Hoisting capacity system for a hoist

Abstract

A lifting machine includes a machine chassis, a boom extending from the machine chassis, and a connector extending from the boom for coupling to a load. The machine further includes a control system that determines a lifting capacity of the machine based on a deflection of the connector caused by the load.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates generally to lift machines, and more particularly to a lift capacity system for such machines. BACKGROUND

[0002] Lift machines, such as pipelayers, are used to lift and move large objects into or above the ground. Such objects can include large lengths of pipe for pipelines. Installing such pipe can be challenging. Desired locations for such pipelines can be some of the most remote areas on earth, and the terrain that the pipeline must traverse is often some of the most rugged. Land can have significant elevation changes and different types of ground. To install the pipe, the pipelayer must be able to traverse such terrain and be able to lift and accurately place loads often exceeding 200,000 pounds.

[0003] When installing pipe, the pipelayer uses a boom on the side of the machine that can be controllably extended away from the machine at a range of angles relative to the chassis of the machine. One or more cables can extend from a winch or other power source through a series of pulleys or sheaves and terminate at a grapple or other suitable end of the boom. The grapple can then be secured to the pipe in such a way that when the winch is reeled back, the pipe is lifted. The pipelayer is then guided to the desired location and the boom is lowered to the desired location for accurate installation of the pipe, such as into a trench.

[0004] During operation, the pipelayer positions the weight of the pipe in a cantilevered fashion away from the chassis, engine, and undercarriage of the pipelayer. Since the chassis, engine, and undercarriage make up the majority of the weight of the pipelayer, depending on the weight of the pipe being lifted and the length of the boom, the pipelayer can be subject to potential rollover and instability. Conversely, if the pipelayer is operated with care to avoid the capabilities of the machine, the ability of the pipelayer to access the desired installation location can be significantly limited.

[0005] Furthermore, current demands placed on pipelayers require greater lift capacity and boom length / angle. In theory, the pipelayer could simply be made larger and heavier to meet these needs, but in practice, the overall footprint of the pipelayer is limited by cost, operability, and transportation considerations. As noted above, the pipelayer needs to be operated in very remote and difficult locations. The pipelayer must also be flexible enough to perform the job. Furthermore, increasing the size of the undercarriage and boom of the pipelayer would also increase the manufacturing costs in terms of materials and operating costs in terms of fuel.

[0006] U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019 / 0033158 Al to Bonnet et al. (“the ‘158 publication”) discloses a load moment indicator system and method for a pipelayer. The system of the ‘158 publication uses a sensor array to determine the roll stability of the pipelayer in real-time. The sensor array uses sensors all disposed on the main body of the pipelayer. Specifically, the sensor array can include a load pin, a hoist accelerometer, a boom winch encoder, a vehicle accelerometer, and a hook winch encoder. While the ‘158 publication discloses a system that determines the roll stability of the pipelayer in real-time, the system does not take into account all factors related to roll stability. In view of this, there is a need for a pipelayer to include a lift capacity system that accurately determines the maximum load that the pipelayer can accommodate without tilting.

[0007] The lift capacity system of the present disclosure can solve one or more of the problems described above and / or other issues in the art. However, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims appended hereto rather than by the ability to solve any particular problem. SUMMARY

[0008] In one aspect, a lift machine includes a machine chassis, a boom extending from the machine chassis, and a connector extending from the boom for coupling to a load. The machine further includes a control system that determines a lift capacity of the machine based on a deflection of the connector caused by the load.

[0009] In another aspect, a method for determining a lift capacity of a lift machine is disclosed. The lift machine includes a chassis, a boom extending from the chassis, and a connector extending from the boom for coupling to a load. The method includes sensing information including a pitch, a roll, or a yaw position of the chassis, an angle of the boom, the load coupled to the connector, and a deflection of the connector based on the load. The method further includes determining the lift capacity of the machine based on at least the sensed information.

