128 Mobile 2003 Agriculture Machines Bosch Rexroth AG

Application Center Agriculture Machines

Head: Karl-Heinz Vogl

Bosch Rexroth AG
Mobile Hydraulics
Glockeraustr. 2
89275 Elchingen, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0) 73 08 82 - 24 32
Facsimile: +49 (0) 73 08 - 53 38
E-Mail: karlheinz.vogl@boschrexroth.de
Bosch Rexroth AG Agriculture Machines Mobile 2003 129

Drive and Control Technology for

Self-Propelled Harvesters

Harvesting technology has undergone

powerful changes over the last fifty
years. Due to structural upheaval in
the agricultural sector, the trend is to-
ward ever bigger and more powerful
machines. For the most part, self-pro-
pelled machines have prevailed, al-
most completely replacing towed ma-
chines. In many harvesting machines,
hydrostatic drives have long since
come to reflect the state of the art
(Fig. 1).
Where the implement and steering
drives are concerned, the focus has
shifted to the turnover performance
and the ergonomics of the vehicle. A
change to electro-proportional con-
trol valve technology in combination Figure 1: Combine harvesters, forage harvesters, beet lifters, field sprayers - the trend in agri-
with closed loop load sensing is alrea- cultural technology is toward self-propelled machines with new drive concepts
dy standard equipment for many ma-
nufacturers. 1. Implement Drives Integration of the electronics for the
header control directly in the valve,
CAN communications on-board electronics, and a priority
While the tractors can now reach
speeds of 50 km/h and more, self-pro-
instead of pipelines valve for the steering hydraulics resul-
ts in a central modular control block:
pelled agricultural machines are ad-
1.1 The Control Block essential functions, such as complete
vancing toward the 40 km/h mark.
The new compact SB12LS-EHR 5 header control, including a transverse
The resulting increased demands on
control block permits flows of < 1 to slope control function, are all provi-
the machines require new drive and
60 l/min and was developed especially ded for here. Moreover, it also comes
braking concepts.
for use in self-propelled harvesters. with optimally adapted and flexible
software, robust hardware with flash
memory and CAN, as well as a built-
in steering priority valve.
The control block is based on Rexroth
mobile valves that have been used and
proven in agricultural machines, com-
bined with Bosch electronics from the
automotive sector. Due to the modu-
lar design with extensive additional
functions, the control blocks can be
Figure 2: The requirement for flows from
Authors: <1 to 60 l/min is covered by the adapted optimally to various require-
Konrad Rossbach BRM-AK/VME4 SB12LS-EHR 5 control block. ments.
Andreas Meise BRM-GT/KMG Higher flow requirements are rea-
Andreas Wolf BRM-MC/VTB4 lized using the EHR23LS control
Uwe Maier BRM-MC/VTS2 valve.
130 Mobile 2003 Agriculture Machines Bosch Rexroth AG

The SB12LS system permits a wide
variety of variants- from simple swit-
ching functions to load sensing pro-
portional controls. The integration of
hydraulically unlockable check valves
in the case permits additional uses.
Various valves are available for the
header control, from plain, unregula-
ted switching versions to ones with
electronic controls. In the „high-end“
version, differential controls ensure
optimal adaptation to varying harve-
without touching the ground. Model
M4-12 LS valves are used for the leve-
ling mechanism; in addition to the
characteristics already described, they
also permit secondary pressure bak-
kup for the LS signal.
Figure 4: Model M4-12 LS valves are used
for the leveling mechanism
control

transverse
horizontal
Variator
sting conditions. Transverse slope
Central port plate

Haspel
control of the header is also integra-

Reversal

Reel
Feede

Reel
Unload
Priority valve

system
swing
EHR5-OBE

ted, as is damping of header vibration

drive
lift

lift

Reel
while driving. Electronics are available Slope
as on-board electronics or as a separa- compensation
te control unit.
The product palette is supplemented
by a selection of pressure, position,
and angle sensors suitable for use un- Compact block
(YC)
der tough agricultural conditions.
Many harvesters with large headers Control block 2
Control block 1 (SB12LS)
are designed only for use on flat (SB12LS-EHR5-OBE)
Hand brake
Steering Power brake
unit valve
(LAGU) (LT17)
Variable pump
(A10VO)
Gear pump Brake cylinder
(ZFS)

