Method for real-time hydraulic cylinder drift monitoring
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsRichard Andrew Carpenter, Wajahat Afsar, Aravind Stalin, Vinay Kumar Rao Veeramaneni
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of monitoring drift in a hydraulic cylinder, including providing a work machine having an implement actuated by the hydraulic cylinder, a sensor attached to the hydraulic cylinder configured to measure a displacement of the hydraulic cylinder and a controller; identifying a cycle start of the hydraulic cylinder; identifying a cycle end of the hydraulic cylinder; calculating a drift rate of the hydraulic cylinder; determining if the drift rate is greater than a drift threshold; and if the drift rate is greater than the drift threshold, notifying service personnel that service of the hydraulic cylinder is required.
Claims14
A hydraulic cylinder, comprising:
- a cylinder body having a first body end and a second body end, the cylinder body having a cylinder connector at the second body end, the cylinder body being hollow;
- a rod having a first rod end and a second rod end, the rod having a rod connector at the first rod end;
- a piston connected to the second rod end, the piston interfacing with an inside wall of the cylinder body;
- a first volume within the cylinder body between the piston and the second body end and a second volume within the cylinder body, surrounding the rod, between the piston and the first body end;
- a first orifice at the first body end of the cylinder body having a first fluid passage connecting the first orifice to the first volume;
- a sensor disposed on the hydraulic cylinder, the sensor configured to measure an actuation of the hydraulic cylinder;
- and
- a controller connected to the sensor, the controller configured to receive a measurement of the actuation from the sensor, evaluate a drift rate of the hydraulic cylinder, and provide a service notification if the drift rate is greater than a drift threshold.
A method of monitoring drift in a hydraulic cylinder, comprising:
- providing a work machine having an implement actuated by the hydraulic cylinder, a sensor attached to the hydraulic cylinder configured to measure a displacement of the hydraulic cylinder and a controller;
- identifying a cycle start of the hydraulic cylinder, including recording a start displacement of the hydraulic cylinder, and a start time;
- and the step of identifying the cycle end further comprising;
- identifying a cycle end of the hydraulic cylinder, including recording an end displacement of the hydraulic cylinder, and an end time;
- calculating a drift rate of the hydraulic cylinder by calculating a delta displacement between the start displacement and the end displacement, and calculating a delta time between the start time and the end time;
- determining if the drift rate is greater than a drift threshold;
- and notifying service personnel that service of the hydraulic cylinder is required, if the drift rate is greater than the drift threshold.
A method of monitoring drift in a hydraulic cylinder, comprising:
- providing a work machine having an implement actuated by the hydraulic cylinder, a sensor attached to the hydraulic cylinder configured to measure a displacement of the hydraulic cylinder and a controller;
- identifying a cycle start of the hydraulic cylinder;
- identifying a cycle end of the hydraulic cylinder;
- calculating a drift rate of the hydraulic cylinder;
- calculating a rate of change of the drift rate;
- determining if the drift rate is greater than a drift threshold;
- notifying service personnel that service of the hydraulic cylinder is required, if the drift rate is greater than the drift threshold;
- predicting a target date when the drift rate will exceed the drift threshold, if the drift rate is below the threshold;
- and
- notifying service personnel that service of the hydraulic cylinder is required at the target date.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.