The disclosed technology pertains to a system for automatically controlling speed of a vehicle lift.
Vehicle lifts have varying designs and capabilities, including drive-on or in-ground lifts that lift a parked vehicle by raising the parking surface in order to allow access to the underside of the vehicle, as well as frame-engaging lifts that raise a vehicle by contacting structural lifting points on the underside frame of the vehicle, which allow access to the underside of the vehicle and allow wheels and tires to be removed or serviced.
Lifting vehicles during service can be a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. Technicians must properly position a vehicle relative to the lift and ensure that the lift arms or other lift structure is properly engaging the vehicles lift points prior to lifting the vehicle, which can take several minutes. The time required to lift a vehicle may depend on the particular type of vehicle lift being used and its capabilities and may typically reach 1-2 minutes depending upon the desired lift height. During lifting, a technician must continuously observe the lift, and may also be required to continuously engage a switch, lever, or other lift control.
A technician in a high-volume service environment may lift thirty or more vehicles per day, meaning that a single technician may spend upwards of an hour during the day activating a button or lever and observing a lift in motion. In a service environment with ten vehicle lifts, this may amount to ten or more hours of labor per day. As can be seen, increasing the speed at which a lift can raise a vehicle can provide significant savings of time for a service environment. For example, even a 20% increase in lifting speed may reduce labor costs in a ten-lift operation by about two hours per day, or more than 700 hours per year.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved lift that allows for variable lift speed.
The drawings and detailed description that follow are intended to be merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as contemplated by the inventors.
The inventors have conceived of novel technology that, for the purpose of illustration, is disclosed herein as applied in the context of vehicle lifts. While the disclosed applications of the inventors' technology satisfy a long-felt but unmet need in the art of automatic vehicle lifts, it should be understood that the inventors' technology is not limited to being implemented in the precise manners set forth herein, but it could be implemented in other manners without undue experimentation by those of ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure. Accordingly, the examples set forth herein should be understood as being illustrative only and should not be treated as limiting.
Turning now to the figures,
The lift controller (108) may be one or more of a computer, circuit board, microcontroller, programmable logic controller, mobile device, smart phone, tablet device, proprietary device, or other device having one or more capabilities such as sending, receiving, analyzing, storing, and modifying data, executing programming or other logic instructions, and providing control signals or other control instructions to coupled devices. The variable frequency drive (110) may receive power from an attached power supply and may, based upon its own logic controller, based upon instructions from the lift controller (108), or based upon both, may condition (e.g., by varying one or more of frequency, current, and voltage) and provide power to the motor (112) in order to control the operation of the motor (112).
The motor (112) may be operated based upon one or more of its own logic controller, the lift controller (108), or the variable frequency drive (110), in order to raise and lower the lift structures (102, 106). The motor (112) may be, for example, a 3-phase motor, a single-phase motor, a DC voltage motor, or other type of motor as may be appropriate for a particular lift, service environment, country, or other application. The motor (112) may raise and lower the lift structures (102, 106) by producing mechanical energy that is translated to a lifting motion of the lift structures (102, 106) through a mechanical linkage, hydraulic system, or other system as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure.
While the lift (10) shown in
As an example, a lift system rated to lift a ten-thousand-pound vehicle will have a motor that is configured to raise the lift at a static speed that such a system's motor is capable of for a 10,000-pound vehicle, without exceeding the motor's ability to safely receive electrical energy and transform it into mechanical energy, which might cause the motor to overheat or otherwise be damaged, or may simply exceed the motor's maximum torque. While operating at this static speed is appropriate for a 10,000-pound vehicle, it may result in unnecessarily slow lifting speeds for vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds. For example, if the same lift is used to raise a 5000-pound vehicle, the motor may provide the same static raising speed, while being capable of speeds approximately twice as fast. With many common passenger vehicles being between 2500 and 3500 pounds, it can be seen that highly rated lifts may be producing unnecessarily slow lift speeds for many of the vehicles they are used with.
To improve upon conventional limitations, the lift (10) of
When the vehicle is fully supported by the lift structures (102, 106), one or more components (e.g., the lift controller (108), the variable frequency drive (110)) of the set of control components (101) may determine (208) the potential rising speed based upon feedback to the set of control components (101) produced during lifting of the full weight of the vehicle. This may include, for example, a load signal, load information, or a load measurement (referred to herein as a “load”) indicating an amount of current or power drawn from the power supply while raising (206) the vehicle (initially at the standard speed), a measured weight of the vehicle supported by the lift structures (102, 106), the pressure produced by a hydraulic system raising the vehicle, or other information associated with the load of the vehicle on the lift structures (102, 106), one or more of which may be used to determine the maximum potential speed the motor may operate at without stalling or damaging itself. With the potential raising speed determined (208), the set of lift components (101) may then begin to raise (210) the lift structures (102, 106) at a variable speed, such as the determined (208) potential rising speed or a lesser configured maximum speed (e.g., to prevent movement of the lift at unsafe speeds when there is no load or a very light load).
