SERVO AMPLIFICATION SYSTEM

Abstract: A servo amplification system is created particularly for heavy construction equipment, but has a general utility that is much broader. The system utilizes a hydraulic analog system with a separate subsystem for each dimension of motion. The operator moves the operative element, such as the backhoe bucket, of the analog replica which ordinarily would be situated in the cab of the backhoe or other piece of equipment. A small hydraulic cylinder operative in response to movement at each articulated connection of the backhoe operates a pilot valve which controls a pilot piston mechanically linked to the drive valve of the drive cylinder of the corresponding articulation in the actual backhoe. A feedback system comprising a mechanical link from the actual drive piston to a feedback cylinder and piston delivers hydraulic fluid back to the inlets of the pilot valve in such a way as to cancel the pilot orders from the initial control cylinder. The resulting action is virtually perfect analog simulation by the actual backhoe of the movements of the replica backhoe.

Description: SERVO AMPLIFICATION SYSTEM Background of the Invention Modern construction equipment is generally hydraulically operated. The controls used by the operator constitute hydraulic valves which directly connect to the hydraulic cylinders at the * articulations, or other sites of relative motion between the structural members which mount the operative element of the equipment. It is common to have three, four, and more hydraulic drive cylinders which operate the equipment, requiring the corresponding number of hand operated valves. A skilled operator of a backhoe or other piece of equipment can operate it as though it were an extension of his own body utilizing the hydraulic valves. However, it may take a couple of years before an operator achieves this level of skill, and in the meantime an extremely expensive piece of equipment is being underutilized during the training process. Additionally, during the learning period, when the operator does not accurately move and stop the machine as he should, it is difficult on the equipment and puts a strain on most of the operating parts. This is especially evident in rental units. A backhoe in a rental year will require quite frequent major maintenance. Many of these training problems are a result of the hydraulic control system available to the operator. Like playing a musical instrument, it takes a time before the operator can freely move all of the controls concurrently in a smooth, synchronized fashion which maximizes the productivity of the machine and minimizes structural damage. A system which could integrate all of this motion into a single analog control device, in which the operator merely moves the operative element such as a backhoe on a miniature scale, causing the comparable movement of the actual backhoe, would unquestionably speed the operator learning process, save equipment, and enable nonprofessionals such as those renting units from a rental yard to utilize equipment more effectively. Summary of the Invention The present invention fulfills the above stated need by repli¬ cating in miniature the operative parts which support the operative element of the equipment. Although the system is applicable to a wide range of construction equipment, earth moving machines and virtually anything where an operator controls a machine, and thus the system described and claimed herein is intended to eover all applications, the description from this point on will pertain to a backhoe to eliminate the need for repetitive, broadening verbiage. It is clear the principles and systemic elements of the backhoe device can be generalized to any hydraulically operated machine having any number of dimensions of motion. The replica backhoe contains internal hydraulic lines to avoid the need for loose external lines which would be subject to breakage. Each articulation in the operative portion of the backhoe arm is provided with a control cylinder which is operated by motion about the articulation and transmits information concerning the motion by way of hydraulic lines to a pilot valve. The pilot valve, which in itself is a novel element created by the inventor for this particular purpose, operates a pilot piston which is incorporated in the same unit which mechanically controls the valve for the drive cylinder for the respective articulation on the actual boom structure. Each of the analog drive, mechanisms for each articulation described above also has associated with it a feedback system comprising a cylinder mounted on or adjacent the drive cylinder of the respective articulation and mechanically driven by motion at the articulation to deliver hydraulic fluid to the pilot inlets of the respective pilot valves. The feedback system delivers pilot fluid at what amounts to 180° out of phase with the control system so that, for example, rotation of the replica shovel causes rotation of the actual shovel which is immediately cancelled by the negative feedback from the feedback system, as soon as the replica control valve stops moving. In this fashion, a direct analog movement occurs virtually simultaneously in the actual operative members of the backhoe with the replica backhoe. