JP3534462B2 - Elevating control device for working unit in work vehicle - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lifting control device for a working section of a traveling vehicle for work such as agricultural machines and construction machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, when performing work such as leveling, leveling, and plowing using a traveling vehicle of this type, a horizontal or arbitrary inclination is provided at a predetermined location on the work site. While installing a light projector for projecting laser light in a predetermined direction, a work vehicle is provided with a light receiver for receiving the laser light, and the detection signal of the light receiver is input to a display to display the height of the working unit. There is something to do. However, in this one, the operator has to manually perform the raising / lowering operation while watching the height display. Therefore, in consideration of the operating labor of the operator, the working unit is automatically controlled to be raised / lowered based on the detection signal. Is desirable. Therefore, a dedicated control unit (controller) for fetching a detection signal from the light receiver or the display unit and a dedicated hydraulic valve for controlling the lifting and lowering of the working unit based on the operation command from the control unit are provided to automatically operate the working unit. The one that enables the lifting control has already been put into practical use, but if the control unit and the hydraulic valve are already provided to perform another automatic control, the control unit and the hydraulic valve will be redundant, resulting in waste. Perhaps because of the complexity of the structure and the increase in cost, it is not possible to combine the automatic elevation control based on the laser light and the existing automatic control, and
Since it is necessary to modify the light receiving device or the display device in order to capture the detection signal, there is a disadvantage that the assembling work becomes complicated.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was devised with the object of providing an elevator control device for a working unit in a working vehicle capable of overcoming these problems in view of the above circumstances. The work including a light receiver for receiving the laser light projected from the light projector in the horizontal direction or in an arbitrary tilt direction, and a display device for displaying the height of the working unit based on the detection signal of the light receiver. For traveling vehicles,
A discriminator for discriminating the height display state to be displayed is mounted on the display surface of the display unit, while the control unit for lifting and lowering the working unit automatically detects the working unit based on the detection signal of the discriminator. It is characterized in that it is provided with an automatic lifting control means for controlling lifting. And the present invention, by this configuration, when performing automatic lifting control of the working unit based on the laser light in the working vehicle already equipped with the control unit and the hydraulic valve,
The special control unit and hydraulic valve are not required to be specially installed to simplify the structure and reduce the cost, and the automatic raising / lowering control based on the laser beam and the existing automatic control are combined to be performed by the same control unit. That allows you to
It also simplifies assembly work by eliminating the need to modify the receiver and display.

[0004]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, reference numeral 1 is a traveling machine body of a tractor including a crawler traveling device 2, and a rear working machine 4 such as a rotary for cultivating a field scene is freely movable up and down via a lifting link mechanism 3 at a rear portion of the traveling machine body 1. Are linked to. The rear working machine 4 moves up and down based on the vertical swing of the lift arm 6 associated with the expansion and contraction operation of the lift arm cylinder 5, while the lift rod cylinder 7 interposed between the lift arm 6 and the lifting link mechanism 4 is lifted. Although tilted to the left and right based on the expansion and contraction operation, all of these basic configurations are conventional.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a pair of left and right support arms pivotally supported on the front portion of the traveling machine body 1 so as to be vertically swingable. The front end portions of the support arms 8 are used to perform work such as leveling and leveling. Blade 9 is provided. And the blade 9
A lift operation (elevating operation) associated with the extension / contraction operation of the lift cylinder 10, an angle operation associated with the extension / contraction operation of the angle cylinder 11 (an operation of displacing either left or right of the blade 9 back and forth), and a tilt operation associated with the extension / contraction operation of the tilt cylinder 12. (Operation of displacing either the left or right of the blade 9 up and down) or the like is possible, but a lift angle sensor for detecting a lift angle (a swing angle of the support arm 8) is provided at the pivotal support portion of the support arm 8. 13 are provided.

Reference numeral 14 is a mast which is integrally provided upright on the blade 9, and a light receiver 15 having a predetermined light receiving width is provided at the upper end of the mast 14. On the other hand, a projector 16 for rotating and projecting a laser beam in a horizontal direction or an arbitrary inclination direction is installed at a predetermined location of a work site or a field, and the laser beam projected from the projector 16 is received by the light receiver 15 described above. The light is received by
The blade height based on the laser beam is detected based on the detection of the height of the received light in the above. However, since the mast cylinder 17 which can be freely expanded and contracted is provided in the mast 14, it is arranged near the driver's seat 18. Based on the operation of the mast cylinder switch 19, the height of the blade 9 with respect to the light receiver 15 is adjusted so that the working height of the blade 9 with respect to the ground can be changed.

