Patent Grant
10407874
This application is a national phase application of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2015/058433, filed Apr. 17, 2015, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2014-086638, filed Apr. 18, 2014, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties for all purposes.
The present invention relates to a control device including an assist pump and an accumulator and a working machine mounted with the control device.
As an example of an energy regeneration system in a working machine hydraulically driven such as a hydraulic shovel, there is a system in which a fluid pressure motor such as a variable capacity hydraulic motor is set in-line in a return fluid passage provided between a control valve and a tank, an input shaft of a fluid pressure pump such as a variable capacity hydraulic pump is connected to an output shaft of the fluid pressure motor via reduction gears, a supply port of a direction control valve is communicated with a discharge port of the fluid pressure port via a check valve, and one output port of the direction control valve is connected to an accumulator for pressure accumulation and the other output port is connected to a main pump circuit that supplies working fluid from a main pump to a fluid pressure actuator (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
This system supplies return fluid to the variable capacity hydraulic motor, drives the variable capacity hydraulic pump to accumulate pressure in the accumulator, supplies pressure oil of the accumulator to the main pump during actuator actuation, and regenerates energy.
There is a power regenerating mechanism that increases pressure of the pressurized oil discharged from a head end of a boom cylinder with a pump motor and accumulates the pressurized oil in an accumulator during boom lowering of a hydraulic shovel, accumulates the pressurized oil released from a swing motor driving circuit in the accumulator during acceleration and deceleration of swing, and, when the accumulator is in a saturated state, guides the pressurized oil to the pump motor and causes the pump motor to perform motor operation, to assist engine power (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
Besides, in recent years, in a working machine such as a hydraulic shovel, a hybrid system obtained by combining a hydraulic system and an electric system has been attempted. For example, a generator motor is provided in an engine driving unit, the generator motor is adopted for swing driving, an upper swing body is driven by the generator motor and brake energy is converted into electricity to charge a capacitor and/or a battery during swing braking, and accumulated electric power is used for the swing driving. The capacitor or battery is charged by the generator motor directly connected to the engine during light engine load and power assist is performed by the generator motor using the charged electric power during heavy load.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-322578
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2010-084888
Problems of the conventional techniques are summarized below.
In the energy regenerating system including the accumulator described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, when the pressurized oil which is accumulated in the accumulator is supplied to the hydraulic actuator, amount of the pressurized oil supplied from the accumulator may fluctuate as hydraulic status of the main pump circuit or the other reason. Therefore, stable energy regeneration cannot be performed.
On the other hand, in the hybrid system obtained by combining the hydraulic system and the electric system, large-capacity generator motor, capacitor and battery, and electric control devices that perform electric control of those generator motor, capacitor, and battery are necessary so that cost of the machine is higher. Further, there is a problem in that the hybrid system cannot be mounted on a conventional machine through simple rework.
The present invention has been devised in view of such points and it is an object of the present invention to provide a small and inexpensive control device that can effectively suppress load fluctuation of an engine according to a state of a main pump circuit, for example, and a working machine mounted with the control device.
An invention described in claim 1 is a control device including: a main pump driven by an engine and supplying hydraulic oil to a hydraulic circuit; a variable capacity assist pump coupled to an engine or a main pump and having both functions of a pump and a motor; an accumulator provided to be able to communicate with the assist pump and accumulate hydraulic energy; accelerator means for inputting engine setting torque; engine actual torque acquiring means for detecting or calculating engine actual torque; engine control means for controlling the engine actual torque; and assist pump control means for controlling the capacity of the assist pump and switching between an assist mode for assisting the engine with the motor function of the assist pump and a charge mode for accumulating pressure in the accumulator with the pump function of the assist pump, wherein the assist pump control means includes: main pump load torque calculating means for calculating main pump load torque applied to the main pump; engine target torque calculating means for separating a smooth torque component from the main pump load torque and setting a minimum of the smooth torque component and the engine setting torque, as engine target torque; assist target torque calculating means for calculating assist target torque from a difference between the main pump load torque and the engine target torque; and a function for controlling the capacity of the assist pump and controlling the switching of the assist mode and the charge mode on the basis of the assist target torque.
An invention described in claim 2 is the control device according to claim 1, wherein the assist pump includes: a swash plate for variably adjusting a pump capacity; and a swash plate angle adjusting unit that adjusts an angle of the assist pump swash plate, the assist pump control means includes: accumulator pressure detecting means for detecting accumulator pressure of the accumulator; assist pump differential pressure acquiring means for detecting inlet pressure and outlet pressure of the assist pump and thereby calculating assist pump differential pressure; assist torque calculating means for multiplying the assist target torque with an engine load ratio, which is calculated by dividing the engine target torque by the engine setting torque, to obtain assist torque as feed-forward torque; engine torque feedback control means for calculating assist correction torque on the basis of a deviation signal obtained by feeding back the engine actual torque to the engine target torque; an adder that adds up the assist torque calculated by the assist torque calculating means and the assist correction torque calculated by the engine torque feedback control means thereby obtaining assist request torque; and assist pump swash plate control means for receiving inputs of the assist request torque, the accumulator pressure, and the assist pump differential pressure to calculate an assist pump swash plate angle, thereby outputting an assist pump swash plate command and controlling the assist pump swash plate angle to smooth the engine actual torque.
An invention described in claim 3 is the control device according to claim 2, wherein the assist torque calculating means includes: a divider that divides the engine target torque by the engine setting torque to calculate the engine load ratio; a correction coefficient setter that adjusts the assist torque to increase when the engine load ratio is high and adjusts the charge torque to increase when the engine load ratio is low; and a multiplier that multiplies the assist target torque with an output of the correction coefficient setter to correct the assist target torque.
