JPH09298908A - Laser leveling controller for tractor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimize the disturbance of tilled soil surfaces in the case that a tractor equipped with a laser leveling controller becomes unable to receive the laser beam during the leveling operation. SOLUTION: A stand 37 is set on the levee 36 in the field and a light emitter 38 is set to the top of the strand 38. A laser beam is emitted from the light emitter 38 horizontally at a certain height on the field face in a certain angle range. This laser beam is received with a photodetector 35 attached to the body of the tractor to detect the running height of the body 10 whereby the leveling is controlled so that the tilling depth of the rotary working machine 12 may be kept constant. When the laser becomes no longer received, the rotation angle of the lift arm is held as it is at the time, the posture of the rotary tilling machine 12 is kept unchanged at its tilting depth.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser leveling control device for a tractor, and more particularly to a laser for a tractor which minimizes the disturbance of the tilled soil surface when the laser beam is no longer received. The present invention relates to a leveling control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a laser leveling control device for a tractor of this type, the "plow level control device for a tractor" (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-154602) already filed by the applicant of the present application is known. This is because a light emitter is installed at a certain height on a field scene, and the laser light that illuminates a horizontal plane is emitted from this light emitter. A light receiver is provided on the vehicle body of the tractor, and the light receiving device receives the laser beam to detect the traveling height of the vehicle body. Then, the cultivating device is automatically moved up and down based on the height difference of the vehicle body with respect to the irradiation surface of the laser beam, and the leveling control is performed so that the cultivated soil surface is kept horizontal.

[0003]

A conventional laser leveling control device for a tractor has some problems such as when the tractor is turning or when another vehicle runs between the light emitter and the light receiver. When the laser light is no longer received (hereinafter referred to as "off-sense"), the automatic control of the tilling device is interrupted and the soil surface of the tilling is disturbed.

Therefore, when a tractor equipped with a laser leveling control device off-senses the laser beam during work, there arises a technical problem to be solved in order to minimize the disturbance of the tilled soil surface. The present invention aims to solve this problem.

[0005]

The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and emits a laser beam for irradiating a horizontal surface from a light emitter installed at a certain height on a field scene. In a tractor that receives the laser light with a light receiver provided on the vehicle body to detect the traveling height of the vehicle body, and that controls the leveling so as to maintain the tilling soil surface by the tilling device mounted on the vehicle body on a horizontal plane, While performing depth control to keep the amount of working depth constant with the irradiation surface of the laser light as a reference, when the laser light is no longer received, of the tractor that holds the working depth posture at the time when the light is no longer received. Laser leveling control device,
Also, a laser beam for illuminating a horizontal plane is emitted from a light emitting device installed at a certain height on the field scene, and a receiving device provided on the vehicle body receives the laser light to detect the traveling height of the vehicle body. In a tractor for leveling control so as to maintain the tilling soil surface by the tilling device attached to the horizontal surface, while performing depth control for maintaining a constant working depth based on the laser light irradiation surface. , When the laser light is no longer received, the laser leveling control device of the tractor is switched to the depth control by the rear cover according to the preset plowing depth, and it is installed at a certain height on the field scene. The light emitting device emits laser light that illuminates the horizontal surface, and the light receiving device provided on the vehicle body receives this laser light to detect the traveling height of the vehicle body.
In a tractor that controls the leveling of a tilling soil surface by a tilling device mounted on the vehicle body so as to maintain the horizontal surface, depth control is performed to keep the depth of cultivation constant with the irradiation surface of the laser light as a reference. In the meantime, when the laser beam is no longer received, the cultivating depth posture and the cultivating depth at the time when the laser beam is no longer received are stored, and laser leveling control of the tractor switches to depth control by the rear cover according to this cultivating depth. A device is provided.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a tractor, in which a rotary working machine 12 is connected to a rear portion of a vehicle body 10 via a link mechanism 11. Controller 14 near driver's seat 13
The position lever 15, the tillage setting dial 16, the tilt setting dial 17, and the like are provided on the controller 14 to set the tillage amount and the left and right inclination amounts of the rotary work machine 12. A slope sensor 18, a vehicle speed sensor 19, and the like are provided below the driver's seat 13.