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic illustration of the replica backhoe; Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the replica; Figure 3 is a top elevation view of the replica showing the hand knobs in place; Figure 4 is a schematic illustrating the hydraulics of the system; Figure 5 is a section through the pilot valve-pilot piston; Figure 6 is an elevation view from line 6-6 of Figure 5; Figures 7 through 9 are sections taken along the lines numerieaEy indicated in Figure 5; Figure 10 is a side elevation, partially cut away and partially in phantom, of a fragment of the spindle which operates the pilot piston; Figure 11 is a projection of the perimeters of the relieved sections of the piston of Figure 10 as projected into a planar configuration; Figures 12 through 15 are sections taken along the indicated section line of Figure 10; Figure 16 is a partially cut away, partially phantom illustration of the hydraulic feedback mechanism; OMPI Figure 17 is a section taken along line 17-17 of Figure 16; Figures 18 and 19 are sections taken through the indicated lines of Figure 17; Figure 20 is a section taken through the backhoe arm structure to illustrate the operative control mechanism therein; Figures 21 through 26 are sections taken along the respective section lines indicated in Figure 20; Figure 27 is a section taken along line 27-27 of Figure 26; and Figure 28 is a section through the portion of the backhoe arm including the two outermost articulations. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment The replica backhoe arm is shown at 10 in Figure 1. The arm consists of a replica shovel 12, a dipper stick 14, a boom 16 mounted to a swivel 18 which is articulated about a vertical axis on a base member generally indicated at 20. The replica 10 is mounted in its entirety in the cab of the backhoe and ordinarily positioned such that the operator straddles the base 20 in operation, and has a full view of the actual backhoe. The actual backhoe arm is not shown in the drawings, as it is not needed in order to clearly understand the operation of the system. TITUTE SHEET Before turning to the mechanical details of the device, the operation of the hydraulic system will be explained. This system is fully set forth in Figure 4. Actually, it is more accurate to say Figure 4 represents one subsystem, there being four identical subsystems in the backhoe implementation which together define the complete system. Between each of the parts of the backhoe arm which define relative movement a dimension of movement is defined. For example, the bucket 12 sweeps a circle about its axis to define an angular progression about a horizontal axis as its dimension of motion. This is a single dimension of motion in that it may be defined by a single, non-vectorial coordinate. Thus, each of the articulations 24, 26, 28 and 30 defines a separate dimension of movement in which any and all positions may be exactly located with a single number. It will become apparent from the description of the hydraulic system that each dimension of motion is separately treated by its own hydraulic subsystem and, acting independently of the other dimensions, causes the analog movement to occur on an amplified scale in the actual articulation of the real backhoe arm. Returning to Figure 4, the control cylinder 22 is a generalized control cylinder, as are all the other elements in Figure 4, which are, in fact, found four times in the actual physical implementation. For simplicity, Figure 4 will be described as though the control cylinder 22 was connected to and represented the articulation 24 between the dipper stick and the bucket 12. 5 Assuming that the simulated bucket is dipped and this causes the control piston 32 of the cylinder 22 to move to the left, this in turn causes a pressure in the pilot inlet 34 of the pilot valve 36 from the control chamber 38 and simultaneously permits drainage from the pilot inlet 40 back into the second pilot chamber 42. Action ° of the pilot inlets 34 and 40, of course, causes the pilot valve 36 to shift, actuating the pilot piston 46. The pilot piston 46 is mechanically linked to the drive cylinder valve 48 which operates the respective actual bucket on the real backhoe arm. Assuming the valve 48 is moved to the right, fluid will commence to flow into the drive cylinder 50, which actually powers the real bucket, and move the piston 52 to the left. This, in turn, moves the mechanical feedback linkage 54 to the left, driving the feedback piston 56 in the feedback cylinder 58 to the left, which has the effect of filling pilot inlet 40 and draining pilot inlet 34, which cancels the action of piston 32. OMPI , /) The feedback mechanism 54, 56 and 58 is mechanically implemented by a spring loaded cable connected to the distal end of the rod of piston 52 in an arrangement detailed below. An analysis of the hydraulics of the system