An invention described in claim 4 is a control device including: a main pump driven by an engine and supplying hydraulic oil to a hydraulic circuit; a variable capacity assist pump coupled to an engine or a main pump and having both functions of a pump and a motor; an accumulator provided be capable of connecting with the assist pump to accumulate hydraulic energy; accelerator means for inputting engine setting torque; engine actual torque acquiring means for detecting or calculating engine actual torque; engine control means for controlling the engine actual torque; and assist pump control means for controlling the capacity of the assist pump and switching between an assist mode for assisting the engine with the motor function of the assist pump and a charge mode for accumulating pressure in the accumulator with the pump function of the assist pump, wherein the assist pump control means includes: main pump load torque calculating means for calculating main pump load torque applied to the main pump; engine target torque calculating means for separating a smooth torque component from the main pump load torque and setting a minimum of the smooth torque component and the engine setting torque as engine target torque; a subtracter that calculates a deviation between the engine target torque and the engine actual torque; a control, operation unit that subjects an output of the subtracter to PID operation processing to obtain a torque command value of the assist pump; a pump pressure sensor that detects main pump pressure; a switch that implements switching to set the torque command value of the assist pump to zero when the main pump pressure is higher than specified pressure, and select an output of the control operation unit and set the output as the torque command value of the assist pump when the main pump pressure is lower than the specified pressure; and a function for controlling the capacity of the assist pump on the basis of the torque command value and controlling the switching of the assist mode and the charge mode.
An invention described in claim 5 is a working machine including: a machine body hydraulically driven; a working device mounted on the machine body; and the control device described in any one of claims 1 to 4 provided for the machine body and the working device, wherein the accumulator of the control device includes a function of accumulating and discharging brake energy of the machine body and position energy of the working device.
According to the invention described in claim 1, the smooth torque component is separated from the main pump load torque and the minimum of the smooth torque component and the engine setting torque is set as the engine target torque by the engine target torque calculating means. The assist target torque is calculated from the difference between the main pump torque and the engine target torque by the assist target torque calculating means. The capacity of the assist pump and the switching of the assist mode of the engine and the charge mode of the accumulator are controlled by the assist pump control means on the basis of the assist target torque. It is possible to smooth the engine target torque by absorbing load fluctuation with the assist pump control means having high responsiveness to a torque request that frequently changes. It is possible to smoothly change the engine actual torque according to the engine target torque. Since a large-capacity generator motor, battery, or the like is unnecessary, it is possible to provide a small and inexpensive control device that can effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine according to, for example, a state of the main pump circuit. In particular, the engine target torque calculating means sets the minimum of the smooth torque component, which is separated from the main pump load torque, and the engine setting torque as the engine target torque. Therefore, when the pressure of the accumulator decreases, control is performed to gradually increase the engine target torque to perform charging. Therefore, it is possible to more flatly change the engine target torque smoothed by the engine setting torque. It is possible to effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine. It is also possible to attain suppression of exhaust gas and a reduction in the sizes of the engine and a post processing device.
According to the invention described in claim 2, the assist target torque is multiplies with the engine load ratio calculated by dividing the engine target torque by the engine setting torque to calculate the assist torque as the feed-forward torque. The assist correction torque is calculated on the basis of the deviation signal obtained by feeding back the engine actual torque to the engine target torque. The assist torque and the assist correction torque are added up to calculate the assist request torque. Therefore, according to the accurate assist request torque corrected by the engine load ratio and the engine actual torque, it is possible to output an accurate assist pump swash plate command to the assist pump that variably adjusts the pump capacity according to the assist pump swash plate angle.
According to the invention described in claim 3, the engine target torque is divided by the engine setting torque to calculate the engine load ratio. The assist target torque is corrected to increase the assist torque when the engine load ratio is high and increase the charge torque when the engine load ratio is low. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately adjust the assist target torque according to a load state of the engine.
According to the invention described in claim 4, the smooth torque component is separated from the main pump load torque and the minimum of the smooth torque component and the engine setting torque is set as the engine target torque by the engine target torque calculating means. The deviation between the engine target torque and the engine actual torque is subjected to the PID control to calculate the torque command value of the assist pump. The capacity of the assist pump and the switching of the assist mode of the engine and the charge mode of the accumulator are controlled on the basis of the torque command value. It is possible to smooth the engine target torque by absorbing load fluctuation with the assist pump control means having high responsiveness to a torque request that frequently changes. It is possible to smoothly change the engine actual torque according to the engine target torque. Moreover, since a large-capacity generator motor, battery, or the like is unnecessary, it is possible to provide a small and inexpensive control device that can effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine according to, for example, a state of the main pump circuit. Further, the switching is performed by the switch to set the torque command value of the assist pump to zero when the main pump pressure is higher than the specified pressure, and set the output of the control operation unit as the torque command value of the assist pump when the main pump pressure is lower than the specified pressure. Therefore, in the case of a relief state in which the main pump pressure is higher than the specified pressure, the torque command value of the assist pump is set to zero to stop the assist of the engine and, when the main pump pressure is lower than the specified pressure, the assist of the engine is resumed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent useless consumption of energy accumulated by the accumulator.
