Motor vehicles – Manually actuated controlling devices – Multiple vehicle functions controllable by single device
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-02
2001-12-11
Swann, J. J. (Department: 3611)
Motor vehicles
Manually actuated controlling devices
Multiple vehicle functions controllable by single device
C074S4710XY
Reexamination Certificate
active
06328127
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operating lever device, and more particularly to an operating lever device capable of retaining output signals of an operating lever.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are already inventions concerning operating lever devices for generating an operating signal by the tilting of a single operating lever, and driving two hydraulic actuators in a controlled manner on the basis of this operating signal.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-89515 discloses an electric operating lever device for outputting displacement as an electrical signal to each of four pistons by tilting an operating lever. Two hydraulic actuators can be driven in a controlled manner on the basis of electrical signals outputted by this electric operating lever device.
In addition, the international publication No. WO96/15374 discloses a hydraulic operating lever device for outputting hydraulic signals.
FIG.
12
(
a
) depicts a fragmentary cross section of a hydraulic operating lever device. Displacement is outputted as an electrical signal to each of four pistons by tilting an operating lever.
FIG.
12
(
b
) is a perspective view depicting the structure of the universal joint
50
shown in FIG.
12
(
a
). Two hydraulic motors mounted on a hydraulically driven vehicle are driven in a controlled manner by the operating lever device in FIGS.
12
(
a
) and
12
(
b
). In addition, FIGS.
13
(
a
) and
13
(
b
) show the manner in which the operating lever shown in FIGS.
12
(
a
) and
12
(
b
) is moved around. A description will now be given with reference to these drawings.
The operating lever device
5
shown in FIG.
12
(
a
) primarily comprises a device unit
7
and an operating lever
6
tiltably provided to the device unit
7
.
The operating lever
6
is mounted on the device unit
7
through the agency of a universal joint
50
and a disk plate
8
.
As shown in FIGS.
13
(
a
) and
13
(
b
), four pistons
1
,
2
,
3
, and
4
are provided such that piston tips (tops) project from a mounting plate
11
. Viewed from above the mounting plate
11
, the pistons
1
,
2
,
3
, and
4
are arranged in the four corners of a square. The vehicle is propelled forward by the tilting of the operating lever
6
in the F-direction and pushing down the piston
4
. The vehicle is propelled backward by the tilting of the operating lever
6
in the B-direction and pushing down the piston
2
. The vehicle is caused to spin-turn to the right by the tilting of the operating lever
6
in the R-direction and pushing down the piston
1
. The vehicle is caused to spin-turn to the left by the tilting of the operating lever
6
in the L-direction and pushing down the piston
3
. As used herein, “spin-turn” is occasionally referred to as pirouetting. This is a movement in which a vehicle turns while the center of the vehicle remains stationary. In more-specific terms, this is an operation in which a turn is performed by causing the wheels or tracks provided to the vehicle to rotate at the same speed but in mutually opposite directions.
FIG.
12
(
a
) is a cross section of FIG.
13
(
a
), as viewed from the left.
A two-pronged bracket
12
is mounted on the device unit
7
. As shown in FIG.
12
(
b
), the universal joint
50
comprises the two-pronged bracket
12
, a tilting bridge member
13
, a support shaft
9
, and a support shaft
10
. The tilting bridge member
13
is provided to the two-pronged bracket
12
through the agency of the support shaft
10
. The operating lever
6
is provided to the tilting bridge member
13
through the agency of the support shaft
9
. Specifically, the operating lever
6
is mounted on the device unit
7
through the agency of the universal joint
50
.
The support shaft
9
of the universal joint
50
is provided such that the axis thereof is orthogonal to the axis of the support shaft
10
.
The support shaft
9
is parallel to the upper surface of the mounting plate
11
and is at a right angle to the plane of paper. The support shaft
9
supports the operating lever
6
while allowing it to rotate about the support shaft
9
. Specifically, the operating lever
6
can be tilted to the right and left in FIG.
12
(
a
) by being rotated about the support shaft
9
.
The support shaft
10
is parallel to the upper surface of the mounting plate
11
and is at a right angle to the aforementioned support shaft
9
. The support shaft
10
supports the tilting bridge member
13
in the two-pronged bracket
12
while allowing the member to rotate about the support shaft
10
. Specifically, the operating lever
6
can be tilted in the direction orthogonal to the plane of paper in FIG.
12
(
a
) by being rotated together with the tilting bridge member
13
about the support shaft
10
.
Adopting this configuration for the universal joint
50
allows the operating lever
6
to be tilted in relation to the device unit
7
in two directions at right angles to each other.
The disk plate
8
is mounted on the operating lever
6
such that the tips (tops) of the pistons
1
,
2
,
3
, and
4
come into contact with the lower surface of the plate.
The pistons
2
and
4
can therefore be displaced in accordance with the direction and amount of tilt of the operating lever
6
. Although this is not shown in FIG.
12
(
a
), the same applies to the pistons
1
and
3
.
The device unit
7
is equipped with hydraulic signal generation means for generating hydraulic signals whose magnitude corresponds to piston displacement for each of the four pistons
4
,
2
,
1
, and
3
. The pistons
4
,
2
,
1
, and
3
correspond to pilot ducts
14
,
15
,
16
, and
17
, respectively (see FIG.
13
(
b
)).
The operation of the above-described operating lever device
5
will now be described.
FIG.
12
(
a
) depicts the operating lever
6
in the neutral position. From this state, the operating lever
6
is tilted (to the left in the drawing) about the support shaft
9
. When this is done, the piston
4
on the left side of the drawing is pressed down in the direction of arrow A through the agency of the disk plate
8
.
When the piston
4
is depressed, the pilot duct
14
outputs a hydraulic pilot pressure P
p
whose magnitude is proportional to the amount of tilt of the operating lever
6
. Similarly, hydraulic signals indicating pilot pressure P
p
are outputted from the pilot ducts
15
,
16
, and
17
when the pistons
2
,
1
, and
3
are displaced in accordance with the tilt of the operating lever
6
.
FIGS. 10 and 11
depict two main types of operating pattern concerning the relation between the direction of tilt of the operating lever
6
and the direction of travel of the vehicle.
FIG. 10
is an operating pattern, primarily for a vehicle such as a skid steer loader. The arrows in the drawing indicate the directions in which the vehicle is caused to travel in accordance with the direction of tilt of the operating lever
6
.
It is assumed here that the operating lever
6
is tilted forward (rectilinearly) from the neutral position in the F-direction, as shown in FIG.
10
.
At this time, the piston
4
alone is displaced in the operating lever device
5
. Consequently, a hydraulic signal P
p
is outputted from the pilot duct
14
alone. A hydraulic actuator (not shown) operates in accordance with the hydraulic signal P
p
, propelling the vehicle forward (rectilinearly).
As shown in
FIG. 10
, the vehicle is propelled backward (rectilinearly) when the operating lever
6
is tilted backward in the B-direction. In addition, the vehicle is caused to make a right spin-turn (pirouette) when the operating lever
6
is tilted in the R-direction, which corresponds to a right spin-turn (pirouette). The vehicle is caused to make a left spin-turn (pirouette) when the operating lever
6
is tilted in the L-direction, which corresponds to a left spin-turn (pirouette). Tilting the operating lever
6
in a direction intermediate between the F-direction and R-direction will cause the vehicle to turn right while moving forward. Tilti
Hori Shuuji
Ishizaki Naoki
Mototani Masayoshi
Sato Yasuhiro
Dunn David R.
Komatsu Ltd.
Swann J. J.
Varndell & Varndell PLLC
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