The link mechanism 11 is a three-point link system consisting of a top link 20 and left and right lower links 21. By rotating the lift arm 22, the lower link 21 moves up and down, and the rotary working machine 12 moves up and down. To do.
The rotation angle of the lift arm 22 is determined by the lift arm sensor 2.
Detect at 3.

Further, a rolling cylinder 24 is provided on one or both of the left and right sides of the link mechanism 11, and the rolling cylinder 24 is expanded and contracted to change the lift amount of the lower link 21 between the left and right, whereby the rotary working machine 12 with respect to the vehicle body 10. Tilts to the left and right. The rolling cylinder 24
Stroke length is detected by the stroke sensor 25.

On the other hand, a rear cover 27 is rotatably attached to the rear end of the main cover 26 of the rotary working machine 12, and the depth sensor 28 detects the rotation angle of the rear cover 27 so that the depth of the rotary working machine 12 can be adjusted. Configure. Further, the slope sensor 18 allows the vehicle body 10
The tilt of the rotary working machine 12 can be adjusted by detecting the inclination in the left-right direction.

Brackets 29 are fixed to the left and right positions of the main cover 26, the upper portions of the pressure rods 30 are attached to the respective brackets 29, and the lower ends of the pressure rods 30 are connected to the brackets 31 of the rear cover 27. . Then, a spring 3 is attached to the pressure rod 30.
The rear cover 27 is interposed to restrict the movement of the rear cover 27, thereby preventing the rear cover 27 from jumping up.

Further, a bracket 33 is fixed to the rear portion of the vehicle body 10, a sensor pipe 34 is provided on the bracket 33 so as to be vertically movable, and a light receiver 35 is attached to the upper end of the sensor pipe 34. The light receiver 35 is provided with a plurality of diodes in the vertical direction, and one of the diodes captures laser light emitted from a light emitter described later.

At this time, when the laser light is captured by the diode located at the center of the light receiver 35, the light receiver 35 outputs a control signal on the assumption that the vehicle body 10 is at the reference height. Further, when the laser light is captured by the diodes arranged above or below the center position of the light receiver 35, it is assumed that the vehicle body 10 is at the high position or the low position with respect to the reference height, and the height difference with respect to the reference height. Is output from the light receiver 35 as a control signal. This control signal is sent to the controller 1
4 is input. In the illustrated example, the light receiver 35 is attached to the vehicle body 10.
Although it is attached to the side, the light receiver 35 may be attached to the rotary working machine 12 side.

As shown in FIG. 2, a stand 37 is installed on the ridge 36 in the field, and a light emitter 38 is attached to the upper end of the stand 37. Laser light is emitted from the light emitting device 38 to a horizontal surface of a certain height on the field in a predetermined angle range, but the tractor side is adjusted before the laser light is emitted.

First, the position lever 15 shown in FIG.
To manually move the link mechanism 11 to adjust the height of the rotary working machine 12 to determine the plowing depth. continue,
The sensor pipe 34 is moved up and down, and the diode located at the center of the light receiver 35 captures the laser light so that the light receiver 3
Adjust the vertical position of 5. After that, the switch of the light emitter 38 is turned on to irradiate the laser beam, and the operator slightly lowers the position lever 15 to start the work by the laser leveling control.

The light receiver 35 receives the laser light emitted from the light emitter 38 and outputs a control signal to the controller 1.
At 4, the running height of the vehicle body 10 is calculated. And the vehicle body 10
The rotation angle of the lift arm 22 is adjusted according to the traveling height of the rotary working machine 12, and the rotary working machine 12 is controlled to maintain a constant working depth with the irradiation surface of the laser light as a reference. After this, the sensor pipe 34 is checked according to the finished condition of the cultivated soil surface.
Is slightly moved up and down, and the vertical position of the light receiver 35 is readjusted.

As described above, the rotary working machine 12
When the light receiver 35 is attached to the side, a time lag may occur in the sensing of the light receiver 35 due to fluctuations in the longitudinal angle of the vehicle body 10. In such a case, the rotation angle of the lift arm 22 is adjusted in consideration of the longitudinal angle of the vehicle body 10.

Further, the light receiver 35 is provided with a plurality of diodes in the vertical direction, and if any one of these diodes captures the laser light, the height of the vehicle body 10 is detected. Laser leveling control is performed. That is, the vertical range from the diode arranged at the upper end of the light receiver 35 to the diode arranged at the lower end of the light receiver 35 is the light receiver 35.
Sensing width, which is always constant.

