Control System For Automatic Excavator Bucket Leveling And Load Dumping

Abstract

A control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping preferably includes a controller, a bucket angle sensor, a chassis angle sensor and at least one switch. The controller preferably includes an absolute angle routine, a bucket leveling routine, an automatic load dumping routine and a joystick monitoring routine. The bucket angle sensor is mounted to the bucket. The excavator angle sensor is mounted to an excavator body. The controller receives input from the at least one switch, the angle sensors and excavator joystick for processing by the absolute angle routine, the bucket leveling routine, the automatic load dumping routine and the joystick monitoring routine to level an excavator bucket or dump the excavator bucket with a bucket actuator. A hydraulic control circuit receives input from the controller to control the movement of the bucket actuator.

1 . A control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling, the excavator includes a bucket actuator and a joystick for controlling motions of the excavator, comprising:
 a controller includes an absolute angle routine and a bucket leveling routine;   a bucket angle sensor is retained on the excavator bucket, said bucket angle sensor is connected to said controller;   an excavator angle sensor is retained on a body of the excavator, said excavator angle sensor is connected to said controller, said absolute angle routine combines a bucket angle value of said bucket angle sensor with an excavator angle value of said excavator angle sensor to provide an absolute bucket angle; and   a bucket level switch is connected to said controller for activating excavator bucket leveling, wherein said bucket leveling routine controls a movement of the bucket actuator to keep the excavator bucket level.   
     
     
         2 . The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a hydraulic control circuit receives input from said controller.   
     
     
         3 . The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the bucket actuator receives hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic control circuit to move the excavator bucket for leveling thereof.   
     
     
         4 . The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a joystick monitoring routine receives input from the joystick to ensure that the excavator bucket stays level.   
     
     
         5 . A control system for excavator automatic load dumping, the excavator includes a bucket actuator and a joystick for controlling motions of the excavator, comprising:
 a controller includes an absolute angle routine and a load dumping routine;   a bucket angle sensor is retained on the excavator bucket, said bucket angle sensor is connected to said controller;   an excavator angle sensor is retained on a body of the excavator, said excavator angle sensor is connected to said controller, said absolute angle routine combines a bucket angle value from said bucket angle sensor with an excavator angle value from said excavator angle sensor to provide an absolute bucket angle; and   a bucket dump switch is connected to said controller for activating excavator bucket dumping, wherein said bucket dumping routine controls a movement of the bucket actuator to dump contents of the excavator bucket.   
     
     
         6 . The control system for excavator automatic load dumping of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a hydraulic control circuit receives input from said controller.   
     
     
         7 . The control system for excavator automatic load dumping of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the bucket actuator receives hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic control circuit to move the excavator bucket for dumping thereof.   
     
     
         8 . The control system for excavator automatic load dumping of  claim 5 , wherein:
 a joystick monitoring routine receives input from the joystick to ensure that the excavator bucket is fully dumped.   
     
     
         9 . A control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping, the excavator includes a bucket actuator and a joystick for controlling motions of the excavator, comprising:
 a controller includes an absolute angle routine, a bucket leveling routine and a load dumping routine;   a bucket angle sensor is retained on the excavator bucket, said bucket angle sensor is connected to said controller;   an excavator angle sensor is retained on a body of the excavator, said excavator angle sensor is connected to said controller, said absolute angle routine combines a bucket angle value from said bucket angle sensor with an excavator angle value from said excavator angle sensor to provide an absolute bucket angle;   a bucket level switch is connected to said controller for activating excavator bucket leveling, wherein said bucket leveling routine controls a movement of the bucket actuator to keep the excavator bucket level; and   a bucket dump switch is connected to said controller for activating excavator bucket dumping, wherein said bucket dumping routine controls a movement of the bucket actuator to dump the load of the excavator bucket.   
     
     
         10 . The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a hydraulic control circuit receives input from said controller.   
     
     
         11 . The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the bucket actuator receives hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic control circuit to move the excavator bucket for leveling or dumping thereof.   
     
     
         12 . The control system for automatic excavator bucket leveling and load dumping of  claim 9 , wherein:
 a joystick monitoring routine receives input from the joystick to ensure that the excavator bucket stays level or moves to a load dumping position.