According to the invention described in claim 5, when the machine body and the working device are actuated in the working machine hydraulically driven, the brake energy and the position energy of the working machine can be effectively used by the accumulator of the control device including the function of accumulating and discharging the brake energy of the machine body and the position energy of the working machine. It is possible to effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine. It is possible to attain suppression of exhaust gas and a reduction in the sizes of the engine and a post processing device.
The present invention is explained in detail below on the basis of an embodiment shown in
(A System of an Engine Assist Device)
A main pump circuit (not shown in the figure) that controls, with a control valve (not shown in the figure), the direction of the hydraulic oil discharged from the main pumps 7 and 8 and supplies the hydraulic oil to various hydraulic actuators such as the boom cylinder 3a, the arm cylinder 4a, the bucket cylinder 5a, the swing motor 9, and a traveling motor (not shown in the figure) is connected to discharge ports of the main pumps 7 and 8.
A variable capacity assist pump 10 having both functions of a pump and a motor is coupled to the engine 6 or the main pumps 7 and 8. In a passage where the pressure oil discharged from the assist pump 10 and the pressure oil discharged from the boom cylinder 3a and the swing motor 9 merge, an accumulator 11 that accumulates the pressure of the pressure oils to accumulate energy is provided.
A passage on an outlet side of the assist pump 10 is connected to an unload valve 12 capable of opening the passage on the outlet side to a tank 23. In a passage through which the accumulator 11 and an inlet side of the assist pump 10 can communicate with each other, an accumulator regeneration valve 13 for supplying the pressure oil accumulated (charged) in the accumulator 11 to the inlet side of the assist pump 10 is provided. The unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13 are electromagnetic valves opened and closed according to on/off electric signals.
In a passage between a head end of the boom cylinder 3a and the accumulator 11, a boom regeneration valve 14 that can supply the pressure oil in a head chamber of the boom cylinder 3a to the accumulator 11 by being switched by not-shown boom lowering pilot pressure is provided. The boom regeneration valve 14 is an on/off valve pilot-operated by pilot pressure from an electromagnetic valve (not shown in the figure).
A high-pressure selection valve 15 configured by a pair of check valves is provided between left and right ports of the swing motor 9. A sequence valve 16 and a check valve 24 for accumulating pressure in the accumulator 11 while keeping brake pressure are provided in a passage drawn out from between the check valves of the high-pressure selection valve 15.
The main pumps 7 and 8 include variable capacity swash plates and adjust swash plate angles with swash plate angle adjusting units 7θ and 8θ such as pump regulators to variably control pump capacities. An output circuit of an electromagnetic proportional valve for power shift 17 is connected to the swash plate angle adjusting units 7θ and 8θ. The electromagnetic proportional valve for power shift 17 outputs hydraulic pressure proportional to an input electric signal to the swash plate angle adjusting units 7θ and 8θ and variably controls the pump capacities to adjust the torque of the main pumps 7 and 8.
The assist pump 10 includes a variable capacity swash plate and adjusts a swash plate angle with a swash plate angle adjusting unit 10ϕ to thereby variably control a pump capacity or a motor capacity. The swash plate angle adjusting unit 10ϕ proportionally operates according to an electric signal.
A check valve 18 is provided in a passage between the head end of the boom cylinder 3a and the boom regeneration valve 14. A check valve 19 is provided in a passage between the boom regeneration valve 14 and the inlet side of the assist pump 10. A check valve 20 is provided in a passage between the boom regeneration valve 14 and the accumulator 11. A check valve 21 is provided in a passage between the outlet side of the assist pump 10 and the accumulator 11. A check valve 22 is provided in a passage for supplying oil from the tank 23 to the inlet side of the assist pump 10. A backflow is prevented by the check valves 18 to 22.
Reference numeral 30 denotes a machine controller functioning as assist pump control means for controlling an engine assist system. An engine controller 31 functioning as engine control means for controlling the engine 6 is connected to the machine controller 30 to enable bidirectional communication.
An accelerator dial 32 functioning as accelerator means for setting engine speed and engine setting torque, pump pressure sensors 33 and 34 that detect discharge pressures of the main pumps 7 and 8, pump swash plate angle sensors 35 and 36 that detect swash plate angles of the main pumps 7 and 8, an accumulator pressure sensor 37 functioning as accumulator pressure detecting means for detecting accumulator pressure Pac of the accumulator 11, and an assist pump inlet pressure sensor 38 and an assist pump outlet pressure sensor 39 that detect pressures of the inlet and the outlet of the assist pump 10 are connected to an input side of the machine controller 30.
An engine speed sensor 40 that detects engine actual speed Ne and an engine torque sensor 41 functioning as engine actual torque acquiring means for detecting engine actual torque Tea are connected to the input side of the engine controller 31. Note that the engine actual torque acquiring means is not limited to the torque sensor 41 and also includes calculating means for estimating, with the engine controller 31, the engine actual torque Tea from a fuel injection amount, intake pressure, and the like of the engine 6.
An output side of the engine controller 31 is connected to a fuel injection device of a fuel supply system and control units of an air intake and exhaust system, a start control system, and the like of the engine 6. The engine controller 31 electronically controls fuel injection timing, a fuel injection amount, and the like of the fuel injection device and controls the engine actual torque Tea according to engine target torque Tet explained below.
An operation pilot pressure sensor 42 that detects operation pilot pressure Ppi (excluding boom lowering pilot pressure) for pilot-operating spools of a control valve (not shown in the figure), which controls various hydraulic actuators of the working machine HE, to detect an operation state of the working machine HE and a boom lowering pilot pressure sensor 43 that detects boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd for pilot-operating the boom cylinder 3a in a contracting direction are connected to the input side of the machine controller 30.
