Abstract: A vehicle propel system, including a hydrostatic transmission having wheel motors (37L,37R) and a variable displacement pump (39), variable in response to a pump displacement command signal (51). The system involves determining (67) anticipated motor flow, and generating a signal (69) corresponding thereto. A pressure command signal (77) corresponds to the desired pump pressure. Actual motor flow is sensed (75), and a processor (49) calculates pump flow and compares it to actual motor flow (75) to determine system leakage (107). The processor then modifies the anticipated motor flow signal (69) to compensate for system leakage (107), and generates the appropriate pump displacement command signal (51). The use of feed-forward terms, such as anticipated motor flow (69), pump speed and commanded pressure times leakage gain to calculate desired pump displacement allow a lesser gain to be used for the feedback term (measured pump pressure 59), thereby reducing "wheel hop".

Abstract: An improved fluid controller (15) is provided having both rotary valving (47) actuated by the steering wheel (17), and axial valving (49) controlled by an electro-hydraulic valve (113) in response to a correction signal (31). In one embodiment, both the rotary valving and the axial valving are achieved by a primary valve member (63) and a follow-up valve member (65), and both the rotary and axial valving can be actuated simultaneously. Also disclosed is a logic control system for closed-loop control of the electro-hydraulic valve, whereby performance problems such as self-steering, wander, drift, and others are substantially eliminated.

Abstract: An improved fluid controller (15) is provided having both rotary valving (47) actuated by the steering wheel (17), and axial valving (49) controlled by an electro-hydraulic valve (113) in response to a correction signal (31). In one embodiment, both the rotary valving and the axial valving are achieved by a primary valve member (63) and a follow-up valve member (65), and both the rotary and axial valving can be actuated simultaneously. Also disclosed is a logic control system for closed-loop control of the electro-hydraulic valve, whereby performance problems such as self-steering wander, drift, and others are substantially eliminated.

Abstract: A control system (33, 41) is disclosed of the type used to control the displacement of a variable displacement pump (11) having stroking cylinders (25, 27). The control system includes a pair of ON-OFF electromagnetic valves (49, 51) and a proportional valve (85). When a first direction of operation is selected, a first direction command signal (43) is transmitted to the first ON-OFF valve (40) such that control pressure from the charge pump (17) flows through the valve (49), then through the proportional valve (85) and through the valve (51) to the reservoir (75) until the proportional valve (85), in response to an increasing displacement signal (47), moves from its minimum displacement position (FIG. 1) toward a position corresponding to the desired displacement of the pump.

Abstract: A keyboard assembly is disclosed in which complementary arrays of first and second switch contacts are connected in equal sets and each set of first contacts is connected to a separate set of second contacts through a diode so that the connected sets of contacts do not contain contacts from the same switch, thus permitting keyboard terminals individually associated with the connected sets of first and second contacts to be sequentially enabled while reading the unenabled terminals to determine actuated switches.