Clutch temperature estimation for a mobile machine
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsMirko V. Barbir, Stacy Linn Grove, Yun Liu, Gerry Owen McCann, John Dewey Gates
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mobile machine includes a propulsion system. The propulsion system may include a prime mover, a traction device, and a clutch operable to transmit power produced by the prime mover to the traction device. The propulsion system may also include propulsion-system controls operable to control the clutch. The propulsion-system controls may include at least one information processor configured to estimate a temperature of the clutch based at least in part on an estimated slippage of the clutch and a fluid temperature.
Claims20
A mobile machine, comprising:
- a propulsion system configured to propel the mobile machine, the propulsion system including
- a prime mover;
- a plurality of traction devices;
- a clutch operable to transmit power produced by the prime mover to the plurality of traction devices;
- and
- propulsion-system controls operable to control the clutch to control the distribution of power between the plurality of traction devices, the propulsion-system controls including at least one information processor configured to estimate a temperature of the clutch based at least in part on an estimated slippage of the clutch and a fluid temperature,
- wherein the at least one information processor is configured to estimate the clutch slippage based at least in part on a speed of each of the plurality of traction devices and at least one known drive ratio.
A method of operating a mobile machine, the method comprising:
- producing power with a prime mover;
- transmitting power from the prime mover to a plurality of traction devices to propel the mobile machine, including controlling a clutch to transmit power produced by the prime mover to the plurality of traction device and controlling the clutch to control the distribution of power between the plurality of traction devices;
- and
- estimating with at least one information processor of the mobile machine a temperature of the clutch, including estimating the temperature based at least in part on an estimated slippage of the clutch and a fluid temperature,
- wherein estimating the temperature of the clutch based at least in part on the estimated slippage of the clutch and the fluid temperature includes estimating the slippage of the clutch based at least in part on a speed of each of the plurality of traction devices and at least one known drive ratio.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.