Patent Grant
11352761
The present invention relates to a work machine used for structure demolition work, road work, construction work, civil engineering work, or the like.
As a work machine used for structure demolition work, road work, construction work, civil engineering work, or the like, there has been known one in which an articulated work device including a plurality of front members is mounted to a main body and the front members are driven by hydraulic cylinders. Examples of such a work machine include a hydraulic excavator having a work device including a boom, an arm, a bucket, and the like. This type of hydraulic excavator includes one that is capable of executing what is generally called machine control in which an operational space for the work device is provided and the work device is semi-automatically operated within the space. For example, when a target surface of working is set at the boundary between the operational space and a non-operational space for the work device and the operator performs an arm operation, the work device can work semi-automatically along the working target surface by machine control.
In an excavation work using machine control by the hydraulic excavator, the boom and the bucket are semi-automatically operated according to a predetermined condition. Therefore, when a hard soil difficult to excavate smoothly is excavated by the work device, the excavation reaction force acting on the bucket from the ground is enlarged, easily resulting in what is generally called a jacked-up state in which an end portion on the farther side from the work device, of the track structure (crawler), and the bucket are grounded but an end portion on the nearer side to the work device, of the track structure, is in a floating state.
As a technology concerning the jack-up, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which a combined operation including an arm closing operation and a boom lowering operation by an operator is detected and the boom cylinder pressure is controlled in such a manner that the machine body is not jacked up. In this technology, the pressure of the hydraulic working fluid supplied to the boom cylinder is adjusted in such a manner as not to exceed the boom cylinder pressure at the time of jack-up of the work machine.
The angle formed between the ground and the track structure when the hydraulic excavator is in a jacked-up state may be referred to as a jack-up angle. The operator may intuitively grasp the magnitude of the excavating force from the magnitude of the jack-up angle and may adjust the excavating force. In the technology described in Patent Document 1, however, the boom cylinder pressure is always controlled in such a manner that the machine body is not jacked up. In other words, according to the technology of Patent Document 1, the jack-up angle is always kept substantially zero by the controller, irrespective of the operator's intention. Therefore, the operator cannot intuitively grasp the state of the excavating force from the magnitude of the jack-up angle, and it is difficult for the operator to adjust the excavating force by the operator's own operation. As a result, the work machine may be determined to be poor in operability, depending on the operator.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problem. It is an object of the present invention to provide a work machine in which machine control is conducted and which is favorable in operability for the operator at the time of what is generally called a jacked-up state.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a work machine including a machine body including a track structure and a swing structure, a work device having a boom and an arm and mounted to the swing structure, a plurality of hydraulic cylinders that are driven by hydraulic working fluid delivered from a hydraulic pump and that operate the work device, an operation device that gives an instruction on an operation of the work device according to an operation of an operator, and a controller that performs an area restriction control for controlling at least one hydraulic cylinder of the plurality of hydraulic cylinders in such a manner that the work device is located on or on an upper side of an optionally set target surface during operation of the operation device. If a jack-up angle as an inclination angle of the machine body relative to a ground is larger than a preset target value, the controller, in performing the area restriction control, corrects the control of the at least one hydraulic cylinder in such a manner that the jack-up angle approaches the target value, and the target value is set in such a manner as to vary according to posture of the arm.
According to the present invention, in an excavation work accompanied by machine control, operability and work efficiency can be enhanced, without over-excavating a target surface.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below referring to the drawings.
<Object Device>
Herein, a united body of the track structure 401 and the swing structure 402 may be referred to as a machine body 1A. The track structure 401 is not limited to the one that includes crawlers, and may be one that includes traveling wheels or one that includes bases.
A cab 403 is disposed on the swing structure 402, and an articulated front work device (work device) 400 capable of performing an operation of forming a target surface is mounted to the front side of the swing structure 402.
The front work device 400 includes a boom 405 driven by a boom cylinder (first hydraulic actuator) 32a, an arm 406 driven by an arm cylinder (second hydraulic actuator) 32b, and a bucket 407 driven by a bucket cylinder 32c. The boom cylinder 32a, the arm cylinder 32b, and the bucket cylinder 32c are each driven by a hydraulic working fluid delivered from a hydraulic pump 23, and operate the work device 400. Herein, the boom 405, the arm 406, and the bucket 407 may be referred to as front members.
In addition, the front work device 400 includes a first link 407B linking the bucket 407 and a tip portion of the bucket cylinder 32c, and a second link 407C linking the arm 406 and the tip portion of the bucket cylinder 32c. The bucket cylinder (hydraulic cylinder) 32c is linked to the second link 407C and the arm 406.
