Patent ID: 7500530

Claim:
A control system for controlling at least one function of an item of construction equipment, said control system comprising: (a) a pump; (b) a proportional control valve, said proportional control valve being in fluid communication with the pump; (c) a plurality of on/off directional control valves, each of said on/off directional control valves being in fluid communication with the proportional control valve and each of said plurality of on/off directional control valves corresponding to one of the at least one functions of the item of construction equipment; (d) a plurality of signal sources, said plurality of signal sources being adapted to produce a plurality of signals; (e) a plurality of switches, each of said plurality of switches being adapted to be in an open position and in a closed position and each of said plurality of switches being adapted to transmit a first signal to one of the plurality of on/off directional control valves and a second signal to one of a plurality of processor inputs; (f) a processor, said processor being adapted to receive a plurality of processor inputs, receive the plurality of signals from the plurality of signal sources, and transmit a processor output to the proportional control valve; wherein the switch transmits a false signal to the processor when the switch is in the open position; and wherein the switch transmits a true signal to the processor when the switch is in the closed position; and wherein the processor output is determined by the lowest processor input from the processor inputs that receive a true signal; and wherein the control system is adapted to control the at least one function of the item of construction equipment.