Controlling an operation of a hydraulic actuator in a hydraulic circuit is conventionally accomplished using a single spool type valve. The single spool valve controls flow of hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic circuit including a flow of hydraulic fluid from an associated pump to the hydraulic actuator and a flow of hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic actuator to an associated tank. When the hydraulic output device is a hydraulic cylinder, these flows are commonly referred to as pump-to-cylinder flow and cylinder-to-tank flow, respectively.
The hydraulic circuit may include multiple hydraulic actuators. The hydraulic actuators are associated with operation of multiple systems. The hydraulic actuators receive hydraulic fluid from a single pump to operate the systems. The hydraulic circuit may include separate valves for each of the hydraulic actuator associated with each of the system.
Typically, valves include one of pressure compensators or priority based mechanisms to control and provide flow of hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic actuators. The pressure compensators or the priority based mechanisms enable proper flow of hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic actuators based on differential loads acting on the hydraulic actuators. However, the pressure compensators or the priority based mechanisms add to cost of the valves and the hydraulic circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,862 discloses a pressure compensated control valve that includes a split spool valve with a common wall to provide a fluid to an actuator. The split spool valve controls opening of associated outlet ports of the valve assembly in response to a load on the actuator, and thereby controls flow of the fluid to the actuator. However, in fluid systems where a single pump delivers the fluid to multiple actuators, the pressure compensated control valve may not efficiently distribute and control the flow of fluid to the multiple actuators, based on differential loads acting on the multiple actuators.