76 Mobile 2006 Cranes Bosch Rexroth AG Bosch Rexroth AG Cranes Mobile 2006 77

Function For sophisticated Requirements

Crane controls are becoming increasingly comprehensive. At the same
time, the functionality becomes more complex for the crane operator. Crane Drives and Controls by
Here, the consequent further development of Rexroth components in
terms of functionality and safety and the integration of additional circuits Rexroth
have made crane controls significantly more user-friendly.

The demand for cranes (Fig. 1) has gone up continuously in the last few
Cost years. Both, the construction boom worldwide and local projects such as
the propagation of wind turbines in Europe, which are erected with the help
Efficiency is becoming a more and more important aspect for the ma-
of cranes, contributed to this development. The high reliability of drives,
chine users buying decision. The safety technology of the individual
controls and electronics is of particular significance for cranes. A further
components enhances the functional reliability and also the availability of
important development is the increasing integration of safety functions into
a crane. Load Cycle Monitoring and safety functionality can significantly
control valves as well as drive and output power units. In addition, more and
reduce loads on the crane and prolong the service life of individual com-
more additional functions are integrated into power units.
ponents accordingly, which, at the same time, promotes the efficiency of
the crane.

Jrg Grnert
Lohr (D)

Co-authors:

Norbert Dick
Nonantola (I)

Walter Kirchner
Witten (D)

Georg Kreissl
Elchingen (D)

Martin Lhrer
Witten (D)

Martin Sykora
Elchingen (D)
78 Mobile 2006 Cranes Bosch Rexroth AG

1 Hydraulic drives with

axial piston units
Steering
1.1 Steering concepts for mobile
cranes
Apart from a normal dual-circuit
steering system (Fig. 2), todays gen-
eration of mobile cranes is equipped
with a rear-axle steering system
(Fig. 3). A10 axial piston pumps of
series 31 und 52 are established in
DFR1 DFR1 DFR1
steering systems and cooler controls
for many years. Their advantages Diesel
lie in the efficient adjustment of the A10VO A10VO A10VWO
displacement within the diesel speed
range. When fixed displacement
pumps are used, the excess flow must
be redirected via a flow divider to
the tank, which involves a greater Fig. 2: Dual-circuit steering.
number of components installed and
also a greater tank capacity (Fig. 4).
The A10VWO pump, which has
Angle sensors
been available for some years, is now Angle Half block
sensor steering
provided with an integrated Graetz
plate and can therefore be operated
Lfter
in both directions of rotation (for-
ward and reverse driving). It is used

Gearbox + pump
A10VO
M4-12
or
SB12

Controller
Travel and imple- RC
ment hydraulics
3 x A10VO

Fig. 3: Hydraulic systems in the undercarriage of mobile cranes.

as axis-driven emergency steering

pump. Thanks to the integration of
the Graetz plate the pump has become
more compact with regard to installa-
Fig. 1: All-terrain crane. tion space and weight.
Bosch Rexroth AG Cranes Mobile 2006 79

Advantages of variable displacement pumps

Smaller tank capacity
Smaller line diameters
Fewer hydraulic components Fixed pump system
Less heat lost A high of produced ow has to
be diverted to the tank by means
Lower engery consumption of a ow divider!
Steering oil ow QL

Less noise

Sizes (cm3):
60, 85, 115, 150, 170, 215, 280
Essential ow Vg for Variable pump system
emergency steering at Flow independent of speed Pressure: 450/500 bar
10 km/h! range of diesel engine!
Bent axis rotary group
(robust, efficient, safe)

10 km/h Speed of travel V Housing for add-on functions

(speed sensor, temperatur sensor,
Fig. 4: Displacement diagram of fixed and variable displacement pump.
swivel angle sensor)
Characteristic 100 bar / 10 min-1 Characteristic 100 bar / 10 min-1 Controller for hoist application
A6VM series 63 A6VM series 71 (motion control valve, pressure
cut-off)
Fig. 5: A6VM variable displacement motor of
series 71, program and structure.
Pressure Pressure

