Construction machine with rotor load monitoring
AssigneeCaterpillar Paving Products Inc.
InventorBrian J. Schlenker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A machine for road work for road work, the machine can comprise: a frame, a drive system including a power source carried by the frame, a milling system driven by the power source and a controller. The milling system can comprise: a rotor configured to rotate and remove an amount of material from a working area; a drive member coupling the rotor to be driven by the power source; a tensioner assembly configured to tension the drive member; and a sensor configured to measure the tension of the drive member. The controller can be configured to, in response to a signal received from the sensor, determine if the rotor has encountered an object capable of damaging the rotor.
Claims12
A machine for road work, the machine comprising:
- a frame;
- a drive system including a power source carried by the frame;
- a milling system driven by the power source, the milling system comprising:
- a rotor configured to rotate and remove an amount of material from a working area;
- a drive member coupling the rotor to be driven by the power source;
- and
- a sensor configured to measure at least one of a rotational speed or acceleration of the drive member;
- and
- a controller configured to, in response to a signal received from the sensor, determine if the rotor has encountered an object capable of damaging the rotor;
- wherein the controller determines if the rotor has encountered the object capable of damaging the rotor by determining if the rotational speed decreases by at least 10% as compared to a mean drive member speed and the rotational speed then increases by at least 10% as compared to the mean drive member speed within 0.2 seconds or less.
A method of monitoring a rotor of a working machine, the method comprising:
- providing a drive member coupling the rotor to be driven by a drive system of the working machine;
- sensing a characteristic comprising a rotational speed of the drive member;
- and
- determining if the rotor has encountered an object capable of damaging the rotor based upon the sensing the characteristic and by determining if the rotational speed of the drive member decreases by at least 10% as compared to a mean drive member speed and the rotational speed of the drive member then increases by at least 10% as compared to the mean drive member speed within 0.2 seconds or less.
A system comprising:
- a frame;
- a drive system including a power source;
- a milling system driven by the power source, the milling system comprising:
- a rotor configured to rotate and remove an amount of material from a working area;
- a belt configured to couple the rotor to be driven by the power source;
- a belt pulley configured to retain the belt;
- and
- a sensor configured to measure a rotational speed of the belt pulley;
- a second sensor configured to measure a torque of the drive system;
- and
- a controller configured to, in response to a signal received from the sensor and a signal received from the second sensor during a corresponding time frame, determine if the rotor has encountered an object capable of damaging the rotor;
- wherein the controller determines the rotor has encountered an object capable of damaging the rotor if determining that the rotational speed of the belt pulley decreases by at least 10% as compared to a mean belt pulley speed and the torque of the drive system increases by 50% or more as compared to a mean torque of the drive system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.