Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Construction or agricultural-type vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-14
2002-02-19
Zanelli, Michael J. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Construction or agricultural-type vehicle
C701S029000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06349252
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information management device for construction machinery which manages data such as the lifespan of parts and the replacement timing of parts comprised in the construction machinery, and the work volume, the operating state and irregularities such as failures of construction machinery, which it does by gathering data about the inside of the body of the construction machinery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data such as that of the service meter, the amount of fuel and the rotational speed of the engine of construction machinery are necessary information in managing vehicles.
Conventional methods of acquiring data relating to construction machinery of this type have entailed a member of maintenance staff (a service man) going out to an item of construction machinery, and either checking it visually or connecting a personal computer to the item of construction machinery and thereby downloading data relating to the item of construction machinery which was written into a memory within the item of construction machinery. Also, a plurality of items of construction machinery have been managed by storing and holding data gathered from a plurality of items of construction machinery in the memory of a computer in a monitoring station (management unit).
However, the gathering of information requires human intervention and, as the number of items of construction machinery becomes greater, data gathering becomes more troublesome and there is a substantial loss of information-gathering work efficiency.
Thus, as seen from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) No. 6-330539 and elsewhere, there have been attempts to acquire construction-machinery information automatically using a communications means and without relying on human intervention.
In the abovementioned invention, the management unit and the construction machinery are connected with freedom to communicate two-ways using communications means, and data requests are sent from the management unit, the data is extracted by the construction machinery and sent back to the management unit. In this way, information acquired within the construction machinery is gathered by the management unit which made the request. In the abovementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6-330539, a single running controller is provided within the construction machinery, data acquired by this single running controller is stored in a storage unit of the running controller, and the stored data is sent to the management unit.
However, in recent years a plurality of controllers have been provided in each of the constituent elements, such as engines and hydraulic pumps, within construction machinery. Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-28911 discloses an invention in which data is sent and received by various controllers by connecting a plurality of controllers by means of a serial communications line and transmitting frame signals over the serial communications line.
When the invention disclosed in the abovementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6-330539 is employed in construction machinery provided with a plurality of controllers, data respectively acquired from the plurality of controllers has to be stored in storage units provided for each of the controllers, and the data has to be sent to the management unit, each controller separately. Because it has to be sent separately for each controller, communications processing is complicated.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-30977 discloses an invention in which a personal computer is connected inside construction machinery, data such as error information acquired and stored separately for each of a plurality of controllers within the construction machinery is downloaded and is stored in a storage medium of the personal computer.
Because this invention also requires the information of separate controllers to be downloaded, communications processing is complicated.
Also, the technology of the prior art entails no more than the gathering of data of separate controllers by a management unit or personal computer. There is therefore a requirement to acquire more detailed information about construction machinery by collating the data gathered by the separate controllers within the construction machinery. However, simply gathering the data of separate controllers in a management unit or personal computer does not allow the acquisition of more detailed information resulting from the collation of data gathered by separate controllers.
The present invention has taken this situation into account and has a first aim of allowing the acquisition of detailed information resulting from the collation of data gathered by separate controllers within construction machinery, in a simple fashion without requiring complicated communications processing.
It will be appreciated that construction machinery has different types of controllers, acting as on-board electronic control devices, depending on factors such as the type of machine, the grade of vehicle and the delivery destination.
For this reason, there are situations where some controllers can send and receive frame signals in accordance with a predetermined communications protocol, while other controllers are unable to send and receive frame signals in accordance with the abovementioned predetermined communications protocol.
In situations where a plurality controllers having different communications protocol specifications coexist within construction machinery, serial communications between controllers are essentially impossible.
In the past, therefore, data has been sent and received between controllers using the arrangement shown in FIG.
4
.
As shown in the
FIG. 4
, a pump controller
3
and a monitor (display controller)
4
are provided within the cab (operating compartment) of an item of construction machinery.
The pump controller
3
is connected to various sensor groups
23
and actuator groups
33
, receives input in the form of various detection signals such as signals indicating the operating position of an operating lever, and outputs various drive signals to, by way of example, an inclined-plate-drive actuator which drives the inclined plate of a hydraulic pump. The monitor
4
is a controller provided with a display screen and various switches, and operating a switch makes a selection and gives an instruction for the desired work mode among various forms of work which the construction machine performs, and information required for running is displayed on the display screen.
The pump controller
3
and monitor
4
are connected by means of a serial communications line
11
which effects communications in accordance with a predetermined communications protocol A, and data is exchanged between the pump controller
3
and monitor
4
by transmitting frame signals over the serial communications line
11
. Thus, the display screen of the monitor
4
displays details of data to be output to the actuator group
33
or detected by the sensor group
23
connected to the pump controller
3
.
On the other hand, an engine controller
5
is provided outside the cab of the construction machine.
The engine controller
5
is connected to various sensor groups
25
and actuator groups
35
, and receives input in the form of various detection signals such as a first throttle signal SD indicating the position of a throttle operated and set by a fuel dial (target engine rotational speed setting means)
40
, and outputs various drive signals to, by way of example, a fuel-supply actuator (such as a motor which drives a governor) which supplies fuel to the engine.
The engine controller
5
is a controller with a specification allowing serial communications in accordance with a communications protocol B which is different to the abovementioned communications protocol A.
Thus, two-way serial communications cannot take place directly between the pump controller
3
and the engine controller
5
.
For this reason, signals lines are provided in parallel for eac
Hashimoto Haruo
Imanishi Kunihiko
Nagata Noritaka
Saito Hideaki
Yogita Jin
Gibson Eric M
Varndell & Varndell PLLC
Zanelli Michael J.
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