Auger and conveyor speed control
A paving system includes a paving machine including a drive assembly, a paving material delivery system, and a material depth sensor. The paving material delivery system includes a hopper, a conveyor assembly, an auger, and a screed. The material depth sensor is configured to detect a head of paving material in front of the screed. The paving machine further includes a controller in communication with the material depth sensor. The controller is configured to receive a feed sensor signal from the material depth sensor, receive an auger speed signal indicative of a speed of the auger, and adjust a conveyor speed based on at least one of the feed sensor signal and the auger speed signal.
1 . A paving system, comprising:
a paving machine, including:
a drive assembly;
a paving material delivery system, including a hopper, a conveyor assembly, an auger, and a screed;
a material depth sensor configured to detect a head of paving material downstream of the auger and in front of the screed; and
a controller in communication with the material depth sensor, the controller configured to:
receive a feed sensor signal from the material depth sensor;
receive an auger speed signal indicative of a speed of the auger; and
adjust a conveyor speed based on at least one of the feed sensor signal and the auger speed signal.
2 . The paving system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to automatically adjust conveyor speed in response to the paving machine reaching a steady state operation.
3 . The paving system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to adjust the speed of the auger to a predetermined speed for a steady state operation of the paving machine in response to adjusting the conveyor speed.
4 . The paving system of claim 3 , wherein the predetermined speed is in a range of about 20 rpm to about 40 rpm.
5 . The paving system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to adjust the conveyor speed by decreasing the conveyor speed in response to the speed of the auger being above the predetermined speed.
6 . The paving system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to adjust the conveyor speed by increasing the conveyor speed in response to the speed of the auger being below the predetermined speed.
7 . The paving system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to adjust the conveyor speed by increasing the conveyor speed in response to the feed sensor signal indicating a decrease in the head of paving material.
8 . The paving system of claim 1 , wherein the material depth sensor is an ultrasonic sensor.
9 . The paving system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine, prior to adjusting the conveyor speed, that an increased demand for additional paving material is not temporary.
10 . The paving system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to monitor the speed of the auger for an auger speed outside of a predetermined speed range.
11 . A method for controlling delivery of paving material from a paving machine, the method comprising:
setting a feed sensor depth;
waiting for a head of paving material to stabilize at the feed sensor depth;
determining a steady state rotation speed of an auger of the paving machine;
detecting a change to the head of paving material downstream of the auger and upstream of a screed of the paving machine;
automatically adjusting a speed of a conveyor of the paving machine based on the auger speed or the change to the head of paving material; and
monitoring the speed of the auger at a steady state for an auger speed outside of a predetermined speed range.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
adjusting the auger speed to the predetermined speed in response to determining that the speed of the auger is outside of the predetermined speed range.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the steady state rotation speed of the auger comprises deriving the steady state rotation speed of the auger from a current signal sent to an auger controller.
14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
transmitting a message to one or more control panels if the predetermined speed in unable to be maintained.
15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein setting the feed sensor depth comprises receiving feed sensor depth input from an operator of the paving machine.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein monitoring the speed of the auger is performed intermittently during operation of the paving machine.
17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein monitoring the speed of the auger is performed continuously during operation of the paving machine.
18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined speed range is a range of about 20 rpm to about 40 rpm.
19 . The method of claim 11 , wherein automatically adjusting the speed of the conveyor comprises increasing the conveyor speed in response to the speed of the auger being above the predetermined speed range.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein automatically adjusting the speed of the conveyor comprises decreasing the conveyor speed in response to the speed of the auger being below the predetermined speed range.