The new series 71 with a modified size

program is based on this successful
design, but employs a 9-piston rotary
unit (Fig. 5). Thanks to the 9-piston
technology, both, the achievable low-
speed characteristics and the start-up
efficiency are optimized. The technical
Speed Speed
and comparative data are shown on
Figures 6 and 7. In view of the func-
tion of the winch drive, this means
Fig. 6: A6VM variable displacement motor of series 71, functional improvement of low-speed
characteristics.
a more homogenous movement of
the load in the fine control range and
1.2 New generation of the A6VM to the planetary gears of the hoist improved positioning of the load
hoist winch motor series 71 winch. The A6VM variable displace- during installation work. At the same
For the hoist winch drive, the axial ment motor series 63 has proven for time, the system excitation caused by
piston pump is an essential drive many years in this application. The the piston machine is reduced. The
element. The motor must transmit bent-axis design principle offers best positive effects become apparent in
the torque and speed as uniformly possible technical efficiency and reli- particular with the increasingly elastic
as possible and with good efficiency ability. crane structures. Here, the hoist gears
80 Mobile 2006 Cranes Bosch Rexroth AG

tendency to oscillate is reduced, and Characteristic start efficiency Characteristic start pressure
the drive operates more stably. Comparison A6VM series 63 / 71 Comparison A6VM series 63 / 71
100 100
Moreover, series 71 is convincing
in its higher overall efficiency, since

Start pressure [bar]

Start efficiency [%]

the 9-piston rotary unit can better Series 71 Series 63

90 90
cope with pressure forces (mechani-
cal-hydraulic efficiency) and features
Series 63
a lower slip (volumetric efficiency). 80 80
Series 71

The summarized customer benefits

are shown on Figure 8 and refer to
mobile telescopic cranes and crawler 70 70
cranes (Fig. 9). 0 100 200 300 0
Pressure [bar] Speed

2 Hydraulic and electronic
controls
2.1 Innovative slew gear control
block MSC-16
Cranes have to be differentiated in
mobile and crawler cranes according
to their locomotion concept, and in
telescopic and lattice cranes according
to their boom design. Irrespective of
the design, the slew gear assumes an
essential function on a crane. As the
boom reach and masses on the hook
increase, the requirements with regard
to precise positioning are becoming
more exacting.
The new slew gear module MSC-16
(Fig. 10) excels due to the conse-
quent integration of proven hydraulic
Fig. 7: A6VM variable displacement motor of series 71, optimization of start-up efficiency.
System stimulation reduced
(speed and torque riple improved)
Fine control improved
(better start/slow speed attidude)
Extended range of line speed
(motor speed range extended)
Higher power density
(increased speed and torque in same
frame/weight saving)
Saving Energy
(improved efficiency)
Fig. 8: A6VM variable displacement motor of series 71, customer benefit from winch drives.
construction elements and design tems, and at the same time, the crane
concepts in a directional valve that is manufacturers save cost (Fig. 11).
optimized to suit the requirements of
crane gears. It supports the possibility
of mounting electrohydraulic subsys-

Fig. 9: Crawler crane. Fig. 10: MSC-16 slew gear control block. Fig. 11: Innovative slew gear control on an
all-terrain crane.
Bosch Rexroth AG Cranes Mobile 2006 81

