Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B62—LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
  • B62D—MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS
  • B62D5/00—Power-assisted or power-driven steering
  • B62D5/04—Power-assisted or power-driven steering electrical, e.g. using an electric servo-motor connected to, or forming part of, the steering gear
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B62—LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
  • B62D—MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS
  • B62D1/00—Steering controls, i.e. means for initiating a change of direction of the vehicle

Definitions

• Embodiments here described are directed to controlling a mobile machine. More specifically, the embodiments relate to an assembly for coupling a steering component of a vehicle control system with a mobile machine.
• the rows of crops can occur. This can result in damaged crops, overplanting, or
• a component for controlling the steering mechanism of the vehicle is used
• controlling component is
• Figure 5 shows a side view of an exemplary prior art motor mount 500.
• a electric motor 510 is coupled with a thrust bearing 511.
• a shaft 520 is coupled with a thrust bearing 511.
• Thrust bearing 511 is coupled with a back plate 540 via a screw 512
• a screw 530 couples
• a lever 550 is coupled with back
• Figure 5 shows motor mount 500 in an engaged position in which wheel
• lever 550 is pulled in the direction typically shown as arrow 570.
• lever 550 rotates around screw 551 , thus causing screw 552 to move over the
• lever 550 is moved in the opposite direction to disengage screw 552 from
• steering wheel 560 For example, if a user is manually steering a vehicle and hits
• wheel 521 can become engaged with steering wheel 560. This can be
• motor mount 500 Another drawback of motor mount 500 is that screw 512 uses a lock nut
• the lower motor mount is
• motor mount is coupled with the lower motor mount and with a drive motor.
• upper motor mount maintains pressure when in a first position such that a drive
• FIGURES 1 A and 1 B show an exemplary system for controlling a mobile
• FIGURE 2 shows an exemplary system architecture in accordance with
• FIGURES 3A and 3B show side and top views respectively of a system for
• FIGURES 4A and 4B show side and top views respectively of a system for
• FIGURE 5 shows a side view of an exemplary prior art motor mount.
• FIGURE 6 shows a perspective view of a motor mount assembly 600 in
• FIGURE 7 is an exploded perspective view of a motor mount assembly in
• FIGURES 8A, 8B, and 8C show front, top, and perspective views
• FIGURES 9A, 9B, 9C 1 9D, and 9E show front, side, top, bottom, and rear
• FIGURES 10A and 1 OB show side and front views respectively of a pivot
• FIGURES 11 A 1 11 B, and 11 C show an exploded perspective, side and
• FIGURE 12 is an exploded perspective view of upper motor mount
• FIGURE 13 is a section view of a pivot shaft and pivot bearing in
• FIGURES 14A and 14B are front views of a motor mount assembly 600
• Figure 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system 100 for controlling a
• a position determining system is coupled with a control component
• system 100 may comprise an optional keypad 140 and/or a terrain compensation module component (e.g., TCM 150) which are also coupled with
• coupling 115 is a serial
• coupling 115 is compliant with, but not
• CAN controller area network
• serial bus
• SAE Automotive Engineers
• Position determining system 110 determines the geographic position of
• geometric position means the determining in at least two dimensions (e.g.,
• position determining system 110 is a satellite based
• GPS global positioning system
• differential GPS system a real-time kinematics (RTK) system
• RTK real-time kinematics
• control component 120 receives
• machine 105 is an agricultural vehicle such as a tractor, a harvester, etc.
• control component 120 determines system 110, control component 120 generates a message (e.g., a
• control component 120 is operable for generating steering commands to an
• keypad 130 provides additional functionality
• keypad 130 may also comprise a device drive which allows reading a media
• CD compact disk
• DVD digital versatile disk
• mapping software software applications such as mapping software in order to facilitate controlling
• field boundaries can be
• TCM 150 provides the ability to compensate for terrain variations which
• the antenna 107 of the position determining system 110 can be
• TCM 150 can detect the magnitude
• FIG. 2 shows an exemplary system architecture 200 in accordance with
• component 120 comprises a vehicle guidance system 210 which is coupled with
• vehicle guidance system 210 and steering controller 220 may be any vehicle guidance system 210 and steering controller 220.
• steering controller 220 is implemented as a single unit, or separately.
• vehicle guidance system 210 In embodiments of the present invention, vehicle guidance system 210
• position determining system 110 uses position data from position determining system 110, user input such as a
• desired pattern or direction as well as vector data such as desired direction and
• Roll, pitch, and yaw data from TCM 150 may also be used to calculate the speed of the machine 105.
