Caterpillar Inc.

Other

Molex Corporation

University of Illinois

Catepillar Inc.

John James Krone

Xiaodong Huang

Lonnie J Devier

Stephen V Lunzman

Howard A Marsden

Rabie E Khalil

Jeffrey Kent Berry

Jeremy Todd Peterson

Daniel Peter Sergison

Adam Martin Nackers

Brad Allen Edler

Corey Lee Gorman

Douglas W Koehler

Mark L Westphalen

Yongmin Ma

Brent M Carr

Edward William Mate

Brian Mintah

Andrew Henry Nippert

John W Crayton

Daniel L Mikrut

Jerry D Fidler

Bradford Jay Holt

Matthew Stephen Marquette

Dennis J Hausman

Michael J Mientus

Bradly G Duffer

Bassam J Alshaer

Kevin X Huang

Terry D Oltman

Yanchai Zhang

Tetsuya Yoshino

Joseph Leo Faivre

Keith Edward Lawrence

Michael S Lukich

Kazunori Yoshino

William E Allen

Jason Brinkman

James Alvin Aardema

Michael Todd Verkuilen

Michael A Roussin

Richard George Ingram

Steven T Ufheil

Michael Angel Cobo

Delbert D Dester

Bradley K Bomer

Venkata Dandibhotla

Micheal David Valerio

Benjamin Thomas Nelson

Nick William Biggs

Eric A Hutchison

Yuya Kanenawa

Karl Arthur Kirsch

Aaron Y Ho

Jason Rex Dare

Sairam Gopalan Velamakanni

Jeremy Dean Folkerts

Jeffrey Dale Baskett

Tien D Doan

Sabri Cetinkunt

Jeremiah C Johnson

Paul Douglas Hagen

James C Hall

Dean E Miller

Kyle B Walton

Mahmoud M Tobaa

Magomed Gabibulayev

Andrew J Krajnik

Robert A Aarestad

Mitchell Chase Vlaminck

Michael I Cline

Kenneth Marvin Roat

Robert T Cameron

Robert E Hefner

Stephen P Amborski

James A Krellner

Darren A Hartman

Daniel J Krieger

Cecilia A Walacavage

Yaoxin Qian

Jared James Harris

Qin Zhang

Jordan A Mangels

Mehul Yadav

Michael Weston Burns

George M Romack

Chandrasekar Ramkumar

Mark A Spatz

A work machine having a powertrain, an engine, a torque converter operably connected to the engine, a transmission, a selector interface, and a control system. The control system is configured to: receive a machine activation signal from the selector interface indicative of operation of the work machine; receive machine conditions to determine an optimal gear for next pass; and send a gear pass signal to command execution of a directional shift and a speed shift simultaneously when a gear ratio setting of the transmission is indicative of a second gear ratio.

Powertrain eco-mode for work machines

A machine includes a frame, a first steering arm, a second steering arm, a first hydraulic actuator coupled to the frame and the first steering arm, and a second hydraulic actuator coupled to the frame and the second steering arm. A first angle sensor measures a rotational displacement of the first hydraulic actuator relative to the first steering arm. A first link couples the first hydraulic actuator and the first sensor, and isolates movements other than the first rotational displacement. A second angle sensor measures a second rotational displacement of the second hydraulic actuator relative to the second steering arm. A second link couples the second hydraulic actuator and the second sensor, and isolates movements other than the second rotational displacement.

System for detecting failure of an Ackerman-type steering mechanism

A machine includes a frame and an oscillating hitch. A first cylinder couples to a first side of the oscillating hitch and a first side of the frame. A second cylinder couples to a second side of the oscillating hitch and a second side of the frame. A first isolating mechanism couples to the first cylinder and rotates in response to a first rotation of the first cylinder relative to the frame or the oscillating hitch. A first angle sensor senses a first angular displacement of the first isolating mechanism about a first rotational axis. A second isolating mechanism couples to the second cylinder and rotates in response to a second rotation of the second cylinder relative to the frame or the oscillating hitch. A second angle sensor senses a second angular displacement of the second isolating mechanism about a second rotational axis.

System for detecting failure of an articulated steering mechanism

A payload measurement system can be used to measure the payload added to a machine supported on a plurality of walking beams. A plurality of load cell sensors is mounted to the walking beams in locations where, when the walking beam bends, the sensors are placed under load. The load cell sensors include a symmetrical strain bar having first and second mounting ends connected by a connecting span, wherein the end thickness is greater than the span thickness of the connecting span. The connecting span is disposed between and spaced apart from an upper plane and a lower plane with which the surfaces of the mounting ends are aligned.

Payload measurement system for machine with hauling body

A steering assembly for a machine is provided. The steering assembly includes a frame. The steering assembly also includes a steering column mounted on the frame. The steering column includes a steering input device and a controller communicably coupled to the steering input device. The steering assembly further includes a steering wheel operably coupled to the steering column. The steering wheel is disposed adjacent to the steering input device.

Steering assembly

A system and method for activating on a user interface an indicator of a condition of a lubricant in a machine module. The system may comprise a controller and a user interface. The controller may be configured to, for each of a first time window and a second time window: receive a plurality of lubricant characteristics and measured lubricant temperatures, calculate an adjusted lubricant characteristic, and determine a slope based on the plurality of adjusted lubricant characteristics. The controller may further determine a change in slope, and generate a signal to activate the indicator on the user interface based on the change in slope, wherein, if the change in slope exceeds a threshold, the indicator is a lubricant changed indicator.

