Procedure for controlling the motor of a crane

Abstract: The invention relates to a procedure for selecting the mode of controlling the motor of a crane or an equivalent lifting apparatus. At least two alternative modes of controlling the motor are available, at least one of the modes involving control by means of a switch having at least two positions connectable in a certain order, producing corresponding control signals in the control port, while each control mode uses at least one control signal common to all modes. According to the invention, the signals (6-9) applied to the control port are monitored, the prevailing control situation is determined on the basis of the signals (6-9) monitored and the mode of control is selected on the basis of the signals (6-9) and the prevailing control situation.

Description: The present invention relates to a procedure for selecting the mode of control of the motor of a crane or an equivalent lifting apparatus, as defined in the introductory part of claim 1. It is often necessary to be able to control the motor of a crane or an equivalent lifting apparatus from several locations. In this case, care must be taken that only one control location is active at a time and that an operation once started can be completed without being influenced by another operator. The motor is generally controlled by means of push-button controllers which select the direction, the length of time during which the push-button switch is closed determining the speed reference for the motor control system. Another alternative is the joystick controller, in which the joystick position determines the direction on the one hand and the speed reference value on the other hand. The push-button controller is used e.g. in hanging controllers, which are located near the load to be lifted, whereas the joystick controller is commonly used in the control cabin of a crane. According to GB-A 2 130 330 and US-4 456 132 the mode of operation is selected by means of a separate selection switch, which can be placed e.g. in the control cabin. In addition to the switch, the cabin must be provided with appropriate wiring for the selection signal, and the motor drive must be provided with an extra input for this purpose. If the selection switch is only provided in the cabin, the operator may forget to operate the selection switch when he leaves his cabin to perform further control from an extern controller. This is very time-consuming. If, on the other hand, each controller is provided with a selection switch a rather complicated wiring and control logic has to be provided which raise the costs of the control system. The object of the present invention is to achieve a system permitting the selection of the control mode without the use of a separate switch and associated wiring and thus to produce a simpler and more reliable connection. The procedure of the invention is characterized by the features defined in the characterization part of claim 1. Other embodiments are presented in the subclaims. In the following, the invention is described in detail by the aid of examples of its embodiments by referring to the drawings attached, in which Fig. 1 presents a motor control system in which the procedure of the invention is applied, Fig. 2 presents the flow diagram of the procedure of the invention, and Fig. 3 presents a timing diagram for motor control according to the invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the motor 2 of the lifting apparatus 1 is controlled by means of a control unit 3. The control unit 3 is fed from the mains (not shown) and it converts the supply voltage into a form (a.c. / d.c.) suited for the motor type and causes the motor to behave in accordance with the control commands issued. The lifting apparatus is controlled by means of two controllers 4 and 5, which are normally used to control the horizontal and vertical motions of the crane. The motions in each direction are controlled by separate joysticks, push-buttons or equivalent. The first controller 4 is implemented using potentiometer control (PO control), in which case the operator's control is a stepless movable control device or controller, e.g. a joystick. The control port of the control unit has three inputs connected to the operator's control device. These are for the first and second direction signals, obtained when the control device is turned to the first and second directions respectively, and for an analog speed reference signal, which is proportional to the control device angle. The speed reference may vary e.g. between 0 - 10, corresponding to a speed range of 0 - 100 % of the maximum speed. The analog reference may also contain a component determining the direction of motion, in which case its range of variation could be e.g. -10 - 10 V, corresponing to a speed range of -100 % - 100 %. The second controller is a push-button controller based on so-called electronic potentiometer control (EP control). For each direction of crane motion - up, down, forward, backward, right, left - the controller has a separate push-button used to control the speed and duration of the motion in the direction concerned. The push-buttons used in crane drive systems are generally of the two-position type, in which the first position determines the start of motion in the direction in question and a so-called initial acceleration as well as the maintenance of the velocity at the level attained. The second position determines the increasing of the speed reference at a given rate of acceleration until the maximum speed is reached. Releasing the push-button causes the motor to decelerate in a controlled manner down to zero speed. In the control mode used by controller 4, the speed reference acceleration input is always activated first and the controller position always corresponds to the value of the speed reference. In the control mode used by controller 5, the switch determining the direction is always turned on first and only then can the speed reference acceleration be connected. The control unit 3 is provided with a monitoring element which senses the order in which the control unit inputs are switched on, i.e. whether the acceleration input in the control port is on when one of the direction inputs is switched on. Fig. 2 shows a flow diagram illustrating the selection of control mode. If the speed is other than zero, operation continues in the control mode currently in use. If the speed is zero and the acceleration input is on but the direction inputs off, the control mode of the first controller is selected. Similarly, if a direction input is on and the acceleration off, the control mode of the second controller is selected. In other cases, the current control mode is maintained. Thus, the control mode is selected making use of the order in which the control signals obtained from the controllers are switched on, without using a separate selection switch. The selection logic and the monitoring of the signal states can be implemented in a manner known in itself using techniques belonging to the expertise of a person skilled in the art. Fig. 3 presents a timing diagram illustrating the selection of control mode when control commands are given in different ways. Curves a) and b) represent the variation of the control signals with respect to time while the curves under c) represent the selection of the control mode on the basis of the control signals in accordance with the selection logic described above. A direction signal 7 issued afterwards while the motor is already running does not affect the control mode. At instant t₂, the direction signal 8 is on but the acceleration is zero, so electronic potentiometer control is selected. Correspondingly, in this case a subsequent acceleration signal 9 has no effect on the control mode. In this procedure it is naturally necessary to take care that all the controllers and controller positions in each control device are included in the selection process. This prevents simultaneous use of the controller at one control point for a lifting movement and another controller e.g. for a traversing motion. In the foregoing, the invention has been described by referring to some of its embodiments. However, this presentation should not be regarded as restricting the invention, but the scope of the patent may vary within the limits defined in the following claims.

Claims: Procedure for selecting the control mode of at least one controller generating control signals (6-9) which are fed via a control port to a control unit (3) for controlling a crane motor (2), when at least two alternative modes of conrolling the motor are available, at least one of the modes involving control by means of a switch (5) having at least two positions connectable in a certain order, thereby producing corresponding control signals in the control port, and each control mode using at least one control signal common to all modes, characterized in that the control signals (6-9) fed from all controllers to the control port are monitored by a monitoring element of the control unit (3), the prevailing control situation is determined on the basis of the control signals (6-9) monitored, and the control mode is selected by a selection logic on the basis of the control signals (6-9) and the prevailing control situation. Procedure according to claim 1, characterized in that the control situation is determined on the basis of the temporal order of the signals characteristic of the control modes. Procedure according to claim 1 or 2, in which the first position of at least one two-position switch (5) determines the direction of rotation of the motor while the second position determines the acceleration, the signal determining the acceleration being common to two control modes, characterized in that the control port determining the direction of rotation as well as the control port determining the acceleration are monitored and the first control mode is selected if the control signal (7,8) determining the direction of rotation becomes active first and the second control mode is selected in other cases. Procedure according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the control mode is not changed while the motor (2) is rotating. Procedure according to any one of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that the first control mode is electronically controlled stepless variation of speed and the second control mode is analog stepless variation of speed. Procedure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least two alternative control modes are implemented in different controllers (4,5). Procedure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least two alternative control modes are potentiometer control (PO control) and electronic potentiometer control (EP control).

Inventors: KIISKI TAPANI, KIISKI, TAPANI
Applicants: KCI KONE CRANES INT OY, KCI KONECRANES INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B66C13
IPC codes: B66C13