Apparatus for tracking and recording vital signs and task-related information of a vehicle to identify operating patterns

• US 20030176958A1
• Filed: 03/07/2003
• Published: 09/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LeRoy G Hagenbuch
• Original Assignee: LeRoy G Hagenbuch
• Inventors: Hagenbuch, LeRoy G.
• Granted Patent: US 7,039,507 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

An apparatus is provided for diagnosing the state of health of a vehicle and for providing the operator of the vehicle with a substantially real-time indication of the efficiency of the vehicle in performing an assigned task with respect to a predetermined goal. A processor on-board the vehicle monitors sensors that provide information regarding the state of health of the vehicle and the amount of work the vehicle has done. In response to anomalies in the data from the sensors, the processor records information that describes events leading up to the occurrence of the anomaly for later analysis that can be used to diagnose the cause of the anomaly. The sensors are also used to prompt the operator of the vehicle to operate the vehicle at optimum efficiency.

Claims

1. A system for acquisitioning and accumulating data indicative of a vehicle'"'"'s state of health and work status leading up to a failure mode of the vehicle, the system comprising:

a first sensor mounted to the vehicle for providing vital sign data whose value is indicative of a state of health of a subassembly of the vehicle;

a second sensor mounted to the vehicle for providing production-related data whose value is indicative of an amount of work performed by the vehicle in executing an assigned task;

an electronic processor on-board the vehicle for acquiring the vital sign data and the production-related data at predetermined time intervals;

a memory for storing the production-related data acquired by the processor in a format that allows the data to be retrieved from memory by the processor in a manner that correlates the vital sign and work data acquired during the same time interval and chronologically orders the production-related data acquired at different time intervals;

a device for detecting a failure mode of the vehicle and providing a signal to the processor in response thereto; and

the processor including circuitry responsive to the signal of the failure mode to provide indicia in the memory that identifies the time the failure mode occurred and the chronology of the values of the production-related data immediately preceding the time the failure mode occurred.

2. The system as set forth in claim 1 including a display responsive to the processor for visualizing the chronology of the values of the vital signs and work data immediately preceding the time the failure mode occurred.

3. The system as set forth in claim 2 wherein the display is a printer.

4. The system as set forth in claim 2 wherein the display also visualizes an indication of a source of the failure mode as determined by the device that detected the failure mode.

5. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the device for detecting the failure mode is an accelerometer.

6. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the device for detecting the failure mode is a comparator for comparing a critical value of the set of vital sign data and the value of vital sign data from the first sensor.

7. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the set of work data includes the gross weight of the vehicle.

8. The system as set forth in claim 7 wherein the set of work data includes a grade of a road upon which the vehicle is travelling.

9. The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein the second sensor includes a weight sensor for detecting a weight of a load carried by the vehicle and an inclinometer for detecting the grade of the road.

10. The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the subassembly whose state of health is monitored by the first sensor is a drive train of the vehicle, including an internal combustion engine.

11. The system as set forth in claim 10 wherein the set of performances sign data includes an RPM of the engine.

12. A system for reporting a production status of a haulage vehicle in a substantially real-time basis with respect to a production goal derived from operation of the vehicle in a normal mode, the system comprising:

a sensor on-board the vehicle for sensing a weight of a present load carried by the vehicle over a haul cycle;

a device for sensing a dumping of the present load and providing a signal indicative thereof;

a clock for accumulating an elapsed operating time of the vehicle;

an accumulator responsive to the signal from the sensing device for adding the weight of the present load to a total weight that is a sum of the weights of previous loads carried by the vehicle during the elapsed operating time, thereby incrementing the total weight to a new value;

a memory for storing a production rate goal for the cycle over which the vehicle is carrying the present and previous loads;

a processor responsive to the memory, the accumulator and the clock for (1) comparing the production rate goal and an actual rate of production derived from the elapsed operating time and the new value of the total weight with the production rate goal and (2) providing an output signal indicating a relative value of the actual production rate with respect to the production rate goal; and

a display for providing to an operator of the vehicle an indication of the relative value of the actual production rate.