Search

EP-4739852-A1 - REDUNDANT DUAL PUMP HYDRAULIC SYSTEM AND METHOD OF WEIGHTED OPERATION THEREOF

EP4739852A1EP 4739852 A1EP4739852 A1EP 4739852A1EP-4739852-A1

Abstract

A redundant dual pump hydraulic system for a vehicle includes a first hydraulic power pack; a second hydraulic power pack; a hydraulically operated vehicle component, selectively driven by the first hydraulic power pack and the second hydraulic power pack; and a system controller including a device processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer readable medium includes instructions executable by the processor for performing the following functions: receiving data regarding a first vehicle parameter and a second vehicle parameter; and selecting which hydraulic power pack drives the hydraulically operated vehicle component based on the data received regarding the two or more vehicle parameters; wherein the received data is weighted for each of the first vehicle parameter and second vehicle parameter such that one of the vehicle parameters is prioritized over the other in determining which hydraulic power pack will drive the hydraulically operated vehicle component.

Inventors

  • Rajala, Tommi

Assignees

  • SANDVIK MINING AND CONSTRUCTION OY

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240815

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A mining vehicle, the mining vehicle comprising: a first hydraulic power pack; a second hydraulic power pack; hydraulically operated components configured to be powered by at least one of the first and second hydraulic power packs; a system controller configured to: determine one of the first and second hydraulic power packs as a primary hydraulic power pack and the other of the first and second hydraulic power packs as a secondary hydraulic power pack, based, at least in part, on a combination of weighted parameters; determine a current required hydraulic demand for the hydraulically operated components; based on a comparison between the determined current required hydraulic demand for the hydraulically operated components and a maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack, operate only the primary hydraulic power pack to power the hydraulically operated components when the determined current required hydraulic demand is smaller than or equal to the maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack, and operate both the primary hydraulic power pack and the secondary hydraulic power pack to power the hydraulically operated components when the determined current required hydraulic demand is greater than the maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack.
  2. 2. The mining vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle comprises a first battery pack configured to supply power to the first hydraulic power pack and a second battery pack configured to supply power to the second hydraulic power pack, and wherein at least one of the weighted parameters is a result of a comparison between a charge level of the first battery pack and a charge level of the second battery pack.
  3. 3. The mining vehicle of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first hydraulic power pack includes a first inverter, wherein the second hydraulic power pack includes a second inverter, and wherein at least one of the weighted parameters is a result of a comparison between a temperature of the first inverter and a temperature of the second inverter.
  4. 4. The mining vehicle of any one of claims 1 -3, wherein the first hydraulic power pack includes a first pump motor, wherein the second hydraulic power pack includes a second pump motor, and wherein at least one of the weighted parameters is a result of a comparison between a temperature of the first pump motor and a temperature of the second pump motor.
  5. 5. The mining vehicle of any one of claims 1 -4, wherein at least one of the weighted parameters is a result of a comparison between an amount of power available from the first hydraulic power pack and an amount of power available from the second hydraulic power pack.
  6. 6. The mining vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first hydraulic power pack includes a first inverter, a first pump motor, and a first hydraulic pump, wherein the second hydraulic power pack includes a second inverter, a second pump motor, and a second hydraulic pump, and wherein the vehicle comprises a first battery pack configured to supply power to the first hydraulic power pack and a second battery pack configured to supply power to the second hydraulic power pack.
  7. 7. The mining vehicle of claim 6, wherein the weighted parameters include at least two of: a result of a comparison between a charge level of the first battery pack and a charge level of the second battery pack; a result of a comparison between a temperature of the first inverter and a temperature of the second inverter; a result of a comparison between a temperature of the first pump motor and a temperature of the second pump motor; and a result of a comparison between an amount of power available from the first hydraulic power pack and an amount of power available from the second hydraulic power pack.
  8. 8. The mining vehicle of any one of claims 1 -7, wherein each one of the weighted parameters is weighted by a weighting factor, wherein the weighting factors are configured to bias the determination of the one of the first and second hydraulic power packs as the primary hydraulic power pack and the other of the first and second hydraulic power packs as the secondary hydraulic power pack.
  9. 9. The mining vehicle of any one of claims 1 -8, wherein when operating only the primary hydraulic power pack to power the hydraulically operated components, the system controller is configured to operate the primary hydraulic power pack such as to meet the determined current required hydraulic demand for the hydraulically operated components.
