The present invention relates to a working machine that moves a load, and more particularly to a device and method for measuring load weight.
Conventionally, it is known that a machine used to load dump trucks and other delivery vehicles, such as a wheel loader, employs a load weight measurement device that measures, during boom operation, the weight of the load carried in the bucket and indicates the weight (See Patent Document 1).
According to the conventional art described in the above document, after the boom begins moving, a prescribed calculation is performed utilizing a numerical table pre-calculated from the boom angle and the difference between the boom cylinder head pressure and bottom pressure, to measure the load weight carried in the bucket.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-99701
However, since the conventional art described in the afore-mentioned Patent Document 1 does not take into consideration error factors such as the frictional force generated in the mechanism used to lift the load (hereinafter “lifting mechanism”), or changes in the weight, due to wearing, damage, repair, or replacement of the lifting mechanism components such as bucket or teeth, there is demand to further improve the measurement accuracy.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the measurement accuracy of the load weight moved by a working machine.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a working machine for moving a load comprises: a lifting unit for lifting a load; a displacement detection device for detecting the displacement of the lifting unit; an actuator for driving the lifting unit; and a measurement device for measuring the output value or input value of the lifting unit; and further a detection value acquiring means for acquiring, during operation of the lifting unit, the displacement from the displacement detection device and the output value or input value from the measurement device; a speed calculating means for obtaining the movement speed of the lifting unit during operation of the lifting unit; a correcting means for obtaining the corrected value by correcting the output value or input value of the actuator in accordance with the movement speed of the lifting unit; and a means for calculating the load weight based on the corrected value obtained by correcting the output value or input value of the actuator, and the lifting unit displacement obtained from the detection value acquiring means.
According to this working machine, the input value or output value of the actuator is corrected in accordance with the operation speed of the lifting unit, and the load weight is calculated using this corrected value. This allows the error factors that change depending on the operation speed of the lifting unit, for example forces such as frictional force, to be taken into consideration to obtain measurement results of higher accuracy.
In an embodiment of the present invention, a hydraulic cylinder is used as an actuator and the pressure difference between the hydraulic cylinder head pressure and bottom pressure is measured to be used as the actuator output value. However, this is just an example, and the present invention can be applied to working machines employing other types of actuators, and an input value can also be measured for use in place of, or together with, the actuator output value. For example, if an electric motor is used as an actuator, the output torque and rotating speed can be measured as the output value of the electric motor, or the input current and input voltage, which are input values, can be detected as well.
Further, in an embodiment of the present invention, the lifting unit of the working machine has a boom, the actuator includes a hydraulic cylinder for moving the boom, the measurement device includes a pressure detection device for detecting the hydraulic cylinder pressure; and the displacement detection device includes an angle detection device for detecting the angle of the boom. This configuration applies to working machine that raises and lowers a load using a boom, such as a wheel loader, power shovel, or a crane, for example. However, the present invention also applies to working machines that do not have a boom, such as a winch.
Further, in an embodiment of the present invention, the correcting means may calculate the correction factor from the movement speed of the lifting unit and the output value or input value of the actuator and correct the output value or input value of the actuator based on the correction factor and the lifting unit movement speed. According to this configuration, error factors that change in response to the output value or input value of the actuator or the movement speed of the lifting unit can be taken into consideration.
Further, in an embodiment of the present invention, the correcting means may comprise a speed correction table defining the correlation among the output value and input value of the actuator, the lifting unit movement speed, and the correction factor, that is used to calculate the correction factor. A constant can also be used as a correction factor.
For the working machine having a boom, the boom angular speed, for example, can be used as the above-mentioned movement speed, but this is nothing more than just an illustration. For example, a variety of movement speeds related to the movement of the lifting unit, including the boom hoisting speed, bucket hoisting speed, movement speed of the hydraulic cylinder piston that moves the lifting unit, or the rotational speed of the hydraulic or electric motor that moves the lifting unit, can be used for the above-mentioned correcting process.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a working machine comprises a lifting unit for lifting a load; a displacement detection unit for detecting displacement of the lifting unit; an actuator for driving the lifting unit; and a measurement unit for measuring the output value and input value of the actuator; and further comprises a load weight calculating means having a load weight calculation table defining the correlations among the output value or input value of the actuator, the displacement of the lifting unit, and the load weight; that acquires, during operation of the lifting unit, the displacement from the displacement detecting device and the output value or input value from the measurement device; and that calculates the load weight referring to said load weight calculation table, based on said displacement acquired from said displacement detecting device and said output value or input value acquired from said measurement device; and a calibrating means that inputs the specified load weight value; acquires, during calibration operation of the lifting unit, the displacement from the displacement detection device and the output value or input value from the measuring device; and calibrates the load weight calculation table based on the displacement acquired from the displacement detecting device, the output value or input value acquired from the measurement device, and the specified load weight.