The output side of the machine controller 30 is connected to the electromagnetic proportional valve for power shift 17 that controls the swash plate angle adjusting units 7θ and 8θ of the main pumps 7 and 8, the swash plate angle adjusting unit 10ϕ that controls an assist pump swash plate angle ϕ when the swash plate of the assist pump 10 is subjected to angle adjustment, solenoids of the unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13, and an electromagnetic valve for pilot operation (not shown in the figure) of the boom regeneration valve 14.
The machine controller 30 includes a function for controlling the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ to control a pump capacity of the assist pump 10 and controlling the unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13 to switch an assist mode for assigning the engine 6 with the motor function of the assist pump 10 and a charge mode for accumulating pressure in accumulator 11 with the pump function of the assist pump 10.
In
To the engine controller 31, the engine actual speed Ne is input from the engine speed sensor 40 and the engine actual torque Tea is input from the engine torque sensor 41. Further, data of the engine actual speed Ne and the engine actual torque Tea are sent from the engine controller 31 to the machine controller 30. Engine setting speed D6 corresponding to the accelerator dial value Ad is sent from the machine controller 30 to the engine controller 31.
On the other hand, from the machine controller 30, a control signal concerning the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ is output to the swash plate angle adjusting unit 10ϕ of the assist pump 10, switching signals for the unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13 are output to the unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13, and a control signal for power shift is output to the electromagnetic proportional valve for power shift 17.
Note that the torque of the main pumps 7 and 8 is set on the basis of pump setting torque set by the accelerator dial 32 and the operation pilot pressure Ppi determined by an operation amount of operation levers or the like and is controlled via the electromagnetic proportional valve for power shift 17. However, the torque of the main pumps 7 and 8 is not explained because the torque is not directly related to engine assist control. Only components related to the engine assist control are explained.
(1) Explanation of an Entire Control Flowchart
In an input processing task S1 of the control flowchart, the input signal shown in
A main pump load torque calculation task S2 functioning as main pump load torque calculation means calculates, as shown in
An assist request torque calculation task S3 calculates, as shown in
An assist pump swash plate control task S4 functioning as assist pump swash plate control means calculates, as shown in
A valve control task S5 outputs, as shown in
In short, the assist pump swash plate control task S4 and the valve control task S5 control the capacity (i.e., the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ) of the assist pump 10 and the switching of the assist mode of the engine 6 and the charge mode of the accumulator 11 according to the assist request torque D4 or the like.
The control calculation tasks are explained below.
(2) Main Pump Load Torque Calculation Task S2
Pump torque Tpf on a front side is calculated by a pump torque calculation block 50 on the basis of the front pump pressure Pf and the front pump swash plate angle θf. Pump torque Tpr on a rear side is calculated by a pump torque calculation block 51 on the basis of the rear pump pressure Pr and the rear pump swash plate angle θr. The pump torques Tpf and Tpr on the front side and the rear side are added up by an adder 52 and output as the main pump load torque D1.
The pump torque calculation block 50 on the front side calculates the pump torque Tpf according to the following expressions and outputs the pump torque Tpf.
Tpf=Pf·θf·Dpm/(2π·ηt)
Dpm: Front pump maximum capacity
ηt: Torque efficiency
The pump torque calculation block 51 on the rear side calculates the pump torque Tpr according to the following expression and outputs the pump torque Tpr.
Tpr=Pr·θr·Dpm/(2π·ηt)
Dpm: Rear pump maximum capacity
ηt: Torque efficiency
(3) Assist Request Torque Calculation Task S3
The assist request torque calculation task S3 is configured from an assist torque calculation task 53 functioning as assist torque calculating means and an engine torque feedback control task 54 functioning as engine torque feedback control means. Outputs of both the tasks 53 and 54 are added up by an adder 55 and output as assist request torque D4.
The assist torque calculation task 53 includes a subtracter 59 functioning as assist target torque calculating means for subtracting the engine target torque Tet output from the engine target torque calculation task 101 from the main pump load torque D1 to calculate assist target torque Tat.
The assist torque calculation task 53 separates, with the low-pass filter 56, a smooth torque component Tsm from the main pump load torque D1, calculates, with the Min calculator 58, a minimum of the smooth torque component Tsm and the engine setting torque Tes and sets the minimum as the engine target torque Tet, and subtracts, with the subtracter 59, the engine target torque Tet from the main pump load torque D1 to calculate the assist target torque Tat.
Further, the assist torque calculation task 53 includes a divider 60 that divides an output of the Min calculator 58 by the output of the engine setting torque table 57 and calculates an engine load ratio Rel, a lower limit limiter 61 that extracts a plus component of the assist target torque Tat output from the subtracter 59, an upper limit limiter 62 that extracts a minus component, an assist correction coefficient setter 63 functioning as a correction coefficient setter that outputs an assist correction coefficient according to the engine load ratio Rel calculated by the divider 60, a charge correction coefficient setter 64 functioning as a correction coefficient setter that outputs a charge correction coefficient, a multiplier 65 that multiplies the plus component of the assist target torque Tat output from the lower limit limiter 61 with an output of the assist correction coefficient setter 63, a multiplier 66 that multiplies the minus component of the assist target torque Tat output from the upper limit limiter 62 with an output of the charge correction coefficient setter 64, and an adder 67 that adds up outputs of the multiplier 65 and the multiplier 66.