Note that the bucket 407 can optionally be replaced with work implements which are not illustrated such as a grapple, a breaker, a ripper, and a magnet.
A boom IMU (IMU: Inertial Measurement Unit) 36 and an arm IMU 37 for detecting postures (inclination angles) of the boom 405 and the arm 406 relative to a predetermined plane (for example, a horizontal plane) are attached respectively to the boom 405 and the arm 406. The second link 407C is provided with a bucket IMU 38 for detecting a posture (inclination angle) of the bucket 407 relative to the predetermined plane (for example, the horizontal plane) similarly to the above. The IMUs 36, 37, and 38 each include an angular velocity sensor and an acceleration sensor, and are capable of calculating an inclination angle.
An operation lever (operation device) 26 that gives an instruction on operations of the front work device 400, the swing structure 402 and the track structure 401 according to operator's operations, and an engine control dial 51 (see
The Pi pressures outputted from the operation lever 26 are detected by pressure sensors 44, and the pressure sensors 44 output the detection values to a controller 20. The detection values from the pressure sensors 44 are used in the controller 20 for detection of the operating amount, the operating direction, and the operation object of the operation lever 26. In other words, the pressure sensors 44 function as operating amount sensors that detect operating input amounts for the operation lever 26. The number of the pressure sensors 44 is two times the number of control valves. Note that the operation lever 26 may be of an electric type. The detection of the operating amount, the operating direction, and the operation object by the operation lever 26 in this case is configured by operating amount sensors that detect the tilting amount (operating amount) of the operation lever 26. The operating amount sensors, by detecting the amounts by which the operator tilts the operation lever 26, can convert operation velocities required of the work device 400 by the operator into electrical signals.
In regard of the hydraulic pump 23, the torque and the flow rate are mechanically controlled such that the machine body is operated according to target outputs (described later) of the hydraulic actuators 28, 33, 32a, 32b, and 32c.
While the control valves 25 are present in the same number as that of the hydraulic actuators 28, 33, 32a, 32b, and 32c as objects to be controlled, they are depicted collectively as one valve in
The pressure sensors 41 detect the Pi pressures acting on the control valves 25, and are present in a number that is twice the number of the control valves. The pressure sensors 41 are provided directly under the control valves 25, and detect the Pi pressures actually acting on the control valves 25.
While the proportional solenoid valves 27 are present in plural numbers, they are depicted collectively as one block in
For each control valve 25, there can be at most two pressure reducing valves and at most two pressure increasing valves. In the present embodiment, two pressure reducing valves and two pressure increasing valves are provided for the control valve 25 for the boom cylinder 32a, and one pressure reducing valve is provided for the control valve 25 for the arm cylinder 32b. Specifically, the hydraulic excavator is provided with a first pressure reducing valve provided in a first line for guiding a boom raising Pi pressure from the operation lever 26 to the control valve 25, a first pressure increasing valve provided in a second line for guiding the boom raising Pi pressure from the gear pump 24 to the control valve 25 by bypassing the operation lever 26, a second pressure reducing valve provided in a third line for guiding the boom lowering Pi pressure from the operation lever 26 to the control valve 25, a second pressure increasing valve provided in a fourth line for guiding the boom lowering Pi pressure from the gear pump 24 to the control valve 25 by bypassing the operation lever 26, and a third pressure reducing valve provided in a fifth line for guiding an arm crowding Pi pressure from the operation lever 26 to the control valve 25.
The proportional solenoid valve 27 in the present embodiment is provided only for the control valves 25 for the boom cylinder 32a and the arm cylinder 32b, and there is no proportional solenoid valve 27 for the control valves 25 for the other actuators 28, 33, and 32c. Therefore, the bucket cylinder 32c, the swing hydraulic motor 28, and the track hydraulic motor 33 are driven based on a Pi pressure outputted from the operation lever 26.
Note that herein the Pi pressures inputted to the control valves 25 for the boom cylinder 32a and the arm cylinder 32b (control signals for the boom and the arm) are all referred to as a “corrected Pi pressure” (or a corrected control signal), irrespective of the presence or absence of correction of the Pi pressure by the proportional solenoid valve 27.
