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Hitch assembly control system

  • US 5,421,416 A
  • Filed: 09/08/1993
  • Issued: 06/06/1995
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/08/1993
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A system for controlling elevation of a hitch assembly to which a ground penetrating implement is adapted to be connected, said hitch assembly including an actuator for vertically moving said hitch assembly through a range of positions between an extreme lower position and an extreme upper position, said actuator being enabled in response to control signals applied thereto, said control system comprising:

  • a first sensor assembly for sensing a draft force produced by ground/implement interaction;

    a second sensor assembly for sensing the actual position of the hitch assembly;

    a central processing unit connected to said first and second sensor assemblies for computing a first error value representative of the difference between the sensed draft force produced by the ground/implement interaction and a reference draft force and for computing a second error value representative of the difference between the sensed position of the hitch assembly and a reference hitch position, said central processing unit deriving said control signals for said actuator from the first and second error values computed and from settings on first and second operator settable devices; and

    first and second operator settable devices, wherein the setting of said first operator settable device adjusts the computed results of the first and second error values and allows a range of movement of the hitch relative to the reference hitch position to maintain a substantially constant load on the hitch during steady state conditions, said range of movement having a linear function relation to a setting independently selected by the operator, and wherein the setting of said second operator settable device controls as a function of an independent and predetermined operator setting the time over which said actuator is operated to move the hitch assembly to achieve the operator set reference draft force on the hitch assembly.

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