Automatic tool force compensator for a surface maintenance machine
First Claim
1. An automatic tool force compensator for a surface maintenance machine including,means for raising and lowering surface maintenance tools,means for setting a degree of tool application force that it is desired to apply to a surface and for providing an electrical signal representative thereof,means for measuring the actual degree of tool application force applied to the surface and for providing an electrical signal representative thereof,means for comparing said electrical signals and for operating said means for raising and lowering the surface maintenance tools in accordance therewith to provide the desired degree of tool application forcetool drive means, means for sensing load on the tool drive means and for providing an electrical signal representative thereof, andmeans for comparing the tool drive means load signal with a reference, with the output of said means for comparing the tool drive means signal with a reference being connected to and providing an operating signal for said means for raising and lowering the surface maintenance tools.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
There is disclosed an improvement in a surface maintenance machine whereby means are provided for automatically maintaining a desired normal force by a maintenance tool against a surface being maintained, although there may be undulations in the surface, variations in the condition of the surface and changes in the tool caused by wear. Normal force is applied to the tool by gravity and an actuator, both acting through a load cell which senses their algebraic sum, compares this with a preset desired force and operates the actuator as needed to maintain the force at or near the pre-set level. Further, the load on the motor or motors driving the tool is sensed and compared against high and low reference points. If drive motor load is outside of the reference limits a signal is provided which causes a decrease or increase in the normal force to maintain the motor load within limits.
-
Citations
9 Claims
-
1. An automatic tool force compensator for a surface maintenance machine including,
means for raising and lowering surface maintenance tools, means for setting a degree of tool application force that it is desired to apply to a surface and for providing an electrical signal representative thereof, means for measuring the actual degree of tool application force applied to the surface and for providing an electrical signal representative thereof, means for comparing said electrical signals and for operating said means for raising and lowering the surface maintenance tools in accordance therewith to provide the desired degree of tool application force tool drive means, means for sensing load on the tool drive means and for providing an electrical signal representative thereof, and means for comparing the tool drive means load signal with a reference, with the output of said means for comparing the tool drive means signal with a reference being connected to and providing an operating signal for said means for raising and lowering the surface maintenance tools.
-
5. An automatic tool force compensator for a surface maintenance machine including,
means for raising and lowering surface maintenance tools, means for setting a degree of tool application force that it is desired to apply to a surface and for providing an electrical signal representative thereof, means for measuring the force applied by the tools to the surface and for providing an electrical signal representative thereof, first comparison means for comparing said electrical signals, means for sensing load on the tool drive means, second comparison means for comparing the tool drive means load with a reference and means for providing an electrical signal representative thereof, and means for combining the signals from said first and second comparison means and providing a drive signal for said means for raising and lowering the surface maintenance tools.
Specification