  10. 10. The mining vehicle of any one of claims 1 -9, wherein when operating both the primary hydraulic power pack and the secondary hydraulic power pack to power the hydraulically operated components, the system controller is configured to operate the primary hydraulic power pack at the maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack, and operate the secondary hydraulic power pack such as to meet a difference between the determined current required hydraulic demand for the hydraulically operated components and the maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack.
  11. 11. A method in a system controller of a mining vehicle, the mining vehicle comprising a first hydraulic power pack, a second hydraulic power pack, and hydraulically operated components configured to be powered by at least one of the first and second hydraulic power packs, the method comprising: determining one of the first and second hydraulic power packs as a primary hydraulic power pack and the other of the first and second hydraulic power packs as a secondary hydraulic power pack, based, at least in part, on a combination of weighted parameters; determining a current required hydraulic demand for the hydraulically operated components; based on a comparison between the determined current required hydraulic demand for the hydraulically operated components and a maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack, operating only the primary hydraulic power pack to power the hydraulically operated components when the determined current required hydraulic demand is smaller than or equal to the maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack, and operating both the primary hydraulic power pack and the secondary hydraulic power pack to power the hydraulically operated components when the determined current required hydraulic demand is greater than the maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack.
  12. 12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle comprises a first battery pack configured to supply power to the first hydraulic power pack and a second battery pack configured to supply power to the second hydraulic power pack, and wherein at least one of the weighted parameters is a result of a comparison between a charge level of the first battery pack and a charge level of the second battery pack.
  13. 13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the first hydraulic power pack includes a first inverter, wherein the second hydraulic power pack includes a second inverter, and wherein at least one of the weighted parameters is a result of a comparison between a temperature of the first inverter and a temperature of the second inverter.
  14. 14. The method of any one of claims 11-13, wherein the first hydraulic power pack includes a first pump motor, wherein the second hydraulic power pack includes a second pump motor, and wherein at least one of the weighted parameters is a result of a comparison between a temperature of the first pump motor and a temperature of the second pump motor.
  15. 15. The method of any one of claims 11-14, wherein at least one of the weighted parameters is a result of a comparison between an amount of power available from the first hydraulic power pack and an amount of power available from the second hydraulic power pack.
  16. 16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first hydraulic power pack includes a first inverter, a first pump motor, and a first hydraulic pump, wherein the second hydraulic power pack includes a second inverter, a second pump motor, and a second hydraulic pump, and wherein the vehicle comprises a first battery pack configured to supply power to the first hydraulic power pack and a second battery pack configured to supply power to the second hydraulic power pack.
  17. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the weighted parameters include at least two of: a result of a comparison between a charge level of the first battery pack and a charge level of the second battery pack; a result of a comparison between a temperature of the first inverter and a temperature of the second inverter; a result of a comparison between a temperature of the first pump motor and a temperature of the second pump motor; and a result of a comparison between an amount of power available from the first hydraulic power pack and an amount of power available from the second hydraulic power pack.
  18. 18. The method of any one of claims 11-17, wherein each one of the weighted parameters is weighted by a weighting factor, wherein the weighting factors are configured to bias the determination of the one of the first and second hydraulic power packs as the primary hydraulic power pack and the other of the first and second hydraulic power packs as the secondary hydraulic power pack.
  19. 19. The method of any one of claims 11-18, further comprising, when operating only the primary hydraulic power pack to power the hydraulically operated components, operating the primary hydraulic power pack such as to meet the determined current required hydraulic demand for the hydraulically operated components.
  20. 20. The method of any one of claims 11-19, further comprising, when operating both the primary hydraulic power pack and the secondary hydraulic power pack to power the hydraulically operated components, operating the primary hydraulic power pack at the maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack, and operating the secondary hydraulic power pack such as to meet a difference between the determined current required hydraulic demand for the hydraulically operated components and the maximum hydraulic capacity of the primary hydraulic power pack.

