Monitoring an ic engine of a forest harvester
OwnerTimo KOIVULAinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The method for controlling a forest harvester includes measuring, when carrying out an operation, rotational speed of an engine; automatically determining, in a control electronics, a relative or absolute difference between the measured rotational speed of the engine and a predetermined guideline for the rotational speed of the engine, the guideline defining a preferred rotational speed or a range of preferred rotational speeds for the operation that is being carried out; and automatically notifying, by the control electronics, an operator of the forest harvester, that the determined difference either follows the guideline or the determined difference deviates from the guideline. The engine being adapted to deliver predetermined power levels during the operation.
Claims20
A method for controlling a forest harvester, wherein the forest harvester includes:
- a wheeled frame;
- an IC engine;
- an articulated boom supported on the frame;
- a harvester head suspended from the end of the boom and for processing tree stems of felled trees;
- and
- control electronics including an engine control unit, an electronic control unit for controlling operations carried out by the harvester head, and a processing power control system with predetermined power levels, each power level offering a specific level of power delivered by the engine during the operations;
- and
- wherein the method comprises:
- applying one of the predetermined power levels when carrying out an operation relating to one of the tree stems and being performed by the harvested head and resulting to a changing load on the engine;
- measuring, when carrying out the operation, rotational speed of the engine with the help of one or more sensors that collect data indicative of the rotational speed of the engine and are operatively connected to the control electronics;
- automatically determining, in the control electronics, a relative or absolute difference between the measured rotational speed of the engine and a predetermined guideline for the rotational speed of the engine, the guideline defining a preferred rotational speed or a range of preferred rotational speeds for the operation that is being carried out;
- and
- automatically notifying by the control electronics an operator of the forest harvester that the determined difference either follows the guideline or deviates from the guideline.
A forest harvester comprising:
- a wheeled frame;
- an IC engine;
- an articulated boom supported on the frame, wherein the boom is adapted to have, for processing tree stems of felled trees, a harvester head suspended from the end of the boom;
- and
- control electronics including an engine control unit, an electronic control unit for controlling operations carried out by the harvester head, and a processing power control system with predetermined power levels, each power level offering a specific level of power delivered by the engine during the operations;
- wherein the control electronics is adapted to automatically, under control of an operator, to carry out a method including:
- applying one of the predetermined power levels when carrying out an operation relating to one of the tree stems and being performed by the harvested head and resulting to a changing load on the engine;
- measuring, when carrying out the operation, rotational speed of the engine with the help of one or more sensors that collect data indicative of the rotational speed of the engine and are operatively connected to the control electronics;
- automatically determining, in the control electronics, a relative or absolute difference between the measured rotational speed of the engine and a predetermined guideline for the rotational speed of the engine, the guideline defining a preferred rotational speed or a range of preferred rotational speeds for the operation that is being carried out;
- and
- automatically notifying by the control electronics an operator of the forest harvester that the determined difference either follows the guideline or deviates from the guideline.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.