Hybrid utility vehicle
AssigneeEl-Forest AB
InventorRoger Gustavsson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hybrid utility vehicle has a vehicle body and at least first and second driving wheels, each driving wheel has two wheels provided on opposite sides of the vehicle. Each of the wheels is drivable by a drive unit, whereby the speed of each wheel may be adjusted independently of the speed of the other wheels, thereby enabling adjustment of the relative position between a wheel of the first set of driving wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) and a wheel of the second set of driving wheels, and wherein the vehicle further has at least one actuator for enabling adjustment of the relative position between the first set of driving wheels and the second set of driving wheels. A method and control unit for control of the vehicle are also disclosed.
Claims20
A control unit for a hybrid utility vehicle comprising a vehicle body (25) and at least a first and a second set of driving wheels (5a-f), each set of driving wheels comprising two wheels provided on opposite sides of the vehicle, wherein the first set of wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) is provided in front of the second set of wheels (5c-d),
- wherein each of the wheels of said first and second set of driving wheels (5a-d, 5e-f) is drivable by a respective drive unit (21a-f), whereby the rotational speed of each wheel may be adjusted independently of the rotational speed of the other wheels, thereby enabling adjustment of the relative position between a wheel of the first set of driving wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) and a wheel of the second set of driving wheels (5c-d), and
- wherein the vehicle (1) further comprises at least one actuator (20a-h) that is arranged and configured for enabling adjustment of the relative position between said wheel of the first set of driving wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) and said wheel of the second set of driving wheels (5c-d), the control unit comprising:
- an input for receiving input data;
- and
- processing circuitry configured to:
- determine a desired relative wheel position based on said input data;
- control at least one of said drive units to adjust the relative wheel position to said desired relative wheel position;
- and
- control the at least one actuator to adjust the relative wheel position to said desired relative wheel position in such a way that the difference in relative position of said wheels is determined by the drive units (21a-f) if none of the wheels slips.
A method for controlling a hybrid utility vehicle comprising a vehicle body (25) and at least a first and a second set of driving wheels, each set of driving wheels comprising two wheels provided on opposite sides of the vehicle, wherein the first set of wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) is provided in front of the second set of wheels (5c-d),
- wherein each of the wheels of said first and second set of driving wheels (5a-f) is drivable by a respective drive unit (21a-f), whereby the rotational speed of each wheel may be adjusted independently of the rotational speed of the other wheels, and
- wherein the vehicle further comprises at least one actuator (21 a-h) that is arranged and configured for enabling adjustment of the relative position between said wheel of the first set of driving wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) and said wheel of the second set of driving wheels,
- said method comprises the steps of:
- acquiring an input signal indicative of a desired relative position between a wheel of the first set of driving wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) and a wheel of the second set of driving wheels (5c-d);
- controlling at least one of the drive units (21a-b, 21e-f) associated with a wheel in the first set of driving wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) to drive that wheel with a different speed than at least one of the wheels in the second set of driving wheels (5c-d), in order to achieve the desired relative position, and
- controlling the at least one actuator (21 a-h) to alter the relative position between said wheel of the first set of driving wheels (5a-b, 5e-f) and said wheel of the second set of driving wheels (5c-d) in such a way that the difference in relative position of said wheels is determined by the drive units (21a-f) if none of the wheels slips.
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.