Figure 5: The interplay of the Rexroth components simplifies adjustment of the system

Figure 3: The onboard electronics by Rex-

roth are an important component
of the central control block
ground. Any unevenness on the
ground could lead to expensive dama-
ge. The control system for pro-
grammable header control always
keeps the header parallel to the
ground without driver intervention.
Sensors ensure that the header is kept
at stubble height in all phases of work
Bosch Rexroth AG Agriculture Machines Mobile 2003 131

1.2 Electronic Management Fan Implement

Diagnostics Multi function Drive speed Reel drive
Using a serial data bus simplifies cab- BB-3/PC joystick joystick speed
ling and reduces the number of plug-
type connectors. The Controller Area Display
Network (CAN) constitutes a suitable
bus system - stations with equivalent
rights are interconnected via a serial
CAN-Bus
data bus.
This permits linkage and simultane- Sensors
ous communication between multiple MC
drive MC
sensors, control devices, and instru- transmission Slope
compensation
ments. Another advantage of CAN On-board
Electronic
over conventional cabling is that
transmission errors that occasionally
occur due to electromagnetic interfe-
rence are detected and automatically Motor
Control block
SB12LS-EHR5 Control block
corrected by repeat transmission. Implement M4-12
hydraulic
Figure 6: With CAN, all stations are interconnected via a serial data bus.
2. Drive Transmissions
40 km/h - the challenge
Each of these drive solutions has ad-
for self-propelled harve-
vantages and disadvantages that must
sters be weighed during project planning
for the corresponding application. As
Hydrostatic drive transmission shown in Fig. 4 - 6, all of these con-
There are three drive concepts for hy- cepts have already been realized. The
drostatic drive transmissions used in following is a brief list of the most im-
harvesters (see Fig. 3): portant decision-making criteria:
- Central drive at the transfer gear,
which drives the axles via cardan
shafts
- Axle drive with one hydromotor
each on the drive axle
- Single-wheel drive with axial-piston
motors and planetary gears
Until now, central drives enjoyed
nearly 100% market share in those
applications that account for the
highest numbers of units used, name-
ly in corn foragers and combines. This
is swinging toward axle drives at pre-
sent.
132 Mobile 2003 Agriculture Machines
Central drive: Axle drive:
50%
of overall traction
100%
of overall
traction
Figure 7: Central drive Figure 8: Axle drive
Advantages: Advantages:
- The differential lock is easy to realize - Saves space because no propeller
mechanically shafts are required
- The full propulsive power is available - It is possible to distribute the propul-
on each wheel sive power between the front and rear
- A larger transformation range can be axles
realized by using shift gearboxes - Smaller hydraulic pumps are suf-
Disadvantages: ficient, since the Rexroth hydraulic
- Mechanically complicated design and motors can be switched off to zero
concomitant increased space require- displacement through swiveling. With
ments a given oil flow from the pump, this
results in a higher flow for the other
hydraulic motors in the circuit and
thus a higher speed and travel velocity
Disadvantages:
- On each axle, only the respective pro-
pulsive power for this axle is available,
not the total propulsive power
- Additional outlay is required in order
to realize a differential lock
Bosch Rexroth AG
Single-wheel drive:
25%
of overall traction
Figure 9: Single-wheel drive
Advantages:
- Free space between the wheels and
thus improved adaptability to terrain
- Saves space because no propeller
shafts are required
Disadvantages:
- Only the respective propulsive power
is available on each wheel
- Increased cost for piping and indivi-
dual actuation of the motors
- Additional outlay is required in order
to realize a differential lock
Bosch Rexroth AG Agriculture Machines Mobile 2003 133

Axle drive
ASR
In order to cover the speed and trans-
on/off RC6-9
formation range up to 40 km/h, it is
BB-3

usually still necessary to use a mecha-

nical shift gearbox that can be shifted Diagnostics
while the machine is in motion, even
though variable displacement motors
are used. Simple gearboxes that can

