Patent Grant
7946114
The invention relates to a hydraulic control system for providing at least one hydraulic consumer with a pressure medium.
Such control arrangements described, for instance, in DE 199 30 618 A1 comprise a variable-displacement pump or a constant-displacement pump including a bypass pressure regulator which are controlled in response to the maximum load pressure of the operated hydraulic consumers such that the pump pressure is above the maximum load pressure by a predetermined pressure difference. The pressure medium flows towards the hydraulic consumers via adjustable metering ports which are arranged between a supply line branching off the variable-displacement pump and the hydraulic consumers. It is achieved by pressure regulators allocated to the metering ports that with a sufficiently supplied quantity of pressure medium a predetermined pressure difference is formed at the metering ports independently of the load pressures of the hydraulic consumers so that the quantity of pressure medium flowing towards the respective consumer is only dependent on the opening cross-section of the respective metering port. The pump regulator of the variable-displacement pump or the bypass pressure regulator of the constant-displacement pump is adjusted such that it supplies the required quantity of pressure medium—this is referred to as demand-responsive flow regulation.
In the case of LUDV (load-pressure independent flow distribution) systems the individual pressure regulator allocated to the metering port is usually controlled in the closing direction by the maximum load pressure of the hydraulic consumers and in the opening direction by the pressure downstream of the metering port. If in the case of a simultaneous operation of plural hydraulic consumers the metering ports are opened so far that the quantity of pressure medium supplied by the pump is smaller than the demand-responsive quantity, the quantities of pressure medium flowing towards the individual hydraulic consumers are reduced at equal ratios independently of the respective load pressure of the hydraulic consumers. Such a LUDV control represents a special case of a LS control. It is referred to a mere LS control, when in the closing direction the pressure upstream of the metering port and in the opening direction the pressure downstream of the metering port is applied to the individual pressure regulator, wherein, when the metering port is arranged downstream of the pressure regulator, said pressure then corresponds to the individual load pressure; if plural hydraulic consumers are operated simultaneously and the quantity of pressure medium supplied from the variable-displacement pump is not sufficient, only the quantity of pressure medium flowing towards the hydraulic consumer having the maximum load pressure is reduced. In the known solution a LS line conveying the highest load pressure is connected to the tank via a current control valve.
Such hydraulic control systems are employed, for instance, for the supply of the consumers of construction machines, e.g. a slewing mechanism, a boom, a shovel bucket or a dipper arm of a mobile working machine. In such working machines the pump is frequently operated by an internal combustion engine, said pump being allocated to all consumers. The size of the pump is designed to correspond to the engine power available, the individual movements of the consumers being tuned to each other to a great extent in respect of a good controllability. In some cases, for instance when operating the slewing mechanism, the entire pump volume flow is required for one single movement. Accordingly, the maximum opening cross-section of the metering port must be designed to be adapted to this quantity of pressure medium.
If the opening cross-section of the metering port is designed for the entire pump quantity at maximum engine speed, the control range of the slide valve is not completely exploited at a reduced or minimum engine speed. For such a quantity of pressure medium the metering port has to be opened merely to a part of the maximum opening cross-section so that only a partial stroke of the metering port is available for the control of this quantity of pressure medium. Accordingly, the resolution of the metering port is comparatively small so that frequently the accuracy of the consumer movement at low velocity does not meet the requirements.
In the publications DE 100 06 659 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,051, U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,875 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,800 LS control systems are described in which the consumers are supplied with pressure medium via a variable-displacement pump whose pump capacity can be adjusted in response to the maximum load pressure. In these known solutions an additional power can be electronically applied to the pump regulator of the variable-displacement pump so that the pressure drop controlled by the pump regulator is reduced and the pressure medium volume flow supplied by the variable-displacement pump is appropriately varied. This electronic adjustment by means of a solenoid is only suited for the pump regulator of a variable-displacement pump, however, because the greater forces required for the bypass pressure regulator of a constant-displacement pump can hardly be dominated by a solenoid. Moreover, for the control of the required proportional magnet a complicated electronic system is necessary which is not provided in many machines.
In LS systems furthermore the engine speed of the pump drive has only little influence on the speed of the consumers, because the volume flow towards the consumer is restricted by the metering port of the allocated control slide valve in the case of the pressure drop controlled by the pressure regulator.
The object underlying the invention is to provide a hydraulic control system by which a sufficiently exact control of a consumer is made possible even with a low pump capacity of a variable-displacement pump or a constant-displacement pump.