The standard valves used on slew

Holding brake
gears are usually Load Sensing (LS) or
Option: Pressure/ throttle directional valves. However,
Anti-cavitation Pilot pressure
speed sensor
valves these reach their limits with regard
to flexibility and degrees of freedom
when it comes to adjustments re-
Meter-out spool Meter-out spool
and free-wheel and free-wheel
quired on the slew gear due to positive
Proportional
and negative load conditions.
Proportional
pressure reducing pressure reducing
valves valves For this reason, Rexroth worked out
a new concept for the MSC-16 slew
Meter-in spool gear module on the basis of the re-
Holding brake quirements of crane slew gears and
Pressure existing basic concepts applied in the
compensator
field of hydraulic control technology.
Primary Option: Proportional Characteristic for the patented MSC-
pressure valve pressure relief valve
16 slew gear module is the pressure
Fig. 12: MSC-16 slew gear control block. compensator installed downstream of
the circulation channel in conjunction
with the meter-in spools for A and B
and one meter-out spool each for the
two actuator sides A and B (Fig. 12).
Generally, the operating principle of
the downstream circulation pressure
compensator is similar to that of the
flow-sharing (LUDV). It is based on
the principle of load-independent
flow control (LUDS) (Fig. 13). Here,
the oil flow is divided in parallel to
circulation and to the slew gear mo-
tor via two metering orifices, A1 and
A2, with the corresponding cross-sec-
tions and their profiles. With the help
Q1 A1 of a load signaling line the working
Q2 = A2 pressure p2 is signaled to the pres-
sure compensator downstream of
QPump = Q1 + Q2
the circulation flow so that after the
Spool stroke [mm]
metering orifice A2 (circulation), the
Fig. 13: Basic principle of flow control (LUDS). pressure corresponds to the working
pressure. When manufacturing toler-
ances and pipe friction are neglected,
the pump flow is divided according to
the metering orifice cross-sections.
82 Mobile 2006 Cranes Bosch Rexroth AG

A further advantage of this circuit is

B = Meter-in valve
that the oil flow shows linear char- Holding brake valve
A + B = Meter-out valve
acteristics irrespectively of the pump
supply flow depending on the selected Option:
Pilot pressure switch-off
A = Meter-in valve
spool cross-section, and the fine con-
trol range remains constant (Fig. 14).
The resolution is not reduced over the Pump port

spool stroke. With the concept of the

new slew gear module, the consequent
separation of the control spools for
the supply and return flow should be Tank port
taken into account. They can now be
controlled separately (Fig. 15). Pressure/Anti-
cavitation valve

Pressure/Anti-
Option: Proportional cavitation valve
max. ow gear pump
pressure relief valve

Fig. 15: Valve arrangement on MSC-16.

Flow Qmax [l/min]

The following standard controls can Deceleration is achieved by means

be operated with the BODAS RC con- of the meter-out spool (Fig. 16).
troller by Rexroth: Open Vario:
Closed Vario: In the basic position, both meter-
With the operation of the meter-in out spools are open and the crane
spool, the meter-out spool is con- can freely slew. For example, when
Fine metering Spool
stroke trolled proportionally and can be the meter-in spool is actuated, for
[mm]
adjusted to the meter-out pressures instance, on actuator side A, the me-
Fig. 14: Fine control characteristic curve of according to the crane setup. ter-out spool in A is closed simulta-
MSC-16. neously. When the meter-in spool is

Holding brake
Holding brake

BODAS RC
BODAS RC
Closed
Center

Open
Pilot pressure Center
Pilot pressure

Fig. 16: Control for Closed Vario and Open Vario. Fig. 17: Control for Speed Vario.
Bosch Rexroth AG Cranes Mobile 2006 83

Holding brake
Slew Angle Joystick Display
sensor THE

Holding brake
BODAS RC

BODAS RC Bodem
Control block
MSC-16

Pump
Pilot pressure

Fig. 18: Free-wheeling control. Fig. 19: Slew gear control.