In addition, herein, a control of the boom cylinder 32a and the arm cylinder 32b based on the Pi pressure corrected by the proportional solenoid valve 27, for operating the front work device 400 according to a predetermined condition during operation of the operation lever 26, may be referred to as machine control (MC). For example, in the present embodiment, as MC, an area restriction control of controlling at least one hydraulic cylinder of the plurality of hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c can be performed such that the front work device 400 (in the present embodiment, the bucket 407) is located in an area on or on an upper side of an optionally set target surface 60 (see
The controller 20 includes an input section, a central processing unit (CPU) which is a processor, a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM) as a memory, and an output section. The input section converts various kinds of information inputted to the controller 20 into a form that can be calculated by the CPU. The ROM is a recording medium in which a control program for executing calculation processes described later, various kinds of information required for execution of the calculation processes, and the like are stored. The CPU performs predetermined calculation processes on signals taken in from the input section, the ROM, and the RAM according to the control program stored in the ROM. The output section outputs a command for driving the engine 21 at a target revolving speed, a command necessary for causing a command voltage to act on the proportional solenoid valve 27, and the like. Note that the memory is not limited to semiconductor memories such as the ROM and the RAM mentioned above, and may be replaced, for example, with a magnetic storage such as a hard disk drive.
The ECU 22, the plurality of pressure sensors 41, two GNSS antennas 40, the bucket IMU 38, the arm IMU 37, the boom IMU 36, a machine body IMU 39, a plurality of pressure sensors 42 for detecting the pressures of the hydraulic actuators 28, 33, 32a, 32b, and 32c, a plurality of velocity sensors 43 for detecting operation velocities of the hydraulic actuators 28, 33, 32a, 32b, and 32c, and the target surface setting device 50 are connected to the controller 20.
The controller 20 computes the positions and directions (orientations) of the swing structure 402 and the front work device 400 in a global coordinate system (geographic coordinate system) and the target surface 60 based on input signals from the two GNSS antennas 40, and computes the posture of the front work device 400 based on input signals from the bucket IMU 38, the arm IMU 37, the boom IMU 36, and the machine body IMU 39. In other words, in the present embodiment, the GNSS antennas 40 function as position sensors, whereas the bucket IMU 38, the arm IMU 37, the boom IMU 36, and the machine body IMU 39 function as posture sensors.
In the present embodiment, stroke sensors are used as the velocity sensors 43 for the hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c. In addition, the hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c are each provided with a bottom pressure sensor and a rod pressure sensor as the pressure sensors for the hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c. Here, the pressure sensor 42 for detecting the bottom pressure of the boom cylinder 32a may be referred to as a boom bottom pressure sensor 42BBP, and the pressure sensor 42 for detecting the rod pressure of the boom cylinder 32a may be referred to as a boom rod pressure sensor 42BRP.
Note that the means and method used in computing the machine body position, the posture of the front work device 400, the pressures of the actuators, and the velocities of the actuators described herein are merely an example, and known computing means and methods can be used.
The target surface setting device 50 is an interface through which information concerning the target surface 60 (see
<Jack-Up>
As illustrated in
Note that since the swing structure 402 can be swung relative to the track structure 401, the directions of the swing structure 402 and the track structure 401 may be opposite to those illustrated or in a lateral direction, depending on the working posture. In this case as well, the inclination angle of the track structure 401 relative to the ground is defined as the jack-up angle φ. In the present embodiment, for ease of calculation, the distance between a front idler and a sprocket of the track structure 401 and the distance between the left and right crawlers are assumed to be the same distance in calculations.
<Controller>
The position calculation section 740 of the controller 20 calculates the positions and orientations of the swing structure 402 and the work device 400 in the global coordinate system from signals (navigation signals) received by the two GNSS antennas 40.
The machine body pitch angle sensing section 820 detects and calculates a pitch angle (inclination angle) of the swing structure 402 based on an acceleration signal and an angular velocity signal obtained from the machine body IMU 39 attached to the swing structure 402.
The front posture sensing section 830 estimates respective postures of the boom 405, the arm 406, and the bucket 407, based on acceleration signals and angular velocity signals obtained from the boom IMU 36, the arm IMU 37, and the bucket IMU 38.
The target surface distance calculation section 700 receives as inputs the positions and the orientations of the swing structure 402 and the work device 400 calculated by the position calculation section 740, the pitch angle of the swing structure 402 calculated by the machine body pitch angle sensing section 820, the postures of the front members 405, 406, and 407 calculated by the front posture sensing section 830, and a three-dimensional shape of the target surface 60 inputted from the target surface setting device 50. The target surface distance calculation section 700 generates a sectional view (two-dimensional shape) of the target surface obtained when the three-dimensional target surface 60 is cut by a plane parallel to the swing axis of the swing structure 402 and passing through the center of gravity of the bucket 407 from these pieces of input information, and computes the distance (target surface distance) D between the claw tip position of the bucket 407 and the target surface 60 in this section. The distance D is the distance between the intersection of a perpendicular dropped from the claw tip of the bucket 407 to the target surface 60 and this section and the claw tip (tip) of the bucket 407.