Further, 20 is an indicator provided near the driver's seat 18, and the indicator 20 is the light receiver 15
The height of the blade 9 is displayed on the basis of the laser light based on the detection signal input from. That is, on the display surface 20a of the display device 20, a plurality of light emitting display portions 20b to 20f are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction at a predetermined interval,
Then, when the deviation amount with respect to the laser light is within the allowable range (for example, −5 mm to +5 mm), the display surface 20
The central light emitting display unit 20b located at the center of a is turned on (or blinked), and the deviation amount exceeds the allowable range and is within the laser light detection range (for example, -5 mm to
-95 mm, +5 mm to +95 mm),
Of the light emitting display units 20c and 20d vertically adjacent to the central light emitting display unit 20b, those corresponding to the shift direction are turned on (or blinked), and when the shift amount exceeds the laser light detection range. Of the light emitting display sections 20e and 20f located at the upper and lower ends of the display surface 20a, the one corresponding to the shift direction is turned on (or blinked).
Is configured to let.

Further, reference numeral 21 is a reader (discriminator) which is mounted on the display surface 20a of the display device 20 and discriminates the height display state displayed on the display surface 20a. On the surface 21a, the light emitting display portions 20b to 20
A plurality of light receiving elements 21b are arranged in parallel so as to face each other. Then, each light receiving element 21b reads and detects the light emitting display of each of the light emitting display sections 20b to 20f, and inputs the detection signal to the first control section 22 described later via a predetermined interface circuit. . As another embodiment of the reader, as shown in FIG. 4, the display operation of each of the light emitting display units 20b to 20f of the display device 20 is taken into the transistor circuit and each display operation signal is sent to the first control unit 22.
May be input to.

On the other hand, 23 is a side panel disposed on the side of the driver's seat 18, and at the front part of the side panel 23, a position lever 24 for raising and lowering the rear working machine 4 is arranged. On the other hand, on the other hand, in the rear part, an automatic plowing depth switch 25 for ON / OFF operation of automatic plowing depth control described later, an automatic inclination switch 26 for ON / OFF manipulation of automatic tilt control described later, and an automatic inclination control. The operation tools such as the tilt setting volume 27 for setting the target tilt of the side panel 23 are arranged in a state of being covered by the openable / closable transparent cover 28. A raising / lowering operation switch 29 for raising and lowering 4 by a one-touch operation, and a working depth setting volume 30 having a knob larger than those of other operating tools are provided. The operation signal of each operation tool is input to the second control section 23A dedicated to the rear working machine 4, and the side panel 2
Regarding the configuration and the function of No. 3, the one of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-42425 is cited.

Further, reference numeral 31 is a blade operation panel, and on the blade operation panel 31, a blade lift lever 32 for vertically moving the blade 9 and a blade automatic switch for ON / OFF operation of blade control described later. 33, a control switch 34 for switching between rotary control and blade control, which will be described later, a sensitivity switch 35 for switching the control sensitivity of the blade control, a speed adjusting volume 36 for adjusting the operating speed of the blade control, as described above. Operation tools such as the mast cylinder switch 19 are provided, but the blade operation panel 3 of this embodiment
1 is provided near the inside of the front part of the side panel 23 by utilizing the space between the driver's seat 18 and the side panel 23, so that the operation tool of the rear working machine 4 and the operation tool of the blade 9 are clear. It is arranged so as to be concentrated on one side of the driver's seat 18 in a state of being divided into.

Further, although 37 to 40 are switches for performing the above-mentioned angle operation and tilt operation, since each switch 37 to 40 is provided at the grip portion of the blade lift lever 32, a single blade lift is provided. Lever 3
When the switch 2 is turned on, the blade 9 can be lifted, angled, and tilted. In this embodiment, the ascending / descending speed of the blade 9 changes according to the operation amount of the blade lift lever 32, and when the hand is released, the blade 9 is returned to the neutral position N and the ascending / descending of the blade 9 is stopped. Also, the switches 37, 38
The angle posture can be switched between right front and left front with, and the tilt posture can be switched between upper right and lower right with switches 39 and 40.

