Oil hydraulic circuit for hydraulic machine such as a shovel

Abstract: An oil hydraulic circuit for a hydraulic shovel in which a combined operation of, for example turning and lifting can be performed readily and smoothly without special skill in operation. The circuit comprises first and second hydraulic valve sets (A, B) each adapted to receive a supply of pressure fluid from an individual main pump (2, 3), and to pass pressure fluid to respective first (13) and second (14) hydraulic actuators, the two actuators (13, 14) controlling different operations of the hydraulic machine, said second hydraulic valves set (B), in addition to passing pressure fluid to its associated second actuator (14), also being controllable to pass additional pressure fluid to the first actuator (13), a means (10) being mounted in a pipeline (22, 26) communicating the second hydraulic valve set (B) with said first actuator (13) for adjusting the supply of additional pressure fluid to the first actuator (13) in response to a signal (Po), and a controller (17) for adjusting the signal (Po) to adjust said means (10) and hence the additional supply of pressure fluid to said first actuator (13) to thereby change the relative speed of the different operations controlled by the two actuators (13, 14).

Description: This invention relates to an oil hydraulic circuit for, for example, a hydraulic shovel. Known hydraulic machines such as hydraulic shovels include an oil hydraulic circuit such as that of Japanese utility model Unexamined Publication No 63-19864 wherein flows of pressure oil from a pair of hydraulic pumps are supplied separately to a pair of hydraulic directional control valve sets each composed of a series of hydraulic directional control valves, the hydraulic directional control valves being arranged in parallel. By selection of particular hydraulic directional control valves, the hydraulic control valves sets control the connections between various parts of the hydraulic circuit and in particular control the flow of pressure oil. When a first actuator of the hydraulic shovel is to operate at a low speed, pressure oil from a hydraulic directional control valve of a first one of the hydraulic directional control valve sets passes pressure oil to the actuator. When the first actuator is to operate at a high speed, a further hydraulic directional control valve belonging to the second hydraulic directional control valve set also passes pressure oil to the actuator in addition to the pressure oil from the hydraulic directional control valve of the first hydraulic directional control valve set. However, the conditions under which a hydraulic shovel is operated are normally very complicated, and it often occurs that it is desired, during operation of the first actuator at a high speed, to cause a second actuator which is connected to a hydraulic directional control valve belonging to the second hydraulic directional control valve set to operate at the same time and also to hold the relative operating speeds of the first and second actuators at a predetermined ratio in accordance with operating conditions. However, different oil pressures are required for the actuators, but the oil pressures available are restricted to the operating pressure of one of the actuators which presents the lower load pressure. Thus, the lower load pressure required by the side actuator is applied to the other actuator, and a starting requirement for the other actuator cannot be met. Accordingly, smooth combined operation of the two actuators cannot be obtained. When a combined operation is performed wherein operating levers for a plurality of hydraulic directional control valves are operated at the same time, the opening of a passage of the hydraulic directional control valve belonging to the first hydraulic directional control valve set upon changing over when the first actuator is to operate at a high speed is conventionally limited to a fixed value, or the movements of the operating levers are adjusted delicately, to cope with the condition described above. This will be described below in connection with an example with reference to Fig. 3 which shows an oil hydraulic circuit for a common hydraulic shovel C shown in Figs. 4 and 5. It is to be noted that the first actuator described above corresponds to a hydraulic cylinder 13 for lifting a working device (such as a shovel) and the second actuator corresponds to a hydraulic unit 14 for turning an upper part of the body D. The oil hydraulic circuit shown in Fig. 3 includes a first hydraulic directional control valve set A which consists of hydraulic directional control valves 5, 6 and 7, a cut-off valve 11 and so forth. Pressure oil is supplied to the hydraulic directional control valve set A by way of a pipe line 18 from one of a pair of main pumps (not shown). The hydraulic directional control valve 5 is positioned on the upstream side of the other control valves and is provided for exclusive use for an actuator for running. Thus, pressure oil is preferentially supplied to the hydraulic directional control valve 