[0010] In yet another aspect, a mobile pipelayer includes a machine chassis, a boom extending from the machine chassis, a movable counterweight extending from the machine chassis, and a connector extending from the boom for coupling to a load. The machine further includes a control system including a controller that receives information indicative of a pitch, a roll, or a yaw position of the chassis, a position of the counterweight, an angle of the boom, the load coupled to the connector, and a deflection of the connector based on the load, and wherein the control system determines a real-time lift capacity of the machine based on at least the information. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 A front view of an exemplary lift machine having a crane assembly according to the present disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 2 a side view of the hoist of Figure 1 FIG. 1 ;

[0013] Figure 3 an exemplary control system of the hoist of Figure 1 FIG. 1 ;

[0014] Figure 4 an exemplary hoist curve associated with the control system of Figure 3 FIG. 1 ; and

[0015] Figure 5 is a method of operating an exemplary hoist of Figure 1 FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the features claimed. As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "having," "including," or other variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, in the present disclosure, relative terms (such as "about," "substantially," and "approximately" and the like) are used to indicate a possible variation of ±10% of the stated value.

[0017] Figure 1 A hoist 10 having a crane assembly 20 is shown. Throughout the disclosure, the hoist 10 will be described with reference to a mobile pipe layer 10, however, it should be understood that the machine 10 can be any type of hoist having a crane assembly 20. The pipe layer 10 can include a chassis 12, a pair of drive rails 14, a movable counterweight 18, a power source such as an internal combustion engine (not shown), and an operator's cab 16. As will be described in greater detail below, the pipe layer 10 can also include a control system 60 including a controller 62 coupled to a plurality of sensors 64-72, an indicator 74, and a display 78 located in the operator's cab 16.

[0018] As shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 , the crane assembly 20 can include a boom 22 and a winch system 24. The boom 22 can include a first leg 24 and a second leg 2426 Figure 2), the first and second legs 24, 26 are independently articulated at one end to the chassis 12 and extend to a connected boom tip 28. The winch system 24 can include a winch 30 and a first set of hoist cables 32 extending from the winch 30 through a series of pulleys or sheaves 34, 36. The crane assembly 20 can further include a grapple 38 or other terminal connector coupled to the boom tip 28 through a second set of hoist cables 40, pulleys 42 or sheaves 44 and the winch 30.

[0019] With reference to Figure 1 and Figure 3 , the control system 60 can include a controller 62. The controller 62 can include any suitable hardware, software, firmware, etc. to perform the methods described in this disclosure, including the methods of Figure 5 . The controller 62 can include one or more processors, memory, communication systems, and / or other suitable hardware. The processor can be, for example, a single-core or multi-core processor, a digital signal processor, a microcontroller, a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), and / or other conventional processors or processing / control circuitry or controllers. The memory can include, for example, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory or other removable memory, or any other suitable and conventional memory. The communication systems used in the components of the control system 60 can include, for example, any conventional wired and / or wireless communication systems, such as Ethernet, Bluetooth, and / or wireless local area network (WLAN) type systems. The communication systems of the controller 62 can include communication with, for example, the sensors 64-72, indicators 74, and display 76. In addition, the controller 62 can have stored therein a hoist curve 100, which will be described in more detail below.

[0020] The sensors 64-72 can be sensors configured to provide data to the controller 62 regarding the hoisting capacity of the pipelayer 10. For example, the sensor 64 can be a boom angle sensor to provide data corresponding to the angle of the boom 22 relative to the chassis 12. The boom angle sensor 64 can be used by the control system 60 to determine the distance that the boom 22 is cantilevered from the chassis 12 of the pipelayer 10, or as a value indicative of the distance that the boom 22 is cantilevered from the chassis 12 of the pipelayer 10. The boom angle sensor 64 can be located at the boom tip 28, or at other suitable locations on the pipelayer 10. The sensor 66 can be a chassis angle sensor that provides data corresponding to the pitch 94( Figure 2 ) and roll 92( Figure 1corresponding data. The chassis angle sensor 66 can be located on the chassis 12 or at another suitable location on the pipelayer 10. The sensor 68 can be a load sensor that provides data regarding the load connected to the grapple 38. The load sensor 68 can be located at the sheave or pulley 36 of the winch system 24 or at another suitable location on the pipelayer 10. The sensor 70 can be a weight position sensor that provides data indicative of the position or extension of the counterweight 18. The weight position sensor 70 can be located on the counterweight 18 or at another suitable location on the pipelayer 10. The sensor 72 can be a hook position sensor that provides data regarding the angular position of the grapple 38. For example, the hook angle sensor 72 can provide the angular position of the grapple 38 relative to a vertical reference line or "plumb line" position 80 of the grapple 38 - corresponding to the position of the grapple 38 and the associated hoist cable 40 extending from the sheave or pulley 42 that extends vertically along the force of gravity. See Figure 1 and Figure 2 . As shown in Figure 1 , the grapple 38 can be tilted in a roll direction at an angle 82 that extends away from the side of the pipelayer 10 or in a pitch direction at an angle 84 that extends forward or rearward relative to the plumb line position 80. The hook angle sensor 72 can be located on the grapple 38 or at another suitable location on the pipelayer 10. The sensors 64-72 can form a sensing system and can include any standard type of sensor such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an angle sensor, a load pin type sensor, a camera-based sensor, or any other suitable type of sensor that provides the desired data.

