Patent Grant
8899035
The present invention relates to a hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine which controls the discharge flow rate from a hydraulic pump by means of a negative control pressure in a center bypass in an open center hydraulic circuit.
In conventional work machines, e.g., hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders, provided with an open center hydraulic circuit, the discharge flow rate from a hydraulic pump is controlled by means of the working hydraulic pressure in a center bypass. For example, Patent Reference 1 discloses a hydraulic circuit structure having an orifice (choke) provided in a center bypass, in which a negative control passage led from the upstream side of the orifice is communicating with a regulator control valve.
In this technique, the regulator control valve is controlled such that the discharge flow rate from a hydraulic pump is increased as the working hydraulic pressure in the negative control passage (i.e., the negative control pressure) decreases. It is considered that this construction can minimize the discharge flow rate from the hydraulic pump by introducing a higher negative control pressure to the regulator control valve when a hydraulic N cylinder or hydraulic motor on the circuit is not being operated (i.e., the lever is in the neutral position in the absence of any operation) or the magnitude of an operation (manipulated variable), if any, is very small. Such controls on the discharge flow rate from the hydraulic pump by means of the differential pressure of the orifice on the center bypass are generally referred to as “negative controls”.
The choking characteristic of an orifice used for negative controls is set, based on the pump characteristic for the discharge flow rate from the hydraulic pump when the work machine is in normal operation, i.e., while the engine is rotating at the rated engine speed. For example, the pump characteristic is set such that the discharge flow rate Q is increased as the negative control pressure Pn decreases and such that the discharge flow rate Q is reduced as the negative control pressure Pn increases, as indicated in the solid line in
In this example, the pump characteristic at the rated engine speed is set such that the discharge flow rate Q is set to a first flow rate Q1 when the negative control pressure Pn is a first pressure P1 or greater, whereas the discharge flow rate Q is set to a second flow rate Q2 (Q2>Q1) when the negative control pressure Pn is smaller than a second pressure P2. In addition, in the range in which the negative control pressure Pn satisfies P2<=Pn<P1, the discharge flow rate Q is reduced in proportion to an increase in the negative control pressure Pn.
For such a pump characteristic, the choking characteristic of the orifice is set such that a negative control pressure that minimizes the discharge flow rate Q from the hydraulic pump is generated when the lever is in the neutral position. For example, as indicated in the broken line in
Patent Reference 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-271806
However, the pump characteristic for such a discharge flow rate Q of the hydraulic pump cannot be applied to cases in which the actual engine speed is lower than the rated engine speed, since this pump characteristic is defined for the rated engine speed. More specifically, when the engine speed decreases, the pump discharge flow rate is reduced in proportion to the decreased in the engine speed. As a result, as indicated in the dot-dash line in
Accordingly, the negative control pressure when the lever is in the neutral position is the pressure Pn2 corresponding to the point of intersection B, which is the point of intersection of the dot-dash line and the broken line
In addition, if the minimum discharge flow rate Q3 of the hydraulic pump at an engine speed below the rated engine speed is smaller than the flow rate Qs of the orifice at the first pressure P1 (i.e., the flow rate corresponding to the point C), the pump flow rate Qr corresponding to the point of intersection B becomes greater than the minimum discharge flow rate Q3. In other words, the extra hydraulic fluid of pump flow rate Qr exceeding the minimum discharge flow rate Q3 is wastefully disposed to the hydraulic fluid tank, which deteriorates the efficiency. In such a case, since the hydraulic pump discharges the hydraulic fluid in an amount much greater than the minimum-required discharge flow rate Q3, pressure loss occurs and the actual discharge pressure becomes lower than the expected discharge pressure.
As described above, conventional negative controls have a problem that the minimum pump discharge flow rate cannot be obtained when engine speed falls below the rated engine speed. This problem may deteriorate the fuel efficiency.
The present invention is conceived in view of the above problem, and it is an object thereof to provide a hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine that maintains the discharge flow rate from a hydraulic pump to the lowest flow rate when the lever is in the neutral position, irrespective of the engine speed, to reduce the output, thereby improving the fuel consumption.
In order to achieve the above object, a hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine of the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that the apparatus includes an engine that provides a driving source for the work machine; a hydraulic pump that is provided on an open center hydraulic circuit and is driven by the engine; a hydraulic actuator that is interposed on the hydraulic circuit and is operated responsive to a hydraulic fluid provided by the hydraulic pump; a negative control circuit that directs a hydraulic pressure in a center bypass in the hydraulic circuit to the hydraulic pump, as a negative control pressure; an idling detection device that detects whether the hydraulic actuator is a non-operated state or not; and a negative control pressure control device that controls the negative control pressure to an arbitrary value, wherein the hydraulic pump has a pump characteristic for minimizing a discharge flow rate of the hydraulic pump when the negative control pressure is equal to or greater than a first predetermined pressure, and the negative control pressure control device forcefully controls the negative control pressure to the first predetermined pressure or higher when the non-operating state of the hydraulic actuator is detected by the idling detection device.
