Case 1:17-cv-00770-JDW-MPT Document 121-10 Filed 11/17/22 Page 1 of 9 PageID #:
`14391
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`Exhibit V
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`United States Patent (19)
`Godbersen
`
`11
`45
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`4,343,513
`Aug. 10, 1982
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`(54) METHOD AND POWER TRANSMISSION
`SYSTEM FOR OPERATING AROAD
`PLANAR MACHINE
`Gary L. Godbersen, Ida Grove, Iowa
`75 Inventor:
`73) Assignee: Gomaco, Inc., Ida Grove, Iowa
`21 Appl. No.: 181,163
`(22
`Filed:
`Aug. 25, 1980
`51) Int. Cl. .............................................. E01C 23/09
`52 U.S.C. ........................................... 299/1; 172/3;
`173/8; 173/24; 299/37
`58 Field of Search ..................... 299/1,39; 173/8, 9,
`173/24; 37/DIG. 1; 172/3
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`3,750,762 8/1973 Eaton ...................................... 173/8
`3,888,542 6/1975 Gowler ..
`4,277,898 7/1981 Flippin ........................... 37/DIG. 1
`Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Rudolph L. Lowell
`57
`ABSTRACT
`The method and power transmission system of this
`invention for driving a road planar machine has the
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`56)
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`cutter unit in a positive mechanical drive with the drive
`shaft of a machine power unit through a hydraulically
`actuated clutch mechanism. The wheel traction units
`for the machine are continuously driven from the
`power unit by hydraulic motors operated by variable
`volume displacement pumps. A control system for re
`taining the power unit at a set rotational speed required
`for a predetermined cutting or planing load is respon
`sive to a drop in the set rotational speed, resulting from
`the cutting unit encountering an overload, to actuate
`the variable displacement pumps to decrease the for
`ward speed of the machine without appreciably reduc
`ing the rotational inertia force of the cutting unit. If the
`cutting unit overload is of a short duration or momen
`tary the set rotational speed of the power unit is re
`sumed. If the overload, as observed by the machine
`operator after the occurrence of the drop in the set
`rotational speed of the power unit, appears to be severe
`or prolonged, the control system may be manually dis
`continued and the machine manually controlled until
`the cutting unit overload has been removed at which
`time the control system may again be placed into opera
`tion.
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`5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures
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`U.S. Patent Aug. 10, 1982
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`Sheet 1 of 4
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`4,343,513
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`Case 1:17-cv-00770-JDW-MPT Document 121-10 Filed 11/17/22 Page 3 of 9 PageID #:
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`U.S. Patent Aug. 10, 1982
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`Sheet 2 of 4
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`4,343,513
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`Case 1:17-cv-00770-JDW-MPT Document 121-10 Filed 11/17/22 Page 4 of 9 PageID #:
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`U.S. Patent Aug. 10, 1982
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`Sheet 3 of 4
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`4,343,513
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`U.S. Patent Aug. 10, 1982
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`Sheet 4 of 4
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`4,343,513
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`EF
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`O it." AUTO.
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`i
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`MAN.
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`A-le
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`Case 1:17-cv-00770-JDW-MPT Document 121-10 Filed 11/17/22 Page 6 of 9 PageID #:
`14396
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`" (7 K.
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`METHOD AND POWERTRANSMISSION SYSTEM
`FOR OPERATING AROAD PLANAR MACHINE
`
`10
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`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`Planar machines and saw cutting machines for road
`maintenance work generally drive the cutter heads and
`saws in a rather conventional manner directly from a
`power unit or through a hydraulic pump and motor. In
`U.S. Pat. No. 2,311,891, a road groove cutting tool is
`directly driven from a separate engine provided for
`such purpose, through a transmission mechanism and
`the traction units are driven through a slip-clutch from
`another engine. Thus, if the cutting tool is held back by
`15
`road conditions, the clutch will slip to arrest the ad
`vance travel of the machine so as to reduce the load on
`the cutting tool engine. U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,275 dis
`closes a planar machine in which the cutter head is
`chain and sprocket driven from an engine through a
`20
`clutch mechanism. The machine is manually propelled
`so that advancement of the cutter is readily controlled
`relative to cutting conditions. In the roadway slotting
`machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,250, the cutter is belt
`driven from an engine which is also used to drive trac
`25
`tion wheels through means including a hydraulic pump
`to motor to differential arrangement. The road groove
`cutter in U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,897 is in a direct engine
`drive connection while in U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,318, the
`cutter head and traction units are driven in a conven
`30
`tional manner.