Description

REDUNDANT DUAL PUMP HYDRAULIC SYSTEM AND METHOD OF WEIGHTED OPERATION THEREOF RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims the benefits of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/520,550; entitled “REDUNDANT DUAL PUMP HYDRAULIC SYSTEM AND METHOD OF WEIGHTED OPERATION THEREOF”; and filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office on August 18, 2023; the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present disclosure relates to mining machines and vehicles and, more particularly, to redundant dual pump hydraulic systems used in mining machines and vehicles. BACKGROUND [0003] An overview of a sub-surface mine environment and general description of electric vehicles for mining is described in U.S. Patent No. 9,994,117, issued on June 12, 2018, titled “System And Method For Providing Power To A Mining Operation.” The present disclosure relates to heavy duty electric powered machines or vehicles that may operate in a continuous work environment such as a sub-surface mine. The battery packs employed in electric mining machines are heavy-duty, high powered battery packs which are comprised of multiple battery modules contained in a pack housing. Each module is comprised of multiple cells. The modules are equipped with an array of operational sensors and are provided with electronic components to provide data from the sensors to a separate maintenance network. Sensors can include temperature sensors, timing devices, charge level detection devices, and other monitoring devices which can be employed to provide an operations center with accurate, real-time data regarding the performance of the module and its performance history. Details of exemplary battery packs and battery management systems and the associated data generation and monitoring can be found in U.S. Patent No. 9,960,396, issued on May 1 , 2018, titled “Module Backbone System;” and in U.S. Patent No. 10,063,069, issued on August 28, 2018, titled “Module Maintenance System.” [0004] Vehicles for mining and other applications utilize hydraulic systems for powering various components of the vehicle, such as a work implement, loading components, dumping components, steering, and other accessories. Some existing hydraulic systems utilize dual pumps, but the selection process for load distribution between the two pumps is limited and, for electric vehicles, is typically based on a single factor, typically the state of charge of the separate batteries respectively associated with the two hydraulic pumps. That is, generally, the pump/battery pairing having the higher state of charge may be used to provide greater output. However, there are numerous other factors and parameters that may influence which pump is preferred to be used under a given set of circumstances. [0005] There exists a need in the art for an improved system and method to address the drawbacks with the existing solutions. SUMMARY [0006] A redundant dual pump hydraulic system and method for a vehicle are provided according to the techniques described herein. The disclosed system selectively designates which of the two hydraulic pumps is the acting primary pump and which is the acting secondary pump. The primary pump operates to drive the hydraulically driven components of the vehicle, while the secondary pump remains at idle or otherwise at a low output condition or is deactivated completely. If the hydraulic demand of the hydraulically driven components is greater than the capacity of the primary hydraulic pump (measured in terms of volumetric output or flowrate), then the system engages the secondary hydraulic pump to meet the demand in excess of the primary hydraulic pump capacity. This provides greater efficiency than running the two pumps in parallel and splitting the pumping duties even at low outputs below the capacity of a single pump. [0007] In addition, the disclosed system is configured to control which of the two hydraulic pumps serves as the primary hydraulic pump and which serves as the secondary hydraulic pump and is configured to swap or switch which pump is primary and which is secondary depending on various monitored parameters. Further, the system considers weighting factors when making this determination. That is, certain monitored parameters may have a greater or lesser influence on whether the primary and secondary hydraulic pump is swapped. Further still, the weighting factors may be variable based on certain other monitored parameters and/or may be selectively adjusted, for example by an operator or service technician. [0008] In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a mining vehicle. The mining vehicle comprises a first hydraulic power pack, a second hydraulic power pack, hydraulically operated components configured to be powered by at least one of the first and second hydraulic power packs, and a system controller. The system controller is configured to determine one of the first and secon