actuated in the neutral position, the 2.2 M4-22 Load-Sensing control cranes, with integrated special func-
meter-out spool in A is opened, and block tions covering all application condi-
the crane can freely slew. Decelera- Rexroth developed the high-pressure tions. Due to the modular principle,
tion is achieved proportionally via control block type M4-22 (Fig. 20) users can easily retrofit functions and
an electrical pedal, which controls specifically for cranes. All safety func- configure the M4 series according to
the relevant meter-out spool pro- tions are integrated in the control their requirements.
portionally (Fig. 16). block. The great flexibility allows the
Speed Vario: use of this control block in all kinds of
The meter-out spool is operated
according to the position of the
joystick. The slewing speed cor- Pressure/Anti- LS pressure
cavitation valves relief vavle
responds to the lever position, the
meter-in spool is opened and the Inlet elements
Closed Center
pressure is controlled proportion-
Open Center
ally. Here, the BODAS RC controller Pilot pressure
controls the velocity and the pres- switch-off Pilot cover (A)
LS dampening valve
sure (Fig. 17). Hydraulic
Electrohydraulic
Free-wheeling: Pilot oil switch-off
In the free-wheeling mode, both
meter-out spools (Fig. 18) are open Pilot cover (B)
and the integrated holding brake is Standard End elements
Standard
released. The crane can freely slew.
with LS port
The MSC-16 slew gear module in- with P port
cludes all functionalities that are re- with T port

quired for a crane slew gear (Fig. 19)

and therefore represents a compact Fig. 20: M4-22 Load-Sensing control block.
and cost-optimized control for slew
gears.
84 Mobile 2006 Cranes Bosch Rexroth AG

With the single-circuit system, the

Secondary pressure Secondary pressure
maximum pump flow is Q = 600 Stroke limitation
relief valve relief valve
l/min. The section flow was rated to
Q = 400 l/min. The integrated sec- Safety func-
tion pressure compensator and the tion pilot oil
switch-off
LS pressure cut-off feature (Fig. 21) a and b
for every actuator ensure a load pres-
sure-independent control. Pressure
relief/anti-cavitation valves on the
secondary side protect the system and FTDRE4K
supply the actuators in line with the
demands. Type electro-
FTWE4 hydraulic
With hydraulic and electrohydrau-
lic controlling, a 3/2 shut-off valve
is integrated on every actuator side.
LS pressure Port Pressure com-
The solenoids briefly close the con- relief valve (MA, MB)
Shuttle valve
pensator
trol chamber of the control spool to
the tank and the spool moves to the Fig. 21: Section of M4-22 control block.
neutral position. It is released by the
Integrated pilot oil Open Center inlet CC
BODAS controller in conjunction supply Re-Circulating
with the load moment limitation.
Further safety shut-off valves (Fig. 22)
are provided for the pilot pressure and
the LS signal.
In the case of the single-cylinder tele-
scopic system, a tank logic element
(Fig. 23) supplements the telescoping
section. The control spool is arranged
in parallel to the logic element, which
features a separate tank outlet and
reduces the return flow pressure. This
allows the achievement of higher ve-
Safety function Safety function Primary pressure
locities for telescoping. pilot oil switch-off LS switch-off relief valve

For a dual-circuit system, a summat- Fig. 22: Inlet element of M4-22 control block.
ing valve can separate or short-circuit
the two pumps and feed the pump
flow to circuit one or circuit two.
The summating valve (Fig. 24) can be
operated on/off or proportionally.
Bosch Rexroth AG Cranes Mobile 2006 85

Telescope
Telescope
Boom Hoist Boom Hoist
Slew

Summation
Slew GFB + A2FE

Tank valve
GFB + A2FE

Control block
Control block
3M4-22
3M4-22

Control block Control block

MSC-16 MSC-16

Fig. 23: Working hydraulics with directional valve for telescoping system. Fig. 24: 3-circuit system with summating valve.

The section pressure compensator can

be opened by an on/off valve, and the
fluid can then freely flow to the actua-
tor (Fig. 25) This rapid speed func-
tion allows, for example, high rope
speeds on the winch.
The control block is characterized
by its wide variety of functions and
can be fitted with all safety functions
required by the customer. The result
is a compact design. Additional exter-
nal valves such as shut-off valves and
tank logic plates are not necessary.
With the M4 series users can benefit
Fig. 25: Rapid speed function on M4-22 directional valve. in particular from the control; here,
the control block and pump can be
used as LS system, electrical flow-
sharing (LUDV), electrical demand
control and also as directional valve
for controlling the pump. Due to this
functionality, the M4 control block
can be employed in all types and sizes
of cranes, always utilizing the same
directional valves.
86 Mobile 2006 Cranes Bosch Rexroth AG