According to this working machine, the load weight specification is input, and during the calibration operation the displacement is acquired from the displacement detection device and the output value or input value is acquired from the measuring device, and the load weight calculation table is calibrated based on the displacement acquired from the displacement detection device, the output value or input value acquired from the measuring device, and the specified load weight. Occasionally executing this type of calibration eliminates error factors due to changes in the weight of the lifting unit resulting from wearing, damage, corrosion, etc., of the components of the lifting unit to make measurement of greater accuracy possible.
An embodiment of the present invention is a working machine further comprising a speed calculating means for obtaining the movement speed of the lifting unit during movement of the lifting unit; and a correcting means for obtaining a corrected value by correcting the output value or input value of the actuator according to the speed, wherein the load weight calculation table records the corrected value for the output value or input value of the actuator and the numerical value for obtaining the load weight based on the displacement of the lifting unit; and wherein the load weight calculating means calculates the load weight referring to the load weight calculation table, based on the corrected value from the correcting means and the acquired load lifting unit displacement, and calibrates the load weight calculation table numerical values. This makes it possible to take into consideration the error factors (frictional force for example) that change depending on the movement speed of the lifting unit to obtain measurement results of greater accuracy.
Further, in an embodiment of the present invention, the calibrating means calculates, during calibration execution, the average value of the numerical value acquired from the current calibration and the numerical value currently registered in the load weight calculation table, and then uses the calculated average value as the post-calibration numerical value for calibrating the load weight calculation table. According to this configuration, the data acquired from the calibration during calibration of the load weight calculation table is not used to update the load weight calculation table but rather the average value of the data acquired from the calibration and the existing data of the load weight calculation table is obtained and this average value is used to update the load weight calculation table so that in the event the data received from the calibration is not a correct value, the effect of this error will not be 100%.
Further, an embodiment of the present invention further comprises a clearing means that initializes the load weight calculation table numerical values to the specified initial values. By performing this initialization process, the load weight calculation table returns to the state it was in at the time it was shipped from the factory. When calibration has been repeated many times to date, or when the lifting unit of the working machine has been significantly repaired or replaced, there are cases when there is some concern about the reliability of the numerical values in the current load weight calculation table. In such a case, it is effective to newly conduct calibration after conducting the afore-mentioned initialization process.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a device and means for measuring the weight of the load transported by a working machine in accordance with the afore-mentioned principles. Further, another aspect of the present invention provides a computer program that commands a computer to perform the load weight measurement method.
The following describes details of an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.
The embodiments shown below apply the present invention to a wheel loader as an example of a working machine to make this explanation easy to understand, but in addition to a wheel loader the present invention can be applied to a variety of working machines having a lifting function including but not limited to power shovels, cranes, and winches.
The wheel loader 1 is provided with, as the lifting unit, a boom 2 that freely rotates around a boom pin 3 attached to a rear anchor unit, and a bucket 4 that freely rotates around a bucket pin 5 attached to an end of boom 2. In the vicinity of the boom pin 3 is provided a boom angle detection device 6, such as a potentiometer, that detects the displacement of the boom 2, for example, the lift angle (θ) (hereinafter “boom angle”). As shown in
As shown in
Further, the controller 11 is connected to a display 12 installed in the driver's cabin 14. The display 12 is provided with a load weight display section 21 that shows the load weight (W) in the bucket 4 and a cumulative load weight display section 22 that shows the cumulative weight that has been loaded to date. In addition, the controller 11 is connected to a printer 13 that prints out the load weight and cumulative load weight in accordance with the instruction from a print switch 20. Also, a lever 23 and a buzzer 17 are electrically connected to the controller 11. The lever 23 is provided in the driver's cabin 14 and is operated by the operator of the wheel loader 1 (hereinafter “operator”) to move the boom 2 and the bucket 4. In addition, the buzzer 17 is provided in the driver's cabin 14 and buzzes to warn the operator when the load weight loaded in the bucket 4 is an overload.