The set of control components (101) may be configured and arranged in various ways in order to determine (208) the potential raising speed when the vehicle load is supported by the lift structures (102, 106). For example,
During operation of the motor (306) (e.g., as a result of a manual input via a button, lever, or other user device, or as a result of an automated movement), the lift controller (308) will transmit a control signal (e.g., a speed command in hertz) to the variable frequency drive (304) indicating operational characteristics (e.g., torque, power, rotational speed) at which the motor (306) should operate in order to raise the lift structure (310) at the desired rate of speed, which may be, for example, a standard or default speed for the lift such as the weight-rated speed. In response to the signal, the variable frequency drive (304) will draw electrical power from the power supply (302), condition the electrical power for use by the motor (306) to produce the desired raise speed, and provide the electrical power to the motor (306).
The magnitude of electrical power (e.g., in amperes) drawn by the variable frequency device (304) will depend upon the amount of power required to raise the lift structure (310) and any load thereon, which, in normal circumstances (e.g., excluding hardware malfunctions, poor maintenance, high heat, and other exceptional factors as will occur to those skilled in the art) will substantially depend upon the weight of the vehicle or other load being raised. The variable frequency drive (304) may determine the magnitude of electrical power drawn and provide such information via a feedback signal to the lift controller (308), which may adjust the control signal (e.g., a speed command in hertz) being provided to the variable frequency drive (304) in order to increase the amount of electrical power drawn, resulting in an increase in raise speed.
In effect, the control components (300) determine (208) the potential speed by using a feedback loop between the lift controller (308) and the variable frequency drive (304), where the maximum raising speed of the lift structure (310) is determined for a particular vehicle or load based upon drawn electrical power, and then lift the vehicle at (or closer to) that speed. This feedback loop may determine and increase the speed with a single cycle (e.g., the maximum speed may be determined and adjusted to directly from the standard speed) or in multiple cycles (e.g., the speed may be adjusted incrementally over several cycles until a maximum speed, goal speed, or other configured speed is reached).
Other variations exist on the arrangement, configuration, and capabilities of control components that will be suitable for determining (208) the potential speed. As an example,
The control components (301) also include a motor sensor (309) that is coupled to the motor (306) and configured to determine one or more characteristics of the motor's (306) current operation. The motor sensor (309) could be implemented as, for example, one or more of a tachometer monitoring commutation of the motor (306) shaft or other movable component, a hall-effect sensor monitoring electrical outputs of the motor (306) indicative of performance, a back EMF sensor monitoring electrical outputs of the motor (306) indicative of performance, or other sensors configured to measure mechanical, electrical, or other characteristics of the motor (306). Output from the motor sensor (309) may be provided to the lift controller (308) and used (e.g., as part of a continuous or intermittent feedback loop) to produce PWM control signals that will cause the lift to raise at the desired speed (e.g., the variable speed (210)) based upon the determined (208) potential speed. As arranged in
As another example of a variation,
The control components (311) operate similarly to the control components (300) shown in
As another example of a variation on the control components,
A user's interactions with manual control (319) (e.g., such as by the speed control (704)) will cause the manual control (319) to provide control signals to the lift controller (318). The lift controller (318) itself is configured to provide control signals to the motor (316) to cause the motor (316) to draw power from the power supply (312) and operate, and lift controller (318) may be additionally configured to produce and provide those control signals based upon the control signals from the manual control (319). In this manner, a user may manually control the lift speed via the manual control (319) while observing the lift's speed, amp draw, or other detectable characteristics until a desired speed is reached. The control components (315) additionally include a failsafe circuit (317) that may be, for example, a fuse, thermal switch, or other circuit protector configured to prevent a dangerous amount of draw from the power supply (312). When a hazardous condition is detected, the failsafe circuit (317) may, for example, reduce the current lift speed or prevent further increase of the current lift speed, or may disable operation of the lift entirely. The manual control (319) and current sensor (313) may be in wireless or wired communication with each other, and they may be in direct communication or indirect communication (e.g., via the lift controller (318)), as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure.
As another example of a variation on the control components,
When the lift structure (330) supports a load while the lift is raised at a standard speed, the weight sensor (323) determines the weight of the load and provides a signal to the lift controller (328) indicating the weight of the load. The lift controller (328) may use the determined weight of the load to query against or compare to a database or dataset to determine (208) a potential speed for the lift raise operation. Table 1 shows an exemplary correlation table that the lift controller (328) may use to determine potential speed based upon information from the weight sensor (323), which may be usable for a lift with a maximum current draw of 20 amps that is configured to operate at a standard speed suitable for a 10,000-pound vehicle. The first column shows current draw for vehicles of various weights at a standard raising speed, the second column shows vehicle weight associated with that current draw, and the third column shows a max potential speed for a vehicle of that weight expressed as a percentage of the standard speed. It should be understood that the potential speed may be determined (208) in other ways than using a correlation table such as that shown in Table 1, and such variations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the disclosure herein. A correlation table such as that shown in Table 1 may be built or configured manually at the time of lift manufacture or installation, or it may be built in real time using a lift with a control system having, for example, the current sensor (313) and the weight sensor (323), as will be described in more detail below.
