Ground characteristic milling machine control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9103079-B2
Application number	US-201314062981-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 25, 2013
Priority date	Oct 25, 2013
Publication date	Aug 11, 2015
Grant date	Aug 11, 2015

Abstract

A milling machine includes a frame, a rotor coupled to the frame and vertically adjustable, a chamber coupled to the frame and at least partially surrounding the rotor, a speed sensor configured to measure a speed of the machine, a height sensor configured to measure a height of the rotor, a ground characteristic sensor configured to measure a ground characteristic, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive the speed of the machine from the speed sensor, receive the height of the rotor from the height sensor, receive the ground characteristic from the ground characteristic sensor, determine a target speed for the machine, determine a target height for the rotor, adjust the speed of the machine to the target speed, and adjust the height of the rotor to the target height.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A milling machine comprising:
a frame;
a rotor coupled to the frame and vertically adjustable;
a chamber coupled to the frame and at least partially surrounding the rotor;
a speed sensor configured to measure a speed of the machine;
a height sensor configured to measure a height of the rotor;
a ground characteristic sensor configured to measure a ground characteristic;
a controller configured to:
receive the speed of the machine from the speed sensor;
receive the height of the rotor from the height sensor;
receive the ground characteristic from the ground characteristic sensor;
determine a target speed for the machine based on the ground characteristic;
determine a target height for the rotor based on the ground characteristic;
adjust the speed of the machine to the target speed; and
adjust the height of the rotor to the target height.

2. The milling machine of claim 1 , wherein the chamber includes an adjustable sizing mechanism having a position and capable of being moved from a first position to a second position and to any intermediate position in between the first position and the second position.

3. The milling machine of claim 2 , further comprising a sensor for measuring the position of the adjustable sizing mechanism.

4. The milling machine of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive the position of the adjustable sizing mechanism;
determine a target position for the adjustable sizing mechanism; and
adjust the position of the adjustable sizing mechanism to the target position.

5. The milling machine of claim 1 , wherein the ground characteristic sensor is a ground penetrating radar.

6. The milling machine of claim 5 , wherein the ground characteristic is a density of the ground.

7. The milling machine of claim 1 , further comprising a second speed sensor configured to measure the speed of the rotor.

8. The milling machine of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive the speed of the rotor;
determine a target speed for the rotor based on the ground characteristic; and
adjust the speed of the rotor to the target speed.

9. The milling machine of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine a target speed for the machine based on the height of the rotor.

10. The milling machine of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine a target height for the rotor based on the speed of the machine.

Assignees

• Caterpillar Paving Prod

Inventors

• Schlenker Brian J
• Muir Jason W

Classifications

• E01C23/065 Primary

  Recycling in place or on the road, i.e. hot or cold reprocessing of paving in situ or on the traffic surface, with or without adding virgin material or lifting of salvaged material; Repairs or resurfacing involving at least partial reprocessing of the existing paving (in situ mixing of hydraulic cement concrete E01C19/025; apparatus for in-plant recycling E01C19/1004, E01C19/1036) · CPC title

• E01C2301/00

  Machine characteristics, parts or accessories not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• E01C23/088

  Rotary tools, e.g. milling drums {(for forming recesses to receive marking materials E01C23/0946)} · CPC title

• E01C23/085 Primary

  using power-driven tools, e.g. vibratory tools · CPC title

• E01C21/00

  Apparatus or processes for surface {soil} stabilisation for road building or like purposes, e.g. mixing local aggregate with binder ({recycling in place or on the road involving soil stabilisation E01C23/065} ; stabilising soil under existing surfacing E01C23/10; soil-conditioning or soil-stabilising materials C09K17/00; soil consolidation in general E02D3/12) · CPC title