Abstract:
A method of controlling a greens mower, wherein the greens mower includes a motor drive system variably driving a grass cutting reel and a traction system. The method includes sensing an operating parameter, comparing the operating parameter to a predetermine parameter and outputting a control signal to the motor drive system in response thereto, and further outputting a user signal to a display member representative of the control signal to alert an operator of the operating parameter. The method may also be used to control a fleet of greens mowers using a master controller. In this regard, the master controller may include an administrator or supervisor function preventing an operator from changing any predetermined parameter.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to greens mowers and, more particularly, relates to a greens mower data display and control system for improved cutting performance and operation.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     As is known in the prior art, greens mowers are particularly useful in mowing golf course greens, which are known to require exacting mowing results to assure that the grass is cut consistently throughout the green. Traditionally, these greens mowers are either walk-behind type mowers or riding mowers.  
         [0003]     Greens mowers generally employ a reel type mowing unit as opposed to a rotary type mowing unit. The clip rate of these reel type mowing units are of utmost concern due to the fact that the clip rate often determines the consistency and quality of the cut, which leads to improved turf health. Because of the time required to grow a mature green and the cost associated with therewith, it is extremely important that greens mowers operate properly and not damage the turf.  
         [0004]     The term clip rate is generally understood to mean the ratio between the rotational speed of the reel and the corresponding speed of the traction or drive unit. The clip rate can often be measured by the distance between the locations of individual sequential grass cuts produced by the rotating reel blades successively moving over the grass. The grass between the locations of the cuts will necessarily be left taller than the cut grass at the cut locations. Consequently, the cut rate is vital to producing an optimum condition of the grass on the golf course green.  
         [0005]     In light of this need for optimum cutting performance, it is desirable that greens mowers include electrical circuitry which precludes mower overloads and consequent mower damage, gives the operator current information on the quantity of the battery charge, automatically and manually shuts off under both desirable and undesirable conditions, automatically shuts off the electric power by a predetermined time after the mower has been used for mowing.  
         [0006]     Additionally, it should be recognized that many golf courses are serviced by a fleet of mowers. Ideally, these mowers will provide identical cutting results in their respective mowing roles. However, as can be appreciated for instance in greens mowers, one operator may operate his mowers at a different groundspeed or clip rate than others, thereby resulting in differing cutting results.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     According to the principles of the present invention, a method of controlling a walk-behind greens mower is provided. The greens mower includes a motor drive system variably driving a grass cutting reel and a traction system. The method includes sensing an operating parameter, comparing the operating parameter to a predetermine parameter and outputting a control signal to the motor drive system in response thereto, and further outputting a user signal to a display member representative of the control signal to alert an operator of the operating parameter. The method may also be used to control a fleet of greens mowers using a master controller. In this regard, the master controller may include an administrator or supervisor function preventing an operator from changing any predetermined parameter.  
         [0008]     Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a greens mower according to the principles of the present invention; and  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view illustrating the control system of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0012]     The following description of the preferred embodiment is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.  
         [0013]     With reference to the figure,  FIG. 1  illustrates a greens mower  10  incorporating the principles of the present invention. Greens mower  10  is a reel-type mower having a base portion  12  and a mowing unit  14 . Mowing unit  14  is may be articulately coupled to base portion  12  through a pivoting mechanism  16 .  
         [0014]     Mowing unit  14  includes a rotatable greens mower reel  18  having spiraled blades  20  equally spaced around a reel shaft  22 . Reel shaft  22  is generally elongated and defines a rotation axis  24  extending along the length of reel shaft  22 . A conventional fixed bed knife (not shown) is operably mounted to mowing unit  14 . Blades  20  orbit relative to shaft  22  and move past the fixed bed knife for the usual and well-known function of cutting the grass. Mowing unit  14  further includes a pair of ground engaging rollers  26  rotatably mounted along a forward and rearward portion of mowing unit  14 . The pair of ground engaging rollers  26  serve to support mowing unit  14  for movement on the ground. The pair of ground engaging rollers  26  are preferably adjustable to define a cutting height.  
         [0015]     Mowing unit  14  further includes a variable electric motor  28 . Electric motor  28  is illustrated mounted to a side member  30  of mowing unit  14 . Electric motor  28  is then operably coupled to reel  18  to rotatably drive reel  18  through a transmission system (not shown). The transmission system may include belts, gears, chains, or the like in a conventional fashion to transfer the drive force from electric motor  28  to reel  18 . As should be appreciated, however, the transmission system extending between electric motor  28  and reel  18  is simple in construction, because it is directly mounted to mowing unit  14 . Therefore, any articulation of mowing unit  14  does not affect the relative positional relationship of the drive motor and the reel, as is common in prior art articulating greens mowers. Consequently, the transmission system need only include the necessary pieces to define a range of rotational speeds relative to the capacity of electric motor  28 , such as a simple gear train.  