reveals that displacement of the control cylinder 32, by rotating the bucket 12, will cause valve 48 to open until this displacement is equaled by piston 56 in the feedback cylinder, which neutralizes the effect of control cylinder 22. In normal operation there is also a restraint on the control piston 32 caused by the hydraulic back pressure which will occur as the inlet 34 fills, and wiE not be relieved until the feedback cylinder 58 supplies enough feedback fluid. Therefore, there is a virtual simultaneous analagous motion between the replica arm and the real arm. Unless too much force is applied to the piston 32, it will not anticipate the action of the drive cylinder 50 by more than a few milliseconds. For all intents and purposes, the operator, operating on the replica, is simultaneously operating on the real world through the actual backhoe arm. Reverse action of the bucket 12, of course, has exactly the opposite action through the hydraulic system. This bi-directional analog is duplicated at each of the articulations 24 through 30 and acts through a bank of four side-by-side pilot valves 36 which are - &E OMP mechanically linked directly to the usual operating knobs of the conventional hydraulic controls, not shown. From this bank of valves, hydraulic lines extend both the the base 22 of the replica, and, in the other direction, out to the feedback cylinders 58 which are mounted on the drive cylinders 50. Turning now to the mechanical description, with a few exceptions the details of construction of the dipper stick do not form part of the novelty of the invention. The exact combination of plates, panels, pivot pins, annular hydraulic fluid ducts and other hydraulic fluid passages, are for the most part standard engineering design. For this reason the arm of the backhoe will be described in somewhat summary fashion. The base 20 defines a plurality of passageways 60 in a kind of manifold which communicate from the arm to the pilot valves. These passageways are defined in a block structure which includes (as the same or separate piece) a portion having a bore 64 through it with a plurality of annular fluid passageways 66 separated by O-rings 68. A drum 70 fits snugly within the bore 64 and defines a plurality of generally radial bores 72, each of which communicates with one of the passageways 66, and extends internally of the drum and downwardly into the block portion 74 which, by virtue of the angular sliding ability of the drum 70 in the bore 64, is freely articulated about a vertical axis. Each articulation, including the articulation 30 between the base member and the lower rotating block 74, operates a control piston and cylinder combination such as the diagram maticaEy illu¬ strated piston 32 and cylinder 22. For the articulation 30, a spur 76 extends above the drum 70 and rotates therewith, operating a rack on a piston rod 78 which connects to piston 80 sliding in cylinder 82. The piston has a rear piston rod 84 so that displacement on both sides of the piston is equal. The piston preferably has relief checkvalves such as valves 86 shown in Figure 22 to prevent damage to the structure should a jam occur. Once fluid passes through the checkvalves, the control and actual cylinders will be out of synchronization. To re-synchronize the pair, the actual bucket can be brought against an immovable object, and the control cylinder pushed beyond the ability of the actual cylinder's ability to respond until synchronization is achieved. The pinion, rack, and piston-cylinder arrangement for all four articulations are similar to that just described for articulation 30, OMPI and will not be redescribed for each articulation, but will be referred to in each instance as a "control cylinder system", which will be understood to include the above components, plus seals, plates, and other items that are apparent from the drawings and necessary for the proper operation of the machine. ■„ In the block 74 another relief cylinder system 88 is provided for articulation 28. This cylinder communicates through passageways 90 to the drum 70. This is the boom control system, and operation of the boom causes the pinion to operate the rack and move the piston. Figure 25 illustrates the pinion shaft 92 on which the pinion 94 is pinned. Passageways 96 (shown in Figure 25) communicate with two pairs of annular passageways 98 and 100 which interface with transmittal port pairs 102 and 104 which communicate respectively with the bucket control cylinder system 106 and the dipper stick control system 108. The port pairs 102 and 104 communicate with passageway pairs 110 and 112, seen in phantom in Figure 20, which respectively service the bucket control cylinder and dipper stick control cylinder. These passageways are defined in boom side plates 114, through which pins 116 pass to engage pinion shafts 92 shown in Figure 25. Cover plates SUBS s E 118 cover the boom side plates 114 to create a discrete set of channels defined within the side plates 114. Without going into more detail, it can be seen that at each articulation a pinion drives a piston within the