2.3 BODAS in crane applications

The demands placed on mobile ma- External Application Software
Watchdog
chinery are becoming increasingly
stringent. On the one hand, the leg- Main
islator lays down stipulations such Controller
as safety requirements, standards or
emission regulations. On the other
hand, the system functionality speci-
fied by the customer is increasing.
Consequently, manufacturers of Peripheral Digital Signal
Controller Processor
mobile application systems have to
deal with the question of how to meet
these requirements.
Inputs Outputs Interfaces Number Crunching
Based exactly on this question, Digital PWM CAN Frequency Analysis
Analog Analog LIN Filtering
Rexroth developed BODAS (BOsch
Frequency Digital RS232 Interpolations
Designed Application System). The
system consists of hardware compo- Fig. 26: Hardware architecture of the TriCore TS1796 processor.
nents with interfaces matched to each
other (RC controllers, encoders, dis- Load limiting control with BODAS Valve management with BODAS
plays and sensors). It is complement- AS/LLC AS/VAC
ed by the complete, graphic develop-
The standard software BODAS AS/ BODAS AS/VAC (Application
ment environment BODASdesign on
LLC (Application Software/Load Software/VAlve Control) is an eas-
the basis of IEC61131, with which
Limiting Control) is used for limit- ily adjustable software for the valve
Rexroth or the user can create own
ing loads. It allows the user to utilize management (for example, for section
programs. The diagnostics tool
the hydraulic system of a crane to valves SB12LS, SB23LS, SP-08, M4 and
BODEM allows simple diagnostics
the maximum extent without over- mono-blocks M6, M7 by Rexroth).
and parameter changes during com-
loading the diesel engine. For this, a With the help of the software, the con-
missioning and in the field, without
permissible limitation is defined by trol characteristics of individual valves
the risk of unauthorized access to
parameterization of the software. If can be freely adjusted by changing pa-
the program. An essential part of the
the system is overloaded by the hy- rameters (ramp times, ramp types and
BODAS system is a comprehensive
draulic consumers, the LLC load lim- many, predefined control characteris-
library of standard software for valve
iting control cuts in and swivels one tic curves). Moreover, VAC supports
and fan controls, wheel and crawler
or two pumps back to a smaller angle, the free selection of joysticks such
travel drives, chain travel drives, diesel
thus reducing the power consump- as the Rexroth series THE or similar
management and velocity controls. It
tion of the hydraulic system. The devices with or without CAN interfac-
complies with international quality
diesel engine is therefore immediately ing. The VAC standard solution can
standards according to CMMI Level 2.
relieved. This system management therefore be employed very flexibly.
In view of the fact that cranes require
ensures that the pump always utilizes Predefined characteristic curves and
a maximum of safety and system
the available maximum power of the ramp time ensure very fast and simple
functionality, the BODAS system will
diesel engine without overloading it. commissioning. Selectable, optional
be employed even more frequently on
BODAS AS/LLC is designed for diesel functions such as counterforce opera-
cranes in the future.
engines with electronic and mechani- tion allow the utilization of VAC also
cal injection. in additional applications such as in
excavators.
Bosch Rexroth AG
Status messages and measured values
output via the CAN bus are shown
in clear text on the BODAS display
DI2. At the same time, the standard
software VAC can be configured en-
tirely via the display without requir-
ing any additional components. The
VAC standard versions (available off
the shelf) can be used for one valve
section or three and four valve sec-
tions, respectively. For applications, in
which a greater number of valve sec-
tions must be controlled (for example,
on cranes), the scope of functions of
the VAC can be extended with one or
several BODAS CAN I/O extension
modules of type RCE.
For crane applications, BODAS there-
fore offers already today hardware
and software components that are
perfectly matched to each other. Users
can realize cost-effective, safe, com-