• course correction means a change in the direction
• vehicle guidance system 210 is a commercially available
• Additional data used to determine course corrections may also comprise
• a harvester may be coupled with mobile machine 105. For example, if a harvester can clear
• vehicle guidance system 210 may generate
• Vehicle guidance system 210 may also be programmed to
• vehicle guidance system 210 may be integrated into vehicle guidance system 210 or may be a separate unit. Additionally, as stated above with reference to Figure 1 , position
• vehicle guidance system 210 by vehicle guidance system 210 is sent from vehicle guidance system 210 to
• Steering controller 220 translates the course correction generated by
• Steering controller 220 generates a
• coupling 115 e.g., a serial bus, or CAN bus.
• steering component 130 may
• steering controller 220 comprises a first output
• coupling 1 15 may be compliant with the CAN protocol, plug and play functionality is facilitated in system 200. Therefore, in
• steering controller can determine which
• controller 220 is used.
• Steering controller 220 then generates a message, based upon the
• steering controller 220 determines that output 221 is being used, it
• steering controller 220 determines that output 222 is being
• Figures 3A and 3B show side and top views respectively of a system 300
• a steering component e.g., electric
• steering component 131 of Figure 2 comprises an electric motor 310 which is
• actuator device comprises a drive wheel 311 which is in contact with steering
• electric motor 310 may be directly coupled with drive wheel 311 , or may be coupled via a low ratio gear (not shown). Using these methods to couple electric
• the electric motor coupled with
• drive wheel 311 is a non-geared motor and the performance parameters of the
• electric motor coupled are selected so that, for example, electric motor 310 may
• control component 120 that are
• the motor turns too slowly to provide a desired level of responsiveness to
• parameters of the electric motor are selected to more specifically match the
• Electric steering component 131 further comprises a motor control unit
• electric motor 310 may be coupled with steering column
• bracket 340 using another apparatus than bracket 320.
• bracket 320 For example, in one
• electric motor 310 may be coupled with a bracket which is attached
• electric motor 310 may be coupled with a pole which is
• the present embodiment shows motor control unit 313 directly coupled with
• control unit 120 may be implemented as a sub-component of control unit 120 and may only send
• motor control unit 313 may be implemented as a separate unit which is communicatively coupled with control unit 120 via coupling 115 and
• drive wheel 311 is coupled with
• the user is manually steering mobile machine 105 and the user's
• electric motor 310 is reversable
• motor control unit 313 controls the current to electric motor 310 such that it
• electric motor 310 may be a permanent magnet brush
• DC direct current
• brushless DC motor a brushless DC motor
• stepper motor or an
• AC alternating current
• motor control unit 313 can detect
• electric steering component 131 is turning.
• a shaft encoder (not limited to, a shaft encoder), a shaft encoder (not shown).
• the shaft encoder detects that the user is turning
• motor control unit 313 To determining that a user is turning steering wheel 330, motor control unit 313
• motor 310 is now freewheeling and can be more easily operated by the user.
• a switch detects the rotation of
• unit 313 can then determine that the user is manually steering mobile machine
• electric motor 310 can be fitted to a variety of vehicles by simply
• bracket 320 for one configured for a particular vehicle model.
• feelers which typically must be raised from and lowered into a furrow when the
• Figures 4A and 4B show side and top views respectively of a system 400
• the steering component e.g., electric steering
• component 131 of Figure 2 comprises an electric motor 410 which is coupled
• unit 413 couples electric motor 410 with steering controller 220 of Figure 2.
• drive wheel 411 is coupled with a sub wheel
• electric motor 410 turns in a
• sub wheel 431 prevents a user's fingers from being pinched between steering
• sub wheel 431 can be easily and
• Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a motor mount assembly 600 in
• Figure 6 shows a fully
• cover 611 are coupled with an upper motor mount (not shown) using cover
• a drive wheel 620 from the top of motor mount assembly 600 is a drive wheel 620.
• drive wheel 620 controls the movement of the steering
• a slot in the side of right side cover 610 permits lower motor
• Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of a motor mount assembly 600
• right side cover 610 and left side cover 611 are coupled with upper motor mount
• Drive motor 650 is coupled with upper motor mount
• a drive shaft 652 is coupled with motor shaft
• a cap is coupled with drive wheel 620 using drive wheel screws 621.
• a cap is coupled with drive wheel 620 using drive wheel screws 621.
• Figures 8A, 8B, and 8C show perspective, front, and top views
• lower motor mount In embodiments of the present invention, lower motor mount
• 630 comprises a plurality of mounting holes 631.
• mounting holes 631 In the present embodiment,
• mounting holes 631 have a squared configuration, however in other
• 8A and 8C are advantageous because they facilitate mounting coupling lower
• motor mount 630 to, for example, the steering column of a vehicle using only one
• Lower motor mount 630 further comprises a bearing hole 632 which is
• Lower motor mount 630 further comprises first positive stop 634 and 635 and latching pin bushing 636.
