Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Vehicle diagnosis or maintenance indication
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-12
2001-09-18
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Vehicle diagnosis or maintenance indication
C701S200000, C701S213000, C073S17800T
Reexamination Certificate
active
06292724
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention is broadly concerned with keeping track of the location, status, degree of utilization and condition and operability of widely geographically dispersed fleets of vehicular construction equipment and the like, using the resources of satellite positioning and communication Internet facilities; the invention being more particularly concerned with providing the fleet owner with the capability of utilizing such information, suitably processed, on periodically provided schedule, or upon specific request, to monitor and improve fleet utilization, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
BACKGROUND
It has previously been proposed to keep track of vehicular construction equipment and the like by providing the vehicles with transponders receiving GPS location information and supplying the same via an Internet web page, or otherwise, to the equipment owner. Currently, for example, transponder and communications link equipment for effecting such operation is offered by Orbcomm USA limited partnership company, of the satellite provider Orbital Sciences Corp. The Caterpillar Company is also believed similarly to monitor such information and, through appropriate sensor(s) at the equipment, indicating also such utilization information as run-time to enable the timely Orbcomm offering of spare parts.
The present invention, however, is more specifically concerned with providing continuing information to fleet owners, such as construction companies, or those who rent for utilization by customers, by more fully remotely sensing the equipment utilization and operating condition data, run hours, fuel level, battery voltage, engine pressure, water level and other conditions, —sufficient, indeed, when processed, to enable the owners or managers to monitor and improve the efficiency of utilization of their high capital cost equipment, or to enable the equipment renter adequately to bill for all the use that actually occurs and, additionally, to minimize the downtime in rental contracts. The invention also enables supplying anticipatory maintenance and fuel requirement information—insuring against run out or over supply—and monitoring for inefficient, abusive or unauthorized locational usage—on site too early or too long, or unauthorizedly moved or used after hours, or off site—in short, providing managers, through appropriate software signal processing and upon user-friendly displays, with information needed to operate the fleets more efficiently by reducing expenses or increasing rental revenue.
While preferably using Internet linking, moreover, the invention enables the transponders provided on the vehicular equipment to send information to the satellite, which relays responses to a ground station and over the Internet to an information processing-service-providing headquarters or center which, in turn, processes the information and provides such, again as by way of the Internet or otherwise, to the fleet manager or other customer.
The invention provides the facility, moreover, in addition to providing such information reports on a standard mode of reporting schedule, say daily, for example, to enable the customer to request of the headquarters a special report at any time (a so-called-interrogation or express-inquiry mode), wherein a headquarters center requests the ground station to send a signal to the satellite to trigger the transponder for such a special report. And, as earlier mentioned, the invention may further provide operation in an alarm mode, sensitive to unauthorized conditions, such as the moving or use of the equipment after hours or at another site, and the like, and triggering the transponders.
Thus, while not a real-time tracking system, the system of the invention can adequately provide the fleet manager with all the basic information needed remotely to track and monitor the operation of the fleet and to improve efficiency of equipment utilization and operation. In addition, the facility is provided for the manager to select or request different options on limits or information parameters or items for selective display, and such may be discriminatingly color-coded on the display.
OBJECTS OF INVENTION
The primary object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide a new and improved method of and system and apparatus for remotely monitoring several or all of the location, status, utilization and condition of widely geographically dispersed fleets of vehicular construction equipment and the like, providing, unlike previous satellite-transponder systems before-described, totally adequate and processed signal information for enabling the continual improving of the efficiency and economic return on the utilization of the equipment by managers monitoring user-friendly displays.
A further object is to provide such a novel system wherein equipment status information is provided in one or more of a standard periodic information data-reporting mode, an interrogation mode at any time, and an alarm mode.
Still another object is to provide in such information, a reading of the fuel level in the equipment even when the equipment is shut down.
An additional object is to enable the display of signal-processed information options or items or parameter limits selected by the manager and presentable in different distinctive color-coded displays.
Other and further objects are also later pointed out and are hereinafter more particularly delineated in the appended claims.
SUMMARY
In summary, however, from one of its broader aspects, the invention embraces in a vehicular equipment transponder-satellite communications link system wherein information sent by the transponders of vehicular equipments of a widely geographically dispersed fleet of equipments is relayed by the satellite to a ground station and then via the Internet to an information-processing center, a method of providing processed information as to several or all of the locations, utilizations, status and conditions of the vehicular equipments and in sufficient detail to enable efficiency management of the equipment, that comprises, inputting to the transponder at each equipment of the fleet, locally sensed parameter data such as temperature, run hours, fuel level, battery voltage and other equipment engine parameters; upon each equipment transponder receiving GPS signals from navigation satellites, causing the transponder to transmit to communication satellites information as to its location and as to said locally sensed data; relaying said information from the communications satellite to a ground station and thence, via the Internet, to said center; signal-processing the related information at the center to adapt it for one or more of graphical and tabular location display of the widely dispersed equipments and/or of optionally selected equipments, and optionally selected parameters, limits and conditions of such equipments, to provide processed information suitable to exercise management analysis of equipment utilization and operational efficiency; and communicating such processed information to the fleet manager for enabling improving said efficiency of utilization and operation.
Novel fuel monitoring and special item option color display features are also involved.
Preferred and best mode embodiments and designs are hereinafter disclosed and detailed in connection with the description of the operation of the system.
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Alborough Thomas
Apsell Sheldon
Barberis Carlos A.
Rothman Steven
Shinopoulos George
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Hernandez Olga
Micrologic, Inc.
Rines and Rines
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