Here, during the laser leveling work, light reflected by the glass of a car or a building may enter the light receiver 35. In such a case, since the light receiver 35 captures this reflected light and outputs a control signal, the controller 14 mistakenly recognizes that the height of the vehicle 10 has suddenly changed, and the rotary working machine 12 causes hunting. Therefore, the surface of the cultivated soil is uneven, and the leveling work is significantly hindered.

In order to prevent this, of the plurality of diodes arranged in the light receiver 35, only the diode at the center position of the light receiver 35 and some diodes above and below the diode are used to make the laser Try to capture light. That is, the malfunction is eliminated by narrowing the sensing width of the light receiver 35 to cut off unnecessary reflected light and capturing only the target laser light.

In this way, if the sensing width of the light receiver 35 is formed so that it can be set arbitrarily, it is possible to switch to depth control based on the turning angle of the rear cover 27 at any time when the laser light is off sensed, as will be described later. Therefore, the leveling accuracy of the rotary working machine 12 can be further improved by combining the leveling by the laser light and the control by the rear cover 27.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the attitude control system of the rotary working machine 12, in which setting signals for the position lever 15, the working depth setting dial 16, the inclination setting dial 17, etc. are input to the controller 14. In addition, the slope sensor 1
Detection signals from the vehicle speed sensor 19, the lift arm sensor 23, the stroke sensor 25, the depth sensor 28, etc. are also input to the controller 14.

On the other hand, the laser light from the light emitter 38 is received by the light receiver 35, and the height difference of the vehicle body 10 is input to the controller 14 as a control signal. In the controller 14,
The traveling height of the vehicle body 10 is calculated based on the control signal from the light receiver 35, the calculation result is displayed on the monitor 40, and a drive signal is output to the rolling cylinder 24 and the lift cylinder 41 to roll the rotary working machine 12. Make adjustments and depth adjustments.

Furthermore, due to the unevenness of the field, the rear cover 27
Controller to prevent the machine from vibrating up and down.
4 outputs a drive signal to the stepping motor 42 to restrict the expansion and contraction of the spring 32 interposed in the pressure rod 30 to adjust the movement amount of the rear cover 27.

Here, when the light receiver 35 is receiving the laser light, as described above, the rotation angle of the lift arm 22 is adjusted according to the traveling height of the vehicle body 10 to irradiate the laser light. The leveling control is performed so that the working depth of the rotary working machine 12 is kept constant with the surface as a reference, but when the tractor is turning or another vehicle is placed between the light receiver 35 and the light emitter 38. The light receiver 35 may not receive the laser light due to some trouble such as when the vehicle runs. Next, the leveling control when the laser light is no longer received and the off-sense state is entered will be described.

First, in the invention according to claim 1, the detection value of the lift arm sensor 23 at the time when the laser light is off sensed is stored in the memory in the controller 14. The controller 14 controls the lift arm 2 at the time of off-sense.
The rotation angle of 2 is controlled as it is. This state is referred to as a safety mode. In the safety mode, the lift arm 22 is not moved and the working depth posture of the rotary working machine 12 is not changed. At the same time, the operator is notified by displaying that the monitor 40 is off-sense. The operator can confirm from the display on the monitor 40 that the operator is currently off sense and is in the safety mode.

When the light receiver 35 receives the laser light again within a predetermined time (several seconds) after the laser light is off-sensed to enter the safety mode state, the controller 14 cancels the safety mode, The control returns to the laser leveling control in which the working depth of the rotary working machine 12 is kept constant with the irradiation surface of the laser light as a reference. That is, even if the off-sense frequently occurs, the operator does not have to manually perform the returning operation each time, and the safety mode is automatically released, so that the operability of the operator becomes good. In that case, the monitor 40 also indicates that the laser leveling control has been restored.

Here, there are cases where an operator who notices the off-sense on the display of the monitor 40 gets off the driver's seat 13 and inspects the light receiver 35 and the like. If the light receiver 35 receives the laser beam again and returns to the laser leveling control during this inspection, the posture of the rotary working machine 12 suddenly changes, which is very dangerous.