The assist torque calculation task 53 includes a NOT operation unit 68 that reverses a signal of the operation pilot pressure Ppi and outputs a signal of OFF in machine operation and outputs a signal of ON in non-operation and an OR operation unit 69 that calculates an OR of an output of the NOT operation unit 68 and the boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd. An OR operation by the OR operation unit 69 is summarized in Tabled 1 below.
Further, the assist torque calculation task 53 includes a switch 70 that switches according to an output of the OR operation unit 69. The switch 70 selects an output of the adder 67 when the output of the OR operation unit 69 is OFF and selects an output “0” of a zero setter 71 when the output of the OR operation unit 69 is ON.
The engine torque feedback control task 54 includes a low-pass filter 72 same as the low-pass filter 56 that separates and extracts the smooth torque component Tsm from the main pump load torque D1, an engine setting torque table 73 same as the engine setting torque table 57, a correction torque table 74 that outputs correction torque on the basis of the accumulator pressure Pac, an adder 75 that adds up the smooth torque component Tsm treated by the low-pass filter 72 and an output of the correction torque table 74, a Min calculator 76 that compares an output (the engine setting torque Tes) of the engine setting torque table 73 and an output of the adder 75 and selects a smaller value, a subtracter 77 that calculates a deviation signal ΔT obtained by feeding back the engine actual torque Tea to the engine target torque Tet output from the Min calculator 76, and a control operation unit 78 that subjects the deviation signal ΔT output from the subtracter 77 to PID operation processing.
Further, the engine torque feedback control task 54 includes a NOT operation unit 79 and an OR operation unit 80 that reverse a signal of the operation pilot pressure Ppi. The NOT operation unit 79 outputs a signal of OFF in machine operation and outputs a signal of ON in non-operation. The OR operation unit 80 calculates an OR of an output of the NOT operation unit 79 and the boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd. An output of the OR operation unit 80 is the same as the above Table 1. The control operation unit 78 is reset when the output of the OR operation unit 80 is ON. An output of the control operation unit 78 is output as the assist correction torque D3.
(4) Assist Pump Swash Plate Control Task S4
The assist pump swash plate control task S4 includes a subtracter 81 functioning as assist pump differential pressure acquiring means for calculating an assist pump differential pressure ΔP between the assist pump inlet pressure Pin and the assist pump outlet pressure Pout, a lower limit limiter 82 that extracts a plus component of the assist request torque D4, an assist upper limit torque setter 83 that sets assist upper limit torque on the basis of the accumulator pressure Pac, a Min calculator 84 that compares an output of the lower limit limiter 82 and an output of the assist upper limit torque setter 83 and selects a smaller value, an upper limit limiter 85 that extracts a minus component of the assist request torque D4, a charge upper limit torque setter 86 that sets charge upper limit torque on the basis of the accumulator pressure Pac, and a maximum selection calculator (hereinafter referred to as Max calculator) 87 that compares an output of the upper limit limiter 85 and an output of the charge upper limit torque setter 86 and selects a larger value.
Further, the assist pump swash plate control task S4 includes an assist swash plate angle calculator 88 that calculates an assist swash plate angle ϕas in an engine assist mode of the assist pump 10 on the basis of an output T of the Min calculator 84 and the assist pump differential pressure ΔP output from the subtracter 81 and a charge swash plate angle calculator 89 that calculates a charge swash plate angle ϕas in an accumulator charge mode of the assist pump 10 on the basis of an output T of the Max calculator 87 and the assist pump differential pressure ΔP output from the subtracter 81.
The assist swash plate angle calculator 88 calculates the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ (the assist swash plate angle ϕas) according to the following expression and outputs the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ.
Das=(2π·Tas)/(ΔP·ηmt)
ϕas=Min(0,Das/Dpm)
Dpm: Assist pump maximum capacity
ηmt: Torque efficiency
The charge swash plate angle calculator 89 calculates the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ (the charge swash plate angle ϕch) according to the following expression and outputs the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ.
Dch=(2π·ηpt·Tch)/ΔP
ϕch=Min(0,Dch/Dpm)
Dpm: Assist pump maximum capacity
ηpt: Torque efficiency
The assist pump swash plate control task S4 includes a switch 90 that switches an output (the assist swash plate angle ϕas) of the assist swash plate angle calculator 88 and an output (the charge swash plate angle ϕch) of the charge swash plate angle calculator 89 according to plus/minus of the assist request torque D4. The assist pump swash plate angle ϕ (the assist swash plate angle ϕas or the charge swash plate angle ϕch) serving as the assist pump swash plate command D5 is output from the switch 90 to the swash plate angle adjusting unit 10ϕ of the assist pump 10.
(5) Valve Control Task S5
The valve control task S5 includes a switch 91 that switches according to the assist request torque D4, an OPEN output unit 92, and a CLOSE output unit 93. The switch 91 selects a signal of the OPEN output unit 92 in the case of the assist request torque D4≥0 and selects a signal of the CLOSE output unit 93 in the case of the assist request torque D4<0.
Further, the valve control task S5 includes a switch 94 that switches according to the boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd and an OPEN output unit 95. The switch 94 selects a signal of the OPEN output unit 95 in the case of the boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd=ON, selects a signal of the switch 91 in the case of the boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd=OFF, and outputs the signal as a command for the unload valve 12.
Further, the valve control task S5 includes a switch 96 that switches according to the assist request torque D4, an OPEN output unit 97, and a CLOSE output unit 98. The switch 96 outputs a signal of the OPEN output unit 97 in the case of the assist request torque D4>0 and outputs a signal of the CLOSE output unit 98 in the case of the assist request torque D4≤0.
