Control System For Automatic Excavator Bucket Leveling And Load Dumping

Abstract

A control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping preferably includes a controller, a bucket angle sensor, a chassis angle sensor and at least one switch. The controller preferably includes an absolute angle routine, a bucket leveling routine, an automatic load dumping routine and a joystick monitoring routine. The bucket angle sensor is mounted to the bucket. The excavator angle sensor is mounted to an excavator body. The controller receives input from the at least one switch, the angle sensors and excavator joystick for processing by the absolute angle routine, the bucket leveling routine, the automatic load dumping routine and the joystick monitoring routine to level an excavator bucket or dump the excavator bucket with a bucket actuator. A hydraulic control circuit receives input from the controller to control the movement of the bucket actuator.

Claims

1. A control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling, the excavator includes a bucket actuator and a joystick for controlling motions of the excavator, comprising: a controller includes an absolute angle routine and a bucket leveling routine; a bucket angle sensor is retained on the excavator bucket, said bucket angle sensor is connected to said controller; an excavator angle sensor is retained on a body of the excavator, said excavator angle sensor is connected to said controller, said absolute angle routine combines a bucket angle value of said bucket angle sensor with an excavator angle value of said excavator angle sensor to provide an absolute bucket angle; and a bucket level switch is connected to said controller for activating excavator bucket leveling, wherein said bucket leveling routine controls a movement of the bucket actuator to keep the excavator bucket level.

2. The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling of claim 1, further comprising: a hydraulic control circuit receives input from said controller.

3. The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling of claim 2, wherein: the bucket actuator receives hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic control circuit to move the excavator bucket for leveling thereof.

4. The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling of claim 1, wherein: a joystick monitoring routine receives input from the joystick to ensure that the excavator bucket stays level.

5. A control system for excavator automatic load dumping, the excavator includes a bucket actuator and a joystick for controlling motions of the excavator, comprising: a controller includes an absolute angle routine and a load dumping routine; a bucket angle sensor is retained on the excavator bucket, said bucket angle sensor is connected to said controller; an excavator angle sensor is retained on a body of the excavator, said excavator angle sensor is connected to said controller, said absolute angle routine combines a bucket angle value from said bucket angle sensor with an excavator angle value from said excavator angle sensor to provide an absolute bucket angle; and a bucket dump switch is connected to said controller for activating excavator bucket dumping, wherein said bucket dumping routine controls a movement of the bucket actuator to dump contents of the excavator bucket.

6. The control system for excavator automatic load dumping of claim 5, further comprising: a hydraulic control circuit receives input from said controller.

7. The control system for excavator automatic load dumping of claim 6, wherein: the bucket actuator receives hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic control circuit to move the excavator bucket for dumping thereof.

8. The control system for excavator automatic load dumping of claim 5, wherein: a joystick monitoring routine receives input from the joystick to ensure that the excavator bucket is fully dumped.

9. A control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping, the excavator includes a bucket actuator and a joystick for controlling motions of the excavator, comprising: a controller includes an absolute angle routine, a bucket leveling routine and a load dumping routine; a bucket angle sensor is retained on the excavator bucket, said bucket angle sensor is connected to said controller; an excavator angle sensor is retained on a body of the excavator, said excavator angle sensor is connected to said controller, said absolute angle routine combines a bucket angle value from said bucket angle sensor with an excavator angle value from said excavator angle sensor to provide an absolute bucket angle; a bucket level switch is connected to said controller for activating excavator bucket leveling, wherein said bucket leveling routine controls a movement of the bucket actuator to keep the excavator bucket level; and a bucket dump switch is connected to said controller for activating excavator bucket dumping, wherein said bucket dumping routine controls a movement of the bucket actuator to dump the load of the excavator bucket.

10. The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping of claim 9, further comprising: a hydraulic control circuit receives input from said controller.

11. The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping of claim 10, wherein: the bucket actuator receives hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic control circuit to move the excavator bucket for leveling or dumping thereof.