plex and high-quality solutions. In
the future, the demands will increase
even further: To be able to meet safety
requirements such as SIL2 and sat-
isfy the demand for many inputs and
outputs and high computing power
for very complex applications on the
crane in a simple and cost-effective
way, a 32-bit computer architecture is
the ideal solution (Fig. 26).
The processor Infinion TriCore
TS1796, which is increasingly used
in the automotive industry, offers ex-
cellent preconditions with regard to
performance, safety concept and long-
term availability. Rexroth will there-
fore further develop the BODAS RC
controller product range on the basis
of the TriCore 32-bit processor.
Cranes Mobile 2006 87
2.4 Solutions for the hydraulic cir-
cuit of the outrigger
Rexroth offers compact and cost-ef-
ficient solutions for the hydraulic cir-
cuit of the outrigger. The supporting
legs can be extended and positioned
individually by means of an on/off or
proportional control. The directional
Fig. 27: Modular directional valve for auxiliary
valve (Fig. 27), which is suitable for systems.
block designs and features externally
galvanized, cast iron elements, can be
used efficiently for outrigger systems
with a flow requirement of up to 60
l/min and pressures of up to 310 bar.
Designed specifically for single-cabin
cranes (sizes of 30 to 60 t) is series
A VBC (Fig. 28) of motion control
valves that are controlled by means of
a manual controller. They allow very Fig. 28: Motion control valve for boom cylinder
locking and lowering (AVBC Series).
precisely controllable lowering of the
boom. The control spool, which closes
leak-free, opens very uniformly and
progressively when pilot pressure is
applied. Once the valve is open, the
control spool tends to reduce the ef-
fective area when the load-induced
pressure rises. This limits the increase
in velocity due to pressure build-up
and helps the operator to regulate
the actuating path when lowering the
boom.
The valve body is made of galvanized
steel and can be flanged directly to the
cylinder. A bleed screw allows bleed-
ing of the pilot line after the installa-
tion.
88 Mobile 2006 Cranes
Fig. 29: Cross piloted motion control valve for
extension arm (AVBSO CCAP Series).
The motion control valve of series
A VBSO CCAP (Fig. 29) is com-
pact, easy to install and cost-efficient.
Developed for single-cabin cranes
(sizes of 30 to 60 t) and for container
stackers, this valve can be flanged-
mounted directly onto the extension
or telescopic cylinder. For retracting
the cylinder, the valve requires a pilot
control from the opposite side (lower-
ing hose). This ensures cavitation-free
operation, with the retracting or low-
ering speed being always controlled by
the actual flow to the cylinder.
The valve is rated for a very high pilot
control ratio (13:1) in order that it
opens even at low pilot pressures.
Bosch Rexroth AG
3 Mechanical drives
3.1 Gearbox product range
Planetary gears are ideal drive compo-
nents for mobile working machines,
be it as travel gears, swing gears or
winch gears. All planetary gears from
Rexroth are provided with integrated
multi-disk holding brake and a con-
nection for a hydraulic motor of type
A2F or A6V.
Fig. 30: HYDROTRAC GFT 800 N hydrostatic
Travel gears HYDROTRAC GFT compact drive.
Rexroth offers compact planetary
gears with high output torques and
Swing gears MOBILEX GFB
sprocket diameters as small as possi-
MOBILEX GFB swing gears are ideal
ble, which can be installed within the
for use in excavators and cranes of all
specified track chain width. The stan-
kinds and wherever precise position-
dard sizes of the HYDROTRAC GFT
ing is required. Their output torques
travel gears feature output torques
range from 4 to 94.5 kNm. For crane
from 7 to 1300 kNm. These sizes are
applications, output torques of up
usually installed in crawler cranes
to 175 kNm are available on request.
from 80 to 1000 tons.
The output pinions of the swing gears
For crawler cranes having a load car- mesh with the slewing ring. Depend-
rying capacity of 200 t or more, Fig- ing on the design of the superstruc-
ure 30 shows the most compact and ture, also several swing gears may be
powerful gear variant offered today on employed. The drive itself consists of
