Earth working machine and blade condition control system therefor
First Claim
1. In an earth working machine including an articulated frame (10) adapted for moving over the earth and having a front frame section (15) and a rear frame section (18) pivotally coupled with said front frame section (15), an earth working blade (30), means (22, 26, 28) for mounting said blade (30) for rotation on said front frame section (15), means (38, 40) connected between said blade mounting means (22, 26, 28) and said front frame section (15) for adjustably supporting said blade mounting means (22, 26, 28) on said front frame section (15), apparatus for automatically controlling said supporting means (38, 40) to maintain said blade (30) at a preselected slope relative to a reference plane irrespective of lateral movement of said front frame section (15) relative to said rear frame section (18), the improvement comprising:
- blade circle angle detector means (96) for sensing rotation of said blade (30) relative to the line-of-flight thereof, said blade circle angle detector means (96) including a ground engaging guide number (116) and means (102, 110, 112,
114) for mounting said guide member (116) rearward of said blade (30) for rotation about a reference axis extending perpendicular to said reference plane;
angular position sensing means (90) for sensing changes in the inclination of said rear frame section (18) relative to said reference plane;
electronic resolver means (94) for producing a control signal indicative of the degree of both the rotation of said blade (30) relative to said line-of-flight and the inclination of said rear frame section (18) relative to said reference plane; and
control means (88, 60,
64) for operating at least one of said adjustable supporting means (38,
40) and maintaining said blade (30) at said preselected slope thereof.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An earth working machine having an earth shaping blade (30) employs a control system for maintaining the blade (30) at a desired slope relative to a reference grade irrespective of lateral movement of the blade (30) or deflection of front and rear frame sections (15, 18). A ground engaging trailing wheel (96) mounted at the rear of the blade (30) senses rotation of the blade (30) relative to the direction of machine travel resulting from rotation or lateral shifting of the blade (30) and operates a potentiometer (124) to produce a control signal proportional to the magnitude of blade rotation. A first pair of accelerometers (128, 130) mounted on the blade (30) for rotation by the trailing wheel (96) produces blade controlling signals respectively corresponding to the change in slope and pitch of the blade (30) relative to the front frame section (15) of the machine. A second pair of accelerometers (42, 44) mounted at transversely spaced locations on the front frame section (15) produce control signals indicative of the roll of the front frame section (15) while an additional accelerometer (90) mounted on the rear frame section (18) produces control signals indicative of the frame pitch. An electronic circuit (94) algebraically combines the control signals for use in controlling the operation of a pair of hydraulic cylinders (38, 40) which maintain the blade (30) at a desired slope.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. In an earth working machine including an articulated frame (10) adapted for moving over the earth and having a front frame section (15) and a rear frame section (18) pivotally coupled with said front frame section (15), an earth working blade (30), means (22, 26, 28) for mounting said blade (30) for rotation on said front frame section (15), means (38, 40) connected between said blade mounting means (22, 26, 28) and said front frame section (15) for adjustably supporting said blade mounting means (22, 26, 28) on said front frame section (15), apparatus for automatically controlling said supporting means (38, 40) to maintain said blade (30) at a preselected slope relative to a reference plane irrespective of lateral movement of said front frame section (15) relative to said rear frame section (18), the improvement comprising:
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blade circle angle detector means (96) for sensing rotation of said blade (30) relative to the line-of-flight thereof, said blade circle angle detector means (96) including a ground engaging guide number (116) and means (102, 110, 112,
114) for mounting said guide member (116) rearward of said blade (30) for rotation about a reference axis extending perpendicular to said reference plane;angular position sensing means (90) for sensing changes in the inclination of said rear frame section (18) relative to said reference plane; electronic resolver means (94) for producing a control signal indicative of the degree of both the rotation of said blade (30) relative to said line-of-flight and the inclination of said rear frame section (18) relative to said reference plane; and control means (88, 60,
64) for operating at least one of said adjustable supporting means (38,
40) and maintaining said blade (30) at said preselected slope thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In an earth working machine including an articulated frame (10) adapted for moving over the earth and having a front frame section (15) and a rear frame section (18) pivotally coupled with said front frame section (15), an earth working blade (30), means (22, 26, 28) for mounting said blade (30) for rotation on said front frame section (15), means (38, 40) connected between said blade mounting means (22, 26, 28) and said front frame section (15) for adjustably supporting said blade mounting means (22, 26, 28) on said front frame section (15), apparatus for automatically controlling said supporting means (38, 40) to maintain said blade (30) at a preselected slope relative to a reference plane irrespective of lateral movement of said front frame section (15) relative to said rear frame section (18), the improvement comprising:
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blade circle angle detector means (96) for sensing rotation of said blade (30) relative to the line-of-flight thereof, said angle detector means (90) being connected with said blade (30) and being operational to sense the line-of-flight of said blade (30) only when said angle detector means (90) engages the earth; angular position sensing means (90) for sensing changes in the inclination of said rear frame section (18) relative to said reference plane; electronic resolver means (94) for producing a control signal indicative of the degree of both the rotation of said blade (30) relative to said line-of-flight and the inclination of said rear frame section (18) relative to said reference plane; and control means (88, 60,
64) for operating at least one of said adjustable supporting means (38,
40) and maintaining said blade (30) at said preselected slope thereof.
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Specification