Further, the valve control task S5 includes a switch 99 that switches according to the boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd and a CLOSE output unit 100. The switch 99 selects a signal of the CLOSE output unit 100 in the case of the boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd=ON, selects a signal of the switch 96 in the case of the boom lowering pilot pressure Pbd=OFF, and outputs the signal as a command for the accumulator regeneration valve 13.
The action explained above is summarized in Table 2.
A control algorithm and action and effects of the control algorithm are explained on the basis of
First, a rough flow of control is explained on the basis of a control block diagram of
The main pump load torque D1 is calculated by the main pump load torque calculation task S2 on the basis of the main pump pressures Pf and Pr and the main pump swash plate angles θf and θr.
The main pump load torque D1 is input to the assist request torque calculation task S3. Assist torque D2 is calculated by the assist torque calculation task 53. The assist correction torque D3 is calculated by the engine torque feedback control task 54. The assist torque D2 and the assist correction torque D3 are added up by the adder 55 and output as the assist request torque D4.
The assist request torque D4 is input to the assist pump swash plate control task S4. The assist pump swash plate angle ϕ serving as the assist pump swash plate command D5 is calculated. The swash plate angle adjusting unit 10ϕ of the assist pump 10 is controlled. The assist request torque D4 is input to the valve control task S5. The switching signals for the unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13 are output. The unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13 are controlled.
A calculation process of the control is explained below.
(a) Assist Torque Calculation Task 53 (See
The main pump load torque D1 is subjected to filter processing by the low-pass filter 56 and the smooth torque component Tsm is extracted. The engine setting torque Tes is output by the engine setting torque table 57 on the basis of a signal (the accelerator dial value Ad) input from the accelerator dial 32. The smooth torque component Tsm output from the low-pass filter 56 and the engine setting torque Tes output from the engine setting torque table 57 are compared and a smaller value is selected as the engine target torque Tet by the Min calculator 58.
Further, a difference between the main pump load torque D1 and the engine target torque Tet output from the Min calculator 58 is calculated by the subtracter 59. A fluctuation component of the main pump load torque D1 is extracted as the assist target torque Tat.
A result of the calculation explained above is shown in a characteristic chart of engine assist control in
A plus component of the assist target torque Tat in
Referring back to
An assist correction coefficient is calculated by the assist correction coefficient setter 63 on the basis of the engine load ratio Rel calculated by the divider 60. Similarly, a charge correction coefficient is calculated by the charge correction coefficient setter 64.
As shown in
The plus component of the assist target torque Tat output from the lower limit limiter 61 is multiplied with an output of the assist correction coefficient setter 63 by the multiplier 65. Similarly, the minus component of the assist target torque Tat output from the upper limit limiter 62 is multiplied with an output of the charge correction coefficient setter 64 by the multiplier 66. Outputs of the multiplier 65 and the multiplier 66 are added up by the adder 67.
The switch 70 selects an output of the adder 67 when an output of the OR operation unit 69 is OFF and selects an output “0” of the zero setter 71 when the output of the OR operation unit 69 is ON. The output of the OR operation unit 69 is set as shown in the above Table 1. Therefore, the output is OFF in a machine operation state other than boom lowering and the output of the adder 67 is selected. In boom lowering operation or a non-operation state of a machine, ON is output from the OR operation unit 69 and the output “0” of the zero setter 71 is selected.
When the assist torque D2 is (+), a mode of the assist pump 10 is the engine assist mode by the motor action. When the assist torque D2 is (−), the mode of the assist pump 10 is the accumulator charge mode by the pump action.
(b) Engine Torque Feedback Control Task 54 (See
The smooth torque component Tsm is extracted from the main pump load torque D1 by the low-pass filter 72. The engine setting torque Tes is output by the engine setting torque table 73. Correction torque is output by the correction torque table 74 on the basis of the accumulator pressure Pac. As shown in
The smooth torque component Tsm processed by the low-pass filter 72 and the output of the correction torque table 74 are added up by the adder 75. The output of the engine setting torque table 73 and an output of the adder 75 are compared and smaller value is selected and output as the engine target torque Tet by the Min calculator 76.
The deviation signal ΔT between the engine target torque Tet output from the Min calculator 76 and the engine actual torque Tea detected by the engine torque sensor 41 is calculated by the subtracter 77. The deviation signal ΔT is subjected to PID operation processing by the control operation unit 78 and the assist correction torque D3 is output. When the assist correction torque D3 is (+), the mode of the assist pump 10 is the engine assist mode by the motor action. When the assist correction torque D3 is (−), the mode of the assist pump 10 is the accumulator charge mode by the pump action.
The control operation unit 78 is reset when an output of the OR operation unit 80 is ON. Like the OR operation unit 69 shown in
When the assist correction torque D3 is (+), the mode of the assist pump 10 is the engine assist mode by the motor action. When the assist correction torque D3 is (−), the mode of the assist pump 10 is the accumulator charge mode by the pump action.
The assist correction torque D3 calculated as explained above is added to the assist torque D2 as shown in
(c) Assist Pump Swash Plate Control Task S4 (See
The assist request torque D4 output from the assist request torque calculation task S3 is input to the assist pump swash plate control task S4. The assist pump swash plate angle ϕ serving as the assist pump swash plate command D5 is calculated by calculation explained below.
The assist pump differential pressure ΔP between the assist pump inlet pressure Pin and the assist pump outlet pressure Pout is calculated by the subtracter 81. A plus component of the assist request torque D4 is extracted by the lower limit limiter 82. An assist upper limit torque is set by the assist upper limit torque setter 83 on the basis of the accumulator pressure Pac. An output of the lower limit limiter 82 and an output of the assist upper limit torque setter 83 are compared and a smaller value is selected by the Min calculator 84.