5. The hydraulic directional control valves 6 and 7 are located on the downstream side of the hydraulic directional control valve 5 and connected in a parallel circuit. The oil hydraulic circuit further includes another second hydraulic directional control valve set B consisting, similarly to the first hydraulic direction control valve set A described above, of hydraulic directional control valves 8, 9 and 20, a cut-off valve 12 and so forth. Pressure oil from the other main pump (not shown) is supplied to the second hydraulic directional control valve set B by way of another pipe line 19. In the oil hydraulic circuit, when the hydraulic cylinder 13, (normally a boom cylinder for lifting a working device, such as a shovel) is to be expanded, a pilot pressure of P B1 is caused to act upon a pilot oil chamber 6a of the hydraulic directional control valve 6, and when a combined operation is to be performed wherein an upper part of body D is to be turned leftwardly or rightwardly at the same time as the lifting of the shovel, the pilot pressure P R1 is also caused to act upon a pilot oil chamber 14a and 14b of the hydraulic unit 14 for turning the upper part of the body. However, when the value of the pilot pressure P B1 is comparatively low, that is, when the working device is being lifted slowly, the hydraulic directional control valve 20 when in such a position (as shown in Figure 3, hereafter referred to as position G) that part G is in the hydraulic circuit (part G blocking correction across valve 20) and only the hydraulic directional control valve 6 and the turning motion hydraulic unit 14 operate. Thus, since pressure oil flowing from the separate hydraulic pressure sources are supplied individually to the hydraulic cylinder 13 and the hydraulic unit 14, they operate independently of each other. However, when the pressure of P B1 is increased in order to expand the hydraulic cylinder 13 at a high speed, the hydraulic directional control valve 20 is moved from its position G to a position (hereafter referred to as position H) in which part H is in the hydraulic circuit (part H allowing fluid flow through the valve 20 via a throttle,). Consequently, pressure oil of the pipe line 19 flows not only to the body turning hydraulic unit 14 but also to the hydraulic cylinder 13 via the open passage provided when the hydraulic directional control valve 20 is in position H. Consequently, the operating pressure of the pipe line 19 becomes equal to the lower of the pressures of the hydraulic cylinder 13 or the hydraulic unit 14. Generally, in such combined operation of the hydraulic shovel as described above, the pressure upon expansion of the hydraulic cylinder 13 is lower than the pressure required for the hydraulic unit 14 to start turning. Consequently, the latter pressure is limited by the former pressure, and the rotation of the body D, that is, the way in which it accelerates, is reduced. Accordingly, the open passage provided by the hydraulic directional control valve 20 when in the H position is limited as illustrated in Fig. 3 by a throttle so that the operating pressure passed to the hydraulic unit 14 will not become excessively low. It is to be noted that the cut-off valves 11 and 12 may or may not be required depending upon various hydraulic circuits, but in the present example, when pressure oil from the two main pumps is joined together or else maintained separate to utilize the pressure oil most reasonably (for example in order to provide linearity of motion in a single operation or in a combined operation for running, for operation of the working device, for turning or the like, and also provide the desired rapidity and certainty of various operations,) the cut-off valves 11 and 12 play a role in preventing the pressure oil from unnecessarily flowing out to a tank 21. Illustration, of an control circuit for providing signal pressure to the pilot oil chambers of the cut-off valves 11 and 21 is omitted in Fig. 3. An example of operation of the machine will now be described wherein excavating and loading operations are performed with the hydraulic shovel C described above with respect to Fig. 3. After the shovel has completed an excavating operation, the hydraulic cylinder 13 is expanded to lift the working device (ie, shovel) while at the same time the upper turning body D is turned until the working device comes to a suitable vertical position above a dump truck E from where excavated earth and sand is discharged into the dump truck E. Such a sequence of operations is repeated to fill the truck E. In this instance, the opening of the passage H of the hydraulic directional control valve 20 is determined such that pressure oil of the pipe line 19 may be distributed mainly so that expansion of the hydraulic cylinder 13 and operation of the hydraulic unit 14 may be performed at the same time so that the lifting of the working device (shovels) and rotation of the body are controlled relative to each other so that the shovel reaches the necessary height at the same time as it is turned to a position above the truck E. For