Therefore, when the off-sense continues even after the predetermined time, the safety mode is maintained even if the light receiver 35 receives the laser beam again after that, and a warning is displayed on the monitor 40. To notify the operator that there was an abnormality. Therefore, the operator can check the warning on the monitor 40, stop the work, put the tractor in a safe state, and then inspect the light receiver 35 and the like.

Next, according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the laser light is off-sensed, the operator determines the depth of plowing based on the turning angle of the rear cover 27 in accordance with the plowing depth preset by the operator. Switch to depth control.
That is, the rotation angle of the rear cover 27 is detected by the depth sensor 28, and the controller 14 is detected based on this rotation angle.
Then, the actual working depth of the rotary working machine 12 is calculated. Then, the lift cylinder 22 is driven to rotate the lift arm 22 while comparing the working depth set by the working depth setting dial 16 with the actual working depth based on the detection value of the depth sensor 28, thereby rotating the rotary working machine. 12 is moved up and down to adjust the depth.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the laser beam is off sensed, the tilling depth posture and the tilling depth amount at the time of the off sense are stored, and the depth control by the rear cover is switched according to the tilling depth amount. That is, the detection value of the lift arm sensor 23 and the detection value of the depth sensor 28 at the time of off-sense are stored in the memory in the controller 14, and the rotary angle at the time of off-sense is determined from the rotation angle of the lift arm 22 and the rotation angle of the rear cover 27. Working machine 12
Calculates the plow depth posture and plow depth. Then, in order to maintain the working depth based on the working depth posture at the time of off-sense,
The lift cylinder 41 is driven to rotate the lift arm 22, and the rotary working machine 12 is moved up and down to perform depth adjustment.

Also in the invention according to claim 2 or 3,
When the laser light is off sensed, the fact is displayed on the monitor 40. When the light receiver 35 receives the laser beam again within a predetermined time after the off-sensing and the safety mode state, the laser leveling control is automatically restored, and the monitor 40 indicates that the laser beam has been restored. It Further, when the off-sense continues even after the predetermined time is exceeded, even if the photoreceiver 35 receives the laser beam again after that, the safety mode is maintained and a warning is displayed on the monitor 40 to indicate an abnormality. Notify the operator that there was.

In the laser leveling control device according to the first, second or third aspect of the present invention, when the tractor is turned, the position lever 15 is operated to operate the rotary working machine 1.
2 is raised to the turning position. At this time, the laser leveling control is interrupted, but the detection value of the lift arm sensor 23 at the time of interrupting the control is stored in the memory in the controller 14, and the direction in which the light receiver 35 captures the laser beam and The light receiving position (vertical position) is stored.

When the rotary work machine 12 is lowered by the position lever 15 after the turning of the tractor is completed, the controller 14 adjusts the light receiving position and direction of the light receiver 35 based on the stored value in the memory. At the same time, a drive signal is output to the lift cylinder 41 to set the rotation angle of the lift arm 22. Therefore, the working depth of the rotary working machine 12 returns to the attitude at the time when the laser leveling control was interrupted, and the laser leveling control is restarted again.

The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention extends to the modified ones.

[0035]

As described above, when the laser light is off sensed during the laser leveling control, the invention according to claim 1 maintains the tilling depth posture at the time of off-sense, so that the cultivated soil surface is not disturbed. Can be kept to a minimum.

On the other hand, according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the depth control is switched to the turning angle of the rear cover in accordance with the preset plowing depth, the working accuracy after off-sensing is improved and the plowing soil surface is improved. It is possible to suppress the unevenness of.

Further, in the third aspect of the invention, the tilling depth posture and the tilling depth amount at the time of off-sense are stored, and the depth control is switched to the depth control based on the turning angle of the rear cover according to this tilling depth amount. Even if the plowing depth is not set in advance, the leveling work after the off-sense can be automatically performed to suppress the unevenness of the tilled soil surface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a side view of a tractor.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a laser emitter and a laser receiver.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an attitude control system of a rotary working machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 vehicle body 11 link mechanism 12 rotary working machine 14 controller 16 tilling depth setting dial 22 lift arm 23 lift arm sensor 27 rear cover 28 depth sensor 35 light receiver 36 light emitter

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 12, 1996

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0005]

