Agricultural work vehicle and method for controlling hitch of agricultural work vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10849263-B2
Application number	US-201616061926-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2016
Priority date	Dec 17, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

An agricultural work vehicle according to an aspect of the present invention, which can adaptively adjust the velocity profile of the hitch according to the weight of the work machine, is characterized by comprising: a hitch on which an work machine is mounted; a weight calculation unit that calculates the weight of the work machine when the work machine is lifted following a first lift of the hitch; and a hitch controller that firstly lifts the hitch according to a reference velocity profile comprising a constant-velocity section (T) and, when calculation of the weight of the work machine is completed, generates an updated velocity profile comprising acceleration sections (a 1 , a 2 ), constant-velocity sections (b 1 , b 2 ), and deceleration sections (c 1 , c 1 ) according to the weight of the work machine, and secondly lifts the hitch according to the updated velocity profile.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An agricultural work vehicle comprising:
a hitch on which a work machine is mounted;
a weight calculation unit configured to calculate a weight of the work machine when the work machine is raised by a first ascent of the hitch; and
a hitch controller configured to firstly raise the hitch according to a reference velocity profile including a constant-velocity section (T), generate an updated velocity profile including an acceleration section (a 1 , a 2 ), a constant-velocity section (b 1 , b 2 ), and a deceleration section (c 1 , c 2 ) according to the weight of the work machine when the calculation of the weight of the work machine is completed, and secondarily raise the hitch according to the updated velocity profile,
wherein the hitch controller generates the updated velocity profile such that the acceleration section (a 1 , a 2 ) and the deceleration section (c 1 , c 2 ) become larger to raise the work machine more slowly at a time of beginning or ending an ascent of the work machine and the constant-velocity section (b 1 , b 2 ) becomes smaller as the weight of the work machine increases.

2. The agricultural work vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the hitch controller generates the updated velocity profile such that the sum of areas of the acceleration section (a 1 , a 3 ), the constant-velocity section (b 1 , b 2 ), and the deceleration section (c 1 , c 2 ) on the updated velocity profile is maintained to be equal to an area of the constant-velocity section (T) on the reference velocity profile.

3. The agricultural work vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the hitch controller generates the updated velocity profile such that an arrival time (T=t 2 −t 1 ) from an initial ascending start time (t 1 ) of the hitch to a final ascending end time (t 2 ) of the hitch on the updated velocity profile is maintained to be equal to an arrival time (T=t 2 −t 1 ) from an initial ascending start time (t 1 ) of the hitch to a final ascending end time t 2 of the hitch on the reference velocity profile regardless of a velocity of ascent of the work machine.

4. The agricultural work vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the hitch controller:
maintains a velocity of ascent of the hitch at a first velocity (V 1 ) for the constant-velocity section (T) of the reference velocity profile; and
generates the updated velocity profile such that the velocity of ascent of the hitch is increased to a second velocity (V 2 ,V 2 ′) greater than the first velocity (V 1 ) for the acceleration section (a 1 ,a 2 ) of the updated velocity profile, the velocity of ascent of the hitch is maintained at the second velocity (V 2 ,V 2 ′) for the constant-velocity section (b 1 , b 2 ) of the updated velocity profile, and the velocity of ascent of the hitch is decreased from the second velocity (V 2 , V 2 ′) to zero for the deceleration section (c 1 , c 2 ) of the updated velocity profile,
wherein a value of the second velocity (V 2 , V 2 ′) increases as the weight of the work machine increases.

5. The agricultural work vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the weight calculation unit calculates the weight of the work machine using engine power information of the agricultural work vehicle, tractive force information of the agricultural work vehicle, and an angle between a lift arm of the hitch and a horizontal plane.

6. The agricultural work vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the engine power information includes a torque of an engine and a rotating speed (revolution per minute (RPM)) of the engine.

7. The agricultural work vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the weight calculation unit calculates the weight of the work machine using Equation:

W
i

=

c
⁢

⁢

(

T
e

⁢

N
e

V
C

)

⁢

⁢
cos
⁢

⁢

θ
1

⁢

⁢
cos
⁢

⁢

θ
2

⁢

⁢
cos
⁢

⁢

(

⁢

θ
1

+

θ
2

)

-

F
D

⁢

⁢
tan
⁢

⁢

θ
4

,

wherein W 1 indicates the weight of the work machine, C indicates a proportional constant, T e indicates a torque of an engine, N e indicates a rotating speed (revolution per minute (RPM)) of the engine, V C indicates a speed of a hydraulic cylinder for driving the hitch, θ 1 indicates an angle between a lift arm and a horizontal plane, θ 2 indicates an angle between a lower link constituting the hitch and the horizontal plane, θ 4 indicates an angle between a upper link constituting the hitch and the horizontal plane, and F D indicates tractive force information.

8. The agricultural work vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:
an engine controller configured to control an engine of the agricultural work vehicle and provide the weight calculation unit with engine power information;
a tractive force sensing sensor configured to measure a tractive force of the agricultural work vehicle and provide the weight calculation unit with tractive force information; and
an angle sensing sensor configured to measure an angle between a lift arm of the hitch and a horizontal plane and provide the weight calculation u

Assignees

• Ls Mtron Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Jin Woong

Classifications

• A01B63/32

  operated by hydraulic or pneumatic means {without automatic control} · CPC title

• A01B63/112 Primary

  to control draught load, i.e. tractive force · CPC title

• A01B63/1117

  using a hitch position sensor · CPC title

• A01B63/1115

  using a mechanical ground contact sensor · CPC title

• A01B63/111 Primary

  regulating working depth of implements · CPC title