Shovel Bucket Angle Control for Ground Hardness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shovels with excavation attachments fail to accurately calculate excavation reaction force, leading to inefficiencies due to not considering the hardness of the target excavation ground, resulting in either immobility of the bucket or reduced earth and sand collection.
Innovation Solution
A shovel with a control device that adjusts the angle of the bucket's teeth end relative to the excavation ground based on the hardness of the ground, using sensors and a hardness table to determine the optimal angle for efficient excavation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the excavation reaction force is calculated without considering ground hardness, then the calculation is simple, but the excavation efficiency deteriorates due to incorrect boom raising timing
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses sensors to detect excavation reaction force and ground hardness, feeds this information back to the control device, which then automatically adjusts the boom raising timing. This closed-loop feedback mechanism resolves the contradiction by making the control system adaptive to actual ground conditions without requiring complex manual calculations.
Solution Approach 2:
The shovel system performs self-adjustment of excavation parameters by automatically detecting ground hardness and autonomously determining optimal boom raising timing. The control device uses sensor data to self-regulate the excavation process, eliminating the need for external intervention while maintaining high excavation efficiency.
2Productivity
If the boom is raised automatically when excavation reaction force exceeds a predetermined value, then wasteful excavation operations are avoided, but bucket immobility occurs on hard ground due to premature boom raising
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the boom raising threshold based on detected ground hardness. On hard ground, the threshold is raised to prevent premature boom activation that would cause bucket immobility. On soft ground, the threshold is lowered to enable timely boom raising. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between avoiding wasteful operations and preventing bucket immobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device changes the predetermined reaction force threshold parameter according to detected ground hardness conditions. By modifying this critical parameter adaptively, the system optimizes boom raising timing for different ground conditions, preventing both wasteful excavation and bucket immobility.
3Productivity
If the boom is raised early on soft ground to avoid wasteful operations, then excavation efficiency improves, but the amount of earth and sand entering the bucket decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts boom raising timing based on ground hardness detection. On soft ground, the control device delays boom raising until the bucket is sufficiently filled, maximizing the amount of earth and sand collected. This dynamic timing adjustment resolves the contradiction between excavation efficiency and material collection quantity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of ground hardness before initiating excavation operations. Based on this advance information, the control device pre-adjusts the boom raising strategy to ensure optimal bucket filling on soft ground, preventing premature boom activation that would reduce material collection.
Data Source
AI summary
A shovel includes a traveling lower body; a revolving upper body mounted on the traveling lower body; an attachment attached to the revolving upper body; and a control device mounted on the revolving upper body and configured to drive the attachment. The control device controls an angle of a teeth end of a bucket with respect to a target excavation ground, in accordance with hardness of the target excavation ground.