[0021] Referring to Figure 1 and Figure 3 , the display 76 can be any type of display, screen, information panel, or the like for receiving information from the controller 62 and providing information to an operator or supervisor of the pipelayer 10. The display 76 can be located in the operator cab 16 and / or at a remote location. As will be described in greater detail below, the display 76 can provide information related to the lifting capacity of the pipelayer 10, for example, as received from the control system 60. The indicator 74 can be any type of indicator for providing information to an operator of the pipelayer 10 or personnel located near the pipelayer 10. For example, as shown in Figure 1 , the indicator 74 can be a series of indicator lights, such as green, yellow, and red lights, that provide visual lifting capacity information, such as a warning of potential rollover of the pipelayer based on exceeding the lifting limits determined by the control system 60. While the indicator 74 is shown as a visual indicator on the operator cab, it should be understood that the indicator can alternatively or additionally be an audible indicator and can be located at any suitable location on the pipelayer 10.

[0022] Industrial applicability

[0023] The disclosed aspects of the present application can be used in any lift having the potential to tip over based on dynamic loads. For example, the present application can be used by a pipelayer to provide real-time lift capacity information of the pipelayer 10 to an operator, supervisor, or other personnel.

[0024] Referring to Figure 3 and Figure 5 During operation of the pipelayer 10, the control system 60 monitors the lift capacity of the pipelayer 10 based on data from the sensors 64-72 and a lift curve 100. The output of the real-time lift capacity status can be provided by the controller 62 to the display 76 and / or the indicator 74.

[0025] An exemplary lift curve 100 of the present application is shown in Figure 4 and can be stored in the controller 62. The lift curve 100 can include one or more maps, tables, charts, etc. that identify lift limits of the pipelayer 10 based on various sensed parameters, such as information from one or more of the sensors 64-72. The lift curve 100 can be compiled or formed based on experimental data, empirical data, or calculated data, and can be based on physical properties of the pipelayer 10. As shown in Figure 4 The lift curve 100 can include an x-axis that provides the tipping load (in kiloNewtons) of the pipelayer 10, and a y-axis that corresponds to the overhang distance or extension (in feet) of the boom 22 away from the chassis 12 of the pipelayer 10. The tipping load corresponds to the load on the boom 22 that would cause the pipelayer 10 to tip over in a forward, rearward, or lateral direction.

[0026] The lift curve 100 may include various tipping load lines 102-120 that identify the relationship of the tipping load to sensed information from the sensors 64-72, such as the boom overhang distance (via the boom angle sensor 64), the forward, backward, or sideways tilt angle of the chassis 12 (via the chassis angle sensor 66), the load on the boom 22, such as the load from the pipe 90 (via the load sensor 68), the extension of the counterweight 18 (the counterweight position sensor 70), and the tilt or angular position of the grapple 38 (via the hook angle sensor 72). For example, the tipping load line 102 may correspond to the counterweight 18 being fully extended to its maximum position away from the chassis 12 (i.e., CTWT 100%) and the pipelayer being on flat ground, i.e., no forward, backward, or sideways tilt is measured from the chassis angle sensor 66, and no deflection of the grapple 38 is measured by the hook angle sensor 72. Thus, under these conditions, the baseline tipping load line 102 provides a point 122 that identifies a tipping load of 600 kilonewtons at an overhang distance of just over 6 feet. Thus, if the boom angle sensor 64 indicates an overhang distance of just over 6 feet, and the load sensor 68 indicates a load on the boom greater than 600 kilonewtons (e.g., 700 kilonewtons), the tipping load will be at a value of 100 kilonewtons. Figure 4 124 in the figure), then pipelayer 10 has exceeded its lifting capacity and has the risk of tipping over.This real-time lifting capacity state from lifting curve 100 and controller 62 can offer display 76 and indicator 74 in real time.

