IP Library › Granted Patent US 12679451
Granted Patent B2
US 12679451 · App. 18/418,687 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Rear wheel steering alignment calibration

Inventors: Noah J. Rasmussen (Cambridge, IA); Jason J. Wanner (Cedar Falls, IA); Joshua T. Lawson (Woodbury, MN)
Assignee: Deere & Company
B62D6/002A01B69/007B60K35/21B60K35/26B62D5/064B62D5/08B62D5/09B62D5/10B62D6/001B60K2360/167
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12679451
App. No.
18/418,687
Granted
Jul 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A work vehicle includes steerable left and right front wheels and steerable left and right rear wheels and a manually operated steering input for steering the wheels through a hydraulic steering circuit connected to left and right front hydraulic actuators configured to steer the left and right front wheels. In order to perform a rear wheel alignment operation, the hydraulic steering circuit is bypassed so that the steering wheel can be used as an input device to steer each of the rear wheels in a steer by wire arrangement for alignment, without steering the front wheels during the alignment process.

Claims (72)

1 . A work vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle frame;

at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit supporting the vehicle frame from a ground surface;

at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit supporting the vehicle frame from the ground surface;

at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator configured to steer the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit;

at least one non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator configured to steer the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit;

a steering input device configured to be manually moved by a human operator to input steering commands to the work vehicle;

a manually powered hydraulic pump driven by the manual movement of the steering input device to provide flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator when the steering input device is manually moved by the human operator;

a steering input sensor connected to the steering input device and configured to detect the manual movement of the steering input device and to generate a steering input signal corresponding to the detected manual movement of the steering input device;

a dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve configured to control flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to provide automated steering of the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit;

a non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve configured to control flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to provide automated steering of the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit; and

a controller operatively connected to the steering input sensor to receive the steering input signal and to control operation of the dominant end and non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valves, the controller being configured to provide a non-dominant end ground engaging unit alignment calibration mode in which:

the dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve bypasses hydraulic fluid from the manually powered hydraulic pump past the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator so that manual movement of the steering input device does not steer the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit; and

a command signal is sent to the non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve to steer an individual one of the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit at least in part in response to the steering input signal;

wherein the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit includes a left non-dominant end ground engaging unit and a right non-dominant end ground engaging unit; and

wherein the controller is configured such that the non-dominant end ground engaging unit alignment calibration mode includes a left non-dominant end ground engaging unit alignment calibration mode and a right non-dominant end ground engaging unit alignment mode so that a steering alignment of each of the left and right non-dominant end ground engaging units may be individually calibrated.

2 . The work vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:

the controller includes a display configured to display to the human operator an indicia representative of a steering angle of the individual one of the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit.

3 . The work vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:

a left non-dominant end ground engaging unit steering angle sensor configured to detect a steering angle of the left non-dominant end ground engaging unit relative to the vehicle frame; and

a right non-dominant end ground engaging unit steering angle sensor configured to detect a steering angle of the right non-dominant end ground engaging unit relative to the vehicle frame.

4 . The work vehicle of claim 3 , wherein:

the controller includes a display configured to display to the human operator an indicia representative of the steering angle of a selected one of the left and right non-dominant end ground engaging units.

5 . The work vehicle of claim 3 , wherein:

the controller is configured such that a faster manual movement of the steering input device provides a larger steering angle change of a selected one of the left and right non-dominant end ground engaging units and a slower manual movement of the steering input device provides a smaller steering angle change of the selected one of the left and right non-dominant end ground engaging units, the faster manual movement being faster than the slower manual movement, and the larger steering angle change being larger than the smaller steering angle change.