As yet another example,
As another example of a set of control components,
When the hydraulic pump (343) operates at a standard raise speed, a pressure sensor of the hydraulic pump (343) may sense a level of hydraulic pressure within the system that is correlated with the weight of the load being carried by the lift structure (350). As with the examples of
As another example of a variation on the control components,
During operation of the control components (351), the motor (346) operates each of the hydraulic pumps (343, 345, 347) to raise the lift structure (350). During such operation, the hydraulic pump (343) will apply a first level of hydraulic flow to the drive cylinder (343) that may correspond to a default lift speed (e.g., the standard speed (206)). Each other hydraulic pump (345, 347) is capable of applying additional flow to the drive cylinder (353) depending upon the configuration of the bypass valves (349).
For example, the lift controller (348) may open each of the bypass valves (349) so that the additive flow from the hydraulic pumps (345, 347) is released (e.g., by routing the pressurized fluid back to a reservoir tank) rather than applying to the drive cylinder (353). This does not apply any additional flow to the drive cylinder (353), but it does maintain or reduce the load placed on the motor (346). Similarly, the lift controller (348) may adjust the bypass valves (349) such that one or both of the hydraulic pumps (345, 347) apply flow to the drive cylinder (353), increasing the load placed on the motor (346) but also increasing the speed at which the lift structure (350) is raised.
In the above configuration, it can be seen that the lift controller (348) is able to drive the drive cylinder (353) with a varying level of hydraulic flow and, depending upon a lifted load, corresponding speed. Varying lift characteristics may be achieved by varying the control signals provided to the motor (346), the bypass valves (349), or both in order to support a wide range of performance. As an example, this may include operating the lift with each of the bypass valves (349) open (e.g., with only the hydraulic pump (343) lifting) to raise (206) the lift at a standard speed and measuring load on the motor (346) to determine (208) the potential speed, as has been described. The lift controller (348) may then cause the lift to raise (210) at the variable speed by adjusting the operation of the motor (346), closing one or more of the bypass valves (349), or both. These adjustments may be made incrementally as part of a feedback loop until the potential speed (208) (e.g., or a maximum safe speed based on the measured load) is reached. Additionally, the performance characteristics of each of the pumps (343, 345, 347) or pump sections may be varied to provide further variability (e.g., one pump or pump section may be capable of providing a force x while a second pump or pump section may be capable of providing a force 1/x, such that one pump is appropriate for greatly increasing lift speed and motor load, while the second pump is appropriate for fine control of the lift speed and motor load).
As another example of a variation on the control components,
The control components (800) also include a transmission (812) coupled to a lift screw (814), which itself is coupled to the lift structure (816) and operable to raise and lower the lift structure (816) (e.g., such as a ball-screw lift). The transmission (812) is capable of transferring power from the motor (806) to the lift screw (814) and may include a set of gears or a continuously variable gear that allow for transfer of power from the motor (806) at varying gear ratios, in varying rotational directions (e.g., a raise direction and a lower direction), or both. The lift controller (804) may be configured to operate the motor (806) and the transmission (812) in order to vary the motor operational characteristics, the gear ratio, or both in order to achieve varying lift speeds depending upon feedback from the load sensor (802). The control components (800) may also include a variable frequency drive (e.g., such as the variable frequency drive (304)), or the lift controller (804) may be configured to support PWM control of the motor (806), or both in order to provide further variable control of the lift screw (814) rotation speed. In this manner, the lift controller (804) may determine (208) potential lift speeds based upon feedback from the load sensor (802), and then vary the operation of the motor (806), change the gear ratio of the transmission (812), or both in order to cause the lift screw (814) to rotate at the corresponding speed to cause the lift to raise (210) at the variable speed.
As can be seen from the above examples, information provided from different components may be used by itself or in combination with other information to determine (208) the potential raise speed. As an example, abstracted from a particular implementation of control components,
With one or more types of information available, the system may then determine (408) an electrical load on the motor (112) during operation with the current vehicle. It will be apparent that determining (408) the electric load is one of several different ways to normalize these different data sets, and that other approaches may be suitable (e.g., normalizing a received (404) electric load to vehicle weight, rather than normalizing a received (402) vehicle weight to electric load). Regardless of the specific transformations of data, one goal is to provide a reference point between the received (402, 404, 406) data and the maximum potential electrical load at which the motor (112) is operable.
In the shown steps (400), this may include receiving (402) a vehicle weight and then determining (408) an electrical load associated with lifting that vehicle by use of a query or comparison with a database or dataset such as that shown in Table 1. This may also include receiving (404) a signal indicating an electrical load and determining (408) the electric load based thereon, which may require little or no conversion or manipulation (e.g., electric load may be rounded upward or downward, converted from a raw signal to an integer, or otherwise conditioned to be usable). Steps (400) may also include receiving (406) a pump pressure and determining (408) an electrical load associated with lifting a vehicle at that pressure by use of a query or comparison with a database or dataset such as that shown in Table 2. This may also include two or more sets of received (402, 404, 406) data being used in combination to determine (408) the electric load, such as where a vehicle weight and an electrical draw may be used in combination to determine (408) the electric load, which may provide some advantages as will be described below. Other variations exist, for example, determining (408) electrical load may also be performed using various conversion equations (e.g., a function mapping weight or pressure to a corresponding electrical load).