example, let us assume that the upper turning body D is to be turned by about 90 degrees to perform loading as shown in the arrangement of the hydraulic shovel C and dump truck E shown in Fig. 4, and lifting of the working device (shovel) and turning motion of the upper turning body D are started at the same time after completion of the excavating operation. then if it is assumed that the opening of the passage H is fixed in such a way that the vertical position of the shovel and the turning angle of the upper turning body D provide the best loading position with respect to the dump truck E, then if such a loading operation requires a rotation of 180° as shown in Fig. 5, then the relative rate of turning with respect to the lifting of the shovel will be incorrect for efficient operation. Similarly, if an optimum position of opening passage H is provided for the operation shown in Fig. 5 (i.e., turning 180°, then the operation as shown in Fig. 4 will be inefficient. Accordingly, the operating levers must be adjusted delicately each time, and therefore, very high skill is required for rapid and smooth excavating and loading operations. US-A-4 142 445 discloses a hydraulic circuit for a hydraulic machine which includes first and second hydraulic valve sets each adapted to receive a supply of pressure fluid from an individual main pump, and to pass pressure fluid to respective first and second hydraulic actuators, the two actuators controlling different operations of the hydraulic machine. Said second hydraulic valves set, in addition to passing pressure fluid to its associated second actuator is also controllable to pass additional pressure fluid to the first actuator. Means mounted in a pipeline communicating the second hydraulic valve set with said first actuator adjust the supply of additional pressure fluid to the first actuator in response to a signal. We will describe an oil hydraulic circuit in which, during a combined operation wherein operating levers for listing a working device and for turning the body are operated at the same time in accordance with various operating conditions, the desired relative speeds can be obtained readily and even an unskilled operator can operate the machine accurately and rapidly. According to the present invention, there is provided a hydraulic circuit for a hydraulic machine including first and second hydraulic valve sets (A, B) each adapted to receive a supply of pressure fluid from an individual main pump and to pass pressure fluid to respective first and second hydraulic actuators, the two actuators controlling different operations of the hydraulic machine, said second hydraulic valves set (B), in addition to passing pressure fluid to its associated second actuator, also being controllable to pass additional pressure fluid to the first actuator, characterised in that a said circuit includes a proportional change-over valve mounted in a pipeline communicating the second hydraulic valve set (B) with said first actuator for adjusting the supply of additional pressure fluid to the first actuator in response to a signal (Po), and a controller for adjusting the signal (Po) to adjust said change-over valve and hence the additional supply of pressure fluid to said first actuator, to thereby change the relative speed of the different operations controlled by the two actuators. Preferably, the controller is provided in the neighbourhood of an operator's seat in a cabin of a hydraulic shovel. The oil hydraulic circuit may further comprise a proportional signal converting device for converting a signal from the controller into a signal in the form of a hydraulic pressure. With the oil hydraulic circuit, where the pressure necessary for the second actuator is insufficient if the first actuator is controlled to operate at a high speed and the second actuator is controlled to operate at the same time in a combined manner, then the controller in the neighbourhood of the operator's seat is operated so as to supply a signal to the signal receiving portion of the proportional changing over means to decrease the maximum meter-in opening value of the proportional changing over means. Consequently, pressure oil to be supplied to the second actuator is limited from flowing out at a low pressure to the first actuator. Accordingly, in such a combined operation as described above, if the controller is adjusted suitably, then the first actuator and the second actuator can be caused to arbitrarily operate with suitable oil flows and under suitable hydraulic pressures in accordance with various working conditions. Further, even in the case of a combined operation in various working conditions, if the controller is adjusted suitably, then smooth and rapid operation can be attained without requiring a specially delicate lever operation, which is safe and efficient even to an unskilled operator. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a hydraulic circuit diagram of a hydraulic shovel which incorporates an oil hydraulic circuit according to the present invention: Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a characteristic of a proportional directional control valve of the oil hydraulic circuit shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a hydraulic circuit diagram of a conventional hydraulic shovel; and Figs. 4 and 5 are plan views illustrating situations when an upper turning body is turned by 90 degrees and 180 degrees, respectively, to load a dump truck using a back hoe. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown an oil hydraulic circuit for a hydraulic shovel according to the present invention. The oil hydraulic circuit shown includes a main pump 2 serving as a hydraulic pressure source for a hydraulic directional control valve set A, another main pump 3 serving as a hydraulic pressure source for another hydraulic directional control valve set B and a pilot pump 4 serving as a hydraulic pressure source for a signal and some other operating systems. The main pumps 2 and 3 and the pilot pump 4 are connected to be driven by a motor 1. It is to be noted that the oil hydraulic circuit has generally common constructions to the oil hydraulic circuit shown in Fig. 3. Thus, like parts to those of Fig. 3 are denoted by like reference characters in Fig. 1, and overlapping description of common components is omitted herein to avoid redundancy. The oil hydraulic circuit includes, in place of the hydraulic directional control valve 20 of the oil hydraulic circuit shown in Fig. 3, a proportional directional control valve 10 interposed between a pair of pipe lines 22 and 26 which allows discharge pressure oil of the main pump 3 to flow, when a cut-off valve 12 is closed, from the downstream side of a hydraulic directional control valve 8 to an expansion side oil chamber of a hydraulic cylinder 13 via a check valve. The proportional directional control valve 10 has a pair of pilot oil chambers 10a and 10b for moving the valve 10 in opposite directions to each other. The proportional directional control valve 10 is normally held by a spring at a position at which the part I of the valve 10 connects pipelines 22 and 26, (hereinafter referred to as the I position) at which the pipe lines 22 and 26 are isolated from each other. However, when the hydraulic cylinder 13 (called boom cylinder) for lifting the working device is to be expanded at a high speed than a high signal pressure P B1 acts upon the pilot oil chamber 10b, and the valve 10 is changed over from the I position to a position at which the part K of the valve 10 connects pipelines 22 and 26, (hereinafter referred to as the K position) against the force of the spring so that the pipe lines 22 and 26 fully communicate with each other. If a signal pressure Po of a pilot pipe line 23 acts upon the pilot oil chamber 10a, then the force provided by pressure Po operates the proportional directional control valve 10 in proportion to the relative magnitude of the force provided by Po acting upon the pilot oil chamber 10 to a force provided by pressure P B1 acting upon the pilot oil chamber 10b to limit the maximum value of the meter-in opening of the proportional directional control valve 10. Consequently, the proportional directional control valve 10 may be changed form the K position to a J position or further to the I position. The operating characteristic of the proportional directional control valve 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. In Fig. 2, the axis of the abscissa indicates the signal pressure Po of the pilot pipe line 23 while the axis of ordinate indicates a meter-in opening value F of the valve 10. It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the proportional directional control valve 10 has a characteristic such that, when the signal pressure Po is O in a condition wherein a sufficiently high signal pressure of P B1 acts upon the pilot oil chamber 10b, the meter-in opening value F presents its maximum value of F MAX , that is, the proportional directional control valve 10 of Fig. 1 positioned at the K position, but as the signal pressure Po increases to P O1 , P O2 and further to P OMAX , then the meter-in opening value F decreases in a proportional relationship to F₁, F₂ and further to O, respectively. The oil hydraulic circuit further includes a proportional signal converting device 15 which converts, in accordance with an electric signal received from a controller 17, a prescribed pressure of pressure oil supplied from the pilot pump 4 into a necessary signal pressure of O, P O1 , P O2 , P OMAX or the like, which is transmitted to the pilot pipe line 23. The controller 17 is disposed in the cabin 16 of the hydraulic shovel so that it may be adjusted reality by an operator while the operator remains seated in the cabin 16. The controller 17 is constructed such that it may be adjusted by the operator and delivers an electric signal in accordance with such adjustment thereof. The oil hydraulic circuit further includes a rectilinear running valve 25 of the type which is often provided in an oil hydraulic circuit of a conventional hydraulic shovel of the crawler type. The rectilinear running valve 25 controls the