• first positive stop 634 and 635 and latching pin bushing 636.
• positive stop 634 and/or second positive stop 635 may be removably coupleable
• first positive stop 634 may comprise a
• lower motor mount 630 comprises a spring mounting hole 637.
• mount 630 can be fabricated at a low cost and without requiring specialized
• lower motor mount 630 may be fabricated
• these holes can be simple drilled or
• Figures 9A, 9B, 9C 1 9D, and 9E show front, side, bottom, top, and rear
• mount 640 comprises an integrated latching lever 641 , pivot shaft mounting hole 642, and spring mounting hole 643.
• integrated latching lever 641 is for restricting the range of motion of upper motor
• 641 is also for engaging a latching pin inserted into latching pin bushing 636 to
• latching lever 641 is bent to create a lead-in ramp 641a.
• lead-in ramp 641 a facilitates locking upper motor mount 640 in
• a spring mounted latching pin is coupled in latch pin housing
• upper motor mount 640 furthermore, to support lever 641 and engages the latching pin in the cutout region 641 b.
• cover mounting brackets 644 e.g., left side cover bracket 644a and
• present invention further comprise cover mounting holes 645 which are disposed
• Figure 9C is a bottom view of upper motor mount 640 showing a motor
• drive motor 650 is coupled with upper motor mount 640
• motor mount screws 651 which are inserted into motor mounting holes 647.
• motor mounting holes 647 may be
• upper motor mount 640 can be
• upper motor mount 640 may be fabricated out of sheet metal which
• these holes can be simple drilled or punched through the metal
• these hole may be threaded to accept threaded screws.
• Figures 10A and 10B show side and front views respectively of a pivot
• pivot shaft 1000 is made of stainless steel
• pivot shaft 1000 typically is not
• paint may be deposited on the area typically shown as 1001 around
• pivot shaft 1000 comprises a first pin
• first pin 1010 and a second pin 1020.
• first pin 1010 and a second pin 1020.
• pivot shaft 1010 is inserted into pivot shaft mounting hole 642 of upper motor mount 640 and pivot shaft 1000 is then welded or otherwise coupled with upper motor mount 640
• second pin 1020 is drilled and threaded
• Second pin 1020 is then inserted into
• pivot bearing 1201 of Figure 12 which has been fit into
• second pin 1020 defines a point of rotation for upper motor mount 640.
• Figures 11 A, 11 B, and 11 C show an exploded perspective, side and rear
• pivot shaft 1000 in embodiments of the present invention, pivot shaft 1000
• pivot shaft 1000 is then coupled with
• upper motor mount 640 by, for example, welding or bolting them together.
• Figure 12 is an exploded perspective view of upper motor mount 630 and
• pivot bearing 1201 which is
• pivot shaft 1000 is inserted into pivot
• pivot shaft 1000 pivot shaft 1000.
• latch pin 1205 which is coupled with lower
• latch pin 1205 is a spring loaded latch pin which is typically extended in the
• positive stop 634 is shown which is coupled with lower motor mount 630 using
• a spring 1209 is coupled with upper motor mount 640
• spring 1209 is coupled with lower motor mount 630 using a screw 1211
• out of plane movement is
• mount assembly 600 can be realized. Additionally, because embodiments of the
• Figure 13 is a section view of a pivot shaft 660 and pivot bearing 1201 in
• pivot shaft 1000 and pivot bearing 1201 have been coupled as described above
• cap screw 1204 passes through washer 1203
• upper motor mount 640 and lower motor mount 630 are not in direct
• pivot shaft 1000 and pivot shaft 1000 are identical in embodiments of the present invention.
• bearing 1201 are machined components. As described above, this facilitates
• the diametral tolerance for pivot shaft 1000 is
• shaft 17 as defined by the ANSI B4.1-
• pivot shaft 1000 and pivot bearing 1201 can be controlled so that out of
• bearing hole 632 does not require
• hole 642 is not typically considered a critical tolerance because the diametral
• FIGS. 14A and 14B are front views of a motor mount assembly 600 used
• FIG. 14A shows upper motor mount 640 in a first position wherein a drive wheel (e.g.,
• latching lever 641 is engaged with latch pin 1205. This prevents upper motor mount 640 from disengaging from the second position unless a user releases
• cutout 641b is disposed over spring loaded latch pin 1205,

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Power Steering Mechanism (AREA)

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• 2005
  • 2005-05-31 EP EP05756567A patent/EP1765653A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2005-05-31 WO PCT/US2005/019164 patent/WO2006019462A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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