Next,
As shown in
As shown in
The angular speed calculation section 60 repeatedly inputs the boom angle (θ) several times at a fixed interval during operation of the boom 2 and calculates the angular speed of the boom 2 (ω) at the time of each input (hereinafter “boom angular speed”). Here, the boom angular speed (ω) is the rotational speed per unit time of the boom 2.
The pressure correction section 61 repeatedly inputs the boom cylinder pressure value (P) detected from the afore-mentioned head pressure detection device 8 and the bottom pressure detection device 9 at a fixed interval during operation of the boom 2 while also inputting the boom angular speed (ω) at the time of each input calculated by the angular speed detection section 60. Next, the pressure correction section 61 refers to the speed correction table 64 based on the boom cylinder pressure value (P) and the boom angular speed (ω) at the time of each input and calculates a correlation factor (α) in accordance with the combination of the boom cylinder pressure value (P) and the boom angular speed (ω). In the afore-mentioned speed correction table 64 is recorded the various correction factors (α) corresponding to the boom cylinder pressure value (P) and boom angular speed (ω) values. This correction factor (α) value is a value included in the boom cylinder pressure value (P), used to correct the error factors that change in accordance with the boom angular speed (ω), such as friction for example. Then, the pressure correction section 61 utilizes the calculated correction factor (α), boom cylinder pressure value (P), and the boom angular speed (ω) to calculate the speed corrected pressure value (hereinafter “corrected pressure value”) (P′) in accordance, for example, with the formula “P′=P−αω.”
The load weight calculation section 62 enters the corrected pressure value (P′) and the boom angle (θ) at the time of each input for each of the afore-mentioned set intervals, refers to the load weight calculation table 63, and calculates the load weight (W) corresponding to the corrected pressure value (P′) and boom angle (θ) combination. In addition, the afore-mentioned load weight calculation table 63 records the correlation among various corrected pressure values (P′), the boom angle (θ), and the load weight (W). Based on the numerical values recorded in the afore-mentioned load weight calculation table 63, the load weight (W) corresponding to the corrected pressure value (P′) and boom angle (θ) combination is calculated at the time of each input, and then the most accurate load weight (W) is calculated based on load weight (W) at a plurality of inputs.
Next, the load weight calculation table 63 and speed correction table 64 are explained.
As shown in
As shown in
Next,
As shown in
The afore-mentioned Steps 1 (S1) to Step 6 (S6) are repeatedly executed a plurality of times at a constant interval using a repeat loop (L1). This is used to calculate the load weight (W) at a plurality of points during the movement of the boom 2. Also, the controller 11 averages the load weight (W) at a plurality of points to obtain the most accurate load weight (W) value (S7), and stores this in the data storage section 31, displays it on the display 12, and, further, checks if this value exceeds the overload value, and if it does, sounds the buzzer 17 to warn the operator (S8).
Next,
As shown in
Then, the controller 11 repeats the same process as Step 1 (S1) to Step 6 (S6) shown in
In addition, in the afore-mentioned Step 12 (S12), when no-load calibration was not selected, the controller waits in the meantime for the operator to use the keyboard 30 to specify the load weight (S16). Here, the load weight that can be specified is either the intermediate rated load, the maximum rated load, or the overload recorded in the load weight calculation table 63. Together with this, the operator loads a load having the exact same weight as the afore-mentioned specified weight into the bucket 4. Then, after the afore-mentioned load has been loaded, the controller 11 moves the boom 2 through the entire variable range of the boom angle (θ) (S17). Then, the controller 11 repeatedly conducts the same process as for Steps 1 (S1) to Step 6 (S6) as shown in
As explained above, according to this embodiment, occasionally executing this calibration eliminates the error factors due to changes in the weight of the lifting unit resulting from wearing, damage, corrosion, etc., of the bucket, bucket attachment/removal teeth, bucket pin, boom pin, etc., to make measurement with good accuracy possible.
In addition, the data acquired from the calibration during calibration of the load weight calculation table is not used to update the load weight calculation table but rather the average value of the data acquired from the calibration and the existing data of the load weight calculation table is obtained and this average value is used to update the load weight calculation table so that in the event the data received from the calibration is not a correct value, the effect of this error will not be 100%.
Embodiments of the present invention were explained above, but these embodiments are merely examples used to explain the present invention and these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The present invention can perform a variety of other embodiments without deviating from this summary.
For example, the afore-mentioned embodiments only perform calibration on the load weight calculation table, but calibration can also be performed on the speed correction table.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-072360 | Mar 2005 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2006/304607 | 1/10/2006 | WO | 00 | 8/30/2007 |