appropriate control system as the articulation moves, and control fluid from these cylinders is delivered through the drum 70 and manifold blocks 62 to be distributed to the appropriate pilot valve. Attention is now directed to the pilot valve, illustrated in the Figure sequence from Figure 5 through Figure 15. Generally speaking, aE the body parts of the valve are rectangular with the exception of the piston and cyEnder. The valve has a base plate 120, a cyEnder waE 122, a cylinder cap 124 and an end waE 126, aE being held together by the bolts 128. The cyEnder waE defines cyEnder 130 in which rides the piston 132, which is prevented from axial motion by two paraEel piston rods 134 which pass through suitable sealed apertures in the cyEnder cap 124 to terminate in a tie bracket 136. A pair of through bolt holes 138 pass through the cyEnder block and join four blocks together. Drainage is provided to the cyEnder through restricted orifice nuts 140 Enked with passageway 142, with consecutive cyEnder blocks being Enked by pass-through bore 144. OMP Turning to the piston assembly, the piston 132 has end seals 146 and a reEeved annular area between the seals defining a chamber 148. This chamber is continuous around the piston and communicates with a bore 150 in the cyEnder block, indicated in phantom in Figure 8. This bore ordinarEy would be the hydraulic fluid supply Ene, and again would pass through aE cyEnder blocks. A radial bore 152 in the piston communicates between the chamber 148 and an axial bore through the piston which seats spindle 154. The spindle is mounted on bearings 156 at either end and locked in place with nut 158. The spindle has two relieved portions 160 and 162 shaped somewhat Eke elongated lamb chops and Ulustrated as they would appear if the perimeters were roUed into a flat plane in Figure 11. Due to these reEeved portions, which communicate between opposite ends of the cylinder 130 and the central portion of the piston bore, rotation of the spindle in one direction or the other will cause the nearest portion of the inclined surface 164 of the respective bore to index with the piston bore 152, permitting the fluid, which is under pressure in the cyEnder, to escape from the respective end of the cyEnder through the bore 152, and the bores 150 in the blocks, to a hydraulic reservoir. Clearly, rotation of the spindle in opposite OMPI TITUTE SHEET * WIIPPOO directions causes the piston to move in opposite directions. The tapered edges 164 of the reEeved portions causes the piston to smoothly slow down, coming to a stop as the orifice 152 passes across the edge 164, out of the reEeved zone. It can thus be seen that power control of the piston 132 can be effected by rotating the spindle 154 in a controEed manner. This is accomplished with a rack 166, cut in a cyEndrical rack bar 168 having O-ring seals 170 and end plugs 172 which are too smaE to seal the opening. The O-rings 170 provide the seal. The inlet ports 34 and 36 shown in conjunction with the pEot portion of the system in the description of Figure 4 can also be seen in the physical embodiment of the valve in Figure 5. Feedback ports are bored directly into the base plate 120 and indicated at 174 and 176. AE ports communicate through reEef baE checkvalves 178 into the cyEnder which drains through orifice 140, to permit thermal expansion. It should thus be clear from the above description that pilot pressures and feedback pressures deEvered to the valve at the respective inlet ports wiE cause the rack bar 168 to translate, thus rotating the spindle and causing the piston to move one direction or the other. As wiE be recaEed from the discussion of the entire hydrauEc circuit and the feedback system, the piston, through its coupEng plate 136, drives the valve of the actual equipment hydrauEc cyEnder which, through a mechanical and hydrauEc coupEng, immediately feeds back through the appropriate port 174 or 176, canceEing the initial pilot action, unless the initial action is continued by the continual operation of the control cylinder 132. In the latter event, the pilot piston 132 wiE remain in a fixed, displaced position as long as the control cyEnder moves at a fixed velocity. In other words, the static, offset position of the piston 132 corresponds to the steady, proportional movement of the control piston and drive piston in their respective cyEnders. Another feature of the pilot valve-piston system can be seen in Figures 10, 13 and 14. A passageway 180 defined axiaEy inside the spindle communicates with the cyEnder through opening 181 and an outlet 192, which indexes with port 152 when the system is in its neutral through position. This passageway supplies fluid to the control system in the event of contraction due to termperature. The feedback structure is shown in Figure 16. This subsystem, which ordinarily would be on the order of six to eight inches long, would mount directly on the cyEnder housing, or near the cyEnder housing, out on the arm of the actual equipment. The mechanism has a housing 184 with mounting brackets 86 of the equivalent to permit