Having determined (408) the electric load or otherwise having normalized the received data, the device may then determine (410) a max electric load that the motor (112) or other control components are capable of supporting. This value may be configured and stored on the motor (112), the lift controller (108), or another device, or may be determined based upon the attached power supply, or may be determined through incremental speed increases using a feedback loop until a static safety feature of the motor (112) or another device prevents further increases. Once the maximum performance is determined (410), the device may then determine (412) a raise speed increase that the motor (112) is capable of. As has been described, this determination (412) may be made one or more times and used to immediately or incrementally raise (210) the vehicle at a new variable speed. Determination (412) of the speed increase may be performed by, for example, comparing the current electric load to a maximum electric load, by querying or comparing to a dataset or correlation table such as that shown in Table 1 or Table 2, by using a conversion equation (e.g., a function that converts an electric load at the standard speed to a target maximum speed or a potential speed increase), or other methods.
Some advantages of providing a set of control components receiving multiple sources of information (e.g., either from permanently installed or integrated components and sensors, or from temporarily installed or integrated components and sensors such as where the current sensor (313) is temporarily added to the control components (321)) that can be used to determine (412) the speed increase are redundancy of components, malfunction detection, and data correlation. As an example,
For example, where the weight sensor (323) produces data indicating a 3000-pound vehicle is being lifted during a time segment, and the current sensor (313) indicates a draw of 10 amps during the same time segment, such information can be used to associate the 10-amp draw with a 3000-pound vehicle. Multiple such data points may be collected or extrapolated from each other (e.g., it may be estimated that a vehicle weighing 2000 pounds may draw about 6.6 amps at a standard raise speed) and then used to determine (412) a potential speed increase. In implementations where the current sensor (313) is added to the control components temporarily, it may then be removed after a usable correlation table is built. While
As an example of malfunction detection,
Where the current performance of the components does match (608) past performance, the device may provide an indication (610) of normal operation, which may include, for example, a positive status indicator or lack of alarm, an update to stored records or information (e.g., updating the correlation table or historic performance data to reflect normal performance on that day and time), or other similar indications. As an example, if a particular vehicle lift was used when brand new and produced data indicating an electrical draw of 10 amps (e.g., produced by the current sensor (313)) while lifting a vehicle whose weight was determined (e.g., based upon information produced by the weight sensor (323)) to be 3000 pounds, later uses of that vehicle that produce similar results may indicate that the operation of the control components has not substantially changed since installation.
Where the current performance of the components does not match (608) past performance data or global performance data, the device may generate (612) a warning indicating a change in performance relative to past performance data or global performance data. The performance information may not match (608) due to various reasons, including failure or miscalibration of a sensor (e.g., where the current sensor (313) may start to report inaccurate electrical loads, or the weight sensor (323) begins to report inaccurate vehicle weights), degrading performance of the motor (112) or variable frequency drive (110) (e.g., where the motor (112) begins to require greater electrical loads, relative to new condition, due to age, use, lack of maintenance, temperature, or other factors), degrading performance of the hydraulic pump (343) (e.g., where the hydraulic pump (343) is unable to maintain or build pressures as in new condition), and other reasons. Continuing the above example, if historic data or global specifications indicate that a brand-new lift will draw 10 amps while raising a 3000-pound vehicle at a standard speed, and presently received information indicates that the lift is drawing 12 amps while raising a 3000-pound vehicle at the standard speed, it may indicate that the motor (112) needs to be serviced, or that the current sensor (313) is failing.
The generated (612) warning may include, for example, a visual or audible warning, a text warning, an electronic communication transmitted to another device over a network, and other variations as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the disclosure herein. A generated (612) warning may be useful in indicating a change in one or more components of the system that have impacted the performance of the system. The particular source of the malfunction or performance change may not be immediately known, but such a warning may still be advantageous in indicating a need for inspection or maintenance of the system. As another example, for a set of control components including the variable frequency drive (110), the current sensor (313), and the weight sensor (323), a change in performance may be more immediately pinpointed due to the redundancy of electrical load reporting.
Other features and variations of the steps of
Determining and generating (612) warnings relating to maintenance, inspection, and replacement may be particularly advantageous when implemented with control components such as those shown in
As an addition or alternative to tracking and influencing usage based upon a determined weight of a lifted vehicle, usage may be tracked, and warnings generated (612) based on load measured by the current sensor (313). As an example, where a detected electrical load on the motor (316) exceeds a configured threshold (e.g., a threshold indicating normal use, such as the standard load on the motor (316) while lifting a 5,000-pound vehicle at the standard speed (206), whereas use exceeding such thresholds may indicate use of optimized or dynamic lift speed features, or extremely heavy vehicle lifts), related usage may be tracked at an increased ratio in order to accelerate a maintenance schedule (e.g., operation time below the threshold may be recorded as 1.0 second per second, while operation above the threshold may be recorded as 1.8 second per second) or may be separately tracked and associated with particular maintenance tasks as has been described (e.g., for every 50 lift cycles where the load threshold is exceeded, inspect equalizer cables).