the market. In this version, the plan- a multi-stage planetary gear with an
integrated multi-disk holding brake
etary gear is provided with an output
and a Rexroth hydraulic motor in the
flange that is optimized in terms of
form of a plug-in fixed displacement
diameter for an increased output
torque with unchanged ring gear di- motor.
ameter. Gear sizes of series 9000 used
Special accessories offered are dy-
today are GFT 220 T3, GFT 330 T3,
namic swing brakes and gear disen-
GFT 450 T4 as well as GFT 600 N
gagement circuit. The dynamic swing
and HYDROTRAC GFT 800 N with
brakes are of low-maintenance, multi-
permissible output torques from
disk design and can be sensitively, hy-
250 kNm to 1000 kNm.
draulically controlled. Moreover, the
standard function of the multi-disk
holding brake is maintained in the de-
pressurized condition.
Bosch Rexroth AG
Winch gears MOBILEX GFT-W
MOBILEX GFT-W winch gears are
suitable for direct installation in the
winch drums of hoisting devices of
any type, for example, on mobile,
crawler, railway, ship or container
cranes. Due to the extremely compact
design, high output torques can be
realized with a small output diameter.
The standard output torques range
between 5 and 275 kNm. Higher
output torques of up to 380 kNm are
available on request. Special variants
are generally feasible, for example,
planetary gears with multi-motor
drive (Fig. 31). This gear variant al-
lows an increase in the useful drum
speed range.
Fig. 31: MOBILEX GFT-W with 2-motor drive.
3.2 Complete winches
As the complexity of machines in-
creases, there is a growing trend to-
wards the production of assemblies
by sub-suppliers. Being familiar with
this trend from other business fields,
Rexroth is also prepared for assembly
solutions in the field of cranes. For
providing drive concepts for cranes,
Rexroth utilizes synergies within the
corporation.
Cranes Mobile 2006 89
In the current project complete
winches, the company is working
on an expansion of drive concepts to
form a complete winch assembly for
strategic individual projects.
This results in the following advan-
tages for the manufacturer:
Plug-and-play solution.
Cost reduction.
Matched complete concept.
Optimization of installation space
requirement.
Flexibility of application.
Everything from a single source.
The assembly concept is based on
known and proven products and will
be extended by necessary components
in the future to provide optimized
custom solutions. In this context,
various equipment variants are con-
ceivable (Fig. 32). The basic variant
consists of a hydraulic motor with
a matched planetary gear. On this
basis, rope drums and opposite sup-
port bearings are offered for strategic
projects. Moreover, solutions with
steel structures and wound up rope
are being considered, which could
be delivered to the customer as com-
pletely assembled units. Further op-
tions are conceivable. In the future,
Rexroth will, for example, offer Load
Cycle Monitoring (LCM), which can
be used to optimize the lifecycle of the
drive components. These complete
Fig. 32: Assembly concept for complete winch.
winches in the form of plug-and-play
solutions offer greatest customer
The complete winches are expected
benefit due to the combination of ap-
to be available in the third quarter
plication know-how and the provision
of 2007 and be employed in strategic
of the complete assembly.
customer projects for a start.
90 Mobile 2006 Cranes
3.3 Load Cycle Monitoring for
winch drives
With Load Cycle Monitoring (LCM,
Fig. 33), Rexroth developed a patent-
ed solution for winch drives with hy-
draulic motor drive. The system sens-
es all loads during the entire utiliza-
tion of the winch drive. The LCM uses
this data to determine the collective
loads and then computes the pro-rata
consumption of the theoretical service
life of the components. This allows an
assessment of the remaining service
life on the basis of the operation so
far. The result can easily be queried
via the CAN bus of the vehicle and
displayed in the operators cabin.
Rexroth also offers the corresponding
display and operator devices.
The advantages of Load Cycle Moni-
toring have direct effects in practice:
Due to the automatic establishment of
data, a crane leasing company needs
no longer to rely on the information
given by the crane operator. At the