mounting of the unit as a retrofit item. A cable 188 has a terminal 190 which is bolted into the other side of the equipment articulation, ordinarily the distal end of the piston rod or adjacent structure. The extension of the cable 188 is thus exactly the same as the extension of the drive piston. The housing, which includes a pair of side plates 192 and 194 and a peripheral waE 196, also mounts a spool or reel 198 for the cable. Cable tension is maintained by a leaf spring 200 inside the re ei. Mounted coaxiaEy on the axle 202 is a sprocket 204 for driving a chain or toothed belt 206 which passes around a larger puEey or sprocket 210 at the other end of the housing. The ratio between the two sprockets is such that several revolutions of the smaE sprocket wiE cause only a partial rotation of the large sprocket. A cam 212 is driven by the large sprocket, and is mounted coaxiaEy therewith on a post 214. A cam foEower 216 is held firmly against the cam surface by extension springs 218. The feedback cyEnder 58 occurs on the other side of an end waE 220 and is driven by a piston rod 222 connected to the cam foEower 216. As can be seen in Figure 16, hydrauEc fluid passageways 224 and 226 terminate in ports into which return Enes connect, communicating with the feedback ports 174 and 176 of the pUot apparatus. Although there are clearly more direct ways of converting the extension of the drive cylinder into the operation of a feedback hydrauEc cyEnder, several advantages are inherent in the use of the cam assembly iEustrated. First, because tension on the cable drives the cam into its lower profile positions, there can be no forceing action on the feedback piston in case of jambing. Since a cable cannot be pushed, force from the equipment cannot cause damage to the feedback unit in case anything is jammed. Undue pressure backing up into the passageway 226 would not occur because this passageway communicates with the threshhold reEef valve 178. Another, and more important advantage of the cam Ees in the fact that the rack and pinion control movement at the articulations of the replica do not physicaEy duplicate the geometry of movement of most hydrauEc cyEnders. The presence of the cam provides an ideal means of proportionating what would otherwise be a non-Enearity in the operation of the drive cyEnders by the control cyEnders. Another control feature Ees in the spring-loaded nature of the drive cylinders 48 which wiE bring them back to the neutral position absent ITUTE SHEET a control force. This causes a bias toward the stopped mode for the entire system. Whfle I have described the preferred embodiment of the invention, other embodiments may be devised and different uses may be achieved without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A Servo AmpEfication System comprising: (a) a control cyEnder having a double-acting control piston defining a first and second control chamber on opposite sides of said piston; (b) a pilot valve and a pilot cylinder having a doubleacting piston and being operated by said pilot valve, said valve having a first and second inlet port connected to said first and second control chamber, respectively, to drive said pilot piston selectably in a first or second direction; (c) a drive cyEnder having a drive piston activated by a directional valve operated by said pEot cyEnder; (d) a feedback cyEnder with a double-acting feedback piston operatively connected to said drive piston to be moved thereby, said feedback cyEnder defining first and second feedback chambers on opposite sides of said feedback piston, said first and second feedback chambers communicating with said second and first inlet ports respectively, such that movement of said control piston in a first direction operates, through said pilot valve and cylinder, said drive cyEnder which moves a distance proportional to the distance moved by said control cylinder. ^ OM E PIA SUBSTITUTE SHEET /λ ™ 2. Structure according to Claim 1 wherein said feedback piston is mounted on a rod operated by a cam which is rotated by said drive piston as same extends and retracts and said cam is shaped to proportionate the distance moved by said drive cyEnder relative to the distance moved by said control cyEnder. 3. Structure according to Claim 2 wherein said cam is driven by a coaxial puEey driven by a belt driven by a spool having a cable wound thereon and connected to said drive piston. 4. Structure according to Claim 2 wherein said feedback cyEnder and piston are mounted in a housing having means to mount same on a drive cyEnder. 5. Structure according to Claim 4 wherein said housing includes a cable-wound cyEnder driving a cam and said feedback piston is mounted to a cam foEower, and including means to fix the free end of said cable to the rod of said drive piston whereby said Servo Amplification System is mountable as a retrofit on existing equipment. EET 6. Structure according to Claim 1 wherein said Servo Amplification System includes a pluraEty of sub-Servo Amplification Systems each including a control cyEnder and piston, a pilot valve, cyEnder, and piston, a drive cyEnder and piston, and a feedback cyEnder and piston, and each sub- 5 system controls a different dimension of movement. 