Patent Application
20230383501
The present disclosure relates generally to a machine, and more particularly, to a machine with a boom link and position sensor.
Machines, such as excavators, may include a boom connected to a body of the machine via a boom link. The boom and boom link may include one or more position sensors to measure movement of the boom. For example, the machine may include a string potentiometer or a gyro-based sensor. However, these types of sensors may often be unreliable or may experience accuracy issues. In addition, these sensors may be located on exposed portions of the boom, such as the exterior of the boom (e.g., on the exterior of a sidewall of the boom), which may result in frequent failure or damage to those sensors from dirt, debris, or contact with objects exterior to the machine. Similarly, the types of configurations and sensors used on machine booms may be limited to measuring movement of the boom in a vertical plane (i.e., extension/retraction or up/down movement) rather than a horizontal plane (i.e., a side-to-side plane). Furthermore, these types of machines may use straight-bar links to connect a position sensor to an element of the machine for measurement of movement of the element. The use of straight-bar links may limit the placement of the position sensor and/or connection points for the links due to space constraints on the machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,909,282 B2, granted on Mar. 6, 2018 (“the '282 patent”), describes a work machine that includes a rotary encoder. The rotary encoder is linked to a first link member, which is linked to a second link member, for transmitting the rotation of the boom to the rotary encoder. The rotary encoder, the first link, and the second link are disposed in a vertical plane to measure boom rotation about an axis roughly parallel to the ground. However, the first link and second link are connected to the boom on the exposed exterior of the boom and the configuration of links and rotary encoder are not configured for measuring horizontal rotation of the boom.
The apparatus of the present disclosure may solve one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art. The scope of the current disclosure, however, is defined by the attached claims, and not by the ability to solve any specific problem.
In one aspect, a machine may include a body, a boom link fixedly connected to the body, a swing casting fixedly connected to the boom link, and a boom fixedly connected to the swing casting. The boom and the swing casting may be configured to rotate horizontally about an axis through the boom link. The machine may further include a mounting bracket fixedly connected to the swing casting, a position sensor fixedly connected to the boom link, a first link fixedly connected at a first end to the position sensor and configured to rotate about an axis through a rotary element of the position sensor, and a second link fixedly connected at a first end to the mounting bracket and at a second end to a second end of the first link. The first link and the second link may be configured to rotate horizontally with horizontal rotation of the boom and the swing casting and to transfer the horizontal rotation of the boom and the swing casting to the rotary element of the position sensor.
In another aspect, an apparatus may include a mounting bracket fixedly connected to a swing casting of a machine and a position sensor fixedly connected to a boom link of the machine. The apparatus may further include a first link fixedly connected at a first end to the position sensor and configured to rotate about an axis through a rotary element of the position sensor, and a second link fixedly connected at a first end to the mounting bracket and at a second end to a second end of the first link. The first link and the second link may be configured to rotate horizontally with horizontal rotation of the swing casting of a machine and to transfer the horizontal rotation of the swing casting to the rotary element of the position sensor.
In yet another aspect, a machine may include a boom link and a boom fixedly connected to a swing casting of the machine. The boom and the swing casting may be configured to rotate horizontally about an axis through the boom link. The machine may further include a mounting bracket fixedly connected to the swing casting, a position sensor fixedly connected to the boom link, a first link fixedly connected at a first end to the position sensor and configured to rotate about an axis through a rotary element of the position sensor, and a second link fixedly connected at a first end to the mounting bracket and at a second end to a second end of the first link. The first link and the second link may be configured to rotate horizontally with horizontal rotation of the boom and the swing casting and to transfer the horizontal rotation of the boom and the swing casting to the rotary element of the position sensor. The machine may further include a rotational position system. The rotational position system may be configured to receive data indicative of a horizontal position angle of the position sensor and perform one or more actions based on a horizontal rotation angle of the boom or the swing casting indicated by the horizontal position angle.
Other features and aspects of this disclosure will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various exemplary aspects of the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosed aspects.
Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the features, as claimed. As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” “including,” or other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. In this disclosure, unless stated otherwise, relative terms, such as, for example, “about,” “substantially,” and “approximately” are used to indicate a possible variation of ±10% in the stated value.
The body 12 of the machine 10 may include a chassis, frame, and exterior panels of the machine 10 and may be configured to support and house various components of the machine 10 such as the engine, the pump, the tracks 14-1 and 14-2, the cabin 16, and the rotational position system 39. The engine may include a combustion, electric, hybrid, or other type of motor configured to produce mechanical energy. The pump may include a hydraulic pump connected to the engine and may be powered thereby. In some examples, the pump may be connected to one or more valves for controlling and distributing hydraulic fluid to various actuators of the machine 10, such as the first actuator 18, the second actuator 23, and the third actuator 24. The tracks 14-1 and 14-2 may include a set of movable tracks powered by the engine and connected to the body 12. The tracks 14-1 and 14-2 may be operable by the engine to move the machine 10. In some aspects, the machine 10 may include wheels or other components for moving the machine 10 additionally or alternatively to the tracks 14-1 and 14-2.
