Caterpillar Inc.

Stephen P Amborski

John James Krone

Steven T Ufheil

A control system and method for detecting and inhibiting an impending full saturation condition in a hydraulic system of a work machine wherein the hydraulic system includes a hydraulic pump for supplying fluid under pressure to the hydraulic system and a plurality of control valves for controllably passing fluid from the pump to a plurality of work elements, the present control system including an electronic controller coupled to both an operator input device actuatable to control the operation of the work elements and a plurality of control valves for controlling the fluid flow to the work elements, the controller being operable to determine the actual margin pressure of the hydraulic pump in response to comparing the pump pressure to the pressure of the heaviest loaded work element requested by an operator through the actuation of the operator input device and to compare the actual margin pressure to the established margin pressure for the pump. Based upon this comparison, the controller is further operable to output appropriate signals to the control valves to limit fluid flow thereto in accordance with some type of valve prioritization scheme when the actual margin pressure of the pump is less than the established margin pressure. The present control system and method functions as an early warning system to both detect the onset of an impending full saturation condition and to implement appropriate procedures to inhibit further saturation and limit any resultant valve starvation.

Growing community of inventors

Kobe, Japan

Stephen P Amborski