In addition, a hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine of the present invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in addition to the structure according to claim 1, a pressure switch that outputs an ON or OFF signal in accordance with a presence or absence of an operational input to an operation lever related to the hydraulic actuator, wherein the idling detection device detects the non-operating state when the OFF signal is received from the pressure switch.
In addition, a hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine of the present invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that, in addition to the structure according to claim 2, the idling detection device detects the non-operating state when the OFF signal is continuously received from the pressure switch for a predetermined time period.
In other words, a non-operating state of the hydraulic actuator is detected when the idling detection device, i.e., an automatic deceleration function of the engine is activated.
In addition, a hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine of the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in addition to the structure according to any one of claims 1-3, a hydraulic lock device that locks an operation of a control valve related to the hydraulic actuator, wherein the idling detection device detects the non-operating state when the hydraulic lock device is activated.
According to the hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine of the present invention (claim 1), since the minimum value of the negative control pressure is forcefully controlled to the first predetermined pressure or higher while the hydraulic actuator is in an non-operating state, a higher negative control pressure is maintained, irrespective of the engine speed, thereby maintaining the minimum discharge flow rate from the hydraulic pump. This can help to improve the fuel efficiency.
In addition, according to the hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine of the present invention (claim 2), the non-operating state can be reliably detected with a simplified structure, by checking presence or absence of any operational input to the operation lever.
In addition, according to the hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine of the present invention (claim 3), by adding a time constraint to a condition for determining the non-operating state, the control is prevented from being repeatedly performed in a short period of time, which can stabilize the control.
In addition, according to the hydraulic control apparatus for a work machine of the present invention (claim 4), the non-operating state can be detected more reliably by checking an operation of the hydraulic lock device. Furthermore, the non-operating state is determined only when an operator activates the hydraulic lock device, which helps to improve the feeling of operation.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the prevent invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1. Construction
The present invention is applied to an open center hydraulic circuit 10 of a hydraulic excavator, which is schematically illustrated in
A hydraulic pump 2 is driven by an engine 1 for discharging hydraulic fluid stored in a hydraulic fluid tank 11 to the hydraulic circuit 10. The hydraulic fluid is supplied from the hydraulic pump 2 to the hydraulic cylinder 3 via a control valve 8. Furthermore, the hydraulic pump 2 is provided with a regulator 2a for controlling the discharge flow rate of the hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic pump 2. The speed of the engine can be arbitrally set by an operator using an accelerator dial 16. For example, when the accelerator dial 16 is set to Position One, is the engine 1 is controlled such that the slowest engine speed (1000 rpm) is maintained. In addition, when the accelerator dial 16 is set to Position Ten, the engine 1 is controlled such that the fastest engine speed (2000 rpm) is maintained. In this manner, the engine speed is set in a stepwise manner in accordance with the position of the accelerator dial 16.
Note that the output of this engine 1 (in a unit of horsepower) is increased as the number of the position of the accelerator dial 16 increases. Accordingly, the maximum position of the accelerator dial 16, that is Position Ten, provides the highest engine output. The output of the hydraulic pump 2 (in a unit of horsepower) is also set in accordance with the engine output.
The control valve 8 is configured as a control valve that variably controls the distribution direction and the flow rate of the hydraulic fluid by switching between the multiple positions of the spool (flow rate control stems). Furthermore, operational pilot lines 14 are connected to the respective ends of the spool of the control valve 8.
The operational pilot lines 14 are connected to a remote control valve 13 that opens or closes in accordance with the magnitude of the operation of an operation lever 13 for directing the pilot pressure corresponding to that magnitude of the operation to the spool. Here, two operational pilot lines 14 are provided for responding to operations of the operation lever 13 towards each of the two directions. Thus, if the operation lever 13 is operated to either of the two directions, the spool of the control valve 8 is vertically (vertically as illustrated in
In addition, a shuttle valve 7a is interposed between operational pilot lines 14, in parallel to the control valve 8. The shuttle valve 7a functions to select the one of the two operational pilot lines 14 having a higher pressure. The selected pilot pressure is introduced to a pressure switch 7.