The target operation velocity calculation section 710 calculates a target value (target operation velocity) Vt of the velocity of at least one hydraulic cylinder of the plurality of hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c necessary for operating the work device 400 such that the claw tip 407a of the bucket 407 is moved along the target surface 60 (i.e., necessary for performing the area restriction control). In the present embodiment, for ease of description, description will be made by taking as an example a case where the operator only operates the arm 406 by the operation lever 26 (i.e., the operator does not operate the boom 405 or the bucket 407) in an excavation work of the work device 400, and the velocity vector V1 generated at the bucket claw tip 407a by the arm operation is corrected only by an operation of the boom cylinder 32a by MC, whereby the bucket claw tip 407a is moved along the target surface 60.
First, the target operation velocity calculation section 710 computes a limit value (limit velocity perpendicular component) V1′y of a component perpendicular to the target surface 60, of a velocity vector of the bucket claw tip 407a (this component will hereinafter simply be referred to as a “perpendicular component”), based on the distance D calculated by the target surface distance calculation section 700 and a table in
Next, the target operation velocity calculation section 710 calculates velocities of the hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c based on operation signals (operating amounts) inputted from the pressure sensors 44 (velocities of the hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c based on the operator's operation). This calculation can be performed, for example, by use of a correlation table for converting the operating amount of the operation lever 26 into cylinder velocity. Then, taking into account posture information concerning the work device 400 inputted from the front posture sensing section 830 and pitch angle information concerning the machine body 1A inputted from the machine body pitch angle sensing section 820, in addition to this velocity, a velocity vector V1 generated at the bucket claw tip by the velocities of the hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c is calculated. In the present embodiment, only the arm cylinder 32b is operated by the operation lever 26, and, therefore, the velocity vector V1 is generated at the bucket claw tip 407a only by the operation of the arm cylinder 32b.
As illustrated in
In the case of
When the target velocity perpendicular component V1′y of the claw tip velocity vector is determined as in the table of
The operation command value generation section 720 calculates corrected Pi pressures (operation command value Pi) to be outputted to the control valves 25 corresponding to the cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c, for operating the cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c at the target operation velocities (Vta, Vtb, and Vtc) calculated by the target operation velocity calculation section 710. It is to be noted, however, that in the case where there is a correction amount (correction operation velocity) Vc that the command value correction amount calculation section 940 commands, this correction amount is added to the target operation velocity Vt to compute a corrected Pi pressure (see Formula (3) described later). In the present embodiment, the correction amount Vc may be calculated for only the target operation velocity Vta of the boom cylinder 32a, and the target operation velocities Vtb and Vtc of the remaining arm cylinder 32b and bucket cylinder 32c are not corrected.
The driving command section 730 generates a control current necessary for driving the proportional solenoid valve 27, based on the corrected Pi pressure generated by the operation command value generation section 720, and outputs the control current to the proportional solenoid valve 27. As a result, the corrected Pi pressures act on the control valves 25, and the cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c are operated at the target operation velocities Vt (Vta, Vtb, and Vtc). When the correction amount Vc is zero (when the jack-up angle φ is equal to or less than the target value φt), the bucket claw tip 407a is operated along the target surface 60. When a correction amount Vc is present for the target operation velocity Vta of the boom cylinder 32a (when the jack-up angle φ is larger than the target value φt), the bucket claw tip 407a is operated such as to draw a locus on an upper side than that in the case where the correction amount Vc is zero. Therefore, when the correction amount Vc is present for the target operation velocity Vta of the boom cylinder 32a, such an operation that the jack-up angle φ is reduced to approach the target value φt is performed.
The cylinder pressure sensing section 810 receives as inputs pressure signals from the bottom pressure sensor 42BBP and the rod pressure sensor 42BRP attached respectively to the bottom-side oil chamber and the rod-side oil chamber of the boom cylinder 32a, and detects a bottom pressure Pbb and a rod pressure Pbr of the boom cylinder 32a.
<Determining Method for Jack-up>
The jack-up determination section 910 determines whether or not the hydraulic excavator 1 is in a jacked-up state, based on the target operation velocity Vt obtained from the target operation velocity calculation section 710, cylinder pressure information (the rod pressure Pbr and the bottom pressure Pbb of the boom cylinder 32a) obtained from the cylinder pressure sensing section 810, and machine body pitch angle information obtained from the machine body pitch angle sensing section 820. The details of this determining method will be described below.