The cabin 16 may be connected to the body 12 and configured to enclose an operator therein. The cabin 16 may include various controls mounted therein for controlling the operation of, for example, the engine, the pump, the tracks 14-1 or 14-2, the boom 20, the stick 22, the bucket 26, and the blade 28. The boom 20 may be connected at one end to the body 12 via the swing casting 31 and the boom link 30. For example, the boom 20 may be connected at one end to the swing casting 31, and the swing casting 31 and the boom link 30 may be configured such that when the boom 20 is fixedly connected to the boom link 30 via the swing casting 31, the boom 20 may rotate (via rotation of the swing casting 31) about a vertical axis 34 in a horizontal direction 32 (e.g., horizontally from side-to-side). The machine 10 may be configured with one or more actuators (e.g., hydraulic actuators, electro-mechanical actuators, etc.) to move the boom 20 about the axis 34. The boom 20 may be further configured to rotate about a horizontal axis (not shown in
In some examples, an operator may use the controls within the cabin 16 to move the machine 10 using the tracks 14-1 and 14-2. The operator may further articulate the boom 20 and stick 22 to position the bucket 26 or the blade 28 relative to the body 12. The operator may use various controls to tilt, rotate, and scoop or curl the bucket 26 to perform various tasks, such as moving dirt and other materials during an excavating process. Similarly, the operator may use various controls to adjust a height, rotation, angle, etc. of the blade 28. Although
As further illustrated in
The position sensor 38 may include, e.g., a rotary potentiometer or a hall effect sensor. In some aspects, the position sensor 38 may operate according to controller area network (CAN) standards or may include an analog sensor. The position sensor may be communicatively connected to the rotational position system 39. The rotational position system 39 may have hardware and/or software-based components for monitoring, controlling, and communicating with the machine 10 (or components thereof, such as the tracks 14-1 and 14-2, the boom 20, the stick 22, the actuators 18, 23, or 24, the bucket 26, and/or the position sensor 38). In some aspects, the rotational position system 39 may receive data from the position sensor 38.
The rotational position system 39 may include one or more server devices, processors, and/or memory located on-board the machine 10 or located remote from the machine 10. In this way, certain aspects may process data remote from the position sensor 38 and/or the machine 10. In the illustrated example, the memory of the rotational position system 39 may store software-based components to perform various processes and techniques described herein, including the method illustrated in
A processor may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor and/or other processing units or components. Additionally, or alternatively, the functionality described herein can be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, and without limitation, illustrative types of hardware logic components that may be used include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), system-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), etc. Additionally, the processor may possess its own local memory, which also may store program modules, program data, and/or one or more operating systems. The processor may include one or more cores.
Memory may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium that may include volatile and/or nonvolatile memory, removable and/or non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Such memory includes, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) storage systems, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by a computing device (e.g., a user device, a server device, etc.). The memory may be implemented as computer-readable storage media (CRSM), which may be any available physical media accessible by the processor to execute instructions stored on the memory. The memory may have an operating system (OS) and/or a variety of suitable applications stored thereon. The OS, when executed by the processor, may enable management of hardware and/or software resources of the rotational position system 39.
As illustrated in
As further illustrated in
As further illustrated in
The machine 10 may include various coverings or casings for elements illustrated in
In some aspects, the elements described herein may be configured in different manners than those illustrated in
The disclosed aspects of the rotational position system 39 of the present disclosure may be used to determine a horizontal rotation angle of the boom 20 to perform various actions related to the horizontal rotation angle, such as modifying the position of the boom 20. Thus, certain aspects described herein may provide various advantages to operation of a machine 10. For example, by using a position sensor 38 rather than other measurement components, such as a string potentiometer, certain aspects may be capable of more reliable or accurate measurements of rotation of the boom 20. In addition, the configuration of certain elements of the machine 10, such as certain elements illustrated in
At step 102, the method 100 may include receiving data indicative of a horizontal position angle of position sensor 38 fixedly connected to boom 20 of machine 10. For example, the rotational position system 39 may receive the data from the position sensor 38 as the boom 20 is rotated horizontally about the vertical axis 34 through the swing casting 31, may receive the data according to a schedule, may receive the data in a streaming manner, and/or the like. In some implementations, the position sensor 38 may provide the data based on receiving a command from the rotational position system 39 or an operator of the machine 10. The data may indicate the horizontal position angle of the position sensor 38 by indicating a degree of rotation of the rotary element 48 of the position sensor 38 about an axis through the rotary element 48.