Gearshift position
Steering
only be shifted when the machine is at

Speed
angle
a standstill are no longer modern to-
day. Thus in the future, power shift
Joystick
gears will also be used increasingly in
agricultural machines.
If the load is unevenly distributed
among the axles, it is possible, for ex-
ample, to only install a power shift
gear on the axle with the higher load II I II I

and dispense with the shift gear on A4VG

the other axles. The prerequisite for Variable pump
this is a hydromotor with a max. per-
missible speed that permits it to keep
A6VM
running at 40 km/h without being Variable motor
disengaged. Bent-axis type motors are
superior in this connection. Thus the Figure 10: Electrically controlled hydrostatic axle drive
preferred motors for this application
are Rexroth A6VM and A2FM mo-
tors.
134 Mobile 2003 Agriculture Machines Bosch Rexroth AG

Wheel drive RC6-9

Steering ASR
Wheel motors with planetary gears +
angle on/off Software ASR
and axial-piston motors are normally BB-3

realized with a fixed transmission ra-

tio without shifting. In vehicles with a Diagnostics
higher transformation range for
speeds up to 40 km/h, one can quickly
reach the limits of single-wheel drives.
Wheel drives with power shift gears
Speed

offer entirely new possibilities in this

I
I
Joystick
connection. The advantages are:

II
II

- The transformation range is consi-

derably increased.
- Improved efficiency due to lower Wheel drive Wheel drive
A6VE + A6VE +
motor speeds and more favorable GFT GFT
swing angle settings on the hydro-
motors
A4VG
I

- This new type of drive is described Variable

I
II

in more detail below pump

II
Anti-Slip Control (ASR) Figure 11: Wheel drive
Slippage of an axle or a wheel can be and the fastest possible torque de-
effectively prevented through the use velopment. The use of electronic anti-
of a Rexroth RC electronic control wheel-slip control results in minimi-
unit. To this end, the swing angle of zation of wear in combination with
the hydraulic motors is stipulated by top propulsive force and driving dy-
the control unit. Sensors on the axles namics.
or the wheel provide a non-contact
method of registering the axle or
wheel speeds. Already when starting
from a standstill at very low speed,
even the smallest deviations are regi-
stered. In addition, the steering angle
is measured in order to make it possi-
ble to account for the difference in
speed due to varying curve radiuses. If
the differences in speed exceed the re-
spectively permissible maximum va-
lue, then the hydraulic drive is imme-
diately swiveled to zero. Depending
on the inertia of the drive, the control
speed is optimized to provide an ideal
mix of gentle anti-wheel-slip control
Bosch Rexroth AG Agriculture Machines Mobile 2003 135

Gearboxes with dynamic brakes Function of the dynamic brake:

Gearboxes with dynamic brakes are a Parking: Both brake pistons are not
new development in self-propelled under pressure in the initial state: the
harvesters. When combined with hy- spring packet of the large piston
draulic dual displacement motors, this works via the large piston and thus via
can be used to realize very compact the small piston on the disk packet.
drive solutions.
Driving: The large piston is placed
When developing the braking Parking under pressure; the small piston is wi-
function, there were various require- thout pressure. Thus the large piston
ments that had be to be fulfilled and is ventilated, while the small piston is
were accordingly implemented in the guided by the readjusting spring.
Rexroth solution: Thus the brake is open.
- The frictional surfaces must be pro-
tected from fouling and moisture. Braking: The large piston remains un-
Thus the friction elements are disks der pressure and thus is ventilated. In
that run in gear oil. addition, the small piston is placed
- To minimize the installation space under pressure and moved against the
Driving
required, the number of compon- readjusting springs. Once the spring
ents was minimized. The parking force has been overcome, the piston
brake and the main brake, for ex- lies against the disk packet. If the bra-
ample, use the same disk packet for king pressure is increased further,
this reason. then a proportional braking torque is
generated.
- The friction brake must be capable
of absorbing the necessary braking
energy even if the hydrostatic bra-
king effect fails. In order to fulfill Braking
this requirement, the disks have
Bild 12: Parking, driving, braking
been designed for the dynamic case
with regard to their friction area
and their volume, which must store
the heat generated
- Because spring brakes are not per-
mitted at the present time, a combi-
nation of two pistons (one inside
the other) was chosen. This makes it
possible to realize a spring parking
brake as well as a pressure-actuated
service brake.
136 Mobile 2003 Agriculture Machines Bosch Rexroth AG

Mechanically shiftable gearboxes

Another essential component for at-
taining higher speeds in self-propelled
harvesters are mechanical gearboxes
that can be shifted while the vehicle is
in motion. The solutions developed
by Rexroth essentially consist of two
switchable disk clutches, preceded by
a planetary stage that serves as a shif-
ting stage and followed by a two-stage
planetary gear. The later, with torque
division, handles torque amplification
with power take off via the ring gear.