`In the prior art devices having a belt driven cutter or
`a cutter having a slip-clutch connection with the power
`unit, the cutter rotational speed and inertia force are
`appreciably decreased or stopped when an obstruction
`is encountered. The cutting operation is thus either
`stalled or takes place at a slow speed with resultant loss
`of time and increased expense. Where the advance
`travel of the machine is continued concurrently with a
`positive drive of the cutter head as in U.S. Pat. No.
`4,139,318, for example, the cutter head is susceptible not
`only to heavy tooth damage, but also damage to the
`power unit and/or its drive system.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`45
`The invention provides an improved method and
`system for driving a road planar machine and a cutter
`head or unit therefor from a single power unit to re
`move a top layer of a roadway efficiently and with a
`minimum of lost time. The rotational speed of the en
`50
`gine is monitored through a control system which, in
`response to a drop in a set engine rotational speed
`caused by an overload condition encountered by the
`cutter head, concurrently slows the advance of the
`machine, while maintaining a substantially constant
`inertia force for the cutter head. The cutter head thus
`continues to operate with full inertia force against the
`obstructive condition. If the overload condition is re
`moved, the set engine speed is resumed. The planing
`operation is thus substantially continuous so as to re
`60
`duce shutdown time and machine damage and mainte
`nance to a minimum without requiring constant obser
`vation to road conditions by the machine operator.
`DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`65
`FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the road planar ma
`chine which includes the power transmission system of
`this invention;
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`4,343,513
`2
`FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the power
`unit and transmission system assembly with parts bro
`ken away and other parts shown in section for the pur
`pose of clarity;
`FIG. 3 is a foreshortened detail perspective view
`showing the assembly of a variable volume displace
`ment pump with an associated drive motor for the ma
`chine traction wheels;
`FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of the transmis
`sion system with some parts broken away for clarity;
`FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic showing of a constant en
`gine speed control system for the power unit of the
`transmission system; and
`FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are diagrammatic illustrations, re
`spectively showing, the machine in normal operation;
`the machine encountering a road obstruction, and the
`machine returned to normal operation.
`DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
`Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown a
`planar type machine 15 for removing a predetermined
`top layer of a paved road surface, that embodies the
`power transmission system of this invention. The ma
`chine 15 has a main frame or chassis 16 for a front end
`cab section 17, an intermediate power section 18 and a
`rear fuel and accessory section 19. A rotary planar or
`cutting unit 2 is located below the power section 18
`and between a pair of front steerable traction wheels 22
`and rear traction wheels 23. The various manually oper
`ated and controlled actuating elements for operating the
`machine 15 are conveniently located within the cab
`section 17.
`In machines of this general type, the rotary cutting
`unit may be driven from a power unit by means includ
`ing a slip clutch, or by a hydraulic system which in
`cludes a bypass or relief valve to prevent damage
`against any overload imposed on the cutting unit. In
`either instance, when the cutting unit engages an ob
`struction, so as to set up an overload condition that
`exceeds the adjusted setting of the slip clutch or relief
`valve, the centrifugal inertia force of the rotary cutting
`unit immediately falls off or is reduced so as to aggra
`vate the imposed load on the cutting unit by effecting a
`slow down in or a stopping of the road planing opera
`tion. This is especially inconvenient and time consum
`ing when the cutting unit is repeatedly forced against
`the obstruction at variable speeds caused by the erratic
`or vacillating power delivered to the cutting unit. Addi
`tionally, where the cutting unit is hydraulically oper
`ated, the repeated operation of a relief valve results in
`the heating of the oil in the hydraulic system so as to
`further impede a resumption of normal machine opera
`tion.
`Where the power unit is in a direct mechanical drive
`connection with the cutting unit, appreciable damage to
`the cutting unit or machine may occur when an obstruc
`tion is encountered due to the continued advance of the
`machine into the obstruction with full power applied on
`the cutting unit. Extreme care and attention to the road
`surface is therefore required by the machine operator to
`prevent machine damage and possible personal injury.