rectilinear running action of the hydraulic shovel and also some other rolls in cooperation with the cut-off valves 11, 12 and so forth. However, details thereof is omitted herein because there is not direct relation to the present invention. Operation of the present invention having such a construction as described above will be described. The working operation of a back hoe C with hydraulic shovel as shown in Fig. 4 involves a turning motion, after an excavating operation, of the upper turning body D by 90 degrees to load earth and sand into the dump truck E as described above. In order to perform such operation, the controller 17 within the cabin 16 is adjusted at first. Then, in order to perform a combined operation, the operating lever for causing the lifting motion is moved to a position at which the signal P B1 for operation to expand the hydraulic cylinder 13 presents its maximum value, that is, the working device or bucket is lifted at a high speed while the other operating lever for causing the turning motion is moved to a position at which the body turning hydraulic unit 14 is operated. Since the signal pressure Po within the pilot pipe line 23 then presents an intermediate value such as, for example, P O1 shown in Fig. 2 due to an action of the proportional signal converting device 15, the meter-in opening value of the proportional directional control valve 10 is then reduced to F₁ as compared with the case wherein the meter-in opening value is equal to F MAX so that a throttle effect is provided to the passage which communicates the pipe line 22 to the pipe line 26. Consequently, part of pressure oil from the pipe line 19 is throttled and then passes through the pipe line 26, whereafter it joins with pressure oil from the pipe line 18 in the same pressure condition and then flows into the hydraulic cylinder 13. Meanwhile, the remaining pressure oil of the pipe line 19 presents a pressure higher than the pressure within the pipe line 26 and passes through the pipe line 27 as it is so that it operates the hydraulic unit 14 which causes the turning of the body D. Accordingly, while generally the load pressure of the lifting hydraulic cylinder 13 is low and the load pressure required to start the body turning actuator 14 is high, pressure oil from the pipe lines 19 and 22 will not flow in a one-directional manner only into the pipe line 26 but will also flow to the turning hydraulic unit 14 with a pressure such that a suitable starting force is provided by the turning hydraulic unit 14. Accordingly, if the controller 17 is adjusted suitably, when the upper turning body D has turned by about 90 degrees, the working devices or bucket has been lifted to the desired vertical position suitable for loading into the dump truck E. Depending upon working conditions, it is sometimes necessary to park the dump truck E rearwardly of the hydraulic shovel C as shown in Fig. 5 and turn the upper turning body D by 180 degrees to load earth and sand into the dump truck E. In such an instance, if it is assumed that a combined lifting (of the working devices) and turning (of the upper turning body D) operation is to be performed after an excavating operation with the setting for the operation shown in Fig. 4 maintained, then the turning angle will be about 180 degrees and hence twice that of the case described above, and the lifting height of the working device would also be twice as high as necessary. Accordingly, either the working device (bucket) must be suitably lowered after such turning motion, or the operating lever for the working device must be adjusted during the turning motion to slow the lifting of the bucket. Hitherto, with the known machines considerable skill was required to make a smooth and rapid operation. In order to cope with the foregoing, in the oil hydraulic circuit of the present invention, the meter-in opening value of the proportional directional control valve 10 is changed from F₁ to F₂ by adjusting the controller 17 so as to change the signal pressure Po obtained from the proportional converting device 15, for example, to a higher pressure, for example, from P O1 to P O2 of Fig. 2. Consequently, the throttle effect of the passage between the pipe line 22 to the pipe line 26 is raised so that not only is the flow of oil from the pipe line 22 to the pipe line 26 decreased but also the pressure difference between the pipe lines 22 and 26 is increased compared with that of the case described hereinabove, with reference to Fig. 4. As a result, the starting performance of the turning hydraulic unit 14 is improved, and the amount of oil flow is increased. Consequently, the turning motion of the upper turning body D is increased relative to the lifting motion so that, as the upper turning body reaches about 180 degrees, the working device or bucket reaches a vertical position suitable for loading of earth and sand into the dump truck E. Such a sequence circuit that will not allow the signal pressure Po to start an action of limiting the meter-in opening value of the proportional directional control valve 10 until after