System for monitoring the weight and center of gravity of a vehicle
First Claim
1. A system for determining load distribution of pieces of cargo in a cargo hold of a vehicle, the system comprising:
- a plurality of tags, each of the plurality of tags mounted on a different piece of the pieces of cargo in the cargo hold and carrying information indicative of an actual weight of the different piece of cargo on which a particular tag is mounted;
a plurality of sensors mounted in a spaced array along a length of the cargo hold, each of the sensors capable of reading from the tags the information indicative of the weights of the pieces of cargo, wherein each of the plurality of sensors is positioned along the length of the cargo hold a known distance from a reference plane, and the sensors are located and adjusted such that each of the sensors reads the information indicative of the weights of the pieces of cargo from less than all of the pieces of cargo; and
a computer connected to receive from the plurality of sensors the information indicative of the weights and information indicative of the locations of the pieces of cargo in the cargo hold, the computer programmed to;
calculate therefrom a center of gravity of the plurality of the pieces of cargo;
approximate a longitudinal location of each of the pieces of cargo from identification of each of the pieces of cargo by specific ones of the sensors, and the known locations of the specific ones of the sensors in the cargo hold; and
determine a location of a specific piece of cargo to be between a fore-most and an aft-most one of the plurality of sensors detecting the specific piece of cargo in response to an even number of the plurality of sensors detecting the specific piece of cargo.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for determining load distribution of pieces of cargo in a cargo hold of a vehicle may include a plurality of tags, each of the plurality of tags mounted on a different piece of the pieces of cargo in the cargo hold and carrying information indicative of a weight of the different piece of cargo on which it is mounted; a plurality of sensors mounted in a spaced array along a length of the cargo hold, each of the sensors capable of reading from the tags the information indicative of the weights of the pieces of cargo; and a computer connected to receive from the plurality of sensors the information indicative of the weights and information indicative of the locations of the pieces of cargo in the cargo hold, the computer programmed to calculate therefrom a weight and/or center of gravity of the plurality of the pieces of cargo.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A system for determining load distribution of pieces of cargo in a cargo hold of a vehicle, the system comprising:
-
a plurality of tags, each of the plurality of tags mounted on a different piece of the pieces of cargo in the cargo hold and carrying information indicative of an actual weight of the different piece of cargo on which a particular tag is mounted; a plurality of sensors mounted in a spaced array along a length of the cargo hold, each of the sensors capable of reading from the tags the information indicative of the weights of the pieces of cargo, wherein each of the plurality of sensors is positioned along the length of the cargo hold a known distance from a reference plane, and the sensors are located and adjusted such that each of the sensors reads the information indicative of the weights of the pieces of cargo from less than all of the pieces of cargo; and a computer connected to receive from the plurality of sensors the information indicative of the weights and information indicative of the locations of the pieces of cargo in the cargo hold, the computer programmed to; calculate therefrom a center of gravity of the plurality of the pieces of cargo; approximate a longitudinal location of each of the pieces of cargo from identification of each of the pieces of cargo by specific ones of the sensors, and the known locations of the specific ones of the sensors in the cargo hold; and determine a location of a specific piece of cargo to be between a fore-most and an aft-most one of the plurality of sensors detecting the specific piece of cargo in response to an even number of the plurality of sensors detecting the specific piece of cargo. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of making a system to detect a load distribution of pieces of cargo in a cargo hold of a vehicle, the method comprising:
-
selecting a plurality of sensors that read information carried on tags indicative of weights of pieces of cargo on which the tags are mounted; mounting the plurality of sensors in a spaced array along a length of the cargo hold, such that each of the sensors is at a known distance from a reference plane of the vehicle; connecting a computer to receive from the plurality of sensors the information indicative of the weights and information indicative of the locations of the pieces of cargo in the cargo hold, wherein each of the plurality of sensors is positioned along the length of the cargo hold a known distance from a reference plane, and the sensors are located and adjusted such that each of the sensors reads the information indicative of the weights of the pieces of cargo from less than all of the pieces of cargo; and programming the computer to calculate from the information indicative of the weights and information indicative of the locations of the pieces of cargo in the cargo hold; a center of gravity of the plurality of the pieces of cargo; approximate a longitudinal location of each of the pieces of cargo from identification of each of the pieces of cargo by specific ones of the sensors, and the known locations of the specific ones of the sensors in the cargo hold; and determine a location of a specific piece of cargo to be between a fore-most and an aft-most one of the plurality of sensors detecting the specific piece of cargo in response to an even number of the plurality of sensors detecting the specific piece of cargo. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification