Apparatus and methods for the control of hydraulic actuators
AssigneeNational Oilwell Varco Norway AS
InventorsMichael RYGAARD HANSEN, Jesper Kirk SØRENSEN,
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Abstract
Methods of controlling an actuator during operation using a hydraulic circuit, and related apparatus, are described. The circuit has a first path section along which fluid is supplied to a first chamber of the actuator using a first valve and a second path section along which fluid is extracted from a second chamber of the actuator using a second valve. Pressure data associated with a pressure of the fluid supplied to the first side of the actuator are obtained, a pilot pressure pPilot is produced based on the data and the first and second valves are configured based on the pilot pressure pPilot.
Claims22
A method of controlling an actuator during operation using a hydraulic circuit, the circuit comprising a first path section along which fluid is supplied to a first chamber of the actuator using a first valve, and a second path section along which fluid is extracted from a second chamber of the actuator using a second valve, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) obtaining pressure data associated with a pressure of the fluid supplied to the first side of the actuator;
- (b) producing a pilot pressure pPilot based on the data;
- and
- (c) configuring either or both of the first and second valves using the pilot pressure pPilot.
Apparatus for operating and controlling a hydraulic actuator, the apparatus comprising:
- first and second valves;
- a first path section along which fluid is supplied to a first chamber of the actuator using the first valve;
- a second path section along which fluid is extracted from a second chamber of the actuator using the second valve;
- and
- at least one device for producing a pilot pressure pPilot based upon obtained data associated with a pressure of the fluid supplied to the first chamber of the actuator, wherein either or both of the first and second valves are configured using the pilot pressure pPilot.
A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor for controlling an actuator using a hydraulic circuit, the circuit comprising a first path section along which fluid is supplied to a first chamber of the actuator using a first valve, and a second) path section along which fluid is extracted from a second chamber of the actuator using a second valve, the machine-readable storage medium comprising:
- instructions to receive data associated with a pressure of the fluid supplied to the first chamber of the actuator;
- instructions to determine a pilot pressure pPilot based upon the received data;
- instructions to configure either or both of the first and second valves using the pilot pressure pPilot.
A method of controlling an actuator during operation using a hydraulic circuit comprising a first path section along which fluid is supplied to a first chamber of the actuator using a first valve, and a second path section along which fluid is extracted from a second chamber of the actuator using a second valve, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) computing a set pressure pSet in dependence upon a pressure of the fluid supplied to the first chamber of the actuator;
- and
- (b) configuring either or both of the first and second valves based on the computed set pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.