[0027] The tipping load lines 104-110 may also take into account the pitch, roll, and side tilt angles of the pipelayer 10. This angular orientation of the pipelayer 10 may indicate that the pipelayer 10 is operating tilted in one or more of the pitch, roll, and side tilt directions. For example, Figure 4 The lifting curve 100 can include a pair of tipping load lines 104, 106 corresponding to the pipelayer 10 operating at a lead-in angle (that is, machine points to downhill) of an angle of 16 degrees.Tipping load line 104 represents the tipping load on the inclination direction, and tipping load line 106 indicates the tipping load on the roll direction.It should be noted that tipping load line 106 is identical with baseline tipping load line 102, and 16 degree of the lead-in angle of indication machine 10 do not affect the roll tipping load of pipelayer 10.In this case, the composite tipping load line (that is, the minimum tipping load when combining tipping load line 104 and 106) of tipping load line 104 and 106 corresponds to the tipping load line 106 being clipped on top by tipping load line 104.

[0028] In addition to the 16 degrees of front rake, adding a side rake of -5 degrees (away from the trench) to the pipelayer 10 tilts the rollover load lines 108 and 110. Note that the rollover load line 110 is the same as the base line rollover load line 102 and the rollover load line 106 for the 16 degrees of front rake. The rollover load line 108 for the -5 degrees of side rake shows a slight adverse effect on the tilt angle rollover load, but no effect on the composite rollover load line associated with the 16 degrees of front rake. The -5 degrees of side rake provides the same clipping effect of the base line load line 102 as the 16 degrees of front rake alone.

[0029] As discussed above, the lift curve 100 can also account for the skew of the grapple 38 relative to the plumb line position 80. The skew of the grapple 38 can be a side rake skew angle 82 ( Figure 1 ) or a tilt rake skew angle 84 ( Figure 2 ), and these angles can be obtained by the hook angle sensor 72. Referring to the lift curve 100 of Figure 4 , the rollover load lines 112 and 114 correspond to the pipelayer 10 with the grapple 38 positioned with a 5 degrees of tilt rake skew (in addition to the 16 degrees of machine front rake and -5 degrees of machine side rake discussed above). The rollover load lines 112, 114 based on the 5 degrees of tilt rake skew of the grapple 38 show a significant adverse effect on the tilt rollover load of the pipelayer 10, as shown by the downward rollover load line 112 compared to the rollover load line 108. However, the 5 degrees of tilt rake skew of the grapple 38 slightly improves the rollover load, as shown by the slight rightward shift of the rollover load line 114 compared to the rollover load line 110. Thus, the composite rollover load line of 112 and 114 has a significant mitigating effect on the composite rollover load line of the rollover load lines 108 and 110.

[0030] Finally, adding an additional side rake of 4 degrees to the grapple 38 (in addition to the machine rake, machine side rake, and hook side rake skew), provides the rollover load lines 116 and 118. Note that the rollover load line 116 is the same as the rollover load line 112. The 4 degrees of side rake skew of the grapple 38 has an adverse effect on the side rollover load of the pipelayer 10, as shown by the leftward shift of the rollover load line 118 compared to the rollover load line 114. The composite rollover load line of the rollover load lines 116 and 118 has a slight adverse effect on the tilt rollover load of the pipelayer 10, as shown by the slight downward shift of the rollover load line 118 compared to the rollover load line 112. Figure 4A rough line 120 is shown, and corresponds to the rollover load line when the pipe-laying machine has a machine side angle of 16 degrees (pointing downhill), a machine side tilt of -5 degrees (away from the trench), and the grappling hooks 38 are supporting the pipe 90 with a 5 degree tilt bias and a 4 degree tilt bias. As shown by the composite rollover load line 120, the bias of the grappling hooks 38 has a significant impact on the rollover load of the pipe-laying machine 10. For example, point 122 on the load curve 100 indicates a rollover load of 600 kN at a 6 foot overhang when the pipe-laying machine 10 has the counterweights fully extended, a machine tilt angle of 16 degrees (pointing downhill), and a machine side tilt of -5 degrees (away from the trench). By increasing the hook tilt bias by 5 degrees and the hook side tilt bias by 4 degrees, the rollover load at the 6 foot overhang moves to point 126, corresponding to a rollover load that is reduced by approximately 170 kN to a value of 430 kN.