By the way, the first control section 22 is constructed by using a so-called microcomputer,
This device receives signals from the lift angle sensor 13 and the reader 21, the lever angle sensor 46 for detecting the lever angle of the blade lift lever 32, the manual operation tool provided on the blade operation panel 31, and the like, which are described above. The lift cylinder 1 described above is judged by the judgment based on the input signal.
0, an angle cylinder 11, a tilt cylinder 12, a mast cylinder 17, and the like, an operation signal is output to a hydraulic valve (not shown) that controls the operation.

The second control section 23A is a married one constructed by using a microcomputer.
This includes a tillage depth sensor 41 for detecting the tilling depth of the rear working machine 4 based on the swing angle of the rear cover 4a, an arm angle sensor 42 for detecting the vertically swinging angle of the lift arm 6, and a rod of the lift rod cylinder 7. While a signal is input from a rod length sensor 43 for detecting the length, an inclination sensor 44 for detecting the left and right inclination of the machine body, a position sensor 45 for detecting the lever angle of the position lever 24, an operation tool provided on the side panel 23, and the like, A hydraulic valve (not shown) for controlling the operation of the lift arm cylinder 5, the lift rod cylinder 7 and the like based on the determination based on these input signals.
The operation signal is output to the. That is,
The second control unit 23A controls the position of the rear working machine 4 so as to move up and down so as to maintain the set height of the position lever 24, and controls the rear working machine 4 to maintain the set working depth set by the working depth setting volume 30. Controls such as automatic tilling depth control for automatically raising and lowering control, automatic inclination control for automatically controlling the inclination of the rear working unit 4 so as to maintain the set inclination set by the inclination setting volume 27, etc. are performed. There is.

As described above, in this embodiment, the first control section 22 for controlling the front working machine (blade 9) and the rear working machine 4 are used.
And a second control unit 23A for controlling the memory, a memory (ROM) provided in the first control unit 22 of the present embodiment.
11, blade control for automatically raising and lowering the blade 9 based on laser light, manual-automatic switching control for ON-OFF control of the blade control, and control sensitivity for blade control are adjusted. Control software such as sensitivity adjustment control and speed adjustment control for adjusting the operating speed of blade control is added, and the content of the control software added to the first control unit 22 will be described below with reference to a flowchart. In addition, the mast 14 and the light receiver 15 are connected to the blade 9
It is also possible to detach it from the rear working unit 4 and attach it to the rear working unit 4. In this case, although detailed description is omitted, the rear working unit 4 is a combination of the first control unit 22 and the second control unit 23A. Blade control when the light receiver 15 is attached to the blade 9 and the light receiver 15 is controlled by the rear working machine 4.
The control mode is switched by the control changeover switch 34 when it is mounted on the vehicle. For example, if the control changeover switch 34 is tilted forward, the blade control is performed, and if it is tilted backward, the rear working machine 4 is controlled.

In the manual-automatic switching control, first, it is determined whether the blade automatic switch 33 is ON-OFF. If the determination is OFF, the blade lift lever 32, the angle switches 37, 38 and the tilt switch 39,
While the operation of 40 is judged and the corresponding hydraulic actuator is operated, in this state, the blade control flag is maintained in the reset state.

On the other hand, when the blade automatic switch 33 is ON, it is subsequently determined whether or not the blade lift lever 32 is being operated. If the determination is YES, the blade control flag is reset and the manual lifting operation of the blade lift lever 32 is prioritized even when the provisional blade control is being executed. When the operation of the switches 37, 38 or the tilt switches 39, 40 is determined, the commands of the switches 37-40 are given priority and the blade lift lever 3
The lifting / lowering operation based on the operation 2 is restricted so that the blade 9 is prevented from moving up / down even if the blade lift lever 32 is accidentally shaken in the lifting / lowering operation direction when the switches 37 to 40 are operated. .

The blade automatic switch 33 is turned on.
Even when the operation determination of the blade lift lever 32 is NO, the operation of the angle switches 37 and 38 and the tilt switches 39 and 40 is determined to operate the corresponding hydraulic actuator. When the flag is in the reset state, it is determined whether the blade height is within the laser light detection range based on the detection signal of the reader 21. If the determination is NO, the raising / lowering operation of the blade 9 is stopped, while if the determination is YES, the blade control flag is set to allow execution of the blade control.