Similarly, a minus component of the assist request torque D4 is extracted by the upper limit limiter 85. A charger upper limit torque is set by the charge upper limit torque setter 86 on the basis of the accumulator pressure Pac. An output of the upper limit limiter 85 and an output of the charge upper limit torque setter 86 are compared and a larger value is selected by the Max calculator 87.
An assist pump swash plate angle command value (the assist swash plate angle ϕas) during assist is calculated by the assist swash plate angle calculator 88 on the basis of an output of the Min calculator 84 and the assist pump differential pressure ΔP output from the subtracter 81. Similarly, an assist pump swash plate angle command value (the charge swash plate angle ϕch) during charging is calculated by the charge swash plate angle calculator 89 on the basis of an output of the Max calculator 87 and the assist pump differential pressure ΔP output from the subtracter 81.
An output of the assist swash plate angle calculator 88 and an output of the charge swash plate angle calculator 89 are switched by the switch 90 according to plus/minus of the assist request torque D4. The assist pump swash plate angle ϕ (the assist swash plate angle ϕas or the charge swash plate angle ϕch) serving as the assist pump swash plate command D5 is output and the swash plate of the assist pump 10 is controlled.
(d) Valve Control Task S5 (See
The unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13 are controlled as shown in Table 2 by logical operation blocks of the valve control task S5 shown in
(e) Summary
According to the action explained above, as shown in
As shown in
The assist torque D2 is a feed-forward component and the assist correction torque D3 is a feedback component. As shown in
In boom lowering operation, the unload valve 12 is opened and the accumulator regeneration valve 13 is closed to minimize the angle of the swash plate of the assist pump 10. Therefore, pressure oil in the head chamber of the boom cylinder 3a during boom lowering is directly charged in the accumulator 11.
Effects of the embodiment shown in
As shown in
When the pressure of the accumulator 11 decreases, control is performed to gradually increase the engine target torque Tet and perform charging. Then, the engine target torque Tet smoothed by the engine setting torque Tes becomes more flat. Therefore, it is possible to effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine. This leads to suppression of exhaust gas, a reduction in the size of the engine 6, and a reduction in the size of a post processing device, that is, an exhaust gas purifier involved in the suppression of the exhaust gas and the reduction in the size of the engine 6.
Since the engine 6 is assisted using the pressure oil of the accumulator 11, as shown in
Pressure oil of the boom lowering and the swing brake is accumulated in the accumulator 11 and, when the load of the engine 6 is low, pressure is accumulated in the accumulator 11 by the assist pump 10. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently secure energy for assisting the engine 6. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the engine 6 in size and reduce a cooling device for the engine and a related device such as an air cleaner in size according to the reduction in the size of the engine.
The engine 6 is assisted by the assist pump 10 during high load of the engine 6 and pressure is accumulated in the accumulator 11 by the assist pump 10 during low load of the engine 6. Therefore, it is possible to smooth the load of the engine 6 and the fuel efficiency is improved. Further, it is possible to reduce exhaust gas such as black smoke.
Since the pressure oil of the boom lowering and the swing brake is collected, it is possible to reduce an energy loss of a hydraulic device and reduce a hydraulic cooling device in size.
Since the system is configured by the hydraulic machine, compared with the hybrid system in which the electric system is used, it is possible to substantially reduce costs, maintenance is less frequently performed, and it is possible to reduce running costs. Further, it is possible to easily mount the system on the conventional working machine.
The smooth torque component Tsm is separated from the main pump load torque D1 by the subtracter 59 functioning as the assist target torque calculating means. The minimum of the smooth torque component Tsm and the engine setting torque Tes is set as the engine target torque Tet. The engine actual torque Tea is controlled by the engine controller 31 according to the engine target torque Tet. The assist target torque Tat is calculated by the subtracter 59 from a difference between the main pump load torque D1 and the engine target torque Tet. The capacity (i.e., the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ) of the assist pump 10 and the switching of the assist mode of the engine 6 and the charge mode of the accumulator 11 (the switching of the unload valve 12 and the accumulator regeneration valve 13) are controlled by the machine controller 30 on the basis of the assist target torque Tat. Therefore, load fluctuation is absorbed by the control of the assist pump capacity and the mode switching by the machine controller 30 having high responsiveness to a torque request that frequently changes. Consequently, it is possible to smooth the engine target torque Tet and smoothly change the engine actual torque Tea according to the engine target torque Tet. Moreover, a large-capacity generator motor, battery, or the like is unnecessary. Therefore, it is possible to provide the small and inexpensive control device C that can effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine 6 according to, for example, a state of the main pump circuit.
In particular, the engine target torque calculation task 101 sets, as the engine target torque Tet, the minimum of the smooth torque component Tsm separated from the main pump load torque D1 and the engine setting torque Tes. Therefore, when the pressure of the accumulator 11 decreases, the control is performed to gradually increase the engine target torque Tet and perform charging. Therefore, it is possible to more flatly change the engine target torque Tet smoothed by the engine setting torque Tes. It is possible to effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine 6. Further it is possible to attain suppression of exhaust gas and a reduction in the size of the engine 6 and the post processing device of the engine 6, that is, the exhaust gas purifier.