The pressure switch 7 is a switch that outputs an ON signal only when a pilot pressure higher than the pressure in the neutral position of lever (when the lever is not being operated) is entered. Since the pressure introduced from the shuttle valve 7a is not dependent on the direction to which the is operation lever 13 is operated, the pressure switch 7 outputs an ON signal in response to any operational input to the operation lever 13. In contrast, the pressure switch 7 outputs an OFF signal when the operation lever 13 is in the neutral position. Such an ON or OFF signal is sent to a controller 5, which will be described later.
On a center bypass 15 that is a return path of the hydraulic fluid discharged by the hydraulic pump 2 when the operation lever 13 is in the neutral position, an orifice 9 and a negative control relief valve 17 are disposed in parallel to each other. In addition, a negative control circuit 4 is provided on a branch from the center bypass 15 on the upstream side of the orifice 9 and the negative control relief valve 17 (closer to the control valve 8).
The negative control circuit 4 is a circuit for negative controls on regulator 2a for the hydraulic pump 2. The term “negative controls” refers to controls for maintaining the output from the hydraulic pump 2 to substantially constant by decreasing or increasing the discharge flow rate of the hydraulic pump 2 in response to any increase or decrease in the working hydraulic pressure of the negative control circuit 4. As used herein, the working hydraulic pressure that is being introduced to the regulator 2a via the negative control circuit 4 is referred to as a “negative control pressure”.
Both the orifice 9 and the negative control relief valve 17 are valves for generating a negative control pressure. The negative control relief valve 17 functions as a safety valve to confine the working hydraulic pressure in the center bypass 15 within a range of a preset upper limit or lower. The orifice 9 is a choke valve that limits the flow rate of the hydraulic fluid discharged from the center bypass 15 to the hydraulic fluid tank 11.
The negative control pressure Pn generated by the orifice 9 and the negative control relief valve 17 is correlated with the flow rate Q of the hydraulic fluid of in the center bypass 15, as indicated in the broken line in
(where ρ represents the density of the hydraulic fluid, C represents the flow rate coefficient, A represents the opening area, and Pt represents the tank pressure)
The relationship between the negative control pressure Pn to be introduced to the regulator 2a and the discharge flow rate from the hydraulic pump 2 controlled by this negative control pressure Pn is superimposed in
The solid line in
The pump characteristic when the accelerator dial 16 is set to Position Ten is set such that the discharge flow rate Q is set to a first flow rate Q1 when the negative control pressure Pn is a first pressure P1 (first predetermined pressure) or greater, whereas the discharge flow rate Q is set to a second flow rate Q2 (Q2>Q1) when the negative control pressure Pn is smaller than a second pressure P2. In addition, in the range in which the negative control pressure Pn satisfies P1<=Pn<P2, the discharge flow rate Q is reduced in proportion to an increase in the negative control pressure Pn.
Furthermore, the pump characteristic when the accelerator dial 16 is set to Position One is such that the overall flow rate Q becomes smaller as compared with when the accelerator dial 16 is set to Position Ten. In general, the discharge flow rate Qr can be represented in the following Equation 2, where Qp is the discharge flow rate of the engine 1 at the rated engine speed and N is the actual engine speed of the engine 1:
Therefore, the flow rate Q is reduced to half when the accelerator dial 16 is changed from Position Ten (rated engine speed of 2000 rpm) to Position One (1000 rpm).
The broken line in
2. Control of Negative Control Pressure
An NFC (negative flow control) valve 6 is interposed on the negative control circuit 4. The NFC valve 6 functions as a negative control pressure control device to forcefully increase the negative control pressure Pn in the non-activated state, and is configured to include a shuttle valve 6a for selecting a higher pressure and a solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b. The solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b is used to direct the hydraulic fluid supplied from a pilot pump 12 to the negative control circuit 4, and is opened or closed under the control of the controller 5.
Here, the ratio of valve opening of the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b is set such that the hydraulic pressure on the downstream side becomes a predetermined pressure Pc (Pc>=P1) when the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b is turned on (is excited). Thereby, the negative control pressure Pn introduced to the regulator 2a is forcefully maintained to a predetermined pressure Pc, irrespective of the value of the actual upstream pressure of the orifice 9. In this embodiment, the predetermined pressure is set to be smaller than the pressure Pn1 corresponding to the point of intersection A in
As illustrated in
The controller 5 (idling detection device) is an electronic control apparatus constructed by a microcomputer, and is provided as an LSI device having a well-known microprocessor, an ROM, an RAM, and the like, integrated on that LSI. The controller 5 has a function as a detection device which detects whether the hydraulic cylinder 3 is a non-operated state or not. More specifically, the controller 5 controls the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b to be excited when an OFF signal is entered from the pressure switch 7. On the other hand. The controller 5 controls the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b not to be excited when an ON signal is entered from the pressure switch 7.