On the other hand, in blade control, first, it is judged whether or not the blade control flag is in the set state,
If the determination is YES, after confirming that the blade stop flag described later is in the reset state, the reader 2
The amount of deviation of the blade 9 from the laser light is calculated based on the detection signal of 1. That is, the amount of deviation is obtained by averaging n pieces of read data sampled at predetermined time intervals.
After the shift amount is calculated, the shift direction is determined and the target lift angle of the blade 9 is calculated based on the shift amount. For example, in FIG. 16, the lift angle of the support arm 8 that supports the blade 9 is −15 degrees from the horizontal posture.
If the amount of deviation of the light receiver 15 is determined to be L (for example, 5 cm) when working in the state of, the deviation angle θ (for example, 5 degrees) that results in the state of B as the target lift angle from the amount of deviation. Is calculated and the target lift angle is set to −10 degrees. In addition, the deviation direction is the light emitting display portion 20b of the display 20.
It can be easily determined by which one of the display elements ~ 20f is in display operation. After the target lift angle is calculated, the lift cylinder 10 is operated and controlled using a flow rate function that defines the required flow rate up to the target lift angle. That is, as shown in FIG. 17, when the deviation angle is θ and the speed adjustment volume 36 is set to the standard, the required flow rate is set to Q1 from the flow rate function.

Further, after the operation signal is output, a monitoring timer for a predetermined time is set and it is judged that the timer has ended. If the judgment is YES, the detection signal of the reader 21 corresponds to the operation signal. It is determined whether or not the direction has changed. Then, the judgment is NO.
If it is, it is determined that there is an abnormality such as a failure or an adjustment error, and the raising / lowering operation of the blade 9 is stopped, and the blade stop flag is set to maintain the stopped state. The notification operation is performed, or the work stop operation such as the vehicle body traveling stop and the engine stop is performed.

In the sensitivity adjustment control, after confirming the set state of the blade control flag, the switching position of the sensitivity changeover switch 35 is judged. Then, when the switching position is "sharp", a small value a is set to the above-mentioned average sample number n, while when the switching position is "blunt", a large value c is set to the average sample number n. When the switching position is set to "standard", the average value n is set to the intermediate value b.

Further, in the speed adjustment control, after confirming the set state of the blade control flag, it is judged whether or not the volume value of the speed adjustment volume 36 has changed. If the determination is YES, the blade control operating speed is adjusted by changing the slope of the flow rate function based on the volume value as shown in FIG.

In the embodiment of the present invention constructed as described above, the laser light projected from the light projector 16 in the horizontal direction or in an arbitrary tilt direction is received by the light receiver 15, and based on the detection signal of the light receiver 15. Although the blade 9 is automatically controlled to move up and down, a reader 21 for directly reading the display state is attached to the display 20 for displaying the height of the blade 9, or a discriminating means for discriminating the display operation is provided. In order to connect and take out the level signal of the blade 9, the detection signal of the reader 21 is input to the existing controller 22, and
With a simple configuration in which control software is added to the control unit 22, automatic raising / lowering control of the blade 9 based on laser light becomes possible. That is, when performing automatic lifting control of the blade 9 based on laser light in a work vehicle equipped with a control unit 22 and a hydraulic valve in advance, it is not necessary to add a dedicated control unit or a hydraulic valve, so that the structure is simplified. Although it is possible to reduce the cost and reduce the cost, it is possible to make effective use of existing equipment and perform control that matches the mechanical characteristics.

Moreover, since it is possible to execute the automatic raising / lowering control based on the laser beam and the existing manual control by the same control section 22, both controls are executed in combination to improve work efficiency and work accuracy. Can be measured.

Further, the detection signal can be taken out by utilizing the display operation of the light emitting display portions 20b to 20f of the display 20 without modifying the light receiver 15 or the display 20.
It is possible to simplify the assembling work.

Further, the target lift angle of the blade 9 is calculated based on the level signal read by the display 20, and the control is performed to supply the required flow rate up to the target lift angle. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of overshooting (overshooting operation) or hunting (repeating operation of overshooting) due to the delay of the feedback signal and improve the control stability, as in the conventional case where the feedback control is performed only by itself.