The assist target torque Tat is multiplied with the engine load ratio Rel, which is calculated by dividing the engine target torque Tet by the engine setting torque Tes, to calculate the assist torque D2 as the feed-forward torque. Further, the assist correction torque D3 is calculated on the basis of the deviation signal ΔT obtained by feeding back the engine actual torque Tea to the engine target torque Tet. The assist torque D2 and the assist correction torque D3 are added up to calculate the assist request torque D4. Therefore, according to the accurate assist request torque D4 corrected by the engine load ratio Rel and the engine actual torque Tea, it is possible to output the accurate assist pump swash plate command D5 to the assist pump 10 that variably adjusts the pump capacity according to the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ.
The engine target torque Tet is divided by the engine setting torque Tes to calculate the engine load ratio Rel. The assist target torque Tat is corrected to increase the assist torque when the engine load ratio Rel is high and increase the charge torque when the engine load ratio Rel is low. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately adjust the assist target torque Tat according to a load state of the engine 6.
When the machine body B and the front working device F are actuated in the working machine hydraulically driven HE, with the accumulator 11 of the control device C including the function of accumulating and discharging brake energy of the swing motor 9 of the machine body B and position energy of the boom cylinder 3a and the like of the front working device F, it is possible to effectively use the brake energy and the position energy of the working machine HE. It is possible to effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine 6. It is possible to attain suppression of exhaust gas and a reduction in the sizes of the engine 6 and the post processing device.
The assist command torque calculation task S3a includes the engine target torque calculation task 101 functioning as engine target torque calculating means for calculating the engine target torque Tet from the main pump load torque D1 and the accelerator dial value Ad, a subtracter 102 that calculates the deviation signal ΔT between the engine target torque Tet and the engine actual torque Tea, and a control operation unit 103 that subjects the deviation signal ΔT output from the subtracter 102 to PID control.
As shown in
Therefore, the smooth torque component Tsm is separated from the main pump load torque D1 and the minimum of the smooth torque component Tsm and the engine setting torque Tes is set as the engine target torque Tet by the engine target torque calculation task 101. The deviation signal ΔT between the engine target torque Tet and the engine actual torque Tea obtained from the engine controller 31 is subjected to the PID control to calculate a torque command value (the assist request torque D4) of the assist pump 10. The capacity (i.e., the assist pump swash plate angle ϕ) of the assist pump 10 and the switching of the assist mode of the engine 6 and the charge mode of the accumulator 11 are controlled by the assist pump swash plate control task S4 and the valve control task S5 shown in
In this way, load fluctuation is absorbed by the assist pump capacity control and the mode switching control by the machine controller 30 having high responsiveness to a torque request that frequently changes. Consequently, it is possible to smooth the engine target torque Tet and smoothly change the engine actual torque Tea according to the engine target torque Tet. Moreover, a large-capacity generator motor, battery, or the like is unnecessary. Therefore, it is possible to provide the small and inexpensive control device C that can effectively suppress load fluctuation of the engine 6 according to, for example, a state of the main pump circuit.
Further, as indicated by a portion surrounded by an alternate long and two short dashes line in
The switch 106 selects an output of the control operation unit 103 when an output of the main pump pressure determination table 105 is OFF and selects a torque “0” of a zero setter 107 when the output of the main pump pressure determination table 105 is ON.
The engine target torque Tet is calculated and set from the main pump load torque D1 or the like by the engine target torque calculation task 101. The engine actual torque Tea output from the engine controller 31 is fed back to the engine target torque Tet. The deviation signal ΔT between the engine target torque Tet and the engine actual torque Tea is calculated by the subtracter 102. The deviation signal ΔT is subjected to the PID control by the control operation unit 103.
As indicated by the portion surrounded by the alternate long and two short dashes line in
When the sum of the main pump pressures Pf and Pr is lower than the second specified pressure Poff, the switch 106 switches from the ON side to the OFF side according to the OFF signal output from the main pump pressure determination table 105. The assist of the engine 6 by the assist pump 10 and the pressure accumulation of the accumulator 11 are resumed. An output subjected to the PID control by the control operation unit 103 becomes the torque command value (the assist request torque D4) of the assist pump 10. When the assist request torque D4 is “+”, the torque of the assist pump 10 is engine assist torque for assisting the engine 6 with the assist pump 10. When the assist request torque D4 is “−”, the torque of the assist pump 10 is accumulator charge torque for accumulating pressure in the accumulator 11 with the assist pump 10.
Therefore, in a relief state in which a relief valve (not shown in the figure) provided in a discharge circuit of the main pumps 7 and 8 performs relief operation, that is, in a relief state in which the sum of the main pump pressures Pf and Pr is higher than the specified pressure Pon, the torque command value of the assist pump 10 is set to zero to stop the assist of the engine 6. When the sum of the main pump pressures Pf and Pr is lower than the specified pressure Poff, the assist of the engine 6 is resumed. That is, the engine 6 is not assisted during the relief state. Therefore, it is possible to prevent useless consumption of energy accumulated in the accumulator 11.
By providing a dead zone between the specified pressures Pon and Poff according to hysteresis of the main pump pressure determination table 105, it is possible to prevent unstable ON/OFF switching and secure stability of a control system.
Note that, when the assist command torque calculation task S3a does not include the portion surrounded by the alternate long and two short dashes line in
The present invention has industrial applicability for business operators that, for example, manufacture and sell a control device including an assist pump and an accumulator and a working machine mounted with the control device.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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| 2014-086638 | Apr 2014 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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| PCT/EP2015/058433 | 4/17/2015 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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| WO2015/158914 | 10/22/2015 | WO | A |
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