LS Controls in Public Utility Vehicles and Tool Carriers

LS Controls in Public Utility Vehicles

and Tool Carriers

Mechanical engineers employ hydraulic systems to

transmit the drive power generated by diesel engines to the tools attached to public utility vehicles. Such a hydraulic system consists of a hydrostatic drive in closed circuits, and is often found in
high-performance travel drives or rotating drives,
or it may be valve-controlled in an open-circuit
configuration.
The table below shows a list of machines with
open-circuit service hydraulics featuring either
throttle control or load-sensing control:
Trend:

The more sophisticated the function,

the more precise the repeat accuracy of
a movement, and the more functions
have to be controlled in parallel by one
pump, the greater the need for LS controls.

The table below indicates the most important distinctions between throttle and LS controls:

Open circuit,
throttle control

Open circuit, LS control

(closed centre), flow control

Sweeping machines
Refuse collection trucks, rear loaders
Truck-mounted cranes up to 25 mt, manual
Tow-away vehicles
Hook/skip loaders
Scissor-type lifting platforms
Airport vehicles
Fork lift trucks
Sewer flushing vehicles
Bulk handling vehicles
Stabilizers and outriggers of all types

Snow ploughs/winter service vehicles

Refuse collection trucks, front and side loaders
Truck-mounted cranes over 20 mt,
radio-remote controlled
Motor turntable ladders
Slope mowers, mulch spreaders
Ski slope crawler vehicles
Large lifting platforms

Table 1: Service hydraulics in public utility vehicles - some typical fields of application

Throttle control OC

Load sensing control LS

LUDV control CC

Throttling of a pump circulation

port and simultaneous opening of
a actuator connection via a variable metering orifice (spool). As
soon as pump pressure exceeds
actuator pressure, oil is pumped
to the actuator. Precise control
depends strongly on load and
operator.

Flow to actuators proportional to

metering orifice aperture. Load-independence ensured by sectional
pressure compensator as long as
the amount delivered by the pump
meets actuator demand. If
undersupply occurs, the speed of
the actuator(s) with the highest
load pressure will be reduced.

Flow to actuators proportional to

metering orifice aperture. Load-independence ensured by sectional
pressure compensator as long as
the amount delivered by the pump
meets actuator demand. If
undersupply occurs, the speed of
all actuators will be reduced in
parallel and in proportion to their
metering orifice aperture.

Table 2: Throttle and flow control characteristics

A. Wolf
Rexroth Hydraulics
Lohr
Phone +49 (0) 93 52 18-38 98
Fax
+49 (0) 93 52 18-21 59
E-mail andreas.wolf@rexroth.de

RE 00 207/10.00

221

LS Controls in Public Utility Vehicles and Tool Carriers

High-precision control of individual movements is

required in particular if movements are automated;
this includes positioning accuracy as well as speed
control of parallel movements. The example given
below, an LS control in refuse collection trucks with
overhead loading facility operated by one person,
illustrates this point:

Picking up and lowering a

container with an overheadloading refuse collection
truck

The PLC is fed the command value for the lifting

cycle from a reference position at which sensors
run a safety check after the fork has been inserted
in the container pockets under joystick control.
Now, up to three parallel movements follow, which
must not interfere with one another, to ensure that
the container moves parallel to the ground until it
is above the drivers cab. Only then will its contents
be dumped into the - now open - container body,
without any refuse dropping on the drivers cab.

Parallel fork movement over

a wide swing angle of the
lifting frame to prevent the
premature emptying of the
refuse container. The flap of
the container body opens
simultaneously.

Since pump pressure ranges between 50 and

100 bar or between 80 and 200 bar when lifting
an empty or full container, an electro-proportional
LS control is the only way to meet the requirement
for repeatable and load-independent speed control.
To this end, an A10VO100DFR1 pump and an
M4-15 control valve are used. While two sections
control the lifting movement of the container, the
third section controls the further compacting of the
refuse under variable drive speed and constant
compactor speed while the truck is moving.
Since a considerably lower amount of volumetric
flow is required to open/close the flap and to control other auxiliary functions, a 5SP-08 control
valve featuring a 2-way inlet pressure compensator is used. As long as the solenoids are in their
neutral position, the integrated pilot-controlled
check valves keep the cylinders in their holding
position without any oil leakage.

Load holding valves

Leakage-free shut-off load lowering valves that are
directly mounted on the cylinder for safety reasons
(to preclude any danger from pipe rupture) hold
the lifting frame, with or without a refuse container.

LS control block diagram for truck-mounted cranes

222

RE 00 207/10.00

LS Controls in Public Utility Vehicles and Tool Carriers

other relevant crane regulations. For instance, all

crane valves must feature redundant emergency
cut-off systems, and the entire crane control system must feature a load moment limiter to prevent the crane from overturning when extending
the jib with an attached load. These safety functions are best integrated into the main control
valve of a crane to avoid additional pipework.

Emergency OFF
In fixed displacement pump operations, the upstream selector valve switches from the stabilizer
or crane control position to neutral with springactuated centering. The resulting circulation pressure is too low to even serve as auxiliary energy
and is unable to bring downstream directional
valve spools, which are also spring-centred, into
their operating position.

5M4-12 directional valve with LS limiting valves

The relief of the spring chamber of the load lowering valves must be ensured if the return pressure
from the valve is transmitted via narrow pipes, a
directional valve control land and return filter arrangement.
The machine does not need an oil cooler because,
during lowering operations, the period of time with
high throttling losses is very short compared to the
load cycle when only the load pressure is generated by the pump.

