Agricultural tillage implement fold sequence control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10485156-B2
Application number	US-201916371994-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2019
Priority date	Nov 13, 2013
Publication date	Nov 26, 2019
Grant date	Nov 26, 2019

Abstract

An agricultural tillage implement with a hydraulic system having a left wing hydraulic subsystem with an outer left wing hydraulic circuit supplying hydraulic pressure and flow to an actuator for actuating an actuator of an outer left wing folding implement section, and a right wing hydraulic subsystem having an outer right wing hydraulic circuit for actuating the actuator of an outer right wing implement section; the hydraulic system additionally having a hydraulic flow divider dividing hydraulic flow and pressure between the outer left wing hydraulic circuit and the outer right wing hydraulic circuit, the hydraulic flow divider being configured to coordinate the motion of the outer left wing section and the outer right wing section.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hydraulic system for use with an agricultural tillage implement having a main section including a pull hitch extending in a travel direction, a plurality of foldable wing sections coupled with the main section, the plurality of foldable wing sections each including at least one actuator, the plurality of foldable wing sections including an outer left wing section and an outer right wing section, a plurality of ground engaging tilling elements coupled to one of the main section and to the plurality of foldable wing sections, and a plurality of wheel assemblies, each wheel assembly including an actuator, the plurality of wheel assemblies including a first plurality of wheel assemblies associated with the main section and a second plurality of wheel assemblies associated with the plurality of wing sections, the hydraulic system comprising:
a hydraulic system having a left wing hydraulic subsystem and a right wing hydraulic subsystem, the left wing hydraulic subsystem including an outer left wing hydraulic circuit for actuating the actuator of the outer left wing section, the right wing hydraulic subsystem including an outer right wing hydraulic circuit for actuating the actuator of the outer right wing folding section; the hydraulic system additionally having at least one hydraulic flow divider dividing hydraulic flow and pressure between the outer left wing hydraulic circuit and the outer right wing hydraulic circuit, the at least one hydraulic flow divider being configured to coordinate the motion of the outer left wing section and the outer right wing section; and
a displacement detecting device positioned on each actuator of each of the plurality of foldable wing sections, the displacement detecting device including
a first signal proportional to a displacement of an output shaft relative to a body of the actuator of each respective foldable wing section, and
a second signal which reflects a rate of change of displacement of the output shaft of the actuator, so that the plurality of foldable wing sections and the plurality of ground engaging tilling elements connected thereto are raised and lowered via the actuators in unison and calibrated via the displacement detecting device to provide a uniform height above the ground for the plurality of foldable wing sections and a uniform depth for the plurality of ground engaging tilling elements when positioned in the soil, wherein the calibration includes the agricultural tillage implement 1) positioned on a level surface, 2) the plurality of wing sections raised to the maximum extent wherein each individual actuator of each wing section has its output shaft extended to a maximum length, and 3) the wing sections lowered so that the plurality of ground engaging tilling elements on each wing section just touch the level surface.

2. The hydraulic system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of foldable wing sections including an intermediate left wing section and an intermediate right wing section, the left wing hydraulic subsystem further includes an intermediate left wing hydraulic circuit for actuating the actuator of the intermediate left wing section, the right wing hydraulic subsystem including an intermediate right hydraulic circuit to actuate the actuator of the intermediate right wing section; the hydraulic flow divider dividing hydraulic flow and pressure between the intermediate left wing hydraulic circuit and the intermediate right wing hydraulic circuit, the hydraulic flow divider being configured to coordinate the motion of the intermediate left wing section and the intermediate right wing section, and wherein when the plurality of wing sections are raised to the maximum extent such that each individual actuator of each wing section has its output shaft extended to the maximum length, a bypass port in each actuator piston provides a bypass for return flow back to the actuator control unit which ensures that any air entrained in a chamber of one of the plurality of actuators or in a connected hydraulic line of one of the plurality of actuators is passed to the hydraulic system.

3. The hydraulic system of claim 2 , wherein the hydraulic system is configured to sequentially actuate the outer wing hydraulic circuits then the intermediate wing hydraulic circuits when transitioning from an operational mode to a transport mode.

4. The hydraulic system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of foldable wing sections including an inner left wing section and an inner right wing section, the left wing hydraulic subsystem further includes an inner left wing hydraulic circuit for actuating the actuator of the inner left wing section, the right wing hydraulic subsystem including an inner right wing hydraulic circuit for actuating the actuator of the inner right wing section; the hydraulic flow divider dividing hydraulic flow and pressure between the inner left wing hydraulic circuit and the inner right wing hydraulic circuit, the hydraulic flow divider being configured to coordinate the motion of the inner left wing section and the inner right wing section.

5. The hydraulic system of claim 4 , wherein the hydraulic system is configured to sequentially actuate the outer wing hydraulic circuits then the intermediate wing hydraulic circuits then the inner wing hydraulic circuits when transitioning from an operational mode to a transport mode.

6. The hydraulic system of claim 4 , wherein the hydraulic system is configured to sequentially actuate the inner wing hydraulic circuits then the intermediate wing hydraulic circuits then the outer wing hydraulic circuits when transitioning from a transport mode to an operational mode.

7. The hydraulic system of claim 4 , wherein the hydraulic system further includes at least one hydraulic connection between the outer wing hydraulic circuits and the inner wing hydraulic circuits.

8. The hydraulic system of claim 4 , wherein the hydraulic system further includes at least one hydraulic connection between the intermediate wing hydraulic circuits and the inner wing hydraulic circuits.

9. The hydraulic system of claim 4 , wherein the hydraulic system further includes at least one hydraulic connection between the intermediate wing hydraulic circuits and the outer wing hydraulic circuits.

10. The hydraulic system of claim 4 , wherein the hydraulic flow divider is configured to divide the hydraulic fluid flow for each of the outer wing hydraulic circuits, the intermediate wing hydraulic circuits and the inner wing hydraulic circuits.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Wileniec Mark J
• Shah Kena
• Sudbrink Matthew R
• Knobloch Dean A

Classifications

• A01B73/046 Primary

  each folding frame part being foldable in itself · CPC title