Center of gravity sensing and adjusting load bar, program product, and related methods
First Claim
1. A method of lifting a load mass with an automated load bar, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving or accessing X and Y axis tilt data for X and Y axes from an associated one or more inclinometers or gyros;
deriving a control signal responsive to the X and Y axis tilt data to drive a pair of DC motors for a mechanical drive unit each associated with a separate one of the X and Y axes to thereby position an adjustable load bar carriage of the mechanical drive unit at a proper juxtaposition with respect to a center of gravity of a combination of the mechanical drive unit, a load mass being stabilized by the mechanical drive unit, and a spreader bar assembly when operatively positioned between the mechanical drive unit and the load mass, to thereby dampen any rotational tendencies and stabilize the mechanical drive unit; and
receiving or accessing current positioning of a plurality of drive screws to calculate a number of rotations of the pair of DC motors necessary to position the adjustable load bar carriage in the proper juxtaposition with the center of gravity.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus, program product, and related methods for gravity stabilizing a suspended load are provided. The apparatus includes an center of gravity stabilized automated adjusting load bar in communication with a mobile cart which allows an operator to enable automated stabilization of a load. The adjusting load bar includes redundant first and second control and drive systems. A third control system can both monitor sensed data and the movement commands of first and second control systems, and can monitor the resulting physical movements. If a movement command and the resulting movement does not match or if there is an out of tolerance mismatch between movement commands of the first and the second control systems, the third control system can automatically detect this condition and shift into an emergency stop condition.
60 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of lifting a load mass with an automated load bar, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving or accessing X and Y axis tilt data for X and Y axes from an associated one or more inclinometers or gyros; deriving a control signal responsive to the X and Y axis tilt data to drive a pair of DC motors for a mechanical drive unit each associated with a separate one of the X and Y axes to thereby position an adjustable load bar carriage of the mechanical drive unit at a proper juxtaposition with respect to a center of gravity of a combination of the mechanical drive unit, a load mass being stabilized by the mechanical drive unit, and a spreader bar assembly when operatively positioned between the mechanical drive unit and the load mass, to thereby dampen any rotational tendencies and stabilize the mechanical drive unit; and receiving or accessing current positioning of a plurality of drive screws to calculate a number of rotations of the pair of DC motors necessary to position the adjustable load bar carriage in the proper juxtaposition with the center of gravity.
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2. A method of lifting a load mass with an automated load bar, the method Comprising the steps of:
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receiving or accessing X and Y axis tilt data for X and Y axes from an associated one or more inclinometers or gyros; deriving a control signal responsive to the X and Y axis tilt data to drive at least one motor for a mechanical drive unit to thereby position an adjustable load bar carriage of the mechanical drive unit at a proper juxtaposition with respect to a center of gravity of a combination of the mechanical drive unit, a load mass being stabilized by the mechanical drive unit, and a spreader bar assembly when operatively positioned between the mechanical drive unit and the load mass, to thereby dampen any rotational tendencies and stabilize the mechanical drive unit; receiving or accessing a preselected tilt tolerance for each of the X and Y axes; and ordering an emergency stop responsive to a tilt of the mechanical drive unit exceeding one or more of the preselected till tolerances.
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3. A method of lifting a load mass with an automated load bar, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving or accessing X and Y axis tilt data from an associated one or more inclinometers or gyros; deriving a control signal responsive to the X and Y axis tilt data to drive at least one motor for a mechanical drive unit to thereby position an adjustable load bar carriage of the mechanical drive unit at a proper juxtaposition with respect to a center of gravity of a combination of the mechanical drive unit, a load mass being stabilized by the mechanical drive unit, and a spreader bar assembly when operatively positioned between the mechanical drive unit and the load mass, to thereby dampen any rotational tendencies and stabilize the mechanical drive unit; driving the adjustable load bar carriage of the mechanical drive unit simultaneously by each of a first and a second motion controller along a same axis to position the adjustable load bar carriage at the proper juxtaposition with respect to the center of gravity of the combination of the mechanical drive unit, the load mass, and the spreader bar assembly when operatively position therebetween; and ordering an emergency stop responsive to a mismatch between output instructions of either of the first and second motion controllers, or responsive to a mismatch between an expected and an actual physical orientation of the mechanical drive unit.