`To overcome these objections, the power section 18
`includes a power unit 24 of diesel engine type which is
`operatively connected through a flexible coupling 26
`(FIG. 4) to a transmission mechanism 27 that has a
`power take off shaft 28 gear connected in a direct driv
`ing relation with the cutting unit 21 through a hydrauli
`cally actuated clutch mechanism 31. When the clutch
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`15
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`4,343,513
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`31 is engaged, the cutting unit 21 is driven directly from
`duced stroke of the pistons 51 associated therewith in
`the variable volume displacement pumps 34 and 36 to
`the transmission mechanism 27, and in turn from the
`engine 24, at a reduced rotational speed relative to the
`reduce the volume of oil supplied to the traction motors
`37 and 38, respectively. This operation of the control
`rotational speed of the take off shaft 28 through a gear
`system acts to concurrently reduce the load on the
`reduction unit 32. The power take off shaft of the gear
`engine while maintaining the rotational inertia force of
`reduction unit 32 is connected in a one-to-one chain and
`sprocket drive connection 33 with the cutting unit 21.
`the cutting unit 21 to overcome the encountered over
`The power shaft 28 also directly drives through a
`load. When the imposed load on the cutting unit has
`gear system 29 a pair of variable volume displacement
`been eliminated, the control system automatically takes
`over for return of the engine to the set point speed.
`pumps 34 and 36 of like construction, but reversely
`rotated in operation, having associated hydraulic mo
`Should there occur a failure of the speed control
`amplifier 43 or the encountering of a cutting unit ob
`tors 37 and 38, respectively, for driving the front and
`rear traction wheels 22 and 23, also respectively (FIGS.
`struction greater than can be eliminated by the reduced
`machine speed, the control system does not provide for
`2, 3 and 4). In one embodiment of the invention, the
`pumps 34 and 36 are heavy duty Sundstrand pumps
`a shut down of the machine. In this event, an auto
`manual switch 52 is used to provide for a manual con
`(Models 20-2065 and 20-2074), available from Sunds
`trand Hydro-Transmission, Ames, Iowa, a division of
`trol of the machine from the constant twelve volt bat
`tery source. The machine operator merely manipulates
`Sundstrand Corporation. It is seen, therefore, that when
`the clutch unit 31 is engaged, the rotational speed of the
`the switch 52 from 'automatic' to "manual and contin
`ues the operation of the machine independently of the
`cutting unit and linear advance of the machine are di
`20
`rectly responsive to the rotational speed of the engine
`speed control system. When normal operation of the
`power unit 24.
`machine is to be resumed, the control system is rein
`The gear system 29 includes a jackshaft 30 to drive a
`stated by returning the switch 52 to its 'automatic' posi
`pump 41 for supplying oil under pressure to the hydrau
`tion.
`The constant engine speed control system thus func
`lically actuated components of the machine such as the
`25
`tions primarily as a load limiting system which prevents
`previously referred to clutch mechanism 31 and, as will
`later appear, hydro-transmission valves in the variable
`excessive loads being placed on the engine 24. Thus,
`volume displacement pumps 34 and 36. To automati
`when the engine speed starts to drop due to excessive
`loading, the system automatically cuts the load by re
`cally retard the advance of the machine 15 concurrently
`with maintaining the centrifugal inertia force on the
`ducing the advance of the machine and maintaining the
`30
`cutting unit 21 when there is a drop in the normal oper
`rotational inertia of the cutting unit.
`ating rotational speed of the engine 24, resulting from an
`As shown in FIG. 6, the machine 15 is being operated
`with the cutting unit 21 removing a layer 53 of the
`overload condition imposed on the cutting unit, there is
`provided a constant engine speed control system.
`roadway and approaching an obstruction 54. During
`The constant engine speed control system (FIG. 5)
`this time the control system is operating with the ten
`35
`volt output signal from the amplifier 43. On encounter
`includes a twelve volt battery 42 as the electrical power
`source. A Honeywell W883 speed control amplifier 43,
`ing the obstruction 54 (FIG. 7) the engine speed is re
`available from Honeywell, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minne
`duced with a concurrent drop in the voltage to the
`sota, compares the engine speed indicated by a Honey
`hydro-transmission valves 48 and reduction in the vol
`well SB100A magnetic pulse pickup 44 with a speed set
`ume of oil supplied to the traction motors 37 and 38.
`point potentiometer 46 which is set at the normal oper
`This slow down operation of the machine continues
`ating speed of the engine for a normal cutting load on
`until the obstruction 54 has been removed, as shown in
`the cutting unit 21. So long as the engine speed is equal
`FIG. 8, at which time normal operation of the machine
`to or greater than the speed set point, the output signal
`is resumed.
