Generic construction machines, more particularly, road milling machines, are disclosed, for example, in DE 10 2006 062 129 A1, DE 10 2005 044 211 A1, DE 103 37 600 A1, and WO 03/064770 A1. Such road milling machines are used for milling the ground, for example, for milling road surfaces and/or for carrying out stabilizing and/or recycling measures for the ground and comprise for this purpose a milling device having a milling drum mounted with its axis of rotation extending horizontally and transversely to the direction of advance and adapted to mill the ground during rotational working operation by means of appropriate working tools disposed on the cylindrical outer surface of the milling drum. Apart from the milling device, such a road milling machine also comprises a machine frame that forms the essential supporting structure of the construction machine. Furthermore, a pair of front transportation means and a pair of rear transportation means are usually disposed on the machine frame, wherein, in the present case, the term “transportation means” is understood to mean wheels or crawler chains. However, a single pair of the transportation means may fundamentally also be substituted by a single transportation means in known manner.
For the purpose of accommodating various vertical positions of the machine frame in relation to the ground, at least one pair of the front and/or rear transportation means is connected to the machine frame by means of lifting columns each of which comprises an actuator. In this regard, the lifting columns are constructed in such a way that they can alter the distance between the machine frame and the transportation means, more particularly, at least partly in a vertical direction, for the purpose of effecting lift adjustment of the machine frame in a vertical direction relative to the ground. The actuators are, in particular, linear actuators and are arranged, in particular, in such a way that linear adjustment in a vertical direction is possible. Furthermore, generic construction machines comprise a control device designed to control the lift adjustment of the lifting columns by means of the actuators. In this regard, the main function of the control device lies, more particularly, in facilitating the coordinated adjustment of the actuators toward each other for the purpose of facilitating the regulation, on the one hand, of the height adjustment of the construction machine itself and, on the other hand, for adjusting the position of the machine frame in relation to the ground.
A particularly challenging problem to be solved, especially in connection with generic road milling machines, relates, on the one hand, to the realization of uniform operating results, for example, as regards the milling depth, and, on the other hand, to the achievement of adequate tipping resistance of the road miller for the purpose of guaranteeing safe working conditions. This is particularly problematic in the case of ground unevenness and/or when traveling over obstructions, for example, when traveling over a milled edge. Due to the relatively high center of gravity of such construction machines, they feature a relatively high tendency to tip over as soon as the machine assumes a slightly tipped position.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds