JPH0527883B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a control lever in a working machine such as a crane, which converts the amount of lever operation into an electrical signal to control the machine.

[Prior art]

An example of a conventional control lever is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Lever 1 is rotatably supported by a frame 2, and the rotation axis of lever 1 is electrically connected to the rotation amount of lever 1. A potentiometer 3 that converts into a signal and a return spring 4 that biases the lever 1 in the direction of returning to the neutral position are provided.

The mechanical daytent used for the control lever is as shown in Figure 6.
A plate 5 is attached to the rotating shaft of the detent, and a groove is formed in the plate 5 at a position corresponding to the detent angle. Furthermore, it is comprised of a hard ball 6 which is fitted into the groove of the plate 5 by the biasing force of a spring 7 supported by the frame 2 and stops the rotation of the plate 5.

[Problems to be solved by this invention]

As shown in Figure 5, the relationship between the operating angle and the operating force of the conventional control lever is shown by the solid line (the broken line indicates return).Since the operating reaction force is added by a spring, the amount of operation increases. At the same time, the reaction force increases, making the lever heavy and difficult to operate, and if the spring is weakened, the reaction force near neutral becomes too light, making it difficult to operate.

Further, FIG. 7 shows an example of the lever return force near the day tent. Here, when the lever is tilted to the right from the neutral position, the lever return force increases as the lever tilts, as shown by the solid line. When entering the detent area, the hard ball 6 biased by the spring is forced to move toward the bottom of the groove, causing the lever return force to rapidly decrease, sometimes reaching a negative value and reaching the bottom of the groove so that it is sucked in against the operator's will. settle down. As the lever is further pushed down, the lever return force increases rapidly as the hard ball goes over the groove, and as soon as it crosses the groove, the return force decreases rapidly and returns to normal force. in this way,
Since the return force changes drastically near the day tent, it is difficult to make fine adjustments in this area, and when returning the lever to neutral, the same problem occurs as shown by the broken line.

Furthermore, since it is mechanical, the detent mechanism takes up space and the entire device cannot be made compact.

Therefore, the present invention improves the disadvantages of the conventional control lever as described above, improves operability by hardly increasing the operating force even when the operating angle of the lever increases, and improves operability within the lever operating range. It is an object of the present invention to provide a control lever which has a self-holding area (detent area) and eliminates discontinuity of operation reaction force there.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self-returning control lever that can easily set and change the lever self-holding position at any position within the lever operation range, has a compact overall structure, and can be easily returned to the neutral position. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Structure of the invention]

The control lever according to the present invention includes a potentiometer attached to the rotating shaft of the lever, a motor attached to the other end of the rotating shaft, a setting device for presetting the detent position, and a detent canceller attached to the lever. and a comparator that compares the values of the potentiometer and the setting device, and the comparator outputs the lever self-holding signal at the detent position and the signal at other positions and the detent position.
The feature is that when the cancel switch is turned on, a reaction force signal is output to each motor.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained below with reference to illustrated embodiments. As shown in Fig. 1, a lever 1 is attached to the frame 2 so as to be able to rotate freely around a rotating shaft, a potentiometer 3 is attached to one end of the rotating shaft, and a potentiometer 3 is attached to the other end of the rotating shaft. A motor 8 is attached.

Further, a detent cancel switch 9 is attached to the upper end of the lever 1.

A potentiometer 3 attached to the rotating shaft of the lever 1 converts the rotation amount, which is the operating angle of the lever 1, into an electric signal, and a motor 8 generates a reaction force to return the lever 1 to the neutral position and self-holding at the day tent position. It is a torque motor that applies force.

These potentiometer 3, motor 8 and switch 9 are connected to a control block as shown in FIG.

In this control block, the potentiometer 3 is connected to a comparator 10, and an electric signal indicating the amount of rotation of the lever 1 is inputted to the comparator 10 from the potentiometer 3.

