Maintenance scheduling apparatus and method therefor

• US 20040143377A1
• Filed: 12/03/2003
• Published: 07/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Inventors: Sudou, Tsugio
• Granted Patent: US 7,024,291 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/30
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0968 Systems involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

A running control unit receives fuel residual quantity information from each vehicle by radio to deduce a period of time, during which the vehicle can operate, on the basis of the information and vehicle fuel consumption rate information in a database. Also, the running control unit reads production information, production planning information, and oil station information from a data base to calculate are fueling permissible number, for which refueling may be done simultaneously at the oil station, on the basis of these information and information of the number of the vehicles. Then the running control unit makes up refueling schedules for a plurality of vehicles on the basis of an operating period of time for each vehicle and the refueling permissible number.

Claims

1. A maintenance scheduling apparatus for making up maintenance schedules for a plurality of vehicles, comprising

detection means for detecting operating situations and/or vehicular states of the plurality of vehicles, and

scheduling means for making up maintenance schedules for the plurality of vehicles on the basis of the detected operating situations and/or vehicular states to prevent more vehicles than a predetermined number of vehicles from being suspended in operation at the same time.

2. The maintenance scheduling apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

position storage means for storing positional information of maintenance locations where maintenance for the vehicles is done,

wherein the detection means detects respective present positions and consumption or residual quantities of a fuel of the plurality of vehicles, and

wherein the scheduling means makes up the maintenance schedules on the basis of the positional information of the maintenance locations stored in the position storage means, the detected present positions and consumption or residual quantities of a fuel of the respective vehicles.

3. The maintenance scheduling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scheduling means makes up a maintenance schedule for a second vehicle on the basis of at least one of the following (1) and (2), that is, (1) an operating situation and/or a vehicular state of one or more first vehicles, and (2) respective maintenance schedules of the one or more first vehicles determined previously on the basis of (1), and an operating situation and/or a vehicular state of the second vehicle.

4. The maintenance scheduling apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

production storage means for storing production information representative of a relationship between operating information with respect to operation of at least one of the plurality of vehicles and production, and production planning information represented with the use of production, and

wherein the scheduling means makes up the maintenance schedules on the basis of the production information and the production planning information stored in the production storage means in addition to the detected operating situations and/or vehicular states.