The determination of whether or not the hydraulic excavator 1 is in a jacked-up state is performed by use of the target operation velocity Vt, the rod pressure Pbr and the bottom pressure Pbb of the boom cylinder, and the machine body pitch angle information. When the machine body 1A is not jacked up, the weight of the work device 400 is supported by the boom cylinder 32a. Therefore, the bottom pressure Pbb of the boom cylinder 32a is higher than the rod pressure Pbr of the boom cylinder 32a (that is, Pbb>Pbr). It is to be noted, however, that, in a strict sense, a thrust force of the cylinder as a whole is determined in proportion to pressure receiving areas of the bottom-side oil chamber and the rod-side oil chamber. However, here, description will be made on the assumption that the pressure receiving areas of the bottom-side oil chamber and the rod-side oil chamber are equal.
On the other hand, when the machine body 1A is jacked up, part of the weight of the swing structure 402 and the track structure 401 is supported by the work device 400, so that the bottom pressure Pbb of the boom cylinder 32a is lower than the rod pressure Pbr of the boom cylinder 32a (that is, Pbb<Pbr). Then, when the differential pressure between the bottom side and the rod side in the boom cylinder 32 is smaller than a predetermined threshold (pressure threshold) P1 (that is, Pbb−Pbr<P1), it can be determined that the machine body 1A is in a jacked-up state.
The threshold P1 of the differential pressure in this instance can be obtained from a support force for supporting the mass of the components of the hydraulic excavator 1 and a thrust force of the boom cylinder 32a figured from the bottom pressure Pbb and the rod pressure Pbr of the boom cylinder 32a; alternatively, the threshold P1 may be obtained from the differential pressure between the bottom pressure Pbb and the rod pressure Pbr of the boom cylinder 32a which are measured when the machine body 1A is actually jacked up. In addition, the bottom pressure when the machine body 1A is jacked up may preliminarily be measured by an experiment, and the machine body 1A may be determined to be in a jacked-up state, based on a situation in which the bottom pressure is lowered than the measured value. Note that the threshold P1 can be set to zero.
Incidentally, by the above-mentioned method, the state in which the machine body 1A is jacked up can be determined correctly if the machine body 1A is in a static state. However, when the boom 405 is suddenly moved downward from a state of standing still in the air, only the bottom pressure Pbb of the boom cylinder 32a may suddenly be lowered for a short period of time, on the basis of the structure of the hydraulic system. As a result, the bottom pressure of the boom cylinder 32a is lowered below the rod pressure, possibly resulting in an erroneous determination that the machine body 1A is in a jacked-up state.
In view of this, at the time of applying the present embodiment to an actual machine, it is preferable to add the following two determinations, from the viewpoint of avoiding erroneous determination.
A first determination is to determine that the machine body 1A is not jacked up, even if the differential pressure between the bottom side and the rod side in the boom cylinder 32a is smaller than the threshold P1, during a period until a predetermined time T1 elapses from the time when a lowering operation for the boom 405 is started in response to an input of a boom lowering operation to the operation lever 26. The time T1 can be determined by preliminarily measuring the period of time in which the bottom pressure Pbb is suddenly lowered by a boom lowering operation and there is a possibility of erroneous determination, and determining the time T1 based on the measured period of time.
Another determination utilizes the fact that the pitch angle of the hydraulic excavator 1 is slightly changed when the bucket 407 get grounded. Specifically, during a period until a predetermined time T1 elapses from the time when a lowering operation of the boom 405 is started, it is determined whether or not the change in the machine body pitch angle has been equal to or more than a predetermined amount (change threshold) θ1, and, if there has been a change that is equal to or more than the predetermined amount θ1, it is determined that the machine body 1A is in a jacked-up state.
By adding the above-mentioned two determinations, it is possible to correctly determine whether or not the machine body 1A is in a jacked-up state.
The jack-up angle calculation section 920 calculates the jack-up angle φ of the hydraulic excavator 1, based on jack-up state information of the hydraulic excavator 1 obtained from the jack-up determination section 910 and machine body pitch angle information obtained from the machine body pitch angle sensing section 820. Examples of the calculating method for the jack-up angle φ include a method in which the machine body pitch angle calculated based on a detection value from the machine body IMU (inclination angle sensor) 39 immediately before the time of change from a determination of a non-jacked-up state by the jack-up determination section 910 to a determination of a jacked-up state by the jack-up determination section 910 is deemed as an inclination angle of the ground, and in which the deviation between the inclination angle and a current inclination angle is made to be the jack-up angle φ. In addition, when the shape of the ground can be measured by a stereo camera, a laser scanner, or the like and the inclination angle of the ground can be acquired, the deviation between the inclination angle and the machine body pitch angle can be made to be the jack-up angle φ. Also when three-dimensional data of a newest ground shape is stored in the target surface setting device 50, the jack-up angle φ can be calculated.
