Electric Mower Blade-Speed Control for Changing Grass Loads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric mowers face challenges in maintaining optimal cutting speed for efficient grass cutting, as operators struggle to adjust speeds manually, leading to poor cut quality or unnecessary battery depletion, and the preferred speed often changes with grass conditions.
Innovation Solution
An automatic rotary cutting speed control system that includes a controller with a processor and memory device, which adjusts the blade carrier's rotation based on measurements of grass load and blade carrier feedback, optimizing cutting speed automatically.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If cutting speed is increased to improve cut quality, then cut quality is improved, but battery consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts blade carrier rotation speed based on real-time grass load conditions. The controller continuously monitors blade carrier rotation measurements and automatically adjusts the target blade carrier drive signal to maintain optimal cutting speed, preventing both excessive speed (wasting battery) and insufficient speed (poor cut quality).
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a closed-loop feedback control mechanism where the controller receives signals representative of blade carrier rotation measurements and uses this feedback to automatically adjust the target blade carrier drive signal. This ensures the cutting speed remains optimized for current grass conditions without manual intervention.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual speed adjustment is required to optimize cutting performance, then cut quality can be optimized, but operator complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-adjustment of cutting speed without requiring operator intervention. The controller automatically monitors blade carrier rotation measurements and adjusts the target blade carrier drive signal based on grass load conditions, eliminating the need for manual speed selection and simplifying operator tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
This principle does not apply to this patent.
3Ease of operation
If fixed cutting speed is used to simplify operation, then ease of operation is improved, but adaptability to changing grass conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from fixed speed operation to dynamic speed adjustment. The controller continuously adapts the target blade carrier drive signal based on real-time blade carrier rotation measurements, enabling the system to automatically respond to changing grass conditions while requiring no operator input.
Solution Approach 2:
The feedback control mechanism enables continuous adaptation to changing grass conditions. The controller receives ongoing measurements of blade carrier rotation and automatically adjusts cutting speed accordingly, providing both ease of operation and adaptability to varying grass loads.
Data Source
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AI summary
A mower (10, 10') is disclosed. The mower (10, 10') comprises a mower deck (14, 14') including an electric motor (16) configured to drive a rotatable blade carrier (12, 12') supporting at least one blade (18) for cutting grass, and a controller (200) operatively coupled with the electric motor (16), the controller (200) including a processor (202), a memory device (204) operatively coupled with the processor (202), and cutting speed control logic (206) stored in the memory device (204) and being executable by way of the processor (202) to control rotation of the blade carrier (12, 12') by: receiving a signal (228) representative of a measurement of blade carrier (12, 12') rotation including rotary speed or torque or both, and adjusting a target blade carrier drive signal (224) based on the received signal (228) to automatically drive the blade carrier (12, 12').