Method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for controlling torque load of multiple variable displacement hydraulic pumps

An apparatus for controlling a total pump torque load of a plurality of variable displacement hydraulic pumps on an engine powering the pumps, comprising:

• a plurality of pump discharge pressure sensors, the pump discharge pressure sensors respectively arranged with the variable displacement hydraulic pumps, the pump discharge pressure sensors adapted to detect a value of an actual pump discharge pressure for each variable displacement hydraulic pump and adapted to provide a pressure detection signal indicative of the detected pressure;
• a plurality of pump displacement sensors, the pump displacement sensors respectively arranged with the variable displacement hydraulic pumps, the pump displacement sensors adapted to detect a value of an actual pump displacement for each variable displacement hydraulic pump and adapted to provide a displacement detection signal indicative of the detected displacement;
• a pump system controller electrically connected to the pump discharge pressure sensors and the pump displacement sensors, the pump system controller adapted to receive the pressure detection signals from the pump discharge pressure sensors and the displacement detection signals from the pump displacement sensors, the pump system controller adapted to determine a pump displacement limit for each variable displacement hydraulic pump using a nonlinear control law using an equation including a torque efficiency of each variable displacement hydraulic pump to limit the total pump torque load of the variable displacement hydraulic pumps on the engine, the pump system controller electrically connected to each variable displacement hydraulic pump, the pump system controller adapted to control each variable displacement hydraulic pump to control the value of the actual pump displacement of each variable displacement hydraulic pump based upon the respective determined pump displacement limit.

A non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium bearing instructions for controlling a total pump torque load of a plurality of variable displacement hydraulic pumps on an engine powering the pumps, the instructions, when executing on one or more computing devices, perform the steps of:

• receiving pressure detection signals from a plurality of pump discharge pressure sensors, the pump discharge pressure sensors respectively connected to an output line of each variable displacement hydraulic pump;
• receiving displacement detection signals from a plurality of pump displacement sensors, the pump displacement sensors respectively connected to an output line of each variable displacement hydraulic pump;
• determining a pump displacement limit for each variable displacement hydraulic pump using a nonlinear control law using an equation including a torque efficiency of each variable displacement hydraulic pump to limit the total pump torque load of the variable displacement hydraulic pumps on the engine;
• and
• sending a control signal to each variable displacement hydraulic pump to control the value of the actual pump displacement of each variable displacement hydraulic pump based upon the respective determined pump displacement limit.