As another example, a lift controller or other computing device may track motor performance (e.g., speed, cycle time) and create a historic dataset that describes the minimum and maximum heights to which the lift structure has been raised or lowered. Such information may advantageously be used to suggest characteristics of the location at which the lift is installed (e.g., ceiling height), or may be used to determine that a different lift may be more appropriate for that location and application.
As another example, the lift controller or another computing device may be configured to receive temperature data from a temperature sensor that is positioned on or near the lift controller itself, a motor, a variable frequency drive, or other components of the lift system. Temperature information may be saved and correlated with motor usage and other detectable lift conditions to produce a timeline of thermal effects based on lift operation. Such a dataset may be advantageously used to identify the causes of thermal effects and/or correlated to performance of the motor or other components of the system.
As another example, the lift controller or another computing device may be configured to integrate with a shop management system for a facility at which the lift is in use. This may allow individual vehicle lifts to report to a central system when they are in use or available based upon operation of the motor or information from weight sensors on the lift structure, or it may allow the lift controller to generate (612) a warning if the weight of a currently lifted vehicle does not match an anticipated weight for a vehicle assigned to that lift.
A second button (904) may be configured to, when pressed, raise the lift structure at a dynamic variable speed that is determined using steps such as those shown in
A third button (906) may be configured to, when pressed, lower the lift structure at a static speed, or a variable speed that may be influenced by gravity or the particular mechanism of the vehicle lift. As an example, the third button (906) may cause a pressurized hydraulic member to release fluid under the force of gravity or cause a lift screw to rotate in a lowering direction under the force of gravity.
The pendant control (900) also includes a port (908) that allows for a wired physical connection to a lift controller, variable frequency drive, motor, or other component. In some implementations, the pendant control (900) may instead connect wirelessly (e.g., via WI-FI, BLUETOOTH, or other wireless communication). In some implementations, the pendant control (900) may include a dial or joystick that is usable to operate the lift at a standard speed or a ratio of the standard speed, or at a dynamic optimized speed, instead of or in addition to the buttons (902, 904, 906). In some implementations, the pendant control (900) may include a light emitting diode or other display that may be a touch screen and may provide a software user interface that allows for the lift to be raised at static or dynamic speeds by interacting with virtual buttons. In some implementations, the software user interface may be configured on or accessed via a device other than the pendant control (900), such as a smartphone, tablet, or proprietary computing device. In some implementations, a lift system may include multiple pendant controls (900) or other controls disposed about the lift area, such that a user may be able to control the lift from either side of a vehicle.
Other features and variations of the disclosed systems and control component exist. For example, in some implementations a variable frequency drive may be configured to operate a motor in forward or reverse, which may allow for speed optimization of vehicle lowering as opposed to relying upon gravity or mechanical limitations of the structure. Such implementations may be implemented as bi-directional hydraulic pump systems that are capable of operating the hydraulic pump in reverse in order to lower the lift structure at a desired speed instead of relying upon gravity and/or fluid dynamics to control the lowering speed.
In such implementations, the variable frequency drive may be configured to operate the motor in reverse at the desired output in order to provide a controlled lowering speed and prevent sudden or uncontrolled lowering. In this manner, the variable frequency drive may meter the rate of fluid returning to the reservoir and determine the current lowering speed based thereon, and it may prevent the lowering speed from exceeding a configured speed (e.g., which may be determined arbitrarily or may be determined based upon law or regulation). A determination of lowering speed based upon fluid metering may also be used to determine and provide an optimized lowering speed (e.g., based upon the release of fluid from the system, the weight of the load, etc.) that may be gradually reached and maintained using steps similar to those of
In some implementations, the lowering speed of the system may be controlled and optimized with the use of regenerative components that are capable of converting force or heat into electrical charge for storage in an attached battery. The attached battery may be configured to expend charge while raising a vehicle (e.g., by providing charge to a motor), and then be at least partially recharged while lowering the vehicle. The charge rate for a battery when lowering a vehicle may also be measured and used with information such as the vehicle's weight to determine a current lowering speed of the vehicle, which may be used when controlling or optimizing lowering speed, as has been described.
As mentioned above, control components (101, 300, 301, 311, 315, 331, 341, 351, 800) of a lift (10) may be used to actuate lift structures (102, 106) relative to a respective lift post (100, 104) in order to lift a vehicle at variable speeds corresponding to the specific load of a vehicle. Control components (101, 300, 301, 311, 315, 331, 341, 351, 800) may include various features that need to be easily accessible by an operator during exemplary use of lift (10) (e.g., lift controller (108), pendant control (900), lift controller (804), etc.). Such features (e.g., lift controller (108), pendant control (900), lift controller (804), etc.) may be called user-interface control components.
Conversely, control components (101, 300, 301, 311, 315, 331, 341, 351, 800) may include various features that do not require an operator to interface with such features during exemplary use of lift (10) (e.g., variable frequency drive (110), motor (112), power supply (302), etc.). In other words, such features (e.g., variable frequency drive (110), motor (112), power supply (302), etc.) do not need to be accessible by an operator during exemplary use of lift (10). Features that do not need to be easily accessible by an operator during exemplary use of lift (10) may be referred to as non-user-interface control components.
