertical position of said floating plate with respect to said machine body and the rotatable milling drum and providing a sensor output, and a processor, responsive to said GNSS receiver and said sensor, and operating in conjunction with said memory, for determining the desired elevation of said design surface in the area where the milling machine drum is in operation, for determining the elevation of said bottom surface of said milling drum, and for generating a correction value specifying the amount by which the milling machine drum is to be raised or lowered to bring the bottom surface of said milling machine drum to the desired elevation of said design surface;
said processor further determining the elevation of the bottom of the floating plate based on said GNSS receiver and providing an indication when the elevation determined in this fashion is outside the anticipated elevation for said bottom of said plate.
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23. An asphalt milling machine control for an asphalt milling machine of the type which mills an asphalt pavement surface over which the asphalt milling machine travels, said asphalt milling machine having a milling machine body, a rotatable milling drum mounted on the lower portion of said milling machine body, said bottom surface of said milling drum contacting said asphalt pavement surface to mill said surface to a design elevation, said asphalt milling machine further including a plurality of machine body supports which may be adjusted to raise or lower the height of the milling machine body and the rotatable milling drum with respect to the asphalt pavement surface, thereby defining the elevation of the surface that results from milling with said drum, said control comprising:
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a pair of floating plates, mounted to either side of said milling machine and said rotatable milling drum, one of said pair of floating plates sliding over the unmilled asphalt pavement surface adjacent to the area to be milled, and the other of said pair of floating plates sliding over a previously milled asphalt pavement surface on the other side of the machine, adjacent to the area to be milled, each of said floating plates being vertically movable with respect to said machine body and said rotatable milling drum, a GNSS receiver on said machine body for determining the two dimensional coordinates of said floating plates, an inclinometer on said machine body for detecting the cross-slope orientation of said machine body, memory storing data defining a three dimensional map of said unmilled asphalt pavement surface, and storing data defining a design surface which is to be milled by said asphalt milling machine, sensors for detecting the relative vertical positions of said floating plates with respect to said machine body and the rotatable milling drum and providing sensor outputs, and a processor, responsive to said GNSS receiver, said inclinometer and said sensors, and operating in conjunction with said memory, for determining the desired elevation of said design surface in the area where the milling machine drum is in operation, for determining the elevation of said bottom surface of said milling drum, and for generating a correction value specifying the amount by which the milling machine drum is to be raised or lowered to bring the bottom surface of said milling machine drum to the desired elevation of said design surface;
said processor further determining the elevation of the bottoms of the floating plate based on said GNSS receiver, said sensors, and said inclinometer, and providing an indication when any elevation determined in this fashion is outside the anticipated elevation.
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Specification