Excavating – Ditcher – Condition responsive
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-30
2004-08-31
Will, Thomas B. (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Ditcher
Condition responsive
C340S679000, C340S686100, C701S050000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06782644
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a remote control system and a remote setting system for a construction machine having a multi-articulated front working device, such as a hydraulic excavator. More particularly, the present invention relates to a remote control system and a remote setting system for a construction machine equipped with means for performing front control, e.g., area limiting excavation control for controlling the operation of a front working device based on setting information of a target work plane so as to form the target work plane.
BACKGROUND ART
A hydraulic excavator is a typical example of construction machines. In a hydraulic excavator, front members, such as a boom and an arm, constituting a front working device are operated by respective manual control levers and are coupled to each other through articulations for rotation. It is therefore very difficult work to perform excavation in a predetermined area, particularly in a linearly set area, by operating the front members. A system for automating such work is proposed, for example, in PCT Laid-Open Publication WO95/30059. According to this proposal, an excavation enable area is set on the basis of a machine body. Then, when a part of the front working device, e.g., a bucket, approaches a boundary of the excavation enable area, a motion of the bucket only in a direction toward the boundary is decelerated. When the bucket reaches the boundary of the excavation enable area, the bucket is caused to move along the boundary of the excavation enable area while it is prevented from going out of the excavation enable area.
In the case of performing that type of work in an automatic manner, as the machine body moves, the posture and height of the hydraulic excavator itself are changed with change in topography of the work site. The area set on the basis of the machine body must be set again whenever the machine body moves. Therefore, proposals for overcoming that disadvantage are proposed in JP,A 3-295933 and JP,A 2000-204580. According to those proposals, the height of a machine body is detected by a sensor provided on the machine body using a laser beam emitted from a laser oscillator that is installed on the surface of ground to be excavated. An excavation depth (corresponding to the limited area in the above-described proposal) is decided based on the detected height of the machine body, and excavation is linearly performed for a predetermined length in a state in which the machine body is stopped. Then, the machine body is traveled by a predetermined distance, and excavation is linearly performed again after stopping the machine body there. On that occasion, a change in the height of the machine body is detected using the laser beam, and the excavation depth is corrected depending on the detected height change.
Further, PCT Laid-Open Publication W001/25549 discloses a setting device for enabling a target excavation area to be easily set using an external reference, such as a laser beam, in the automatic excavation control. The setting device comprises a control unit and a display unit both equipped in a machine body. The display unit displays the positional relationship among the machine body, the external reference and the target excavation area so that an operator can set the target excavation area based on the positional relationship with respect to the external reference while looking at a screen of the display unit.
Meanwhile, another prior art regarding remote control of a construction machine, such as a hydraulic excavator, is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2628004 and JP,A No. 58-26130. According to Japanese Patent No. 2628004, an operating state of the hydraulic excavator is picked up by a monitoring camera, and a picked-up image is displayed on an associated monitoring TV of a computer installed in a site office. Design lines for a ditch and a face of slope are displayed on the camera image in a superimposed manner. An operator can remotely operate the hydraulic excavator for excavation while looking at the displayed image. JP,A No. 58-26130 discloses a technique for detecting the position of a construction machine through exchange of information on the basis of a reference point and operating the construction machine in a full automatic manner. With that technique, a control program for the automatic operation is stored on the side of a remotely installed computer, and when the automatic operation is started, command signals according to the control program are wirelessly transmitted to the construction machine, and the computer wirelessly receives information detected by various sensors from the construction machine. The control program includes a work specification program that is modified depending on each work site and each district.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In the field of construction machines, there has recently been a strong demand for remote maneuvering. This is because, in works for restoring, e.g., a disaster region, a remotely maneuverable construction machine must be employed to remove earth and sand and to form a mudflow dam in not a few cases from the viewpoint of safety. When carrying out such works, it is required not only to determine the place where the construction machine is now present, but also to make a plan designating the position and extent at which excavation is to be performed. The works have been conventionally performed while monitoring a construction machine under work with, e.g., a camera from a remote location, or while confirming the excavation position with the aid of an image picked up by a camera or the like mounted on the construction machine. However, since the disaster region, including roads, is mostly buried with earth and sand, it has been difficult to precisely specify the excavation position. Further, because of remotely maneuvering the construction machine, the operator is required to have a skill particularly in the works of leveling and slope face forming, and because of performing the works while looking at a camera image, the working efficiency is reduced.
In any of the techniques disclosed in WO95/30059, JP,A 3-295933, JP,A 2000-204580, and W001/25549, since the construction machine is operated by the operator riding on the machine, it has been impossible to maneuver the construction machine through the remote control and to set the target excavation plane through the remote control.
With the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2628004, design lines for a ditch and a face of slope are displayed on a camera image of the work site in a superimposed manner so that the operator can remotely perform the excavation work while looking at the displayed image. However, because the hydraulic excavator is manually operated, there have been problems that the operator must perform the work with close attention so as to realize the excavation as per the design lines, and an increased burden is imposed on the operator.
With the technique disclosed in JP,A No. 58-26130, no burden is imposed on the operator because of full-automation control. However, the full-automation control causes a difficulty in adapting for various work sites in a precise and rapid manner, and in bringing that technique into practical use.
Moreover, with attention focused on CALS (Continuous Acquisition & Lifecycle Support) systems in the field of construction, there has been a recent trend toward management of working drawings in the form of electronic data and applications to control of a machine body based on the electronic data. More specifically, the position of the machine body in the work site is measured and the machine body is automatically controlled while referring to the working drawings stored in the machine body. In general, though depending on different work sites, working data is given as digital data too much as to store it in the machine body, and working data storable in the machine body is just a few part of the whole data in most cases. When performing such control, therefore, the working data must be frequently stored in the machine body.
Fujishima Kazuo
Ishibashi Hideto
Kurenuma Tooru
Ogura Hiroshi
Beach Thomas A.
Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd.
Mattingly Stanger & Malur, P.C.
Will Thomas B.
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