Lubricant health detection system

A hydraulic control system is disclosed for an excavation machine including a tool linkage system. The hydraulic control system may have a first actuator configured to move a first link of the tool linkage system in response to input from an operator of the excavation machine, and a pressure sensor configured to generate a signal indicative of a pressure of the first actuator. The hydraulic control system may also have a second actuator configured to move a second link of the tool linkage system in response to input from the operator. In addition, the hydraulic control system may have a controller in communication with the pressure sensor, the first actuator, and the second actuator. The controller may be configured to automatically affect operation of the first actuator based on the pressure signal at times when movement of the second actuator is being requested by the operator and movement of the first actuator is being requested by the operator at a level less than a threshold.

Boom assist management feature

A hydraulic system is disclosed for use with a machine. The hydraulic system may have a pump configured to pressurize fluid, a first actuator configured to receive pressurized fluid from the pump, and an accumulator configured to receive fluid from the first actuator. The hydraulic system may also have a second actuator configured to receive pressurized fluid from the pump and the accumulator, and a pilot circuit configured to receive pressurized fluid from the pump and the accumulator. The hydraulic system may further have at least one valve movable to provide priority of fluid flow from the accumulator to the pilot circuit over the second actuator when a pressure of the accumulator is less than a low-pressure threshold.

Hydraulic regenerative and recovery parasitic mitigation system

Method of controlling multiple variable displacement hydraulic pumps determined relative to operator commands. If non-second-pump-dominated command, a respective adjusted displacement request is determined based upon the lesser of the operator requested torque limited displacement and an adjusted torque limited displacement that calculated based upon and the torque limited displacement of the respective pump and a scaling factor calculated based upon the first relief valve set pressure and respective pump pressure. If second-pump-dominated command, the set pressure of a relief valve associated with one of the pumps is instead utilized in calculating the scaling factor in the above strategy.

Variable pressure limiting for variable displacement pumps

In order to avoid cavitation in a boom cylinder head end at the beginning of a dig cycle, fluid from an alternate source is supplied to the head end before or in addition to fluid supplied by the main boom-up hydraulic circuit. In one embodiment, an electronic hydraulic valve, related sensors, and control system determines the beginning of a dig operation and uses fluid at an intermediate pressure to rapidly provide fluid to a boom head end cylinder to prevent voiding or cavitation before fluid under high pressure from the main pump can be brought to the cylinder. An on/off fluid switch is activated early in a dig operation to address low pressure at the boom cylinder head end and provide an alternate path for fluid into the cylinder in reaction to the boom being lifted by a motion of the stick and bucket in contact with the work surface.

Reducing dig force in hydraulic implements

A hydraulic pump housing comprises passages formed in an inner wall separating the gear cavity and the pump cavity to allow for the movement of fluid into and out of the gear cavity, thereby alleviating some of the power loss caused by churning lubricating oil. The hydraulic pump may comprise spaces integrally formed in axially opposing surfaces of the gear cavity walls adjacent the area where the gears mesh to enable the churning oil to expand and flow around the gears.

Efficiency spur gear set housing

Methods and systems are disclosed for evaluating performances of a piece of equipment and equipment operator. One disclosed method includes sensing a plurality of operating parameters of the equipment. The method then includes resolving a plurality of segments the equipment is sequentially performing from the sensed operating parameters to provide a sequence of resolved segments. The method then includes resolving what application the equipment is performing based upon the sequence of resolved segments to provide at least one resolved application. The method then includes applying at least one metric to the resolved application to provide at least one applied application metric. Then, the method includes evaluating the performance of the equipment and operator using the applied application metric. Various systems for installation on existing work equipments or new work equipments such as loaders and excavators are also disclosed.

Equipment performance monitoring system and method

A hydraulic system is disclosed having at least two hydraulic circuits. The disclosed system apportions flow between the two hydraulic circuits based on an assumed flow rate that is held constant in both power-limited and non-power-limited conditions.

Hydraulic system and method for control

A loading system for use with a haul vehicle and a loading machine configured to load material onto the haul vehicle is disclosed. The loading system has an identification tag located on the haul vehicle, an identification tag reader configured to recognize the identification tag, and a transmitter configured to deliver a first signal including information related to the identification tag. The loading system also has a transceiver configured to receive the first signal and deliver a second signal including loading information to the loading machine to initiate loading of the haul vehicle.

System for managing loading operations of haul vehicles

An automated bucket loading control method includes determining a bucket tilt parameter for a bucket of the machine which corresponds with a partial bucket load, and capturing a partial bucket load by controllably tilting the bucket in a pile of material according to the determined bucket tilt parameter. A control system includes a sensor configured to monitor a bucket tilt parameter and output a bucket tilt signal, and further includes an electronic payload controller coupled with the sensor which is configured to output bucket tilting control commands. The electronic payload controller is further configured to determine a value for the bucket tilt parameter that corresponds with a target partial bucket load and output corresponding bucket tilting control commands during moving a bucket of the machine in a material pile to capture a partial bucket load.

Control system and method for capturing partial bucket loads in automated loading cycle

Growing community of inventors

Peoria, IL, United States of America

John James Krone