<Determination of Target Jack-up Angle by Operation Analysis>
The target jack-up angle determination section 930 determines a target jack-up angle φt for the hydraulic excavator 1, based on the target operation velocity Vt obtained from the target operation velocity calculation section 710 and the posture information obtained from the front posture sensing section 830. In the present embodiment, a configuration in which the target jack-up angle φt is varied according to the angle (posture) of the arm 406 is adopted.
In addition, the excavating operation is conducted by two operations of arm pulling and arm pushing. In view of this, in the present embodiment, a case where excavation is performed by an arm pulling operation and a case where excavation is performed by an arm pushing operation are considered as two different cases, and correlation tables in which correlation between the arm angle and the target jack-up angle φt is prescribed are stored.
Incidentally, determination of the start and the end of excavation can be made by use of an arm operating amount (a detection value of the pressure sensor 44), stroke information concerning the arm cylinder 32b obtained from a detection value of the stroke sensor (velocity sensor 43), and the result of jack-up state determination by the jack-up determination section 910. In an excavating operation, excavation is started from a state in which the arm cylinder 32b is contracted (the work device 400 is extended), and excavation is finished in a state in which the arm cylinder 32b is extended (the work device 400 is folded) by the arm pulling operation. In view of this, when a jacked-up state is determined in a state in which there is an arm pulling operation and the arm cylinder 32b is in a contracted state, the current state can be determined as an excavation start state (start of excavation). In addition, when the arm pulling operation is continued and the arm cylinder 32b is extended, the current state can be determined as an excavation end state (end of excavation). Note that in an intermediate region between the start and the end of excavation in
<Method for Obtaining Correction Amount Vc>
The command value correction amount calculation section 940 compares target jack-up angle information obtained from the jack-up angle determination section 930 with jack-up angle information obtained from the jack-up angle calculation section 920. When the jack-up angle in practice (actual jack-up angle) φ of the hydraulic excavator 1 is larger than the target jack-up angle φt, a correction amount Vc according to the target operation velocity Vt (the target operation velocity Vta of the boom cylinder 32a) is calculated in such a manner that the jack-up angle φ approaches the target jack-up angle φt, and the correction amount Vc is outputted to the operation command value generation section 720. On the contrary, when the actual jack-up angle φ is equal to or less than the target jack-up angle φt, the correction amount Vc is set to 0, and correction of the Pi pressure is not performed. A specific method for obtaining the correction amount Vc will be described below.
When the actual jack-up angle φ is larger than the target jack-up angle φt, the target operation velocity Vt is corrected. The method for obtaining the correction amount Vc in this instance will be described taking as an example an excavating operation conducted by a combined operation of arm pulling based on an operator's operation and boom raising by MC.
In order to reduce the jack-up angle φ during excavation to thereby cause the jack-up angle φ to approach the target jack-up angle φt, it is sufficient to make the velocity higher than the target operation velocity Vta of the boom cylinder 32a (boom cylinder velocity in the boom raising direction) calculated by the target operation velocity calculation section 710 to thereby separate the bucket 407 from the ground early. In view of this, when the actual jack-up angle φ is larger than the target jack-up angle φt, the correction amount Vc is calculated by multiplying the target operation velocity Vt (Vta) of the boom cylinder 32a by a fixed value of K(Vt), as represented in Formula (1). As a result, the boom raising velocity is enhanced in the case where the machine body 1A is jacked up too much, so that the jack-up angle φ is reduced.
On the other hand, when the target jack-up angle φt is equal to or less than the jack-up angle φ, the target operation velocity Vt (Vta) is not corrected, so that Vc=0 is adopted as represented by Formula (2).
The fixed value K(Vt) for enhancing the boom raising velocity may preliminarily be obtained empirically, or may be determined as a variable value according to the arm operating amount, distance to the target surface, the target operation velocity Vt, and the like. In the present embodiment, correction by the target operation velocity Vt is needed, on the basis of characteristics of the hydraulic system, and, therefore, a function K(Vt) according to the target operation velocity Vt is used.
In the operation command value generation section 720, as represented by Formula (3), the correction amount Vc is added to the target operation velocity Vt calculated by the target operation velocity calculation section 710, and is converted into a corrected Pi pressure by a function F(Vt). The function F(Vt) is a function of the target operation velocity Vt.