The method 100 may include, at 104, determining a horizontal rotation angle of the boom 20 based on the horizontal position angle. For example, the rotational position system 39 may determine the horizontal rotation angle in real-time (or near real-time) after receiving the data, at a later time after receiving the data, based on receiving a command from an operator of the machine 10 to determine the horizontal rotation angle, and/or the like. The rotational position system 39 may store information for converting the horizontal position angle of the position sensor 38 to the horizontal rotation angle of the boom 20. For example, the information may include conversion tables, models, and/or the like calibrated to take a horizontal position angle (e.g., in degrees) as input and to output the calibrated horizontal rotation angle (e.g., in degrees). In some implementations, the conversion from a horizontal position angle to a horizontal rotation angle may be linear (e.g., a 1 degree rotation in the position sensor 38 may correspond to a 1 degree rotation in the boom 30 or swing casting 31) or may be some other conversion (e.g., a certain degree of rotation in the position sensor 38 may correspond to a different degree of rotation in the boom 20 or swing casting 31). Additionally, or alternatively, and as explained elsewhere herein, the configuration of the components of the machine 10 may transfer planar movement of the boom 20 to planar movement of the position sensor 38, which may facilitate more accurate or reliable measurement of the rotation of the boom 20 relative to a multidimensional analysis (e.g., converting the horizontal movement of the boom 20 to rotation of the position sensor 38 in a vertical plane).
The method 100 may include, at 106, performing one or more actions based on the determined horizontal rotation angle. For example, the rotational position system 39 may perform one or more actions in real-time (or near real-time) after determining the horizontal rotation angle, at a later time after determining the horizontal rotation angle, based on a command from a user of the machine 10, and/or the like. The one or more actions may include, for example, modifying the horizontal rotation angle of the boom 20 by actuating one or more actuators associated with the boom 20. For example, the rotational position system 39 may send one or more commands to the one or more actuators to cause rotation of the boom 20 via rotation in the swing casting 31 in a horizontal direction about the vertical axis 34. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more actions may include displaying the horizontal rotation angle after receiving the data. For example, the rotational position system 39 may display the horizontal rotation angle, a visual representation of the horizontal rotation angle, and/or the like via a display of the machine 10. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more actions may include triggering an alarm based on the horizontal rotation angle exceeding a limit. For example, there may be limits to the amount that the boom 20 can rotate in a certain direction based on an operation environment or operating limits of the machine 10, and the rotational position system 39 may trigger an alarm when the limit (or certain thresholds preceding the limit) are met or exceeded.
Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more actions may include, for example, one or more operator-assist actions. For example, the rotational position system 39 may provide output that guides an operator in moving the boom 20 from a current position to a desired position, that notifies an operator when the boundaries of a work area are reached, and/or the like. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more actions may include, for example, grade control actions. For example, the rotational position system 39 may output information or control the position of the boom 20 to achieve or maintain a grade at a worksite or to achieve or maintain other worksite characteristics (e.g., consistent work area size or shape). Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more actions may include, for example, autonomous operations. For example, the rotational position system 39 may autonomously operate the position of the boom 20 based on the determined horizontal rotation angle of the boom 20 (e.g., to cause the boom 20 to move to a pre-programmed or user-input position).
Although the method 100 illustrated in
In this way, certain aspects of the disclosure may provide for measurement of a horizontal rotation of a boom 20 (or swing casting 31) of a machine 10 and performance of certain actions based on the measurements. This may help to improve operations of the machine 10 by facilitating autonomous operations, preventing operations that may damage the machine 10, and/or the like. This may help to reduce damage to the machine 10 that might otherwise occur, improve an accuracy of operations of the machine 10, and/or the like. By reducing or eliminating damage or improving an accuracy of the operations, certain aspects may reduce downtime of the machine 10 or reduce an amount of maintenance needed for the machine 10. In addition, certain aspects may provide for mounting of components for measuring the horizontal rotation within an interior or partially enclosed/covered portion of the boom 20 or swing casting 31. For example, the boom 20 and/or swing casting 31 may have a hollow structure or a portion with sidewalls and certain components may be mounted within the hollow portion or between the sidewalls for protection from external debris or contact with objects external to the machine 10. This may help to reduce or eliminate damage to the components that might otherwise occur if mounted to an exterior of the boom 20 or swing casting 31. By reducing or eliminating damage to the measurement components, certain aspects of the disclosure may reduce downtime of the machine 10, reduce an amount of maintenance needed for the machine 10, maintain an accuracy of the measurement components for a longer period of time, and/or the like.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed system without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Other aspects of the system will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the system disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