         [0016]     Base portion  12  generally includes a motor  32 , a frame  34 , a lawn roller  36 , a drive system  38 , and a handle assembly  40 . Handle assembly  40  includes a handle  50  suitably connected with frame  34 . Handle  50  includes a grip portion  52  which the operator can hold in steering greens mower  10 . A movably mounted bail or operator hand control  54  is pivotally connected to handle  50  and is movable toward and away from the grip portion  52 . The operation of hand control  54  may be similar to that disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,334, which is incorporated herein by reference. In this arrangement, the operator can hold both handle  50  and hand control  54  while guiding greens mower  10 . Upon release of hand control  54 , traction drive system  38  is interrupted in a manner similar to that disclosed in the &#39;334 Patent.  
         [0017]     Additionally, the vicinity of handle  50  further includes a data display  56  mounted thereon, which are therefore presented to the user for observation or actuation. A mower controller  58  is mounted on handle assembly  40 .  
         [0018]     Mower controller  58  is preferably a central processing unit capable of monitoring and controlling the various functions of greens mower  10 . Mower controller  58  is preferably operably coupled to data display  56  such that data display  56  provides a simple and intuitive user interface. Referring now to the schematic representation in  FIG. 2 , a control system  100  is shown having mower controller  58  and data display  56 . As can be seen, data display  56  is operable to communicate with mower controller  58 . Data display  56  is an LCD or LED device that serves as a user interface to provide the user with critical and informative data and further to provide a simple method of managing such data and controlling greens mower  10 . To this end, data display  56  may be configured for display using multinational languages and units of measure.  
         [0019]     With continued reference to  FIG. 2 , it can be seen that mower controller  58  serves as the primary processing unit and, thus, receives multiple inputs to in turn positively and actively control multiple outputs. Mower controller  58  is operable to control traction drive system  38  via a line  104 . Additionally, mower controller  58  is operable to control electric motor  28  via a line  106 . As described above, electric motor  28  directly controls the drive speed of reel  18 . Thus, mower controller  58  is capable of controlling the speed of reel  18  (via electric motor  28 ) and the groundspeed of greens mower  10  (via traction drive system  38 ). Consequently, mower controller  58  can maintain a preselected cliprate, even if groundspeed or reel speed vary. That is, when the ground speed of greens mower  10  is reduced, mower controller  58  can reduce the speed of reel  18  and vice versa, thereby maintaining a desired clip rate.  
         [0020]     Mower controller  58  further receives multiple inputs. For instance, mower controller  58  may receive groundspeed data via line  108 . This groundspeed data may be gathered from either the drive speed of traction drive system  38  or a sensor (not shown) operably coupled to either lawn roller  36  or rollers  26 . Additionally, mower controller  58  receives motor speed data from motor  32  at line  110 , current draw (if applicable) data from motor  32  at line  112 , speed data from reel  18  at line  114 , and overall system voltage at line  116 . This data may then be used to vary the operation of greens mower  10 , such as by disengaging motor  28  upon detection of a current spike caused by a jam or during overload or overheating.  
         [0021]     Mower controller  58  includes additional features that are useful for the accurate and reliable control of greens mower  10 . Specifically, mower controller  58  and/or data display  56  are preferably capable of wireless or datalinked communication with a master controller  102 . Master controller  102  preferably includes all of the control features of data display  56  and further includes additional administrator/supervisor controls. It is anticipated that a single master controller  102  may be used to program or control a plurality of greens mowers simultaneously to facilitate the rapid configuration of multiple greens mowers. However, it should be understood that these same administrator/supervisor control settings may be accessed via data display  56 .  
         [0022]     Administrator/supervisor control settings may include such features as a pre-set reel speeds, clip rates, and/or groundspeeds. Administrator/supervisor control settings are ideally not accessible by individual grounds workers. In the regard, mower controller  58  can then maintain a preselected clip rate set by an administrator or supervisor irrespective of the workers ground speed. It is preferable that additional indicators or visual/audible alerts are used to alert the worker when a supervisor setting can not be achieved. Mower controller  58  further limits the operation of greens mower  10  at a point prior to this stage when a supervisor setting is not achieved.  
         [0023]     Finally, mower controller  58  is preferably provided with a non-volatile memory and powered by greens mower  10  and/or separate power source.  
         [0024]     The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.