a signal P B1 for operation of expanding the hydraulic cylinder 13 at a high speed and a signal for operation of the hydraulic unit 14 for turning motion are produced at the same time irrespective of an adjusted position of the controller 17 may be provided between the controller 17 and the proportional signal converting device 15 or between the proportional signal converting device 15 and a signal receiving portion of the proportional directional control valve 10. Where such a sequence circuit is provided, in an ordinary signal operation, no throttle effect will take place at the connecting passage from the pipe line 22 to the pipe line 26, and consequently, the hydraulic cylinder 13 can operate at a high speed. While the foregoing example of operation relates to the hydraulic shovel which turns through 90 degrees or 180 degrees to load by means of a back hoe attachment, working of a hydraulic shovel originally involves not only excavation and loading of earth and sand but also various repetitive workings such as up and down movement of a working device and movement such as turning of an object to be worked by various attachments mounted thereon. Accordingly, the controller 17 can be adjusted infinitely in accordance with a required amount of movement and a relative required speed to change the signal pressure Po of the pilot pipe line 23 within a range from O to P OMAX in order to attain the desired object. It is to be noted that, while, in the present embodiment, electric signals are used between the controller 17 provided in the cabin 16 and the proportional signal converting device 15 and hydraulic pressure signals are used to the pilot oil chamber 10a of the proportional directional control valve 10 such that an instruction signal from the controller 17 may be converted by the proportional signal converting device 15 in order to adjust the maximum value of the meter-in opening of the proportional directional control valve 10, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the specific embodiment. Thus, the signal medium may be, in addition to electricity or hydraulic pressure described above, a pneumatic pressure or a mechanical link or a combination of them or a single one of them. Or else, an output of a controller which develops an arbitrarily adjustable signal may be supplied directly to a signal receiving portion of such a proportional changing over means having the function of adjusting the maximum value of a meter-in opening in accordance with a magnitude of a signal from the outside as the proportional directional control valve 10.

Claims: A hydraulic circuit for a hydraulic machine which includes first and second hydraulic valve sets (A, B) each adapted to receive a supply of pressure fluid from an individual main pump (2, 3) and to pass pressure fluid to respective first (13) and second (14) hydraulic actuators, the two actuators (13, 14) controlling different operations of the hydraulic machine, said second hydraulic valves set (B), in addition to passing pressure fluid to its associated second actuator (14), also being controllable to pass additional pressure fluid to the first actuator (13), characterised in that said circuit includes a proportional change-over valve (10) being mounted in a pipeline (22, 26) communicating the second hydraulic valve set (B) with said first actuator (13), for adjusting the supply of additional pressure fluid to the first actuator (13) in response to a signal (Po), and a controller (17) for adjusting the signal (Po) to adjust said valve (10) and hence the additional supply of pressure fluid to said first actuator (13) to thereby change the relative speed of the different operations controlled by the two actuators (13, 14). A hydraulic circuit according to Claim 1, characterised in that said controller (17) is provided in the neighbourhood of an operator's seat in a cabin of a hydraulic shovel. A hydraulic circuit according to Claim 1, characterised by a proportional signal converting device (15) for converting a signal from said controller (17) into a signal in the form of a hydraulic pressure An oil hydraulic circuit according to any preceding claim characterised in that the first actuator (13) operates at a low speed with pressure oil from a hydraulic directional control valve (6) belonging to one (A) of the hydraulic valve sets and at a higher speed with pressure oil from the hydraulic directional control valve (6) belonging to the hydraulic valve set (A) and also from another hydraulic directional control valve (9) belonging to the other hydraulic valve set (B); and further characterised in that the second actuator (14) operates only with pressure oil from a hydraulic directional control valve (9) belonging to the other hydraulic valve set (B).

Inventors: FUJII KAZUHIKO, KOUCHI SUMIO, KUBOMOTO WATARU, SHIMOKAKIUCHI HIROSHI, FUJII, KAZUHIKO, KOUCHI, SUMIO, KUBOMOTO, WATARU, SHIMOKAKIUCHI, HIROSHI
Applicants: KOBE STEEL LTD, KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOBE SEIKO SHO
Application year: 1990
Main classification: F15B11
IPC codes: F15B11, E02F9