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4. A method of lifting a load mass with an automated load bar, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving or accessing X and Y axis tilt data from an associated one or more inclinometers or gyros; deriving a control signal responsive to the X and Y axis tilt data to drive at least one motor for a mechanical drive unit to thereby position an adjustable load bar carriage of the mechanical drive unit at a proper juxtaposition with respect to a center of gravity of a combination of the mechanical drive unit, a load mass being stabilized by the mechanical drive unit, and a spreader bar assembly when operatively positioned between the mechanical drive unit and the load mass, to thereby dampen any rotational tendencies and stabilize the mechanical drive unit; providing an XY display screen to display X and Y axis positions of the carriage, and pitch and roll orientation of the mechanical drive unit, and to display commanded X and Y axis movements of the carriage along with respective X and Y axis movement error; and changing commanded X and Y axis positions of the carriage up to a preset limit by the operator using a joystick responsive to the provision of carriage position information provided on the display screen. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of lifting a load mass with an automated load bar, the method comprising the steps of:
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acquiring, by a first controller, automated load bar angular position data associated with a first axis from a first angular position sensor and angular position data associated with a second axis from a third angular position sensor; acquiring, by a second controller, automated load bar angular position data associated with the first axis from a second angular position sensor and angular position data associated with the second axis from a fourth angular position sensor; processing the automated load bar angular position data from the first and the second angular position sensors to thereby compare first axis angular position data acquired by the first controller with first axis angular position data acquired by the second controller to thereby detect a mismatch between the first axis angular position data acquired by the first controller and the first axis angular position data acquired by the second controller; processing the automated load bar angular position data from the third and the fourth angular position sensors to thereby compare second axis angular position data acquired by the first controller with second axis angular position data acquired by the second controller to thereby detect a mismatch between the second axis angular position data acquired by the first controller and the second axis angular position data acquired by the second controller; and disengaging automated load bar lift point correction functions responsive to either detecting a mismatch between the first axis angular position data acquired by the first controller and the first axis angular position data acquired by the second controller being outside a first preselected range, or detecting a mismatch between the second axis angular position data acquired by the first controller and the second axis angular position data acquired by the second controller being outside a second preselected range. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of lifting a load mass with an automated load bar, the method comprising the steps of:
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acquiring, by a first controller, mechanical linear actuator position feedback data associated with a first axis for a first mechanical linear drive actuator and position feedback data associated with a second axis for a third mechanical linear drive actuator; acquiring, by a second controller, mechanical linear actuator position feedback data associated with the first axis for a second mechanical linear drive actuator and position feedback data associated with the second axis for a fourth mechanical linear drive actuator; processing the mechanical linear actuator position feedback data for first and second mechanical linear actuators to thereby compare mechanical linear actuator position feedback data for the first mechanical linear actuator with the mechanical linear actuator position feedback data for the second linear actuator; processing the mechanical linear actuator position feedback data for the third and the fourth actuators to thereby compare mechanical linear actuator position feedback data for the third mechanical linear actuator with the mechanical linear actuator position feedback data for the fourth linear actuator; and disengaging automated load bar lift point correction functions responsive to either detecting a mismatch between mechanical linear actuator position feedback data outside a first preselected range for either of the first and the second mechanical linear actuators, or detecting a mismatch between the mechanical linear actuator position feedback data outside a second preselected range for either of the third and the fourth mechanical linear actuators. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A method of lifting a load mass with an automated load bar, the method comprising the steps of:
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acquiring automated load bar angular position data from a first electronic angular sensor and a second electronic angular sensor, the angular position data for the second electronic angular sensor acquired independent of the data acquired from the first electronic angular sensor; processing the angular position data of the first electronic angular sensor by a first controller to thereby drive a first mechanical linear drive actuator; and processing the angular position data of the second electronic angular sensor by a second controller to thereby drive a second mechanical linear drive actuator, the second mechanical linear drive actuator operating in parallel with the first mechanical linear drive actuator to provide redundant mechanical linear drive control to thereby continuously maintain a substantially level orientation along a first axis during a lift operation. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification