Shovel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12305356-B2
Application number	US-202017034466-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2020
Priority date	Mar 30, 2018
Publication date	May 20, 2025
Grant date	May 20, 2025

Abstract

A shovel ( 100 ) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a lower travelling body ( 1 ), an upper pivot body ( 3 ) pivotably mounted to the lower travelling body ( 1 ), an excavation attachment (AT) provided to the upper pivot body ( 3 ), a plurality of actuators that operate the excavation attachment (AT), an operation device ( 26 ) provided to the upper pivot body ( 3 ), and a controller ( 30 ) configured to, in response to an operation of the operation device ( 26 ) in a first direction, operate the plurality of actuators to move a predetermined portion of the excavation attachment (AT) based on position information. The controller ( 30 ) operates the plurality of actuators in a first control mode and a second control mode based on the position information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A shovel, comprising:
a lower travelling body;
an upper pivot body pivotably mounted to the lower travelling body;
an attachment provided to the upper pivot body;
a plurality of actuators that operate the attachment;
an operation device provided to the upper pivot body; and
a hardware processor configured to, in response to an operation of the operation device in a predetermined direction, operate the plurality of actuators to move a predetermined portion of the attachment based on position information,
wherein the hardware processor is configured to operate the plurality of actuators in a first control mode and a second control mode by switching between the first control mode and the second control mode based on the position information while moving the predetermined portion of the attachment along a predetermined trajectory set in a target of excavation, and
the hardware processor is configured to operate the plurality of actuators in the first control mode when an angle of the predetermined trajectory with respect to a reference plane is less than a predetermined angle, and to operate the plurality of actuators in the second control mode when the angle of the predetermined trajectory with respect to the reference plane is greater than or equal to the predetermined angle.

2. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a movement speed of the predetermined portion relative to an operation amount of the operation device is greater in the first control mode than in the second control mode.

3. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to operate the plurality of actuators in the first control mode when a distance between an embedded object and the predetermined portion is greater than a predetermined distance, and to operate the plurality of actuators in the second control mode when the distance between the embedded object and the predetermined portion is smaller than the predetermined distance.

4. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to operate the plurality of actuators in the second control mode in a portion of the predetermined trajectory which includes a point where a direction of the predetermined trajectory changes by greater than or equal to another predetermined angle.

5. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to operate the plurality of actuators in the second control mode when an object is recognized around the shovel based on an output of a space recognition device provided to the upper pivot body.

6. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to operate the plurality of actuators in the first control mode when the predetermined trajectory is within a predetermined distance range from the shovel and the angle of the predetermined trajectory with respect to the reference plane is within a predetermined angle range, and to operate the plurality of actuators in the second control mode otherwise.

7. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a posture detection device that detects a posture of the attachment,
wherein the hardware processor is configured to detect the posture of the attachment based on a detected value from the posture detection device and to determine whether to operate the plurality of actuators in the first control mode or the second control mode based on the posture of the attachment.

8. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to switch between the first control mode and the second control mode depending on a portion of the target of excavation.

9. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to switch between the first control mode and the second control mode depending on a change of the position information along the predetermined trajectory.

10. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein
the attachment includes a boom and an arm provided to the upper pivot body, and
the hardware processor is configured to cause the arm to operate depending on the boom.

11. The shovel as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to cause the arm to operate along the predetermined trajectory depending on the boom.

12. The shovel as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to switch between a first operation of causing the arm to operate depending on the boom and a second operation of causing the boom to operate depending on the arm.

13. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to switch between the first control mode and the second control mode while moving the predetermined portion of the attachment along the predetermined trajectory set in the target of excavation during an excavation.

14. The shovel as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the predetermined trajectory is preset in the target of excavation.

15. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to operate the plurality of actuators in the first control mode and the second control mode by automatically switching between the first control mode and the second control mode based on the position information while autonomously moving the predetermined portion of the attachment along the predetermined trajectory set in the target of excavation.

16. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to move the predetermined portion of the attachment along the predetermined trajectory set in the target of excavation by autonomously moving at least one of the plurality of actuators in response to the operation device being operated to move another one of the plurality of actuators.

17. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein
the attachment includes a boom mounted on the upper pivot body, an arm attached to a tip of the boom, and a bucket attached to a tip of the arm,
the plurality of actuators include a boom cylinder configured to drive the boom, an arm cylinder configured to drive the arm, and a bucket cylinder configured to drive the bucket, and
the hardware processor is configured to
operate the arm cylinder according as the operation device is operated to operate the arm cylinder, and autonomously operate at least one of the boom cylinder or the bucket cylinder according to an operation of the arm cylinder, in the first control mode, and
operate the boom cylinder according as the operation device is operated to operate the boom cylinder, and autonomously operate at least one of the arm cylinder or the bucket cylinder according to an operation of the boom cylinder, in the second control mode.

18. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein
the predetermined trajectory includes a first trajectory portion, a second trajectory portion continuing from the first trajectory portion, and a third trajectory portion continuing from the second trajectory portion, and
the hardware processor is configured to
operate the plurality of actuators in the first control mode in the first trajectory portion,
switch the first control mode to the second control mode in response to determining that a distance between the predetermined portion of the attachment and a boundary point between the first trajectory portion and the second trajectory portion along the predetermined trajectory is less than a first predetermined distance, when an angle of the second trajectory portion with respect to the reference plane is greater than or equal to the predetermined angle, and operate the plurality

Assignees

• Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co Ltd

Inventors

• Izumikawa Takeya

Classifications

• E02F9/265

  with follow-up actions (e.g. control signals sent to actuate the work tool) · CPC title

• E02F9/245

  for preventing damage to underground objects during excavation, e.g. indicating buried pipes or the like (detection of pipes in the ground F16L1/11) · CPC title

• E02F9/2296

  Systems with a variable displacement pump · CPC title

• E02F9/2292 Primary

  Systems with two or more pumps · CPC title

• E02F9/2285

  Pilot-operated systems · CPC title