The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and emits a laser beam for irradiating a horizontal surface from a light emitter installed at a certain height on a field scene. The light receiver receives this laser light and the vehicle body or the vehicle
In the tractor for detecting the traveling height of the working machine mounted on the body and leveling so as to maintain the plowing soil surface by the plowing device mounted on the vehicle body on a horizontal plane, the irradiation surface of the laser beam is While performing depth control to keep the constant working depth as a reference, when the laser light is no longer received, the laser leveling control device of the tractor that maintains the working depth attitude at the time when it no longer receives light, and , Emits a laser beam that illuminates a horizontal surface from a light emitter installed at a certain height on the field scene,
A laser receiver receives this laser beam and mounts it on the vehicle body or the vehicle body.
In the tractor for detecting the traveling height of the worn working machine and leveling so as to maintain the plowing soil surface by the plowing device mounted on the vehicle body on a horizontal plane, with the irradiation surface of the laser light as a reference When laser light is no longer received during depth control that keeps the depth of plowing constant, laser leveling control of the tractor switches to depth control by the rear cover according to the preset depth of plowing. Device and
A laser beam that illuminates a horizontal plane is emitted from a light emitting device installed at a certain height on the field scene, and the laser beam is received by the light receiving device to detect the traveling height of the vehicle body or a working machine mounted on the vehicle body. In a tractor for leveling control so that the tilling soil surface by the tilling device mounted on the vehicle body is maintained on a horizontal plane, the depth control is performed to keep the tilling depth constant with the irradiation surface of the laser light as a reference. If the laser beam is no longer received during the operation, the culturing depth posture and the cultivating depth at the time when the laser beam is no longer received are stored, and the laser leveling of the tractor is switched to depth control by the rear cover according to this cultivating depth. A control device is provided.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

At this time, when the laser light is captured by the diode located at the center of the light receiver 35, the light receiver 35 outputs a control signal on the assumption that the vehicle body 10 is at the reference height. Further, when the laser light is captured by the diodes arranged above or below the center position of the light receiver 35, it is assumed that the vehicle body 10 is at the high position or the low position with respect to the reference height, and the height difference with respect to the reference height. Is output from the light receiver 35 as a control signal. This control signal is sent to the controller 1
4 is input. In the illustrated example, the light receiver 35 is attached to the vehicle body 10.
It is mounted to the side, but it may attach it to the photodetection unit 35 to the rotary working machine 12 side. In such cases,
Whether the rotary working machine 12 is at the standard height in response to the light
Is detected, and the difference in height with respect to the reference height is determined by the light receiver 35.
Is input to the controller 14 as a control signal.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A laser beam for irradiating a horizontal plane is emitted from a light emitting device installed at a certain height on a field scene, and a light receiving device provided on the vehicle body receives the laser light to detect the traveling height of the vehicle body. In a tractor for leveling control so as to maintain the tilling soil surface on a horizontal plane by a tilling device mounted on the vehicle body,
While performing depth control to keep the amount of working depth constant with the irradiation surface of the laser light as a reference, when the laser light is no longer received, it is possible to maintain the working depth posture at the time when the light is no longer received. Laser leveling control device for the featured tractor. 2. A light emitting device installed at a certain height on a field scene emits laser light for illuminating a horizontal surface, and a light receiving device provided on the vehicle body receives the laser light to detect the traveling height of the vehicle body. In a tractor for leveling control so as to maintain the tilling soil surface on a horizontal plane by a tilling device mounted on the vehicle body,
When the laser light is no longer received while performing depth control to keep the depth of cultivation constant with the irradiation surface of the laser light as a reference, the depth by the rear cover is set according to the preset depth of cultivation. A laser leveling control device for a tractor characterized by switching to control. 3. A laser beam for irradiating a horizontal plane is emitted from a light emitter installed at a certain height on a field scene, and a receiver provided on the vehicle body receives the laser light to detect the traveling height of the vehicle body. In a tractor for leveling control so as to maintain the tilling soil surface on a horizontal plane by a tilling device mounted on the vehicle body,
While performing depth control to maintain a constant working depth with respect to the irradiation surface of the laser light, when the laser light is no longer received, the working depth posture and the working depth at the time when the light is no longer received. A laser leveling control device for a tractor, which is memorized and is switched to depth control by a rear cover according to the depth of plowing.