|
(11) | EP 1 640 512 A3 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| (54) | Implement damping and control systems |
| (57) A damping system for an implement support system in which a bucket 10 is mounted
on a pair of support arms (12) which are pivoted relative to a tractor by a pair of
hydraulic lift cylinders (15) controlled by electrically actuated hydraulic valve
means (16) in response to commands (22) from a vehicle operator and/or an electrical
control unit (21). The damper system includes a pressure level control loop having
a pressure sensing means (15a) for sensing the pressure in the lift cylinders (15)
due to a load currently carried in the bucket (10), storing means (21) for storing
this sensed lift cylinder pressure as a reference value, the pressure sensing means
also monitoring the lift cylinder pressure as the load is transported, and control
means (21) for actively adjusting the pressure in the lift cylinders using the electrically
actuated hydraulic valve means (16) if said pressure varies outside a predetermined
deadband (r,s) either side of the reference value (P) in order to return the lift
cylinder pressure to within said deadband and to maintain the support arm carrying
position (Q). There is also disclosed a particularly useful joystick (22) control
arrangement and a visual display (32) of current bucket orientation etc.
|