Owatonna Tool Company

James C Solie

Samuel B McClocklin

Larry D Allard

Jan H Boers

James I Masterman

Kenneth E Jacobson

Michael T Landrum

Daniel L Doss

Stanley R Norland

Jerald Lee Waldrop

A universal control system for hydraulic cylinders to enable controlled increments of movement for varying uses including shaping members and lifting and lowering of loads. The lift control system is utilized to synchronize the raising or lowering of a load by, for example, four simultaneously-acting pump-operated hydraulic rams which have plural increments of movement. A sensor associated with the load adjacent each ram measures incremental movement of the load. A master controller controls the operation of the rams in accordance with the sensed increments and operates each pump simultaneously and independently until each pump achieves a preselected increment of movement of a ram, to maintain the load substantially level, followed by movement of all the rams through another increment of movement until the total lifting or lowering movement is achieved.

Universal control system for hydraulic cylinders

A control valve for controlling the flow of fluid to and from a single-acting cylinder and having a metered flow-controlling valve section and a rotatable valve member movable to four different positions to provide four different operations of the single-acting cylinder, namely: rapid advance, slow metered advance, hold and return.

Control valve

An adjustable work support for relatively light loading having an extendable plunger locked in position by a fluid-operated piston which acts on a disc positioned between the rod of the piston and the plunger and which is urged to a position to take up clearance to avoid shift of the disc and resulting inadvertent retraction movement of the plunger. A sealed cavity with a flexible bladder communicates with a piston chamber housing the piston and a closed end of the bore mounting the plunger whereby flow of fluid to the sealed cavity avoids any ram effect on the plunger when the piston is operated to lock the plunger in position.

Adjustable work support

A rotary valve, and more particularly a rotary directional control valve having a rotatable valve member operable by a two-stage operating lever providing a relatively long lever arm and an intermediate shorter lever arm. Solenoid-actuated actuator members are movable along a line for engagement with the shorter lever arm when the operating lever is in a neutral position extending in a direction generally normal to said line and for engagement with the relatively long lever arm when the operating lever is at a substantial angle to said line whereby a solenoid of medium force and moderate length stroke can be utilized in returning the operating lever to the neutral position.

Rotary valve

A control valve for controlling flow relative to a pair of control ports which includes a pair of 3-way valve components each having one of the control ports and a poppet valve member which, when closed in one position under pilot control, blocks pressure flow to a control port and connects the control port to reservoir, a pressure-reducing valve which initially operates to supply a relatively low pressure pilot fluid to a pilot control for the 3-way valves and, after operation of the latter, permit full line flow through a pair of branch passages each having a one-way check valve preventing return flow. Operation of the pilot control from a neutral position shifts one of a pair of pilot pistons associated one with each of the 3-way valves to move the poppet valve member of the associated 3-way valve to a position to close off the control port from line pressure and connect the same control port to reservoir and with line flow passing through a nonpiloted check valve to the other of said 3-way valves to the control port. The pilot control has a neutral control position wherein neither of the pilot pistons are actuated, with the result that each of the 3-way valves has its valve spool normally urged to a position closing off the pair of control ports from reservoir whereby, with the return flow blocked by a pair of non-piloted check valves, flow to and from said control ports is blocked and an operated device, such as a hydraulic cylinder, is locked in position.

A valve assembly with decompression means having a valve body with a pressure port, a return port and a control port with internal passages connecting the ports, and a pair of valves within said body arranged in parallel and operable when closed to block the flow from the control port to the return port, the valves being operable in sequence with a first of the valves openable to slowly reduce the pressure in said internal passages and the second valve being openable thereafter to permit a substantial flow from the control port to the return port. A force-multiplying system includes plural levers and a relatively heavy spring with the spring normally holding the first valve closed whereby actuation of the force-multiplying system causes the application of a force against the relatively heavy spring to permit fluid pressure to open the first valve to reduce the pressure and with the second valve and the spring being related whereby a reduction of pressure in the internal passages to a certain level causes said spring to open the second valve.

Valve assembly

A two-stage pump assembly employs a rotary-type gerotor pump combined with a reciprocating axial piston-type pump both mounted on and driven by a common shaft of a motor. A single key drivingly connects the rotor of the gerotor pump and the angle plate of the axial piston pump to the shaft of the motor for simultaneous operation of the two pumps. A wear sleeve is seated on the shaft of the motor and coacts with an oil seal carried by a common wall between the motor and the gerotor housing to prevent leaking of the fluid being pumped.

Low speed pump

A three-way control valve for a single-acting cylinder or other type of motor in which a valve body has an inlet port, a tank port and a control port, with a pair of poppet-type check valves operable to block flow from the control port to either the inlet port or the tank port. A poppet valve member is operable to control flow between the inlet port and the tank port. Means are provided for operating the poppet valve member and the check valves to cause either advance, return or hold operations of the cylinder and with decompression means for bleeding-off the cylinder pressure prior to opening of one of the check valves to connect the control port to the tank port to reduce the amount of force required to open the latter check valve.

Three-way control valve

A portable timber felling device for controlled felling of a tree including a hydraulic ram unit positionable in a backcut of the tree for extension therein to fell the tree. A hydraulic power unit includes a pump and control valves to generate and regulate the hydraulic power required to operate the hydraulic ram unit. A hose means of a considerable length interlinks the power and ram units for the transmission of the generated hydraulic power. A remote control unit with a manually operable control member controls at least one of the valves on the power unit via a communication means which places the operator of the remote control at a substantial distance from the power unit and the tree to be felled. The entire structure is portable and a battery provides the electrical power for remote control.

Timber felling device

An adjustable work support having a work supporting plunger adjustable to a position for support of a workpiece and having two sets of locking pins with one set being movable with respect to the other along with the work supporting plunger and selectively operable means for exerting a horizontal force against the sides of the two series of pins to provide frictional engaging forces between locking pins to resist the vertical force of the load of the workpiece against the adjustable work support.

Growing community of inventors

Owatonna, MN, United States of America

James C Solie