Electronic control for turf maintenance vehicle

A reel cutting system for a turf mower comprising:

• a) a prime mover;
• b) a hydraulic pump energized by said primer mover;
• c) a cutting reel operatively rotated by a hydraulic fluid motor;
• d) a manifold system for controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid from said hydraulic pump to said hydraulic motor in accordance with control signals;
• and
• e) clip control means comprising;
• i) first sensing means for determining the rotational speed of said reel and for providing a sensed rotational speed signal;
• ii) second sensing means for determining the ground speed of the turf mower and for providing a sensed ground speed signal;
• and
• iii) first control means, operatively coupled to said first and second sensing means, for receiving said sensed rotational and ground speed signals, for determining a target rotational speed value from said sensed ground speed signal, for comparing said sensed rotational speed with said target rotational speed value, and for calculating an output signal to establish a feedback control loop,
• wherein said first control means generates a control signal for said manifold system based on said output signal, and whereby the reel speed is controlled to optimize the clip.

A controller for a grass cutting machine, of the type having a cutting reel driven by a motor system, comprising:

• a) memory means for storing a control algorithm for use in a feedback control loop and data;
• b) first sensing means for determining the rotational speed of the reel and for providing a sensed rotational speed signal;
• c) a plurality of switch means for monitoring the status of various machine operative conditions, wherein each of said plurality of switch means provides the logical status of the monitored operative condition;
• d) processor means for:
• i) receiving said sensed rotational speed signal and determining an output signal to the motor system to maintain the reel at a desired speed in accordance with said control algorithm and said data wherein said data includes information on the ground speed of the turf mower and wherein the relationship between the desired speed of the reel and the ground speed is non-linear and is determined to optimize the clip;
• and
• ii) qualifying the operative state of the grass cutting machine in accordance with a logical table comprised of said data in said memory means and said monitored operative condition inputs, whereby the turf mower operates only when predetermined operative condition inputs are received.

A reel cutting system for a turf mower, comprising:

• a) a prime mover;
• b) an energy transfer system energized by said prime mover, said system including a motor;
• c) a cutting reel operatively rotated by said motor;
• and
• d) clip control means comprising:
• i) first sensing means for determining the rotational speed of said reel and for providing a sensed rotational speed signal;
• ii) second sensing means for determining the ground speed of the turf mower and for providing a sensed ground speed signal;
• and
• iii) first control means, operatively coupled to said first and second sensing means, for receiving said sensed rotational and ground speed signals, for determining a target rotational speed value from said sensed ground speed signal, for comparing said sensed rotational speed with said target rotational speed value. and for determining an output signal in a feedback loop control,
• wherein said first control means applies said output signal to said motor, whereby the rotational speed of said motor, and hence the rotational speed of said reel, are controlled for optimizing the clip.

A method for controlling the rotational speed of a reel of a turf mower, comprising the steps of:

• a) determining the rotational speed of the reel and providing a sensed rotational speed signal to a controller device;
• b) determining the ground speed of the mower and providing a sensed ground speed signal to said controller device wherein said controller device determines a target rotational speed value from said sensed ground speed signal;
• c) comparing said rotational speed of the reel with said target rotational speed value;
• and
• d) determining an output signal from said compared values, wherein said output signal is related to said target rotational speed value of the reel and is used as an output signal in a feedback loop, whereby the speed of the reel is controlled to optimize the clip.