This object is achieved by a control system comprising the features of claim 1.
The control system according to the invention comprises a pump arrangement controllable in response to the load pressure of a consumer and a metering port for adjusting the pressure medium volume flow rate towards the consumer. The load pressure is tapped off via a LS line connected to a pressure medium sink, for instance a tank, by means of a current regulator. In the solution according to the invention the current regulator can be adjusted in response to the pump capacity, preferably to the pump rate. Thus a volume flow dependent on the pump capacity or pump rate flows off the load reporting line. Said volume flow rate is increased with a decreasing speed so that, due to the pressure drop in the load reporting line, a lower pressure is reported to the pump and the latter is appropriately adjusted. The pressure drop above the metering port and thus the pressure medium volume flow rate flowing above the metering port is reduced so that the metering port has to be further opened and the control range of the metering port is better exploited.
This concept according to the invention can be used in LUDV systems as well as in said LS systems (Δp applied to the pressure regulator via the metering port) and in control systems in which merely one consumer is controlled via a metering port (without pressure regulator).
In LUDV systems a LUDV pressure regulator is provided having an orifice by which then a constant larger pressure gradient is generated when controlling the current regulator to open, whereby—as described above—the pressure drop at the metering port is reduced. In LS systems such orifice is not necessary.
According to the invention, it is preferred when the current regulator is driven in response to the engine speed of a pump drive. Said engine is an internal combustion engine in a preferred embodiment.
In an especially preferred embodiment in the LS line downstream of the current regulator an additional nozzle is disposed via which the above-described pressure drop can be generated which then results in reducing the volume flow rate via the metering port. This additional port permits to control plural consumers of a control system in a more sensitive manner. Without said additional nozzle, on the other hand, only the consumer having the highest load pressure can be controlled more sensitively, because only in case of the latter the fully opened individual pressure regulator thereof does not influence the pressure downstream of the metering port, because said pressure corresponds to the highest load pressure or the pressure adjusted in the LS line. If the pump pressure varies, then also the pressure difference above the metering port varies. In the consumers having a lower load pressure, however, the individual pressure regulators downstream of the metering ports adjust the lower pressure prevailing in the LS line. Accordingly, in the lower load consumers the pressure is varied upstream and downstream of the metering ports to the same extent, when the current regulator is adjusted—the pressure difference above said metering ports of the lower load consumers then remains equal.
In a variant of the invention, the pressure prevailing in the LS line is restricted via a LS pressure-limiting valve. The latter can be arranged either downstream or upstream of the current regulator. A LS pressure-limiting valve arranged downstream of the additional nozzle limits the pressure reported to the pump. In the LS line upstream of said additional nozzle and thus at the rear sides of all individual pressure regulators a somewhat higher pressure is then prevailing which is controlled by the individual pressure regulators downstream of the metering port. The pump, on the other hand, exceeds the lower pressure predetermined by the pressure-limiting valve only by the standard Δp. Thus the pressure difference above all metering ports becomes smaller—in some cases even zero. It is possible that not only the consumer provided at the stop but all consumers are stopped.
In the case in which the LS pressure-limiting valve is connected to the LS line upstream of the additional nozzle, the LS pressure-limiting valve limits the pressure at the rear sides of the individual pressure regulators. The pump pressure is higher by a predetermined value than the pressure at the rear sides of the individual pressure regulators by the additional nozzle, the adjustment of the current regulator and the adjustment of the pump regulator or the bypass pressure regulator (constant-displacement pump) so that the pressure difference above the metering ports of the lower load consumers is maintained, even if a consumer abuts against a stop.
The control system according to the invention is employed in an especially advantageous manner in a construction machine, for instance an excavator, wherein a slewing mechanism is to be displaced at a comparatively low velocity.
Other advantageous further developments of the invention are the subject matter of further subclaims.
Hereinafter a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in detail by way of schematic drawings, in which
In
Via the constant-displacement pump 12 pressure medium is sucked from a tank T and is conveyed via a supply line 30 to a port P of the mobile control block. A supply passage 36 by which the consumers 2, 4, 6, 8 can be supplied with pressure medium in the manner described in detail hereinafter is connected to said port P. The maximum load pressure limited by the LS pressure regulator 32 is applied to a LS passage 38 connected to a LS port of the mobile control block 10. A LS tank line 40 in which an adjustable current regulator 42 is disposed is connected to the LS port. Said current regulator 42 is adjusted via the throttle control cable 20 in such a way that when the speed of the engine 14 is reduced the opening of the current regulator 42 is enlarged. Thus, via said current regulator 42 a comparatively small control oil volume flow continuously drains towards the tank T.