6 . A work vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle frame;

at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit supporting the vehicle frame from a ground surface;

at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit supporting the vehicle frame from the ground surface;

at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator configured to steer the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit;

at least one non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator configured to steer the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit;

a steering input device configured to be manually moved by a human operator to input steering commands to the work vehicle;

a manually powered hydraulic pump driven by the manual movement of the steering input device to provide flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator when the steering input device is manually moved by the human operator;

a steering input sensor connected to the steering input device and configured to detect the manual movement of the steering input device and to generate a steering input signal corresponding to the detected manual movement of the steering input device;

a dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve configured to control flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to provide automated steering of the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit;

a non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve configured to control flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to provide automated steering of the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit; and

a controller operatively connected to the steering input sensor to receive the steering input signal and to control operation of the dominant end and non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valves, the controller being configured to provide a non-dominant end ground engaging unit alignment calibration mode in which:

the dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve bypasses hydraulic fluid from the manually powered hydraulic pump past the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator so that manual movement of the steering input device does not steer the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit; and

a command signal is sent to the non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve to steer an individual one of the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit at least in part in response to the steering input signal;

wherein:

the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit includes a left dominant end ground engaging unit and a right dominant end ground engaging unit;

the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator includes a left dominant end hydraulic steering actuator and a right dominant end hydraulic steering actuator; and

the dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve includes an enable valve and a steer left proportional valve and a steer right proportional valve, the steer left proportional valve being configured to direct hydraulic fluid to both the left and right dominant end hydraulic steering actuators to steer the work vehicle to the left, and the steer right proportional valve being configured to direct hydraulic fluid to both the left and right dominant end hydraulic steering actuators to steer the work vehicle to the right.

7 . The work vehicle of claim 6 , wherein:

the controller in the non-dominant end ground engaging unit alignment calibration mode is configured such that the enable valve of the dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve is off and the steer left and steer right proportional valves of the dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve are positioned to bypass the hydraulic fluid from the manually powered hydraulic pump past the left and right dominant end hydraulic steering actuators.

8 . A work vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle frame;

at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit supporting the vehicle frame from a ground surface;

at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit supporting the vehicle frame from the ground surface;

at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator configured to steer the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit;

at least one non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator configured to steer the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit;

a steering input device configured to be manually moved by a human operator to input steering commands to the work vehicle;

a manually powered hydraulic pump driven by the manual movement of the steering input device to provide flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator when the steering input device is manually moved by the human operator;

a steering input sensor connected to the steering input device and configured to detect the manual movement of the steering input device and to generate a steering input signal corresponding to the detected manual movement of the steering input device;

a dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve configured to control flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to provide automated steering of the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit;

a non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve configured to control flow of hydraulic fluid to the at least one non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to provide automated steering of the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit; and

a controller operatively connected to the steering input sensor to receive the steering input signal and to control operation of the dominant end and non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valves, the controller being configured to provide a non-dominant end ground engaging unit alignment calibration mode in which:

the dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve bypasses hydraulic fluid from the manually powered hydraulic pump past the at least one dominant end hydraulic steering actuator so that manual movement of the steering input device does not steer the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit; and

a command signal is sent to the non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve to steer an individual one of the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit at least in part in response to the steering input signal;

wherein:

the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit includes a steerable left non-dominant end ground engaging unit and a steerable right non-dominant end ground engaging unit;

the at least one non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator includes a left non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator and a right non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator;

the non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve includes a left side enable valve and a left side steer left proportional valve and a left side steer right proportional valve, the left side steer left proportional valve being configured to direct hydraulic fluid to the left non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to steer the left non-dominant end ground engaging unit to the left, and the left side steer right proportional valve being configured to direct hydraulic fluid to the left non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to steer the left non-dominant end ground engaging unit to the right; and

the non-dominant end electro-hydraulic steering valve further includes a right side enable valve and a right side steer left proportional valve and a right side steer right proportional valve, the right side steer left proportional valve being configured to direct hydraulic fluid to the right non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to steer the right non-dominant end ground engaging unit to the left, and the right side steer right proportional valve being configured to direct hydraulic fluid to the right non-dominant end hydraulic steering actuator to steer the right non-dominant end ground engaging unit to the right.

9 . The work vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:

the work vehicle is a four wheel steering work vehicle;

the at least one steerable dominant end ground engaging unit includes left and right steerable dominant end wheels; and

the at least one steerable non-dominant end ground engaging unit includes left and right steerable non-dominant end wheels.

10 . The work vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:

the steering input device includes a steering wheel.

11 . The work vehicle of claim 10 , wherein:

the steering input sensor is a rotary sensor configured to detect a speed of rotation and/or an angle of rotation of the steering wheel.