3. Applications and Effects
When an operational input is made on the operation lever 13 in a hydraulic excavator having the accelerator dial 16 that is set to Position Ten, a pilot pressure is generated on the pilot line 14 in accordance with the magnitude of the operation, for controlling the control valve 8. The working hydraulic pressure of the center bypass 15 is reduced as the magnitude of the operation of the operation lever 13 is increased. On the other hand, since the controller 5 controls the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b not to be excited in this case, the working hydraulic pressure on the side of the center bypass 15 is selected at the shuttle valve 6a. As a result, the negative control pressure Pn introduced to the regulator 2a via the negative control circuit 4 is reduced, thereby increasing the flow rate of the hydraulic fluid discharged from the hydraulic pump 2.
Subsequently, when there is no operational input to the operation lever 13, the negative control pressure Pn as the upstream pressure of the orifice 9 becomes the pressure Pn1. On the other hands, the controller 5 controls the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b to be excited, thereby generating a predetermined pressure Pc on the downstream side of the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b. In this case, since the working hydraulic pressure Pn1 on the side of the center bypass 15 is higher than the working hydraulic pressure Pc on the side of the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b at the shuttle valve 6a, the working hydraulic pressure Pn1 on the side of the center bypass 15 is introduced to the regulator 2a.
Furthermore, when the accelerator dial 16 is changed from Position Ten to Position One, the flow rate of the hydraulic fluid Q in the center bypass 15 is reduced, which reduces the working hydraulic pressure on the side of the center bypass 15 at the shuttle valve 6a. In other words, the pressure decreases along the broken line in
As described above, according to this hydraulic control circuit, since the minimum value of the negative control pressure Pn is forcefully controlled to the predetermined pressure Pc in the absence of any operational input to the operation lever 13, a higher negative control pressure Pn is maintained, irrespective of the engine speed, which can minimize the discharge flow rate Q from the hydraulic pump 2. This can help to reduce hydraulic energy loss during idle operation (when no operation is being made), thereby improving the efficiency of the energy consumption.
In addition, a neutral state of the operation lever 13 can be detected with a simplified structure, which can reliably detect non-operating state of the hydraulic cylinder 3.
4. Miscellaneous
Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, while the trigger for the controller 5 to activate the solenoid proportional pressure reduction valve 6b is an OFF signal being entered from the pressure switch 7 in the above-described embodiment, another trigger may be used in addition to, or in place of OFF signals. Examples of such a trigger for initiating controls are listed below:
As mentioned above, by adding a time constraint to conditions for determining that the hydraulic cylinder 3 is in a non-operating state, the control is prevented from being repeatedly performed in a short period of time, which can stabilize the control. Note that a non-operating state of the hydraulic actuator may be detected when an automatic deceleration function of the engine is activated.
In addition, a non-operating state can be detected more reliably by checking the operation state of a hydraulic lock lever (hydraulic lock device) for locking the spool of the control valve 8. In this case, the non-operating state is determined only when an operator activates the hydraulic lock device 20, which helps to improve the feeling of operation.
In addition, while the above-described embodiment has been described with reference to a hydraulically operated operation lever 13, the present invention can also be applied to electrically operated levers. If an electrically operated lever is used, the effects similar to those of the above-described embodiment can be achieved by entering a signal related to the magnitude of the operation output from the lever to the controller 5.
While the predetermined pressure Pc is set to the range of P1<=Pc<=Pn1 in the above-described embodiment, as illustrated in
The present invention is applicable to the manufacturing industries of a wide variety of work machines, such as hydraulic excavators, as well as bulldozer, wheel loaders, hydraulic cranes.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-204340 | Sep 2009 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2010/063870 | 8/17/2010 | WO | 00 | 10/21/2011 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011/027668 | 3/10/2011 | WO | A |
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| 5421155 | Hirata et al. | Jun 1995 | A |
| 5758499 | Sugiyama et al. | Jun 1998 | A |
| 6526747 | Nakatani et al. | Mar 2003 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country |
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| 63-88303 | Apr 1988 | JP |
| 4-130361 | Nov 1992 | JP |
| 7-13605 | Jan 1995 | JP |
| 2001-271806 | Oct 2001 | JP |
| 2003-184810 | Jul 2003 | JP |
| 2003-293400 | Oct 2003 | JP |
| 2004-116347 | Apr 2004 | JP |
| 2007-70913 | Mar 2007 | JP |
| 2009-121586 | Jun 2009 | JP |
| Entry |
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| European Search Report mailed Jul. 18, 2013 for corresponding European Patent Application No. 10813619.3. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120036845 A1 | Feb 2012 | US |