When the operation signal is output to the lift cylinder 10, the reader 21 is read after the monitoring timer time has elapsed.
It is determined whether or not the detection signal of No. 1 has changed in the direction corresponding to the operation signal, and if this determination is NO, the operation of the lift cylinder 10 is stopped, so that an abnormality such as a temporary failure or an adjustment error is caused. Even if there is a lift cylinder 10
It is possible to prevent erroneous operation, damage to members due to erroneous operation, and the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, the read data of the reader 21 sampled at every predetermined time is averaged to obtain the deviation amount with respect to the laser beam.
Since the sensitivity changes depending on the switching position of the sensitivity changeover switch 35, the control sensitivity can be adjusted based on the operation of the sensitivity changeover switch 35. As a result, the control suitable for the working condition is performed based on the proper sensitivity selection. be able to.

Further, in this embodiment, since the speed adjusting volume 36 is provided and the flow rate characteristic of the lift cylinder 10 is changed based on the volume value, the operating speed of the blade control can be freely operated by operating the speed adjusting volume 36. It is possible to make adjustments so that the blade control can be carried out at an operating speed adapted to the working conditions.

The mast 14 that supports the light receiver 15
Since the mast cylinder 17 which can be expanded and contracted is interposed, and the mast cylinder 17 is expanded and contracted by the mast cylinder switch 19 arranged near the driver's seat 18, the height of the blade 9 with respect to the light receiver 15 is increased. When performing the adjustment, it is not necessary to descend from the machine one by one, and thus workability when changing and setting the ground height of the blade 9 can be improved.

[0030]

In summary, since the present invention is constructed as described above, a light receiver for receiving laser light projected from the light projector in the horizontal direction or in an arbitrary tilt direction,
A display for displaying the height of the working unit based on the detection signal of the light receiver is provided, and a discriminator for discriminating the height display state to be displayed is mounted on the display surface of the display. Therefore, it becomes possible to input the detection signal of the discriminator to the existing control unit and perform automatic lifting control of the working unit. Therefore, when performing automatic lifting control of the working unit based on laser light in a working vehicle already equipped with a control unit and a hydraulic valve,
Perhaps it is possible to simplify the structure and reduce the cost by eliminating the need to install a special control unit or hydraulic valve, or to combine automatic raising / lowering control based on laser light with existing manual control in the same control unit. It is also possible to carry out automatic execution, and since the detection signal can be taken out without modifying the light receiver or display at all, the existing light receiver or display can be effectively used to simplify the assembling work. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a tractor.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a display and a reader.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a display equipped with a reader.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing another example of a reader (discriminator).

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an operating space.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a side panel and a blade operation panel.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a blade operation panel.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the concept of control operation.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing inputs and outputs of a first control unit and a second control unit.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a main routine.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing manual-automatic switching control.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing blade control.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing sensitivity adjustment control.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing speed adjustment control.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing a relationship (flow rate function) between a blade displacement amount and a lift angle.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing a relationship between a lift cylinder flow rate and a shift amount.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 traveling aircraft 4 Rear working machine 8 Support arm 9 blades 10 lift cylinders 13 Lift angle sensor 15 Light receiver 16 Floodlight 20 indicator 21 Reader 22 First control unit 23A Second control unit 31 Blade operation panel 32 blade lift lever

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A01B 63/10-63/114 E02F 3/85

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A light receiver for receiving a laser beam projected from a light projector in a horizontal direction or in an arbitrary tilt direction, and a display device for displaying the height of a working unit based on a detection signal of the light receiver. In a working vehicle, a discriminator for discriminating a height display state to be displayed is mounted on the display surface of the display device, while a control unit for lifting and lowering a working unit is based on a detection signal of the discriminator. A lifting / lowering control device for a working unit in a working vehicle, comprising automatic lifting / lowering control means for automatically lifting / lowering the working unit. 2. The lift angle sensor for detecting a lift angle of a working part is provided on a pivotal support part of a support arm for supporting the working part so as to be able to move up and down, while the control part has a detection signal of a discriminator. A target lift angle calculating means for calculating a target lift angle based on the above, and an automatic lift control means for automatically controlling the lift of the working unit so as to match the detection angle of the lift angle sensor with the target lift angle. A lifting control device for a working unit in a featured traveling vehicle. 3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the detection signal monitoring means monitors a change in the detection signal of the discriminator when the elevation command is output, and work when the detection signal of the discriminator does not change in the direction corresponding to the elevation command. An elevating / lowering control device for a working unit in a work traveling vehicle, which is provided with an abnormal stop means for automatically stopping the elevating and lowering of the unit.