Further, a setting device 13 is connected to the comparator 10, and the detent position can be set in advance at any rotation angle of the lever 1 in this setting device 13, and can be changed. The comparator 10 compares the detent setting value in the setting device 13 and the output value of the potentiometer 3, and outputs a position holding signal when the output value of the potentiometer 3 and the detent setting value almost match.

Further, if the output value of the potentiometer 3 does not match the detent set value, or if the switch 9 is operated even in the detent position, a reaction force signal is outputted to return the lever 1 to the neutral position.

Further, a switch 9 for detent canceling is also connected to the comparator 10, and the switch 9 is connected to the comparator 10.
When turned on, the comparator 10 is configured to always output a reaction force signal regardless of the detent setting value.

A position control section 11 and a reaction force control section 12 are connected to the output side of the comparator 10, and the position holding signal and reaction force signal are outputted to the position control section 11 and the reaction force control section 12, respectively. Ru. These position control parts 1
1 and the output ends of the reaction force control section 12 are connected to the motor 8, and perform position holding control and reaction force control of the motor 8.

The configuration of this embodiment is as described above, and the operation will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG.

When the power is turned on, first check the status of switch 9 in step a. If switch 9 is ON, move to the left if lever 1 is moved to the right from neutral in steps b, c, and d. If so, the motor 8 is controlled to return the lever 1 to the right toward the neutral direction.
As a result, a uniform return force is applied over the entire operation area of the lever 1, allowing fine operation.

Next, if the switch 9 is not turned on, the lever 1 angle at that time is compared with the value in the setting device 13 in step e, and if it is not within the setting range, the process moves to step b and the same control as described above is performed. If the lever 1 is at the set position, the motor 8 is controlled to stop the lever 1 within the set range in steps f, g, and h.
It maintains its position even if you remove your hand from it and functions as a day tent.

When getting out of the day tent, turn on switch 9.
If lever 1 is operated after turning ON, the discontinuity in the return force will be eliminated and the detent area can be smoothly exited as shown in FIG. 9.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The embodiments of the control lever according to the present invention are as described above, and the following effects can be achieved.

Improved operability by ensuring that the operating force hardly increases even when the operating angle of the lever increases, and eliminates discontinuity in the operating reaction force there while having a self-holding area (detent area) within the lever operating range. It becomes a control lever.

Furthermore, the self-holding position of the lever can be easily set and changed at any position within the lever operation range, and the entire control lever can be constructed compactly, and the control lever is a self-returning type that can be easily returned to the neutral position.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a partially cutaway front view of the embodiment, Figure 2 is a control block diagram of Figure 1, Figures 3 and 4 are configuration diagrams of the conventional example, and Figure 5 is the operating angle and operation of the conventional example. Figure 6 is an example of the configuration of a conventional daytent, Figure 7 is a diagram of return force characteristics in the conventional daytent section, Figure 8 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment, and Figure 9 is a diagram of the daytent of the embodiment. FIG. 1... Lever, 2... Frame, 3... Potentiometer, 4... Return spring, 5... Plate,
6... Hard ball, 7... Spring, 8... Motor, 9...
Switch, 10... Comparator, 11... Position control section, 12... Reaction force control section, 13... Setting device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A control lever having a lever that self-returns to a neutral position, which is attached to the rotating shaft of the lever and converts a rotation angle corresponding to the amount of operation of the lever into an electrical signal and outputs the signal. a potentiometer; a motor that is attached to the rotating shaft of the lever to maintain the operating position of the lever and control reaction force to the lever's neutral position; and a setting device in which an arbitrary detent position of the lever is set in advance. , Input and compare the datetent position and potentiometer output set in the setting device with the switch attached to the lever that cancels the daytent, and input the ON/OFF signal of the switch, so that the switch is activated. When the switch is OFF, a position holding signal is output to the motor at the detent position of the lever, and a reaction force signal is output to the motor when the lever is at a position other than the detent position, and when the switch is ON, the reaction force signal is output to the motor throughout the lever operating range. A control lever characterized by being equipped with a comparator that outputs output to a motor.