The pressure medium draining from the consumers 2, 4, 6, 8 is returned to the tank T via a tank passage 44, a tank port T and a tank line 46. Further details of the circuit are shown by way of the enlarged representation in
Accordingly, the bypass pressure regulator 30 is arranged in a bypass passage 48 through which the supply passage 36 is connected to the tank passage 44. In the closing direction the force of a spring and the pressure prevailing in the LS passage 38, which is tapped off via a LS control passage 50, are applied to the bypass pressure regulator 30. The pressure prevailing at the input of the bypass pressure regulator 30, i.e. the pressure in the supply line 36, acts in the opening direction. The spring of the bypass pressure regulator is selected such that in the supply line 36 a pressure is adjusted which is above the load pressure in the LS passage 38 by a pump Δp (for instance 10 bar).
The pressure prevailing in the LS passage 38 is limited to a maximum value via the LS pressure-limiting valve 32. To this effect, the adjustable force of a spring is applied to the LS pressure-limiting valve 32 in the closing direction, the pressure prevailing at the input of the LS pressure-limiting valve 32 which is connected to the LS passage 38 via a passage 52 acts in the opening direction.
The LUDV valve arrangements allocated to a respective consumer 2, 4, 6, 8—reference numeral 22 in FIG. 2—substantially consist of a continuously variable directional control valve 54 and a LUDV pressure regulator 56. In the directional control valve 54 a directional portion 58 and a velocity portion having a variable metering port 60 are formed which are constituted by the same control slide valve. When such directional control valve 54 is displaced from its spring-biased home position into one of its two lateral working positions (a), (b), pressure medium fed from the supply passage 36 flows from a supply chamber 62 via the metering port 60 into an intermediate chamber 64, from there via an opening cross-section of the LUDV pressure regulator 56 into a second intermediate chamber 66 and then via the directional portion 54 into a consumer chamber 68 or 70 and from there via an advance passage 72 and a return passage 74 to two working ports A, B of the directional control valve section. The working port A is then connected via a supply line 76 to a bottom-side cylinder chamber 78 and the working port B is connected via a return line 80 to an annular chamber of the consumer 8, i.e. to the lift cylinder operating the boom. A control piston of the LUDV pressure regulator 56 is designed such that, when said pressure regulator 56 is completely opened, it provides a throttled connection between the intermediate chamber 64 and the LS passage 38. This is the case when the allocated hydraulic consumer is solely operated or when, upon a simultaneous operation of plural hydraulic consumers, the hydraulic consumer allocated to the LUDV pressure regulator 56 has the highest load pressure. The control piston of the LUDV pressure regulator 56 is provided with an orifice 84 via which the line portion connected to the intermediate chamber 64 is connected to a rear chamber 86 of the LUDV pressure regulator 56 connected to the LS passage 38 by a reporting passage 88. Accordingly, in the closing direction the pressure prevailing in the LS pressure passage 38, as a rule the highest load pressure, and in the opening direction the pressure prevailing in the intermediate chamber 64 are applied to the control piston of the LUDV pressure regulator 56. As described in the beginning, via said LUDV valve arrangement 22 comprising the metering port 60 and the LUDV pressure regulator 84 arranged downstream thereof the pressure drop above the metering port 60 is kept constant independently of the load pressure. As regards the further function, to simplify matters it is referred to DE 199 30 618 A1.