In some instances, as shown in
As also mentioned above, during exemplary use of lift (10), lift structures (102, 106) may have to be manually adjusted such that initial elevation of lift structures (102, 106) contacts or nearly contacts respective vehicle lift points, thereby allowing further elevation of lift structures (102, 106) to raise a vehicle into a lifted position relative to the floor. In many instances, more than one technician is used to manually adjust lift structures (102, 106) into suitable alignment with vehicle lift points. For example, one technician may align lift structure (102) with associated vehicle lift points, while a second technician may align lift structure (106) with associated vehicle lift points.
In instances where only one technician controls a user-interface control component (e.g., controller (108) or pendant control (900)), that technician may need to confirm that both lift structures (102, 106) are suitably aligned with associated vehicle lift points prior to lifting structures (102, 106) to engage vehicle lift points. This may take up an undesirable amount of time, leading to less efficient use of a lifting bay. Therefore, it may be desirable to have a user-interface control component associated with each lift post (100, 104), where each user-interface control component requires same input to be simultaneously pressed on both sides of lift (10) before lift motion of lift structures (102, 106) is started. Therefore, rather than having an individual technician confirm both lifting structures (102, 106) are suitably aligned, one technician for each lift post (100, 104) may confirm alignment of their respective lift structure (102, 106), and then press the desired input to indicate their intention to actuate lift structures (102, 106). Once the same input on each user-interface control component is pressed simultaneously, lift structures (102, 106) may then move relative to lift posts (100, 104).
As best shown in
Motor (1012) is substantially similar to motor (112) described above. Therefore motor (1012) is configured to drive actuation of lift structures (1002, 1006) in order to lift and lower a vehicle relative to the shop floor. Motor (1012) may utilize hydraulic fluid (1015) (see
As mentioned above, upper housing (1042) has casing (1044), which protects various components stored within upper housing (1042). Upper housing (1042) may include any suitable features as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. In the current example, as best shown in
Variable frequency drive (1046) may be substantially similar to variable frequency drive (304) described above, except that variable frequency drive (1046) of the current example is associated with upper portion (1016) of lift (20). Therefore, variable frequency drive (1046) is in communication with motor (1012) and may instruct motor (1012) to actuate lift structure (1002, 1006) at various speeds in accordance with the description herein. With the placement of variable frequency drive (1046), a technician may move around lift post (1000) without having to worry about damaging such components. Variable frequency drive (1046) may provide variable lift performance (e.g., such as the variable speed (210)) as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. Variable frequency drive (1046) may include any suitable features described above in order to achieve variable lift performance. Variable frequency drive (1046) may include the features of lift controller (108) and may include any of the features of control components (101, 300, 301, 311, 315, 331, 341, 351, 800) as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein.
Since motor (1012) is raised on lift post (1000) at the upper portion (1016) it may be difficult for a technician to monitor the hydraulic fluid levels within hydraulic fluid reservoir (1010). Therefore, as shown in
Circuit board (1048) may be used to establish communication between variable frequency drive (1046) and components of user-interface control assembly (1020). Circuit board (1048) may limit the amount of energy supplied to components of user-interface control assembly (1020), which may in turn limit the component of user-interface control assembly (1020) to non-incentive power levels. Circuit board (1048) may include any suitable structures as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein.
Power supply (1050) is configured to transmit incoming power from an outside power source into low-voltage DC to provide non-hazardous power to suitable components of lift (20). Power supply (1050) may also power any suitable components of lift (20) as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein.
IOT module (1052) is in communication with variable frequency drive (1046) in order to read suitable data from variable frequency drive (1046) and transmitted such data to an outside source for remote monitoring of variable frequency drive (1046).
Wiring terminal (1054) may be configured to act as a termination point for incoming single-phase or 3-phase power and to distribute that power throughout non-user-interface control assembly 1040, the upper housing 1042, and/or other components and subsystems of lift 20.
In instances where locking mechanisms on lift posts (1000, 1004) utilize air locks, electric-driven air relay (1056) may be configured to receive a compressed air supply from the shop and route the supplied air to air cylinders that engage mechanical locks inside lift posts (1000, 1004).
Antenna (1058) is connected to IOT module (1052) and is configured to wirelessly couple IOT module (1052) to an outside source via wireless internet of the shop.
It should be understood that the above-described components of non-user-interface control assembly (1040) do not require direct interaction with a technician during exemplary use of lift (20). As such, those components may be associated with upper portion (1016) of posts (1000, 1004) in order to save working space for technicians at lower portion (1014). The above-mentioned components are merely illustrative. It should be understood that any suitable components may be incorporated into non-user-interface control assembly (1040) as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein.
Each user-interface control assembly (1020) includes a casing (1022) defining a pendant recess (1024) and a cable recess (1026), an emergency stop (1028), a cable inlet (1030), an air inlet (1032), an indicator light (1034), a view screen (1036), a retractile remote cable (1038), and a pendant (1060).
Pendant recess (1024) of casing (1022) is dimensioned to selectively receive and house pendant (1060).