12. The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping of claim 9, wherein: a joystick monitoring routine receives input from the joystick to ensure that the excavator bucket stays level or moves to a load dumping position.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a controller receiving input from dump and level switches; bucket and excavator angle sensors and a joystick for control of a bucket actuator of a control system for an excavator bucket in accordance with the present invention.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a side view of an excavator with a bucket oriented in a level position with bucket and excavator angle sensors of a control system for an excavator bucket in accordance with the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a side view of an excavator with a bucket oriented in a dump position with bucket and excavator angle sensors of a control system for an excavator bucket in accordance with the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a bucket leveling routine of a control system for an excavator bucket in accordance with the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an automatic load dumping routine

bucket leveling routine of a control system for an excavator bucket in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] With reference now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic diagram of a controller 10 receiving input from a level switch 12, a dump switch 14, a bucket angle sensor 16, an excavator angle sensor 18 and a joystick 102 of for controlling a bucket actuator 104 of an excavator 100 of a control system for an excavator bucket 1. The controller 10 may be any suitable programmable controller. The controller 10 preferably includes an absolute angle routine 20, a bucket leveling routine 22, an automatic load dumping routine 24 and a joystick monitoring routine 26. With reference to FIGS. 2-3, the bucket angle sensor 16 is mounted to a bucket 106 of the excavator 100. The excavator angle sensor 18 is mounted to a body of the excavator 100. An angle of the bucket 106 is input into the controller 10 from the buckle angle sensor 16 and an angle of the excavator 100 is input into the controller 10 from the excavator angle sensor 18. An angle of the bucket angle sensor 16 is combined with the angle of the excavator angle sensor 18 to provide an absolute bucket angle by the absolute angle routine 20. A value of the absolute bucket angle is used by the

controller 10 to level the bucket 106 through retracting or extending the bucket actuator 104. A hydraulic control circuit 108 receives an instruction from the controller 10 and sends hydraulic fluid to the bucket actuator 104 to retract or extend the bucket 106.

[0018] With reference to FIG. 4, the bucket leveling routine 22 is activated when the bucket level switch 12 is activated. The bucket leveling routine 22 preferably includes the steps of checking the absolute buckle angle relative to the horizontal plane in decision block 28. If the bucket 106 is level relative to the horizontal plane, then continue monitoring a joystick 102 of the excavator, the bucket angle sensor 16 and the excavator angle sensor 18 in process block 30; and loop back to the controller 10. If the bucket 106 is not level relative to the horizontal plane, then proceed to decision block 32. If the absolute bucket angle is positive relative to the horizontal plane, then extend bucket actuator in process block 34 and return to the decision block 28. If the absolute bucket angle is not positive relative to the horizontal plane, then retract the bucket actuator in process block 36 and return to the decision block 28.

[0019] With reference to FIG. 5, the automatic load dumping routine 24 is activated when the bucket dump switch 14 is activated. The automatic load dumping routine 24 preferably includes the steps of checking for a full retraction of the bucket 106 in decision block 38. If the bucket is fully retracted, then continue monitoring the joystick 102, the bucket angle sensor 16

and the excavator sensor 18 in process block 40; and then loop back to the controller 10. If the bucket 106 is not fully retracted, then check to see if excavator 100 is on level ground in decision block 42. If the excavator is on level ground, then retract the bucket actuator 104 in process block 44 and return to the decision block 38. If excavator 100 is not on level ground, then check to see if the excavator 100 is on a downhill slope in decision block 46.

[0020] If the excavator 100 is on a downhill slope then retract the bucket actuator 104 in process block 44 and return to decision block 38. If the excavator 100 is not on a downhill slope then retract the bucket actuator 104 in process block 48, and then proceed to decision block 50. Angle alpha is defined as the bucket angle relative to the ground when the excavator is on level ground and the bucket actuator is fully retracted. Angle beta is the actual bucket angle relative to the horizontal plane. If angle beta is greater than angle alpha, then continue monitoring the joystick 102, the bucket angle sensor 16 and the excavator angle sensor 18 in process block 40 and loop back to the controller 10. If angle alpha is greater than angle beta, then retract bucket actuator 104 in process block 48.

[0021] The bucket level switch 12 and the bucket dump switch 14 are at least one switch. The at least one switch could be a single toggle switch or two push button switches. The toggle switch would have an automatic level position and a bucket dump position. The toggle switch would be normally placed in the automatic level

position. With two push buttons, bucket leveling could be switched on or off, and the bucket dumping could be actuated through a momentary switch.

[0022] While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.