Earth working – Automatic power control – Land leveller type
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-09
2002-08-20
Batson, Victor (Department: 3671)
Earth working
Automatic power control
Land leveller type
C356S004080, C356S139010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06435283
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotary laser irradiating apparatus for forming a reference plane in civil engineering work such as ground leveling and a construction machine control system when construction machine is operated for civil engineering work. In particular, the invention relates to a construction machine control system utilizing a laser reference plane, which is formed by rotary irradiation of a laser beam in the work such as control of ground surface height in ground leveling operation.
When ground leveling operation is performed such as grounding leveling for housing development or for road paving using construction machines such as graders, bulldozers, etc., it is necessary to have a reference for height of the ground leveling. In recent years, a system using a laser beam has been propagated to determine the height, which serves as a reference in ground leveling operation. As a system using the laser beam, a construction machine control system equipped with a rotary laser irradiating apparatus has been proposed.
FIG. 8
shows a case where this construction machine control system is adopted for bulldozers.
In
FIG. 8
, reference numeral
1
represents a rotary laser irradiating apparatus, and
2
represents a bulldozer. The rotary laser irradiating apparatus
1
is installed via a tripod
3
at a predetermined position in a housing development area. The rotary laser irradiating apparatus
1
irradiates a laser beam
4
in a horizontal direction and also rotates the laser beam, and a reference plane is formed by the laser beam
4
.
The bulldozer
2
has a blade
5
, which is supported in such manner that it can be moved up or down. A pole
6
is erected on the blade
5
, and a level sensor
7
is mounted on the pole
6
. The level sensor
7
receives the laser beam
4
coming from the rotary laser irradiating apparatus
1
and detects a photodetecting position. The bulldozer
2
comprises a control unit (not shown), which detects height of the blade
5
based on a receiving signal from the level sensor
7
and controls height of the blade
5
based on the result of detection.
As described above, the horizontal reference plane is formed by the laser beam, and ground surface can be leveled in the horizontal direction by maintaining the distance from the horizontal reference plane to a blade edge
5
′ of the blade
5
at a constant value. By changing the distance to the blade edge
5
′, the height of the ground surface to be leveled can be changed.
At a construction site of relatively small scale, construction work may be carried out by a single construction machine, while it is generally practiced to use many construction machines at the same time at construction site. Further, the height of the ground surface to be leveled is usually different in each individual case when many construction machines are used for the construction. This means that a rotary laser irradiating apparatus is needed, which can set the levels for many construction machines at the same time. If a plurality of rotary laser irradiating apparatuses is used, erroneous operation of the construction machines may occur in receiving the laser beam.
In order to control a plurality of construction machines at the same time without causing erroneous operation, it is desirable to perform level setting by a single rotary laser irradiating apparatus. To perform level setting to each of the construction machines by a single rotary laser irradiating apparatus, it is necessary to perform level setting to each of the construction machines within one rotation of the laser beam. Conventionally, laser beam is irradiated by rotary irradiation from an optical head, which is rotated at several hundreds of rpm in the rotary laser irradiating apparatus, and a reference plane or a reference line is formed. Therefore, a tilting mechanism is provided to tilt the optical head for level setting and tilt setting.
However, by the tilting mechanism, it is not possible to perform vertical adjustment at high speed as required in the level setting in two or more directions within one rotation of the laser beam, and a construction machine control system for controlling ground leveling operation with a plurality of construction machines by a single rotary laser irradiating apparatus is not yet developed for practical application.
Further, ground leveling operation is not only to level the ground to a horizontal surface, but an inclined ground surface may be prepared in many cases. In housing development construction, it is necessary to prepare ground surface with such gradient as to be convenient for water drainage. In road paving construction, it is necessary to prepare ground surface with the gradient to match topographical feature and with the gradient suitable for water drainage. In the conventional type construction machine control system, ground surface is leveled at first, and inclined surface with a predetermined gradient is prepared according to the result of survey operation.
Although operators without special skill may be able to prepare a horizontal ground surface by the construction machine control system as described above, it is very difficult to prepare ground surface with gradient, and this requires skilled operator. Good finishing condition of the ground leveling in case of the inclined ground surface depends much upon the skill of the operator. The progress of the work varies according to the skill and the experience of the operator, and there are also problems of finishing and process control.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system, by which level setting can be performed within a plurality of ranges during one rotation of the laser beam by a single rotary laser irradiating apparatus. It is another object of the invention to provide a system to control a plurality of construction machines by a single rotary laser irradiating apparatus. It is still another object of the invention to provide a system to perform ground leveling operation including preparation of inclined ground surface in easy and efficient manner and without being influenced by skill and experience of the operator.
The rotary laser irradiating apparatus according to the present invention comprises a laser source, a rotator for forming a laser reference plane by rotary irradiation of laser beam from the laser source, scanning means for deflecting the laser beam from the laser source, and control means for controlling the scanning means. Further, the present invention provides the rotary laser irradiating apparatus as described above, wherein there is further provided an encoder for detecting an irradiating direction of the rotator, and the control means controls the scanning means in such manner that the laser reference plane is formed at a predetermined position in a predetermined direction. Also, in the rotary laser irradiating apparatus of the present invention, the scanning means is provided on the rotator. The present invention provides the rotary laser irradiating apparatus as described above, wherein the system comprises an encoder for detecting an irradiating direction of the rotator, scanning means provided on an optical path between the laser source and the rotator and used for deflecting the laser beam, an image rotator provided on an optical path between the scanning means and the rotator and used for rotating the laser beam, and control means for controlling the scanning means in such manner that the laser reference plane is formed at a predetermined position in a predetermined direction, and the image rotator is integrally moved so that it is rotated by {fraction (
1
/
2
)} turn of the rotator. Also, the present invention provides the rotary laser irradiating apparatus as described above, wherein there is provided a relay lens having a focal point on the rotator and the scanning means on an optical path between the image rotator and the rotator. Further, in the rotary laser irradiating apparatus of the present invention, the laser source is tur
Hayashi Kunihiro
Ohtomo Fumio
Batson Victor
Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon
Nields & Lemack
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