Pendant (1060) is in communication with suitable components of user-interface control assembly (1020) via retractile remote cable (1038). While pendant (1060) is housed within pendant recess (1024), retractile remote cable (1038) is housed within cable recess (1026). Retractile remote cable (1038) is a pendant cord that is a retractile, coiled, or curly cable that may stretch between a retracted length (e.g., 2 feet) and an extended length (e.g., 9 feet). Retractile remote cable (1038) may be biased toward its retracted length such that if a technician grabs pendant (1060) and extends cable (1038), moving pendant (1060) away from casing (1022), then releases pendant (1060), the resilient nature of cable (1038) may retract back toward the retracted length near casing (1022). As will be described in greater detail below, pendant (1060) is in suitable communication with variable frequency drive (1046) such the pendant (1060) may selectively activate motor (1012) to acuate lift structures (1002, 1006) in accordance with the description herein.
Pendant (1060) in this embodiment includes a body (1062) and four buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070). Buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) are in suitable communication with variable frequency drive (1046) such that each button (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may instruct variable frequency drive (1046) and other components to actuate lift structures (1002, 1006) in a specified manner. The first three buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may function substantially similar to buttons (902, 904, 906) described above.
One of the buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may be used to instruct variable frequency drive (1046) to actuate lift structures (1002, 1006) at a first speed. The first speed may be, for example, the standard speed (206) or a predetermined fraction of the standard speed (e.g., 50% of standard speed, 25% of standard speed, and so on). This first one of buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may provide a substantially static raise speed when pressed and may be advantageous for fine adjustments of the lift structure such as may be required when a user is visually spotting to ensure engagement of the lift with a vehicle.
A second one of buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may be used to instruct variable frequency drive (1046) to actuate lift structures (1002, 1006) at a dynamic variable speed that is determined using, as a mere example, steps such as those shown in
A third one of buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may be used to instruct variable frequency drive (1046) to actuate lift structures (1002, 1006) to lower at a static speed, or a variable speed that may be influenced by gravity or the particular mechanism of the vehicle lift. As an example, the third one of buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may cause a pressurized hydraulic member to release fluid under the force of gravity or cause a lift screw to rotate in a lowering direction under the force of gravity.
A fourth one of buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may be used to lock lift structures (1002, 1006) at a specified height using a locking assembly. For example, the fourth button may be configured to fire a lowering valve to bring the vehicle weight onto the mechanical lock system and off the hydraulics.
Emergency stop (1028) is configured such that, when pressed, the emergency stop (1028) instructs the variable frequency drive (1046) to halt all lift motion. Cable inlet (1030) is configured to couple with a cable (not shown) in order to establish communication between user-interface control assemblies (1020) and non-user-interface control assemblies (1040). Air inlet (1032) runs to an air cylinder inside casing (1022) that is configured to acuate mechanical locks. Indicator light (1034) is configured to provide feedback to a technician via lights such as when the lift (20) has been fully lowered off the hydraulics and onto the mechanical locks.
View screen (1036) may be substantially similar to display (702) described above. In some instances, view screen (1036) may be configured to show motor speed but can also be configured to show other information such as error codes. In this embodiment, input buttons for view screen (1036) may be accessed by removing casing (1022). Input buttons may have any suitable function as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein.
The above-mentioned components for user-interface control assembly (1020) are merely illustrative. It should be understood that any suitable components may be incorporated into user-interface control assembly (1020) as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein.
As mentioned above, it may be desirable to have a user-interface control component associated with each lift post (100, 104), where the system requires the same input to be simultaneously pressed on both sides of lift (10) before lift motion of lift structures (102, 106) is started.
First, as shown in
In
Therefore, both examples shown in
It should be understood that not all buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) necessarily need to have this “simultaneous press” requirement, as some buttons (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may only require a button (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) on one pendant (1060) to be activated in order to perform the desired function. Any suitable button (1064, 1066, 1068, 1070) may require simultaneous pressing by both pendants (1060) in order to activate variable frequency drive (1060), valves, or other components to achieve the desired functionality as would be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein.
The following examples relate to various non-exhaustive ways in which the teachings herein may be combined or applied. It should be understood that the following examples are not intended to restrict the coverage of any claims that may be presented at any time in this application or in subsequent filings related to this application. No disclaimer is intended. The following examples are being provided for nothing more than merely illustrative purposes. It is contemplated that the various teachings herein may be arranged and applied in numerous other ways. It is also contemplated that some variations may omit certain features referred to in the below examples. Therefore, none of the aspects or features referred to below should be deemed critical unless otherwise explicitly indicated as such at a later date by the inventors or by a successor in interest to the inventors. If any claims are presented in this application or in subsequent filings related to this application that include additional features beyond those referred to below, those additional features shall not be presumed to have been added for any reason relating to patentability.
A first example is a lift system, comprising a lift post, wherein the lift post comprises a lower portion and an upper portion; a lift structure configured to actuate vertically along the lift post; a non-user-interface control assembly located at the upper portion of the lift post, the non-user-interface comprising a motor operable to raise the lift structure, and a variable frequency drive configured to alter a power provided by the motor based on a measurement; and a user-interface control assembly located at the lower portion of the lift post, wherein the user-interface control assembly is configured to activate the motor.