On the whole, this results in a series of

advantageous characteristics for this
Figure 13: Shift gearbox first gear
gearbox solution:
– Shifting by a frictional connection
makes the gearbox less sensitive for
failures in case of incorrect shifting.
The vehicle does not have to be
brought to a standstill before chan-
ging gears. It is possible to shift whi-
le the vehicle is in motion.
– Due to the especially compact de-
sign, the gearbox can be used even
when there is not much space
available.
– Because the coupling disks have
been designed with an extremely
small outer diameter, heat generati-
on is minimized.
Figure 14: Shift gearbox second gear
– Thanks to power take off of the shif-
ting stage via the planet carrier, it is Functioning of the mechanically First gear: Clutch 1 (small piston) is
no longer necessary to change direc- shiftable gearbox: placed under pressure with hydraulic
tion of rotation at the gearbox input Parking brake: both clutches are wit- oil while clutch 2 remains free of pres-
when shifting between gears. hout pressure in this state. Both the sure. The ring gear is connected to the
ring gear and the sun wheel of the case. Thus the sun wheel can turn fre-
shifting stage (directly above the ring ely. So the shift stage functions like an
gear) are connected to the case. Thus ordinary planetary stage with power
the entire gearbox is blocked and ful- take off via the planet carrier. The ra-
fills the function of a spring-loaded tio of the of shift stage, multiplied by
parking brake. the total transmission ratio of the po-
Bosch Rexroth AG
wer take off stages, results in the high
total transmission ratio of the gearbox
in this driving status.
Second gear: Clutch 2 (the large pi-
ston) is pressurized with hydraulic oil
in this shift status, while clutch 1 is
free of pressure. Thus the ring gear is
disconnected from the case. Because
the sun wheel and the ring gear are
connected with one another, no relati-
ve motion is possible within the shift
stage. The stage turns as a block, so
that the power take off momentum
and power take off speed at the fixed
connection are equivalent to those at
the sun wheel. The transmission ratio
of this stage is thus 1:1. The lower to-
tal transmission ratio thus results only
from the ratio of the power take off
stages.
I
II
I II I II
Figure 15: Combined wheel and axle drive
Agriculture Machines Mobile 2003 137
The new shiftable wheel gear presen-
ted above results in brand-new drive
possibilities. In future, many central
drives will be replaced by wheel mo-
tors, while simple shiftable gearboxes
that can only be shifted at standstill
will be replaced by power shift gears.
Combinations of wheel drive and axle
drive are also easily possible (see Fig.
12). Above all, together with the elec-
tronics that are being used more and
more frequently, for which Rexroth
maintains an extensive software and
hardware kit, this will result in a va-
riety of new drive concepts for agri-
cultural machines, regardless of drive
speed.
Implement
Pressure limiter valve hydraulics
LS
Pressure sequence valve
Braking function deactivated
for reverse travel
reverse
I II
LS
forward
Figure 16: Hydrostatic braking
138 Mobile 2003 Agriculture Machines Bosch Rexroth AG

3. Conclusion
Especially in modern harvesters with
their constantly growing demands in
terms of efficiency and increased
work performance, use of electronics
and sensors is more important than
ever. On-board electronics, the CAN
bus, and smart control technology by
Rexroth optimize the overall system.
New drive transmission concepts
make it possible to build bigger, hea-
vier, and faster vehicles. Electronically
linked valve technology permits com-
plex control and monitoring
functions. This helps to ease the strain
on the driver and optimize harvester
productivity.
Rexroth will continue to work on sy-
stem solutions and offer tailor-made
solutions. The only way to implement
these concepts for the benefit of cu-
stomers is through cooperation bet-
ween manufacturers and the applica-
tion center as well as among the va-
rious Bosch Rexroth AG product
units.
Bosch Rexroth AG Agriculture Machines Mobile 2003 139