Load lowering
Control pressures required for
lowering loads
Note: The equations below have been simplified
and do not take into account pressure at connection 2.

1) Load lowering valves on the cap side of the

cylinder with load on the piston side
P=

S-L
P(r) + 1/C(r)

2) Load lowering valves on the rod side of the cylinder with pulling load
P=

S-L
P(r) + C(r)

3) Load lowering valves on a motor or a doublerod cylinder with pulling load

P=

S-L
P(r) + C(r)

Note: In valves not having a fourth connection for

spring chamber relief, the pressure at connection
2 equates to the opening pressure on the basis of
a factor of one plus the control ratio. E.g., for a 3:1
load lowering valve, a pressure of 15 bar at connection 2 will entail a cutting-in pressure increase
by 60 bar.

The machine does not need an oil cooler because,

during lowering operations, the period of time with
high throttling losses is very short compared to the
load cycle when only the load pressure is generated by the pump.

L
=
P
=
opening
P(r) =
S
=
C(r) =

Truck-mounted crane controls are another typical

LS control application. Again, if radio-remote controlled, a change in speed of individual, usually
superimposed movements is required that is proportional to the excursion of the command unit
actuator (e.g. joystick).

load pressure
control pressure required for
control ratio (e.g. 3:1 = 3)
valve timing
cylinder area = (spool _)

spool _ - rod _)

RE 00 207/10.00

Example application: truck-mounted crane control

However, heed must be paid to the safety regulations stipulated in crane guideline prEN 1501 or

In variable displacement pump operations, the

actuator connections of the upstream emergencyoff directional valve will be blocked. In addition to
this, the electrically-powered directional valves will
be de-energized, so unloading the LS signalling
cascade back to the tank. Consequently, the spools
of the pressure compensators will shut as well so
that any accidental movement of the control is
doubly prevented.

Load moment limiter (LMB)

Modern crane controls feature small load moment
computers that calculate the current load moment
on the basis of the pressure in the lifting cylinder,
for instance. (In truck cranes with several telescoping sections or a level-luffing jib extension, the
situation is more complex due to the mast
deadweight and would exceed the remit of this
paper.)
Whenever the admissible load moment is exceeded, all movements increasing the load-moment must be disabled. One means to achieve this
end is to route each LS actuator-connection signal individually to the tank to render the spring
force too weak for shifting the pressure compensator spool against the pressure exerted by the
pump.
If the LS unloading valves isolate both LS connections of an inactive valve at the same time, operation is impossible even if an override manual lever is used. Alternatively, the emergency-OFF valve
may go into neutral whenever the admissible load
moment limit is infringed, so cutting off pump flow.
All pilot valves will be isolated at the same time,

223

LS Controls in Public Utility Vehicles and Tool Carriers

causing all directional valve spools to go into neutral as well. In this case, even manual (emergency)
operation will not trigger any movement because
there is no pump pressure left, and since load lowering or pilot-controlled check valves will immobilise all the actuators.

Catching manual levers

Until now, directional valve spools with fixed-connection manual levers have been available on the
market which are either covered or unscrewed to
prevent inadvertent use. However, they do increase
valve hysteresis due to the requisite external seal
of the directional valve spool. Catching manual
levers, in contrast, do not follow the spool either
in the neutral position or during electrohydraulic
operation. During mechanical operation, however,
the control spool engagement mechanism is automatically actuated, enabling the manual lever to
be used for flow control.

Tool carrier control

In public utility vehicles, tool carriers are used for
a wide variety of purposes as is reflected by the
list of attachable devices. For this reason, hydraulic control technology must cover a most diverse
range of functions.

Public utility vehicle tool carrier with attached devices

The A10VO45DFR1 variable displacement pump

with a capacity of up to 90 l/min at 280 bar forms
the core of such a system. A valve control block
belonging to the SP-08 series transmits the hydraulic power via a monodesign inlet element to the
individual actuators such as tipper, water pump,
mounted plough, or sweeper drive.
Two section pressure compensators with variable
orifices for the main actuators and one section
pressure compensator for the downstream directional valve sections have been installed to make
the individual actuators load-independent. Pressure relief valves provide electroproportional control of the directional valve spools in the monobloc.
To prevent any control start-up problems in winter, a flushing valve has been installed in the
monobloc for continual flushing of the control
block at approx. 20 bar and 5 l/min. As soon as
the pump receives an LS signal from an actuator,
the flushing valve closes to prevent any unnecessary heating and to make the full pump capacity
available for the drive.
LS valve control block SP08, monodesign inlet element with 2 flange-mounted directional valve
sections

224

LS valve SP-08: monoblock inlet with two sections

The same monodesign inlet element is used in

agricultural machines and winter service vehicles.

Summary
LS valves are increasingly used in public utility
vehicles with exacting demands for the precise
control and repeat accuracy of individual movements. Compared to throttle valve control, these
valves are advantageous because they are loadindependent when several actuators have to be
operated simultaneously. With control blocks of the
types SP-08 (up to 30 l/min. per section), M4-12
(up to 80 l/min. per section) and M4-15 (up to 130
l/min. per section), Rexroth offers a balanced range

of on/off and proportional valves offering typical

features such as emergency OFF control, latch/
delatch manual levers, LS pressure limiting or shutoff valves, and integrated electronic systems that
are suitable for CAN bus control. With matching
micro-controllers and a complete range of pumps
as well, Rexroth is able to offer machine builders
the full spectrum of drive and control technology
from a single source.

RE 00 207/10.00