The metering port 90 includes an orifice bore 100 formed by a radially stepped back portion of a housing bore 102 closed on one side. The opening cross-section of the orifice bore 100 can be varied by means of a metering port slide valve 104 which is guided to be rotatable and sealed in a vertical bore 106 of the housing 94. The end portion 108 of the metering port slide valve overhead in
The pressure regulator 92 includes a pressure regulator piston 110 which is biased via a pressure regulator spring 112 against a stop screw 113 screwed into a pressure regulator bore 114. In
It is assumed that a consumer, for instance the slewing mechanism 2, is to be displaced at a comparatively low velocity and that the highest load pressure is applied to the slewing mechanism 2 or that only the slewing mechanism 92 is driven. In accordance with the LUDV principle, the LUDV pressure regulator 56 of the LUDV valve arrangement 22 (slewing mechanism 2) is then completely opened—in the load reporting passage 38 then the respective load pressure of the slewing mechanism 2 is provided. In a conventional control system comprising a current regulator whose volume flow is not adjustable, the constant-displacement pump 12 would rotate at a comparatively low velocity only due to the little slewing of the actuating lever 16 and, accordingly, only a small pressure medium volume flow would flow via the metering port 60 and the completely opened LUDV pressure regulator 56 towards the slewing mechanism 2 and from there would drain via the directional control valve 54 and the tank passage 44 towards the tank T. The control range of the valve slide of the directional control valve 54 would not be completely exploited—as described in the beginning. This is prevented according to the invention by the fact that the current regulator 42 is adjusted in response to the adjustment of the actuating lever 16 via the throttle control cable 20 such that the control oil volume flow rate is increased via the current regulator 42. Said control oil volume flow rate generates a pressure gradient above the orifice 84 of the LUDV pressure regulator so that a respective lower load pressure is reported to the bypass pressure regulator 30. Since the pump pressure continuously is above the reported pressure by the standard Δp, the pressure drop at the metering port is correspondingly varied upon the adjustment of the current regulator 42. The pressure medium volume flow rate flowing above the metering port 60 is reduced due to the small pressure difference and the driver has to readjust the metering port 60 via the not represented pilot device so that the consumer is moved at the desired low velocity—the control range of the slide valve of the directional control valve 54 is thus exploited by far better than in the prior art described in the beginning.
In the case in which, apart from the slewing mechanism 2, further consumers having a lower load pressure are controlled, the pressure difference at the metering ports allocated to said consumers remains constant—as illustrated in detail in the beginning, because downstream of the metering ports likewise the lower pressure is adjusted. Consequently, the adjustment of the current regulator 42 has no impact on the consumers having a lower load pressure in the embodiment shown in
It is assumed that plural consumers are driven and one of said consumers abuts against a stop. Then the LS pressure-limiting valve 32 opens the connection to the tank passage 44 when the preset maximum load pressure is exceeded and thus the pressure upstream of the nozzle 118 is limited. Said limited pressure is prevailing in the rear chambers 86 of the LUDV pressure regulators 56. The pump pressure is then adjusted corresponding to the pressure drop above the additional nozzle, the adjustment of the current regulator and the standard Δp of the bypass pressure regulator to a higher value than it is applied to the rear sides of the LUDV pressure regulator 56 so that the pressure difference at the metering ports 60 of the lower load consumers is maintained, even if the consumer having the maximum load pressure abuts against a stop.
In the embodiment shown in
In the above-described embodiment the control oil volume flow flowing through the current regulator 42 is returned to the tank T. On principle, however, it is also possible to supply said control oil volume flow to a control circuit and make use of it there so that the losses are reduced.
The afore-described embodiments illustrate LUDV systems. The concept according to the invention can also be employed in LS systems, however. Instead of the constant-displacement pump also a variable-displacement pump including a pump regulator which is adjusted in response to the pressure prevailing in the LS passage 38 can be used.
The invention relates to a hydraulic control system for providing at least one hydraulic consumer with a pressure medium. Said system comprises an LS pump system and a metering port for adjusting the pressure medium volume flow rate towards the consumer. The LS line is connected to a pressure medium sink via a current regulator. According to the invention, the current regulator can be adjusted depending on the pump rate in order to modify the pressure drop at the metering port.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2004 061 555 | Dec 2004 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DE2005/002262 | 12/14/2005 | WO | 00 | 8/29/2006 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2006/066548 | 6/29/2006 | WO | A |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 4938022 | Hirata et al. | Jul 1990 | A |
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| 5085051 | Hirata | Feb 1992 | A |
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| 5481875 | Takamura et al. | Jan 1996 | A |
| 5993168 | Erkkilae et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
| 6560962 | Sawada et al. | May 2003 | B2 |
| 20030200747 | Matsumoto et al. | Oct 2003 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 690 17 700 | Nov 1995 | DE |
| 692 25 951 | Dec 1998 | DE |
| 199 30 618 | Jan 2001 | DE |
| 100 06 659 | Aug 2001 | DE |
| 0 312 130 | Apr 1989 | EP |
| 0 493 596 | Jul 1992 | EP |
| 0 558 765 | Sep 1993 | EP |
| A-05-032457 | Feb 1993 | JP |
| A-08-239685 | Sep 1996 | JP |
| A 2001-193705 | Jul 2001 | JP |
| A-2002-013155 | Jan 2002 | JP |
| WO 9846883 | Oct 1998 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20080053081 A1 | Mar 2008 | US |
