Caterpillar Industrial Inc.

Arthur Wild

William Pickering

Wayne T Wiblin

Kenneth A Baumgartner

Bruce A Nielsen

An apparatus for controlling a load lifting implement of a work vehicle in response to the condition of a motor brush is provided. The vehicle has a frame and the load lifting implement is connected to the frame and elevationally moveable relative to the frame between first and second directions. A brush wear indicator senses the wear of the motor brush and produces a warning signal in response to a predetermined amount of wear of the motor brush. A control system receives the warning signal and responsively controllably inhibits the elevational movement of the load lifting implement in at least one of the first and second directions.

Apparatus for controlling a load lifting element of a vehicle in

An apparatus is provided for precharging a filter capacitor to prevent damage to a set of contacts resulting from arcing across the contacts. Included is a coil, a set of contacts, and a battery, such that the contacts and filter capacitor are connected in series and the series connected combination is connected in parallel across the battery. Also included is a switch, and a microprocessor for producing a triggering signal responsive to the closure of the switch. A driving circuit receives the triggering signal and responsively produces a charging signal. A charging circuit receives the charging signal and responsively charges the filter capacitor. Thereafter, the microprocessor produces an energizing signal causing the coil to become energized and the contacts to responsively close. By precharging the filter capacitor before the closure of the contacts, the voltage potential across the contacts is reduced. Therefore, no damage occurs due to arcing across the contacts.

Filter capacitor precharge apparatus

An apparatus for dampening current in a coil has a switchable member which controls the current level in the coil and a flyback circuit that allows current in the coil to slowly dissipate when the switchable member changes from an 'ON' to an 'OFF' state. The flyback circuit has a high resistance when the switchable member changes from the 'ON' to the 'OFF' state so that the coil current is dampened as quickly as possible without creating a destructive voltage and low resistance when the switchable member is in the 'ON' state to conserve energy. A signaling device creates a voltage signal as a function of current passing through the flyback circuit and a receiving device varies the resistance of the flyback circuit in response to the voltage signal. The apparatus is particularly suited for use in a motor control circuit.

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Thompson, OH, United States of America

Arthur Wild