Cold Planer Rear Leg Control for Automatic Leveling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing road milling machines, or cold planers, lack the ability to actively manage parallelism during changes in milling depth, requiring manual and time-consuming adjustments of rear legs to maintain the machine's level position.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for maintaining a cold planer's frame substantially level by determining an electronic travel path and adjusting the rear leg length electronically, ensuring the frame remains parallel to the surface as the rear leg moves along the path, even when encountering changes in surface grade.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual adjustment of rear legs is used to maintain machine level position, then the machine can be kept parallel to the surface, but the operator effort and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service operation by automatically adjusting the rear leg length based on electronic determination of the travel path and surface grade changes. The controller autonomously calculates required leg length adjustments and actuates the leg positioning mechanism without operator intervention, allowing the machine to maintain its own level position automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical adjustment with an automated control system that uses electronic sensors, controllers, and actuators. The mechanical leg adjustment process is substituted with an electronically controlled system that determines travel path, calculates required adjustments, and automatically positions the rear legs to maintain machine parallelism.
2Productivity
If automated rear leg control is implemented, then productivity and efficiency are enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller serves multiple functions: it determines the electronic travel path, calculates required leg length adjustments based on surface grade changes, actuates the leg positioning mechanism, and maintains machine parallelism. This multi-functionality consolidates what could be separate complex systems into a single integrated control unit, improving productivity while managing device complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If rear leg length is adjusted to maintain frame level position during surface grade changes, then the frame remains parallel to the surface, but the control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from electronic determination of the travel path and surface grade measurements to continuously monitor the machine's position and automatically adjust rear leg length. The controller receives information about surface grade changes and travel path conditions, processes this feedback, and makes real-time adjustments to maintain frame parallelism with the surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller determines the electronic travel path in advance and calculates the required rear leg length adjustments before the machine encounters surface grade changes. By performing preliminary calculation and positioning, the system maintains frame parallelism proactively rather than reactively, reducing the complexity of real-time control adjustments.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of maintaining a machine substantially level with a first surface is disclosed. The method may comprise determining an electronic travel path between a first point and a second point on a second surface, the second surface created by a tool removing a section of the first surface, and adjusting the length of the rear leg to maintain the frame substantially level to the first surface as the rear leg moves along the travel path from the first point to the second point in a forward direction. A machine for planing a road is disclosed that maintains a parallel orientation with the road during operation.