FLUID POWER

HYDROCONTROL ENGINEERING TEAM

CONTROL ACCOUNT
here has been dramatic development in the world of proportional hydraulics in the past few
years. Yet not that long ago,
proportional electronic components were used exclusively by
only the largest manufacturers, and
even then only for the most technically
advanced market technologies or topof-the-range machines. Today, however,
the situation is very different.
Nowadays, low-technology markets
are ready to accept complex hydraulic
systems, with European machine manufacturers tending to apply proportional
control technology to medium- and
lower-range machines anyway.
The reasons behind this trend lie
first of all in the increasingly common
presence of electronic controls on the
machines. Electronic control systems
not only facilitate proportional
hydraulic parts installation but also aim
at totally controlling them, to enable
special functions and act as filters
between the operator and the controls,
which consequently enhances safety.
The global movement towards
improving machine ergonomics and
comfort should also be added to this,
which inevitably leads to removing all
hydraulic parts particularly control
valves from the operators workstation
and relying more and more on electric
remote controls.
Ergonomics, control and safety are
the driving forces behind proportional
hydraulics diffusion, as well as the goals
most sought after by every machine

Despite the benefits, new concepts in proportional hydraulics

have not been accessible to all until fairly recently, with lowtechnology machines preferring simplified and cheaper systems

manufacturer. It is, however, common

thinking that proportional systems
must be inevitably expensive and that
their cost/efficiency ratio should be
carefully evaluated.
Among other things, this belief is the
result of the fact that, until now, proportional electrohydraulic controls have
only been implemented on top-level
control valves, and load-sensing control
valves in particular. Therefore, the higher
control system costs had to be added to
the higher cost of the control valve itself.

Hydrocontrols answer
Hydrocontrol has been working to
respond to all of these considerations.
In particular, a practical solution has
been researched to improve the accessibility of proportional systems.
Hydrocontrol is today able to offer,
instead of a single product, a complete
development program aimed at increasing the use of proportional control
valves with cost-containment in mind
at the same time.
Hydrocontrol is well known all over
the world for its quality levels, technological innovation and massive product
range. Most of the biggest OEMs have

acknowledged its capabilities, which

include the most advanced design,
calculation, simulation and prototyping
skills to supplying the most suitable
solutions to a variety of requirements.
The company can nowadays rely on
its new resources and know-how and
has consequently increased its product
range, especially as far as proportional
products are concerned.
The new range has been added to an
already popular control valve. The HCMV99 is a load-sensing control valve
compensated in all its sections with
proportional electrohydraulic control,
which has been produced for a few years
and is popular among OEMs. Its construction solidity and sturdiness, original structure (patented) and control
fine-tuning and accuracy have made it
successful in a variety of fields.

New possibilities for existing products

To respond to the increasing demand
for competitively priced proportional
control units, increasingly used in simpler machines too, Hydrocontrol has
now developed a proportional electrohydraulic kit that can be used in all the
open-centre range control valves.

FLUID POWER

PREVIOUS PAGE: Despite its straightforward

design, the new HC-NVD2 guarantees
excellent control accuracy
FIGURE 1 (LEFT): The HC-MV99
electroproportional load-sensing valve
FIGURE 2 (BELOW): Electroproportional kit for
standard monoblock and stackable valves
FIGURE 3 (BOTTOM): Section of the patented
valve HC-NVD2
FIGURE 4 (RIGHT, CENTRE): Electronic devices
to complete Hydrocontrols proportional
hydraulics program
FIGURE 4 (FAR RIGHT): The HC-NVD2 valve is a
new concept in proportional hydraulics

This means that all of the existing

Hydrocontrol products (i.e. all the
monoblock and stackable control
valves, in all their flow rate versions
from 50-250 l/min) can now be
operated by a proportional electric
control system, via a special kit with two
pressure-reducing solenoid valves and
a feedback mechanical system. The
mechanical control-loop system
guarantees accurate spoolpositioning control with virtually no hysteresis at all.
This proportional kit is even
more interesting when you consider
that, in order to install it, control valve
modification is not required, and the
installation procedure only takes a few
minutes. This makes it easy to upgrade
all of the control valves previously sold
to the market and facilitates the job of

proportional concept. The key features

of the new HC-NVD2 product are control and simplicity. The new products
goal is to guarantee the same control
accuracy as the most sophisticated loadsensing systems, while maintaining the
characteristic design straightforwardness
of traditional open-centre control valves.

HC-NVD2s main strength is its design simplicity, which makes

it cost-efficient and exceptionally improves its reliability
all those who have to make existing
machines (especially truck cranes) suitable for radio controlling.

A new concept for a revolutionary product

However, the real strong point of the
new Hydrocontrol proportional control
program is a brand new control valve
the HC-NVD2. This is the result of a
truly innovating drive; of the desire to
start from square one and redesign the

This result was successfully achieved

by using patented new technology,
which based on the principle of
mechanical-hydraulic feedback guarantees perfect flow control and simultaneity of the various movements,
independently from load conditions.
This control valve, which mechanically and during manual control
behaves just like a traditional opencentre control valve when electrically

operated by the proportional coils has

control features exactly matching those
of the most sophisticated control systems.
The main strength of the product,
however, is its design simplicity, which
makes it cost-efficient and, at the same
time, exceptionally improves its reliability. It does not include any electronic
parts or sensors either, which can be easily damaged when exposed to sudden
temperature changes, mechanical vibration and external agents. In addition, it
does not include any extra compensating spools, and there are no long
hydraulic signals that might be sensitive
to contamination.
The internal components are kept
to a minimum so, consequently, the
possible causes of malfunction are
proportionally minimised too. Last, but
by no means least, its compact dimensions and neat design make it ideally
suitable for installation on medium- to
small-sized machines.

FLUID POWER

Compensator on working sections

Control devices to complete the program

A valve manufacturer in the area of proportional control products is expected
to present a range of accessories to go
with its control valves as well. For this
reason, Hydrocontrol has added a wide
range of control devices to its existing
program. In addition to its control
valves, two electronic remote controls
are also offered.
HC-MAS is a single-axis remote
control available with either voltage or
power outputs (with PWM proportional
valve, direct-control system). The easily
accessible adjustment trimmers enable
simple and immediate basic control
parameters to be set. HC-JS, meanwhile,

is the new, twin-axis remote control, also

available with voltage or power outputs,
and fully programmable for accurate
control-parameter selection.
These remote controls are available
with different handgrips and additional
on/off controls, while an extra proportional axis can be added via an adjusting
potentiometer roller.
Finally, several types of electronic
boards are available to complete this rich
product range. These are available for
PWM current control for a single
hydraulic section (two PWM outputs), for
two hydraulic sections (four PWM outputs) and for eight hydraulic sections (16
PWM outputs). Digital technology is

applied to some of these boards to

improve their programming and softwarepersonalisation features, implement
auxiliary functions and manage a higher
number of inputs and outputs.
In all respects, Hydrocontrol is an ideal
partner for the development of a proportional control system a partner able to
supply OEMs with not only all the standard components required in proportional
applications, but also highly innovative
products to combine cost-containment
with top performance and established
and renowned quality levels. iVT
The Engineering Team at Hydrocontrol has a
combined experience of 20 years, and is based at
the companys Bologna-based facilities in Italy