Automatic control system for earth-moving equipment

Claim 1

An automatic control system disposed in earth moving equipment comprising: a. an earth moving vehicle having an engine, means for propelling said vehicle, and an earth moving blade pivotally coupled to said vehicle; b. a torque converter, said torque converter having an input shaft coupled to said engine and an output shaft coupled to said means for propelling said vehicle; c. control means for selectively varying the cutting angle of said earth moving blade, said control means comprising a fluid pressure cylinder coupled to said blade, and valve means coupled to said cylinder; detector means coupled to said torque converter for detecting and transmitting the ratio e 1 , equal to the number of revolutions of said input shaft (N 1 ) divided by the number of revolutions of said output shaft (N 2 ); comparator means coupled to said detector means and to said valve means, said comparator means for comparing the ratio e 1 to a predetermined value e s such that said value means is selectively activated by said comparator means thereby causing said cutting angle of said blade to be moved to a predetermined position.