Vc=Vt×K(Vt)[jack-up angle>target jack-up angle] Formula (1)
Vc=0[jack-up angle≤target jack-up angle] Formula (2)
Pi=(Vt+Vc)×F(Vt) Formula (3)
<Control Procedure>
A process flow executed by the controller 20 configured as described above will be described referring to
When it is confirmed by the pressure sensor 44 that a pushing or pulling operation signal for the arm 406 or a boom lowering operation signal is outputted through the operation lever 26, the controller 20 starts a process of
In step S10, the jack-up determination section 910 resets time t to zero, starts counting the time t, and proceeds to step S110.
In step S110, the jack-up determination section 910 determines whether or not the change in the machine body pitch angle in the time t is equal to or more than a predetermined amount θ1. If there is a machine body pitch angle change that is equal to or more than the predetermined amount θ1, it is determined that the machine body 1A may have got in a jacked-up state due to a boom lowering operation, and the control proceeds to step S130. If only a machine body pitch angle change that is smaller than the predetermined amount θ1 has been present in the time t, the control proceeds to S120.
In step S120, the jack-up determination section 910 determines whether or not a predetermined time T1 has elapsed from the start of counting the time t in step S10. Here, if it is determined that the time T1 has elapsed (t>T1), the control proceeds to S130. On the other hand, if it is determined that the time T1 has not elapsed yet, the control returns to step S110.
In step S130, the jack-up determination section 910 determines whether or not the difference (differential pressure) between the bottom pressure Pbb and the rod pressure Pbr of the boom cylinder 32a is smaller than a predetermined threshold P1 (that is, whether or not Pbb−Pbr<P1 is established). If the differential pressure is smaller than the threshold P1, the control proceeds to step S150. On the contrary, if the differential pressure is equal to or more than the threshold P1, it is determined that jack-up has not been generated, and the control proceeds to step S320.
Note that the determination in step S130 in the case of having gone through step S120 is preferably performed from the start to the end of an excavating operation. Specifically, it is preferable to adopt a configuration in which, when determination in step S120 is YES and determination thereafter in step S130 is NO, the jack-up determination section 910 determines the presence or absence of an arm operation based on a detection value from the pressure sensor 44, and the control returns to step S130 if the arm operation is being continued, whereas the control proceeds to step S320 if the arm operation has been finished.
In step S150, the jack-up determination section 910 determines that the machine body 1A is in a jacked-up state, and the control proceeds to step S160.
In step S160, the jack-up angle calculation section 920 stores a machine body pitch angle immediately before it is determined in step S150 that the machine body 1A is in a jacked-up state, and calculates the jack-up angle φ of the machine body 1A from the difference between the stored machine body pitch angle and the machine body pitch angle at that point of time.
In step S210, the target jack-up angle determination section 930 determines whether or not an arm operation is a pulling operation, based on an operation signal detected by the pressure sensor 44. If the arm operation is the pulling operation, the control proceeds to step S220. If the arm operation is a pushing operation, the control proceeds to step S230. Note that also when jack-up is generated by boom lowering (that is, when determination in step S110 is YES and, thereafter, determination in step S130 is also YES), an arm pulling or arm pushing operation is normally inputted after the boom lowering, and thus there is no trouble.
In step S220, the target jack-up angle determination section 930 refers to Table 1 in
In step S230, the target jack-up angle determination section 930 refers to Table 2 in
In step S240, the command value correction amount calculation section 940 determines whether or not the jack-up angle φ calculated in step S160 is larger than the target jack-up angle φt determined in step S220 or step S230. If the jack-up angle φ is larger than the target jack-up angle φt, the control proceeds to step S310. On the other hand, if the jack-up angle φ is equal to or less than the target jack-up angle φt, the control proceeds to step S320.
In step S310, the command value correction amount calculation section 940 calculates a correction amount Vc concerning the velocity of the boom cylinder 32a based on Formula (1), and calculates a corrected Pi pressure for the boom cylinder 32a by using the correction amount Vc, the target operation velocity Vt, and Formula (3), and the control proceeds to step S330. Note that for the velocities of the arm cylinder 32b and the bucket cylinder 32c, the corrected Pi pressure is calculated from the target operation velocity Vt.
In step S320, the command value correction amount calculation section 940 sets the correction amount Vc concerning the velocity of the boom cylinder 32a to zero based on Formula (2), and calculates a corrected Pi pressure for the boom cylinder 32a by using the target operation velocity Vt and Formula (3), and the control proceeds to step S330. In this case, the corrected Pi pressure is not corrected. Note that for the speeds of the arm cylinder 32b and the bucket cylinder 32c, the corrected Pi pressure is calculated from the target operation velocity Vt.
In step S330, the driving command section 730 calculates a control current for the proportional solenoid valve 27 to output the corrected Pi pressure calculated in step S310 or S320, and outputs the control current to the corresponding proportional solenoid valve 27, to thereby drive the corresponding hydraulic cylinders 32a, 32b, and 32c.
