Auger and conveyor speed control
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsReece Berns, Jacob R. Ellwein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A paving system includes a paving machine including a drive assembly, a paving material delivery system, and a material depth sensor. The paving material delivery system includes a hopper, a conveyor assembly, an auger, and a screed. The material depth sensor is configured to detect a head of paving material in front of the screed. The paving machine further includes a controller in communication with the material depth sensor. The controller is configured to receive a feed sensor signal from the material depth sensor, receive an auger speed signal indicative of a speed of the auger, and adjust a conveyor speed based on at least one of the feed sensor signal and the auger speed signal.
Claims20
A paving system, comprising:
- a paving machine, including:
- a drive assembly;
- a paving material delivery system, including a hopper, a conveyor assembly, an auger, and a screed;
- a material depth sensor configured to detect a head of paving material downstream of the auger and in front of the screed;
- and
- a controller in communication with the material depth sensor, the controller configured to:
- receive a feed sensor signal from the material depth sensor;
- receive an auger speed signal indicative of a speed of the auger;
- and
- adjust a conveyor speed based on at least one of the feed sensor signal and the auger speed signal.
A method for controlling delivery of paving material from a paving machine, the method comprising:
- setting a feed sensor depth;
- waiting for a head of paving material to stabilize at the feed sensor depth;
- determining a steady state rotation speed of an auger of the paving machine;
- detecting a change to the head of paving material downstream of the auger and upstream of a screed of the paving machine;
- automatically adjusting a speed of a conveyor of the paving machine based on the auger speed or the change to the head of paving material;
- and
- monitoring the speed of the auger at a steady state for an auger speed outside of a predetermined speed range.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.