Caterpillar Inc.

John V Mount

Steven A Daniel

Norval P Thomson

Daniel Peter Sergison

Christopher Erik Bright

Donald L Bianchetta

Bryan A Johnson

Eric P Jakubiak

Bernard J Wulff

A steering system for steering a machine having opposing first and second sides with first and second pairs of rotatably mounted rear wheels disposed along the respective sides and at least one rotatably mounted, spaced front wheel. The system includes at least one first drive unit and at least one second drive unit for rotating the rear wheels of the respective pairs, and a steering input device that provides a signal to a controller that produces drive unit request signals to control the drive units to rotate the associated rear wheels along one side at rotational speeds greater than those along the other side to facilitate turning.

Steering system and method of steering a machine

A filter assembly is disclosed having a filter base including an inlet and an outlet. The filter assembly also has a first valve disposed in the inlet, the first valve including a portion that protrudes from the filter base. The filter assembly additionally has a second valve disposed in the outlet, the second valve including a portion that protrudes from the filter base. The filter assembly also has a removably attachable filter configured to mechanically bias the first and second valves in an open position.

Filter assembly

A tandem drive arrangement includes one or more independently driven wheels () that are arranged in a tandem configuration along a beam (). The beam () is rotatably connected to a frame () of a machine (). The tandem drive arrangement further includes an actuator () operating to selectively impart a rotating moment to the beam (). The rotating moment tends to rotate the beam () in one direction and counteracts a torque imbalance resulting from operation of motors () rotating one or more independently driven wheels () connected to the beam ().

System and method for load balancing in a tandem wheel arrangement

A machine () includes a frame that is pivotally connected to a tandem drive arrangement. The tandem drive arrangement includes a beam () and a first motor () having a first stator portion () connected to a first end of the beam (). The first motor () also includes a first rotor portion () connected to a first drive wheel (). A load sharing arrangement () is associated with the tandem drive arrangement and includes a first collar () rotatably disposed around the first stator portion () and a second collar () rotatably disposed around a portion of the beam (). A first linkage () is pivotally connected between the first and second collars such that the load sharing arrangement () balances unbalanced loading in the tandem drive arrangement by transferring the unbalanced loading to the frame.

Tandem wheel arrangement

A pilot control system for maintaining a constant operating hydraulic fluid pressure in a hydraulic system throughout a range of hydraulic fluid flow and temperature conditions. The pilot control system has a pilot pump and a pilot relief valve in fluid communication with the pilot pump. A first pressure reducing valve is in fluid communication with the pilot pump and the pilot relief valve so as to reduce the pressure to components downstream of the pressure reducing valve.

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Washington, IL, United States of America

John V Mount