Agitating – Mortar mixer type
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-11
2004-10-19
Cooley, Charles E. (Department: 1723)
Agitating
Mortar mixer type
C700S265000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06805478
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network type automated concrete plant for efficiently producing and delivering ready-mixed concrete, and more particularly, to a network type automated concrete plant which can be collectively managed within a group of multiple ready-mixed concrete plants which are distributed and disposed in multiple regions which serve multiple construction sites and are equipped with a ready-mixed concrete producing apparatus, which is capable of realizing efficient operation, management and deployment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a present day ready-mixed concrete selling, production and distribution business (ready-mixed concrete business), the production, technical and sales management staff are located in a production plant in which a fixed type raw material mixer is mounted, and distribution is carried out by exclusive vehicles (agitator trucks), which are located in each plant and managed by that plant.
In such a business environment, since the concrete production ability is determined by an ability inherent in the fixed mixer, compatibility with respect to variation in surrounding demand is extremely poor. That is, since the supply ability within unit time is constant, if demands shift, supply availability for a user may not be achieved, and if demands are reduced, production equipment may not attain actual ability, creating a problem where the production equipment stands idle.
As one way of solving such a problem, there is a method that utilizes a wet mixing system. When this wet mixing system is utilized, the concrete production plant is not equipped with a fixed type mixer, only with the apparatus for the weighing and measuring of the raw materials. Ready-mixed concrete raw materials such as sand, gravel, cement, water, chemical additives and the like are respectively weighed and measured by such apparatus and then, these raw materials are directly fed into the concrete mixer truck. Then, they are kneaded and mixed within the drum of the concrete mixer truck as it is rotated, thereby producing the ready-mixed concrete. Utilizing this method, it is not necessary to equip the concrete plant with a fixed type of mixer, and so the costs for the production equipment of the concrete plant can be reduced.
According to the method utilizing this wet mixing system, unlike the central mixing method in which production is limited by the ability inherent within the fixed type mixer, the raw materials are kneaded and mixed within the drum of the concrete mixer truck, so if the number of mixer trucks is increased, the production ability of the ready-mixed concrete can be maximized within a range not exceeding the maximum value of the weighing and measuring ability of the raw materials. Further, when demands are reduced, the actual production ability can be minimized by reducing the number of mixer trucks in use, thus it is possible to reduce the chance inherent in existing fixed type mixer plants of production equipment becoming inefficiently utilized.
When the wet mixing system having the above-described merit is utilized, there is a problem in that the operation and management of the concrete production plant and the operation and deployment of the concrete mixer trucks, is not efficiently achieved. Further, when the operation and management of a ready-mixed concrete business in which multiple concrete mixer trucks are dispersed among multiple concrete production plants, the operation and management of the concrete production plants, and the deployment and operation of the concrete mixer trucks becomes so complex, that the equipment can not efficiently be managed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished to solve such problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide a network type automated concrete plant for efficiently producing and delivering ready-mixed concrete. It is also an object of the invention to provide a network type automated concrete plant that can be collectively managed within a group of multiple ready-mixed concrete plants which are distributed and disposed in multiple regions which serve multiple construction sites and are equipped with a ready-mixed concrete producing apparatus, which is capable of realizing efficient operation, management and deployment.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a network type automated concrete plant, which when grouped in multiples (
20
a
), (
20
b
), (
20
c
) and distributed in multiple regions, can serve multiple construction sites, and the use of multiple ready-mixed concrete trucks (
18
) for the transportation of ready-mixed concrete, produced in the ready-mixed concrete plants, to those construction sites. It is equipped with a communication means (
14
) for connecting the multiple ready-mixed concrete plants to the plant center by way of a network, and for the plant center (
10
), which collectively manages the multiple ready-mixed concrete plants connected by the communication means. The plant center sends a plant control signal to the multiple ready-mixed concrete plants to produce the ready-mixed concrete which is to be transported to the construction sites by the multiple ready-mixed concrete trucks, wherein each of the ready-mixed concrete plants comprises a means for sending/receiving data (
15
) in which an identifying number for the ready-mixed concrete truck can be input, and sends the identifying number and the plant number, which identifies the ready-mixed concrete plant, to the plant center, and receives a plant control signal from the plant center, and by way of the plant management means(
16
), controls the ready-mixed concrete producing apparatus by a control signal from the plant center, and from the ready-mixed concrete producing apparatus (
17
) which stores the concrete raw materials and which is controlled by the plant management means to produce the ready-mixed concrete. The plant center comprises a system management means for sending and receiving data (
11
) which receives an identifying number of the ready-mixed concrete truck and a plant number, and sends a plant control signal by way of the vehicle management means (
12
) which identifies the multiple ready-mixed concrete trucks by the identifying number received by the data sending and receiving means, which sends, to the ready-mixed concrete plant of the plant number, a plant control signal for controlling the ready-mixed concrete plant including the composition of the materials for the ready-mixed concrete to be transported by the identified ready-mixed concrete truck, the volume to be transported and details of the destination, and which collectively manages the multiple ready-mixed concrete plants, and the multiple ready-mixed concrete trucks by way of a management means (
13
), and manages the operational status of the multiple ready-mixed concrete trucks by means of a status signal sent from the ready-mixed concrete trucks.
In the network type automated concrete plant having the above structure, the ready-mixed concrete truck managing means, displays, in a matrix manner, operational schedules of the multiple ready-mixed concrete plants in time series for each ready-mixed concrete plant, and displays, in a color-coded manner, the operational statuses of the plants by means of status signals sent from the multiple ready-mixed concrete trucks which transport the ready-mixed concrete produced in the respective ready-mixed concrete plants, and by the status signals sent from those plants.
In the network type automated concrete plant, according to the invention, the ready-mixed concrete truck managing means comprises a display apparatus for displaying, in a color-coded manner, the status information of the ready-mixed concrete truck, a display processing apparatus which controls the display apparatus and which displays the operational status of the ready-mixed concrete truck and the operational status of the plant, and a receiving apparatus which receives the status information from the ready-mixed concre
Aizawa Yoshihiro
Itaya Akio
Aizawa Koatsu Concrete KK
Armstrong Kratz Quintos Hanson & Brooks, LLP
Cooley Charles E.
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