7. Structure according to Claim 6 wherein said system is mounted on a unit of construction equipment having an actual operative element having a pluraEty of dimensions of motion powered by respective ones of said ° sub-systems, and including a miniature replica operative element having a pluraEty of dimensions of motion corresponding to those of the actual operative element and having the control cyEnders and pistons of said subsystems operatively connected to said miniature operative element responsive to the respective dimensions of motion thereof. 8. Structure according to Claim 7 wherein said unit is a backhoe and said actual operative element is a backhoe bucket articulated on a dipper stick articulated on a boom articulated for rotational motion about a vertical axis on a base member. T 9. Structure according to Claim 8 wherein said repEca includes one of said subsystem control cyEnders and pistons operatively mounted for each articulation and operated by the motion of the respective articulation to operate proportionately the articulations of said actual backhoe bucket. 5 10. Structure according to Claim 9 wherein the pistons of said control cyEnders are each provided with bi-directional pressure reEef valves. E. Structure according to Claim 9 wherein said repEca includes a pluraEty ° of hydrauEc Enes passing fluid from said control cyEnders through to said base, and said hydrauEc Enes are defined by the repEca dipper stick and boom numbers themselves. 12. Structure according to Claim 9 wherein said control pistons are each mounted on a piston rod defining a rack at one end, said control cyEnders are mounted at one side of said articulation and including a pinion fixed to the other side of the respective articulation coaxiaEy with the respective axis of articulation. 0 OMPI 13. Structure according to Claim 12 wherein each of the feedback pistons is driven by a cam shaped to linearly proportionate the motions of the actual and replica operative elements. 14. A control means comprising: (a) a cyEnder; (b) a piston non-rotationaUy slideably seated in said cylinder and having a piston rod extending externaEy of said cyEnder and a longitudinal bore through said piston; (c) fluid deEvery passageways defined in said piston and cylinder communicating between a port defined in said piston and opening into said bore, and an external hydraulic vessel; (d) a rotatable spindle seated in said bore and having reEeved surface portions defining internal passageways communicating between said port and selectably the alternative ends of said cyEnder as a function of the degree of rotation of said spindle, whereby control of the deEvered force and displacement of said piston rod is effected by rotation of said spindle. OMPI '/ VvIPO UBSTITUTE SHEET ^ R 15. A control means according to Claim 14 wherein said pistons are sealed at both ends inside said cyEnder and is of reduced diameter immediate its ends to define a chamber, and said cyEnder includes an orifice in the side communicating with said chamber and said external hydrauEc vessel, and said fluid passageway includes said port, chamber and orifice. 16. Structure according to Claim 14 wherein said cyEnder communicates through restricted ports passing through opposite ends thereof with a second external hydrauEc vessel at an established pressure differential with said first mentioned hydrauEc vessel. 17. Structure according to Claim 14 wherein said reEeve portions in said spindle have peripheries at least portions of which have an angular as weE as axial component such that movement of said piston in a particular direction wiE automaticaEy cease upon the crossing of said periphery beyond said port, thus seaEng same, and said piston is displaced. 18. Structure according to Claim 17 wherein said reEeve portions are two in number, being in the shape of oppositely directed elongated lamb chops Λ PT which are angularly spaced from one another with the wide portions longitudinaEy overlapping and the narrow portions extending in opposite longitudinal directions. 19. Structure according to Claim 14 and including pilot means controEing said spindle. 20. Structure according to Claim 19 wherein said spindle defines a pinion at one end engaging a lateral sEdeable rack bar, and said pilot means operates said rack bar in selectable opposite directions. 21. Structure according to Claim 20 wherein said rack is sealed in a channel in which it sEdes and said pEot means comprises hydrauEc input ports communicating with the ends of said rack bar. 22. Structure according to Claim 21 wherein said input ports communicate with said cylinder through threshhold pressure checkvalves to relieve undue pressure. SUBSTITUTE SHEET

Inventors: BATCHELDER CLARENCE F, CASADY KENT B, THOMAS CHARLES E, BATCHELDER, CLARENCE. F., CASADY, KENT, B., THOMAS, CHARLES, E.
Applicants: CLIPP CONTROL CORP, CLIPP CONTROL CORPORATION
Application year: 1983
Main classification: B25J3
IPC codes: E02F9, F15B17