Construction machine management apparatus and construction machines management system

• US 20040147250A1
• Filed: 11/26/2003
• Published: 07/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Hiroshi, Shibata, Koichi, Karasawa, Hideo, Sugiyama, Genroku, Adachi, Hiroyuki, Ono, Kiyoshi, Hirata, Toichi, Tomikawa, Osamu, Onoue, Hiroshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,228,125 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.2
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/26 Indicating devices E02F5/145 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• 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

Assessment information needed to calculate a used vehicle assessment value of a hydraulic excavator 10 is input to a portable telephone 20 and is then transmitted from the portable telephone 20. The transmitted assessment information is received at a manufacturer'"'"'s base station 40 at a remote location. The used vehicle assessment value of the hydraulic excavator 10 is calculated based upon the received assessment information, and history information and operation information on the hydraulic excavator 10 read out from an operation information database 43 and a history database 42 in correspondence to an ID number assigned to the hydraulic excavator which is included in the assessment information.

Claims

1. A construction machine assessment method, wherein:

information required to assess a construction machine input to a portable information transceiver is transmitted from the portable information transceiver;

the transmitted information is received at a base station at a remote location; and

a used vehicle assessment value with regard to the construction machine is calculated based upon the received information, and history information and operation information on the construction machine read out from a specific database in correspondence to the received information.

2. A construction machine assessment method according to claim 1, wherein:

the portable information transceiver is a portable telephone.

3. A construction machine assessment system comprising:

a portable information transceiver used to input and transmit assessment information that is required when assessing a construction machine;

a reception device that receives the assessment information transmitted from the portable information transceiver;

a database in which history information and operation information on the construction machine are stored in correspondence to an identifier assigned to the construction machine; and

an arithmetic unit that calculates a used vehicle assessment value of the construction machine based upon the received assessment information, and the history information and the operation information on the construction machine read out from the database in correspondence to the identifier of the construction machine which is included in the assessment information.

4. A construction machine assessment system according to claim 3, wherein:

the portable information transceiver is a portable telephone.

5. A construction machine assessment system according to claim 3, wherein:

the arithmetic unit starts calculating the used vehicle assessment value in response to receiving the information from the portable information transceiver.

6. A construction machine assessment system according to claim 4, wherein:

the arithmetic unit transmits an assessment item checklist to the portable information transceiver upon judging that a used vehicle assessment form transmission request has been issued from the portable information transceiver; and

the portable telephone includes a display unit at which the transmitted checklist is displayed.

7. A construction machine inspection information transmission/reception method, wherein:

the results of an inspection conducted on a construction machine are entered into a portable information transceiver;

the inspection information having been input is transmitted from the portable information transceiver;

the transmitted inspection information is received at a base station at a remote location; and

the received information is recorded into a database as inspection information corresponding to the construction machine.

8. A construction machine inspection information transmission/reception method according to claim 7, wherein:

specific inspection items transmitted from the base station are received at the portable information transceiver in advance; and

the results of the inspection conducted with regard to the inspection items are input to the portable information transceiver and are transmitted from the portable information tranceiver.

9. A construction machine inspection information transmission/reception method according to claim 8, wherein:

the inspection items and the inspection results having been input are displayed at a display unit of the portable information transceiver.

10. A construction machine inspection information transmission/reception method according to any of claims 7 through 9, wherein:

the portable information transceiver is a portable telephone.

11. A construction machine inspection information transmission/reception system, comprising:

a portable information transceiver used to input results of an inspection conducted on a construction machine and transmit the inspection information having been input;

a reception device provided at a remote location away from the construction machine to receive the inspection information transmitted from the portable information transceiver; and

a storage device that stores the inspection information received at the reception device into a database in correspondence to an identifier assigned to the construction machine which is included in the inspection information.

12. A construction machine inspection information transmission/reception system according to claim 11, wherein:

the portable information transceiver is a portable telephone.

13. A construction machine inspection information transmission/reception system according to claim 11, further comprising:

an inspection item transmission device that transmits inspection items to the portable information transceiver upon judging that an inspection item transmission request has been issued from the portable information transceiver, wherein;

the portable information transceiver includes a display unit for displaying the inspection items transmitted from the inspection item transmission device.

14. A portable telephone comprising:

a selection device that selects either a communication mode in which communication is executed or a data input mode in which various types of data are input from a control device of a construction machine;

a data input device to which data are input from the control device of the construction machine in the data input mode; and

a display unit at which the data input through the data input device are displayed.

15. A portable telephone comprising:

a selection device that selects either a communication mode in which communication is executed or a data output mode in which various types of data are output to a construction machine; and

a data output device that outputs the various types of data to the construction machine in the data output mode.

17. A portable telephone-compatible construction machine comprising:

a reception device that receives various types of data from a portable telephone according to claim 15 or 16;

a recording unit that records operation information and the like with regard to the construction machine; and

an overwrite device that overwrites data inside the recording unit based upon the various types of data having been received.

16. A portable telephone comprising:

a selection device that selects a communication mode in which communication is executed, a data input mode in which various types of data are input from a control device of a construction machine or a data output mode in which various types of data are output to the construction machine;

a data input device to which the various types of data are input from the control device of the construction machine in the data input mode;

a display unit at which the various types of data input through the data input device are displayed; and

a data output device that outputs the various types of data to the construction machine in the data output mode.

18. A data transmission/reception method achieved by utilizing a portable telephone, wherein:

various types of data are taken into the portable telephone from a control device of a construction machine;

the various types of data having been taken in are transmitted to a base station from the portable telephone; and

the various types of data transmitted from the portable telephone are received at the base station.

19. A data transmission/reception method achieved by utilizing a portable telephone according to claim 18, wherein:

the data transmitted from the portable telephone and received at the base station are processed at the base station;

the processed data are transmitted from the base station. to the portable telephone, which has transmitted the unprocessed data;

the processed data transmitted from the base station are received at the portable telephone; and

the received data are displayed at the display unit of the portable telephone.

20. A computer program product for a portable telephone containing a program that enables a computer in the portable telephone to execute;

a selection procedure to select a communication mode in which communication is executed or a data input mode in which various types of data are input from a control device of a construction machine;

a data input procedure to input the data from the control device of the construction machine in the data input mode; and

a display procedure to display the data input through the data input procedure.

23. A computer program product according to any of claims 20, 21 and 22 achieved as a recording medium having the program recorded therein.

24. A computer program product according to any of claims 20, 21 and 22 achieved as a carrier wave on which the program is embodied as a data signal.

21. A computer program product for a portable telephone containing a program that enables a computer in the portable telephone to execute;

a selection procedure to select either a communication mode in which communication is executed or a data output mode in which various types of data are output to a construction machine; and

a data output procedure to output the data to the construction machine in the data output mode.

22. A computer program product for a portable telephone containing a program that enables a computer in the portable telephone to execute;

a selection procedure to select a communication mode in which communication is executed, a data input mode in which various types of data are input from a control device of a construction machine or a data output mode in which various types of data are output to the construction machine;

a data input procedure to input the data from the control device of the construction machine in the data input mode;

a display procedure to display the data input through the data input procedure; and

a data output procedure in which the data are output to the construction machine in the data output mode.