`from the speed control amplifier 43 is approximately ten
`Although the invention has been described with re
`45
`volts. This output voltage is used to power a normally
`spect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be
`manually operated control handle 47 which forms part
`understood that it is not to be so limited since changes
`of the variable volume displacement pumps 34 and 36.
`and modifications can be made therein which are within
`This handle 47 operates a hydro-transmission valve 48
`the full intended scope of this invention as defined by
`on each pump 34 and 36 for actuating a swash plate 49
`the appended claims.
`50
`operatively associated with pistons 51, all of which
`I claim:
`form part of the commercially available pumps 34 and
`1. A power transmission system for a ground working
`36. A position of the control handle 47 generates a vari
`maching having a rotatable material cutting unit, trac
`able current signal which drives the hydro-transmission
`tion means and a power unit, said system comprising:
`valves 48 to vary the operating angle of the swash plate
`(a) a drive shaft for said power unit;
`55
`(b) means connecting said cutting unit in a direct gear
`49 relative to its axis of rotation, and in turn the volume
`displacement of the pumps 34 and 36. It is seen, there
`driven relation with said drive shaft,
`(c) a variable volume displacement hydraulic pump
`fore, that with a fixed voltage to power the control
`handle 47, each handle position defines a specific oper
`connected in a direct driven relation with said
`ating angle of the swash plates 49 and a definite volume
`drive shaft, and having an electrically actuated
`60
`displacement by the pumps 34 and 36.
`volume control member,
`When the engine speed falls below the desired set
`(d) a traction motor for said pump,
`point speed, due to an overload on the cutting unit 21,
`(e) means connecting the traction means in a driven
`the ten volt output signal from the speed control ampli
`relation with said traction motor, and
`fier 43 starts to reduce or drop. This drop in the voltage
`(f) an electrical control circuit including means for
`65
`supply to the control handle 47 results in a correspond
`indicating the rotational speed of the power unit,
`ing drop in the current to the hydro-transmission valves
`an adjustable potentiometer unit adjustable to a set
`48 and a destroking of the swash plates 49, i.e., a re
`rotational speed of the power unit for a normal
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`4,343,513
`5
`6
`cutting load, and a rotational speed amplifier for
`(a) rotating the cutting unit in a direct gear driven
`comparing the indicated rotational speed with the
`relation from the power unit,
`(b) operating a variable volume displacement pump
`set rotational speed to produce a variable output
`signal for actuating said volume control member;
`and associated traction unit in a direct gear driven
`(g) said rotational speed amplifier responsive to a
`relation from the power unit,
`(c) electrically indicating a set rotational speed of the
`decrease in the rotational speed set of said power
`power unit to drive the cutting unit at a predeter
`unit to actuate the control member to reduce the
`volume displacement of said variable volume dis
`mined rotational speed and the traction unit at a
`predetermined road speed,
`placement pump and decrease the linear advance
`(d) electrically actuating the variable volume dis
`speed of the machine.
`placement pump in direct response to a drop in the
`2. The power transmission system according to claim
`indicated set rotational speed of the power unit to
`1 wherein:
`simultaneously reduce the road speed of the ma
`(a) said cutter unit connecting means includes a hy
`draulically actuated clutch mechanism.
`chine and maintain the rotational inertia force of
`the cutting unit.
`3. The power transmission system according to claim
`1, including:
`5. The method of claim 4, including the steps of:
`(a) manually rendering the set rotational speed inop
`(a) a speed transmission unit, and
`(b) means connecting said transmission unit to said
`erative in the event the rotational speed of the
`drive shaft at a position adjacent the power unit for
`power unit drops to a predetermined rotational
`simultaneously varying the rotational speeds of 20
`speed below the set rotational speed,
`(b) manually controlling the operation of the cutting
`said variable volume displacement pump and said
`cutting unit.
`unit and traction units until the set rotational speed
`4. The method of automatically controlling the load
`can be resumed, and then
`(c) manually reinstating the set rotational speed in
`on a single power unit that rotates a rotary cutting unit
`operation.
`on a ground working machine and drives the machine
`traction units, comprising the steps of:
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`10
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`5
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`25
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`is
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`is
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`k
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`is
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`30
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`Case 1:17-cv-00770-JDW-MPT Document 121-10 Filed 11/17/22 Page 9 of 9 PageID #:
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`14399
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