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US 9,573,596 B2Granted
Self-propelled off-road vehicle with system for torque control at shift points
AssigneeCNH Industrial America LLC
InventorFrederic George Kuhn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A self-propelled off-road agricultural vehicle such as a product applicator is provided with a system for torque control at shift points. The self-propelled applicator has a drivetrain configured with two power levels of its engine. One power level limits engine power output to a value at or below a shifting-state clutch rating of the transmission to protect the transmission while shifting. The second power level allows engine power to exceed a shifting-state clutch rating of the transmission when the transmission is not shifting.
Claims20
A self-propelled off-road agricultural vehicle comprising:
- a chassis having wheels for moving the off-road self-propelled agricultural vehicle;
- an application system supported by the chassis and including at least one storage container storing a volume of product for delivery on to an agricultural field;
- a mechanical drivetrain system for delivering power to the wheels and including an internal combustion engine supported by the chassis;
- an automatic transmission supported by the chassis and receiving power from the internal combustion engine for delivering to the wheels and having clutches configured to selectively engage and disengage to change a power flow path through the transmission and correspondingly mechanically change a drive ratio through the transmission to one of multiple discrete predefined drive ratios;
- wherein the transmission defines a transmission shifting-state rating and a transmission non-shifting-state rating with the shifting-state rating having a lower value than the non-shifting-state rating;
- wherein the mechanical drivetrain system defines:
- a first state as a non-shifting state during which time a drive ratio of the transmission is static;
- a second state as a shifting state during which time the drive ratio of the transmission is changing;
- and
- wherein the mechanical drivetrain system is configured so that:
- during the first state, the engine is in an unrestricted condition to permit delivery of power to the transmission with an unrestricted torque value that is greater than the transmission shifting-state rating value;
- and
- during the second state, the engine is in a restricted condition to limit delivery of power to the transmission to a restricted torque value that is less than the transmission shifting-state rating value.
10 more elements
A self-propelled off-road agricultural sprayer comprising:
- a chassis having wheels for moving the off-road self-propelled agricultural sprayer;
- an application system supported by the chassis and including at least one storage container storing a volume of product for delivery on to an agricultural field;
- a hydraulic system and a boom system having sprayers, wherein the hydraulic system is configured to provide hydraulic power for movement of the boom system;
- a mechanical drivetrain system for delivering power to the wheels and including
- an internal combustion engine supported by the chassis;
- an automatic transmission supported by the chassis and receiving power from the internal combustion engine for delivering to the wheels and having clutches configured to selectively engage and disengage to change a power flow path through the transmission and correspondingly mechanically change a drive ratio through the transmission to one of multiple discrete predefined drive ratios;
- wherein the transmission defines a transmission shifting-state rating and a transmission non-shifting-state rating with the shifting-state rating having a lower value than the non-shifting-state rating;
- wherein the mechanical drivetrain system defines:
- a first state as a non-shifting state during which time a drive ratio of the transmission is static;
- a second state as a shifting state during which time the drive ratio of the transmission is changing;
- and
- wherein the mechanical drivetrain system is configured so that:
- during the first state, the engine is in an unrestricted condition to permit delivery of power to the transmission with an unrestricted torque value that is greater than the transmission shifting-state rating value;
- and
- during the second state, the engine is in a restricted condition to limit delivery of power to the transmission to a restricted torque value that is less than the transmission shifting-state rating value, and including:
- a control system including an engine controller configured to control engine speed and corresponding engine torque output values;
- and
- a transmission controller configured to control clutches of the transmission for shifting the transmission to change the drive ratio of the transmission,
- wherein the transmission controller sends command signals to the engine controller for commanding reduction in engine torque output values corresponding to changes from the first state to the second state of the mechanical drivetrain system.
16 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.