[0031] Figure 5 A method of operation 200 of a lift machine according to the present application is provided. The method 200 includes monitoring information from the sensors 64-72 in real time, such as the boom overhang distance (via the boom angle sensor 64), the front tilt angle, rear tilt angle, and side tilt angle of the chassis 12 (via the chassis angle sensors 66), the load on the boom 22 (e.g., the load from the pipe 90 (via the load sensor 68), the extension of the counterweights 18 (counterweight position sensor 70), and the bias or angular position of the grappling hooks 38 (via the hook angle sensor 72) (step 202). The monitored information is provided to the controller 62. The method also includes comparing the real-time load on the grappling hooks 38 of the machine to the rollover load derived from the lift curve 100 of the control system 60 as a function of the boom overhang distance (via the boom angle sensor 64), the front tilt angle, rear tilt angle, and side tilt angle of the chassis 12 (via the chassis angle sensors 66), the load on the boom 22 (via the load sensor 68), the extension of the counterweights 18 (counterweight position sensor 70), and the bias or angular position of the grappling hooks 38 (via the hook angle sensor 72) (step 204). In step 206, the relationship of the real-time load to the real-time rollover load is output to an operator, supervisor, or other personnel via the display 76 and / or indicators 74. The information provided to the display 76 and / or indicators 74 can take different forms, such as an output of the remaining lifting capacity of the machine (as an absolute value, a numerical comparison, or as a percentage of remaining capacity), or can take the form of a warning (visual and / or audible) when the real-time load approaches the real-time rollover load.

[0032] The lift capacity system of the present application can help more accurately track the rollover load, can help safe operation of the pipe-laying machine 10 by helping to avoid rollover, and / or can help more efficient operation of the pipe-laying machine 10 by allowing the machine to be operated closer to its maximum capacity.

[0033] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed system without departing from the scope of the present application. Other embodiments of the system will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the system disclosed herein. The specification and examples are intended to be exemplary only and the true scope of the application is indicated by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A hoist comprising: Machine chassis; a boom extending from the machine chassis; a connector extending from the boom to couple to a load; as well as a control system that determines a lifting capacity of the machine based on a deflection of the coupler caused by the load; The control system monitors the lifting capacity of the hoist based on data from a plurality of sensors, including deflection of the connector caused by the load, and a lift curve including various tipping load lines that identify a relationship of the tipping load to sensed information from the plurality of sensors.

2. The hoist of claim 1, wherein the deflection of the connector is a fore-aft position or a lateral position relative to a plumb line associated with the connector.

3. The hoist of claim 2, wherein the lifting capacity is further based on a position of a counterweight of the hoist.

4. The lift of claim 3, wherein the lifting capacity is further based on a first forward tilt position, a rearward tilt position, and a side tilt position of the chassis.

5. The lifting machine of claim 4, wherein the lifting capacity is further based on an overhang of the boom and the load. The lifting machine of claim 1 , wherein the lifting machine is a pipelayer.

7. The hoist of claim 6, the plurality of sensors forming a sensing system for determining deflection of the connector.

8. The hoist of claim 7, wherein the sensing system comprises one of an IMU sensor, a camera-based sensor, or an angle sensor.

9. The lifting machine of claim 6, further comprising a display on the machine, the display displaying the lifting capacity of the machine.

10. The lifting machine of claim 6, wherein the lifting capacity is a capacity of the system corresponding to a lifting capacity before the machine begins to tilt.

11. A method for determining the lifting capacity of a hoist, the hoist comprising a chassis, a boom extending from the chassis, and a connector extending from the boom for coupling to a load, the method comprising: Information is sensed through multiple sensors, including: the forward tilt position, rearward tilt position and lateral tilt position of the chassis; the angle of the boom; the load coupled to the connector; a deflection of the connector based on the load; and A lift capacity of the machine is determined based at least on the sensed information and lift curves; the lift curves including various tipping load lines that identify a relationship of tipping load to sensed information from a plurality of sensors.

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