Patent ID: 11932073
Assignee: CATERPILLAR INC.
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A telehandler comprising:
a chassis;
an axle supporting the chassis;
a pivotal connection between the axle and the chassis; and
a chassis positioning system,
wherein the pivotal connection enables rotation of the chassis relative to the axle to vary a chassis-axle tilt angle defined between a longitudinal axis of the axle and the chassis,
wherein the chassis positioning system includes:
a chassis angle sensor to measure an angular position of the chassis relative to gravity;
an actuator to rotate the chassis relative to the axle at the pivotal connection;
an axle position sensor, distinct from the chassis angle sensor, to output a value representative of a current chassis-axle tilt angle; and
a control system configured to, in a first mode, control the actuator to control the chassis-axle tilt angle based on the measured angular position of the chassis relative to gravity from the chassis angle sensor and not based on an output of the axle position sensor,

wherein the control system is configured to determine the current chassis-axle tilt angle based on the output of the axle position sensor and not based on the measured angular position of the chassis relative to gravity from the chassis angle sensor,
wherein the control system is configured to, in a second mode, control the actuator to control the chassis-axle tilt angle based on the determined current chassis-axle tilt angle determined based on the output of the axle position sensor,
wherein the control system is configured to selectively operate in the first mode or the second mode responsive to whether the telehandler is operating in a state that is within predefined limits for operating in the first mode or outside of the predefined limits for operating in the first mode, respectively,
wherein the first mode is a chassis-gravity control mode in which the control system is configured to control the actuator to thereby control the chassis-axle tilt angle based on the measured angular position of the chassis to position the chassis at a target angular position of the chassis, and
wherein the second mode is a chassis-axle control mode in which the control system is configured to control the actuator to thereby control the chassis-axle tilt angle based on the determined current chassis-axle tilt angle to position the chassis at a target chassis-axle tilt angle.