same time, due to the precise logging
of load data and the assessment of
the theoretical remaining service life,
the available time frame of the com-
ponent service life can be better used
as operative target and operational
reliability is increased. Additional in-
formation about Load Cycle Monitor-
ing is available in the specialist article
regarding Condition Monitoring.
Bosch Rexroth AG
CAN-Bus CAN-Bus
Display BODAS RC
BODEM
BODAS
Pressure sensors
Winch drive
BODAS
Speed sensor
Fig. 33: Load Cycle Monitoring (LCM).
3.4 Manual transmissions Function of mechanically shiftable
Further components for special ap- gears
plications include mechanically shift- Holding brake:
able planetary gears. The essential In this state, the two clutches are de-
assemblies of solutions developed by pressurized. Both, the ring gear and
Rexroth consist of two shiftable mul- the sun gear of the gear stage are con-
tiple disk clutches, a planetary gear nected (indirectly via the ring gear) to
used as back gear stage and a two- the housing. This blocks the complete
stage planetary gear on the output gear and the function of a spring-
side. The latter increases the torque loaded holding brake is fulfilled.
with the output via the ring gear.
Altogether, these features result in
a whole series of advantages of this
gear solution: The possible high
torque and the speed can be changed
according to the requirements. The
integrated shifting stage results in a
particularly compact design, which
can be used even under restricted in-
stallation space conditions. In spite of
high speeds or high output torques,
the optimized clutch disks ensure sta-
ble temperature conditions. Moreover,
design features prevent the reversal of
the direction of rotation at the gear
input when gears are being shifted.
Bosch Rexroth AG
Fig. 34: Shiftable planetary gear, high transmis-
sion ratio.
1st gear requirement:
maximum output torque (Fig. 34):
Clutch 1 (small piston) is pressurized
with pressure oil, while clutch 2 is
pressure-free. The ring gear is con-
nected to the housing. The sun gear
can therefore freely rotate. The gear
stage operates as a common planetary
stage with output via the planet carri-
er. The transmission ratio of the gear
stage multiplied by the total transmis-
sion ratio of the output stages results
in the high total transmission ratio of
the gear.
2nd gear requirement:
maximum output speed (Fig. 35):
In this state, clutch 2 (large piston) is
pressurized with pressure oil, while
clutch 1 is pressure-free. The ring
gear is disconnected from the hous-
ing. Because the sun gear and the
ring gear are interconnected, relative
movements within the gear stage are
impossible. The stage rotates as one
component so that the output torque
and the output speed at the planet
carrier correspond to those of the sun
wheel. The transmission ratio of the
stage is therefore 1. The lower total
transmission ratio results exclusively
from the transmission ratio of the
output stages.
Cranes Mobile 2006 91
4 Conclusion
Due to the more exacting demands
placed on the functionality of pumps,
control components, motors and
gears, Rexroth has worked conse-
quently on complete drives and im-
provements in the controllability of
crane movements. The integration
of safety and additional functions
will be further extended. In response,
Fig. 35: Shiftable planetary gear, small
transmission ratio. Rexroth will focus on the develop-
ment of new concepts and on optimi-
Special applications zations in close cooperation with the
Apart from the known application of customers and the Application Center
the dual-speed travel drive for wheel- Cranes.
mounted vehicles, this type of gear
has been successfully used in a special
application as winch drive (measur-
ing probe winch). This mechanical
gear with a small transmission ratio
(high output speed) is used for fast
lowering of the probe in a more than
1000 m deep drilling hole. The task
of particularly sensitive moving of
the probe for the actual measurement
process can be performed thanks to
the high transmission ratio. In the
interaction with the 9-piston motor
of type A6VM/E, series 71, selected as
hydraulic drive it was possible to real-
ize extremely low and sensitive output
speeds and at the same time very
smooth running characteristics.