A second example is a variation of the first example, wherein the user-interface control assembly is configured to operate on an electrical input voltage at or under 50 volts.
A third example is a variation of the first example, wherein the user-interface control assembly comprises a remote menu screen, wherein the variable frequency drive is in communication with the remote menu screen.
A fourth example is a variation of the first example, wherein the measurement comprises a load on the motor.
A fifth example is a variation of the first example, wherein the measurement comprises a current on the motor.
A sixth example is a variation of the first example, wherein the user-interface control assembly comprises a first pendant.
A seventh example is a variation of the sixth example, wherein the lift system further comprises a second lift post and a second lift structure.
An eighth example is a variation of the seventh example, wherein the user-interface control assembly comprises a second pendant coupled to the second lift post.
A ninth example is a variation of the eighth example, wherein the first pendant and the second dependent both comprises a retractile coil.
A tenth example is a variation of the eighth example, wherein the first pendant and the second dependent both comprise a magnet configured to selectively couple the first pendant and the second pendant to the first lift post and the second lift post, respectively.
An eleventh example is a variation of the eighth example, wherein the first pendant and the second pendant are wired in series.
A twelfth example is a variation of the first example, wherein the non-user-interface further comprises a hydraulic reservoir and a float switch.
A thirteenth example is a variation of the twelfth example, wherein the float switch is configured to determine in hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic reservoir is below a predetermined threshold.
A fourteenth example is a variation of the first example, wherein the user-interface control assembly comprises an emergency stop.
A fifteenth example is a variation of the first example, wherein the user-interface control assembly comprises an indicator light.
A sixteenth example is a variation of the first example, wherein the user-interface control assembly is in communication with the non-user-interface control assembly via a cable.
A seventeenth example is a lift system, comprising a lift post, wherein the lift post comprises a lower portion and an upper portion; a lift structure configured to actuate vertically along the lift post; a non-user-interface control assembly located at the upper portion of the lift post, the non-user-interface comprising a motor operable to raise the lift structure, a hydraulic reservoir, a float switch configured to determine when fluid within the hydraulic reservoir is below a predetermined threshold, and a variable frequency drive configured to alter a power provided by the motor based on a measurement; and a user-interface control assembly located at the lower portion of the lift post, wherein the user-interface control assembly is configured to active the motor.
An eighteenth example is a variation of the seventeenth example, wherein the float switch is in communication with the variable frequency drive.
A nineteenth example is a variation of the eighteenth example, wherein the variable frequency drive comprises a processor.
A twentieth example is a lift system, comprising a lift post assembly, wherein the lift post assembly comprises a first post and a second post extending between a lower portion and an upper portion; a lift structure assembly configured to actuate vertically along the lift post; a non-user-interface control assembly located at the upper portion of the lift post, the non-user-interface comprising a motor operable to raise the lift structure, and a variable frequency drive configured to alter a power provided by the motor based on a measurement; and a user-interface control assembly located at the lower portion of the lift post assembly, wherein the user-interface control assembly is configured to active the motor, wherein the user-interface control assembly comprises a first pendant having a first button and a second pendant having a second button, wherein the first button and the second button must be simultaneously activated in order for the first button and the second button to activate the motor.
When an act is described herein as occurring “as a function of” or “based on” a particular thing, the system is configured so that the act is performed in different ways depending on one or more characteristics of the thing. When the act is described herein as occurring “solely as a function of” or “based exclusively on” a particular thing, the system is configured so that the act is performed in different ways depending only on one or more characteristics of the thing.
It should be understood that any one or more of the teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. described herein may be combined with any one or more of the other teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. that are described herein. The teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. herein should therefore not be viewed in isolation relative to each other. Various suitable ways in which the teachings herein may be combined will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein. Such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.
Having shown and described various embodiments of the present invention, further adaptations of the methods and systems described herein may be accomplished by appropriate modifications by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. Several of such potential modifications have been mentioned, and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, the examples, embodiments, geometrics, materials, dimensions, ratios, steps, and the like discussed above are illustrative and are not required. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be considered in terms of the following claims and is understood not to be limited to the details of structure and operation shown and described in the specification and drawings.
This is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/US2020/034847, entitled “Load-Sensing Vehicle Lift,” filed on May 28, 2020, which claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/853,240.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4548296 | Hasegawa | Oct 1985 | A |
9884751 | Jaipaul | Feb 2018 | B2 |
20050182522 | Chase | Aug 2005 | A1 |
20160002014 | De Jong | Jan 2016 | A1 |
20220048744 | Zaharie | Feb 2022 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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1760034 | Mar 2007 | EP |
H06-42893 | Jun 1994 | JP |
H07-163190 | Jun 1995 | JP |
H07-196292 | Aug 1995 | JP |
H07-269143 | Oct 1995 | JP |
2005-225594 | Aug 2005 | JP |
WO 2002034665 | May 2002 | WO |
WO 2012165236 | Dec 2012 | WO |
Entry |
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Chinese Office Action and Search Report dated Mar. 4, 2023, for Application No. 202080039649.8, 12 pages. |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20210309499 A1 | Oct 2021 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62853240 | May 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/US2020/034847 | May 2020 | WO |
Child | 17353975 | US |