Note that, in the above description, the flow of
<Operation and Effects>
In the hydraulic excavator of the present embodiment configured as described above, when an excavating operation is started by a pulling operation of the arm 405 and jack-up is generated in the machine body 1A due to hard soil, MC of reducing the jack-up angle is not performed until the jack-up angle φ exceeds a target value (target jack-up angle) φt. Therefore, during a period until the jack-up angle exceeds the target value, the operator can intuitively grasp the excavating force state (soil hardness state) from the magnitude of the jack-up angle, and can adjust the excavating force by the operator's own operation. Besides, the target value of the jack-up angle is set in such a manner as to be reduced as the angle of the arm is reduced (that is, as the end of the excavating operation approaches) according to the tendency of the jack-up angle in the case where a skilled operator excavates a hard soil, and the actual jack-up angle semi-automatically approaches the target value by MC according to the progress of the excavating operation. As a result, the excavating force can be maximized in an allowable range at the start of excavation, so that a hard soil can be excavated efficiently. In addition, since excavation at a jack-up angle equivalent to that in the case of skilled operator can be achieved irrespective of the skill of the operator, even an unskilled operator can be expected to effectively excavate a hard soil. Besides, in the case of a skilled operator, the excavating force can be adjusted by the operator's own operation when the actual jack-up angle is equal to or less than the target value, so that lowering in operability does not occur. According to the present embodiment, therefore, operability of the operator when the machine body 1A is in a jacked-up state in the hydraulic excavator in which an area restriction control (MC) is conducted can be kept favorable.
In addition, in the hydraulic excavator mentioned above, the target jack-up angle is set relatively large at the start of excavation, and the jack-up angle is set to approach zero at the end of excavation. Therefore, a transport operation conducted after the end of the excavating operation can be started swiftly, and lowering in work efficiency can be prevented.
Besides, in the method in which the presence or absence of generation of jack-up is determined based on the differential pressure between the bottom-side oil chamber and the rod-side oil chamber of the boom cylinder 32a, there has been a problem that in the case of a sudden boom lowering from a state in which the work device 400 stands still, a differential pressure value similar to that upon generation of jack-up may arise even when jack-up is not actually generated, and thus erroneous determination of jack-up may occur. In the present embodiment, however, it is determined that a jack-up angle is generated in the case where the machine body pitch angle has changed by an amount equal to or more than a predetermined amount during a period until the predetermined time T1 elapses from a boom lowering operation, and, therefore, generation of such an erroneous determination can be prevented.
<Modification>
Incidentally, the target jack-up angle φt is preferably set to be smaller as the target surface distance D is smaller, as depicted in
<Others>
In the foregoing, there have been parts based on the assumption that only an arm operation is conducted at the time of an excavation work, for simplification of the description of the area restriction control executed by the controller 20. However, needless to say, the process executed by the controller 20 and the programs (the sections in the controller 20 of
In addition, while MC is applied to only the boom cylinder 32a (boom 405) in the foregoing, MC may also be configured to be applied to the arm cylinder 32b and the bucket cylinder 32c. In this case, in the command value correction amount calculation section 940, the correction amount Vc is calculated for a target operation velocity Vt of a cylinder to which MC is applied.
Besides, the processing of steps S10, S110, and S120 in
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and includes various modifications in such ranges as not to depart from the gist of the invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to one that includes all the configurations described in the above embodiment, but may include those in which some of the configurations is deleted. In addition, some of the configurations according to a certain embodiment may be added to or be used in place of the configurations according to another embodiment.
Besides, the configurations concerning the above controller (controller 20) and the functions and executing processes of the configurations may be realized in whole or in part by hardware (for example, designing logics for executing the functions in the form of an integrated circuit). In addition, the configurations of the above controller may be programs (software) which, by being read out and executed by a calculation processing device (e.g., CPU), realize the functions according to the configurations of the controller. Information concerning the programs can be stored, for example, in a semiconductor memory (a flash memory, an SSD, etc.), a magnetic recording device (a hard disk drive, etc.), a recording medium (a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.), and so on.
Besides, in the description of the embodiments above, of the control lines and information lines, those construed to be necessary for explanation of the embodiments have been described, but all the control lines and information lines concerning the product are not necessarily described. It may be considered that, in practice, substantially all the configurations are connected to one another.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2018/032671 | 9/3/2018 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2020/049623 | 3/12/2020 | WO | A |
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| Korean Office Action received in corresponding Korean Application No. 10-2020-7004933 dated Sep. 10, 2021. |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210148082 A1 | May 2021 | US |
