Vehicle tracking, communication and fleet management system
First Claim
1. A sensor apparatus for producing a signal that indicates the speed and direction of a drum on a ready mix truck comprising an array of magnets mounted about the axis of rotation of the truck'"'"'s mixer drum, and dual magnetic field sensors mounted in fixed confronting relation thereto, wherein the magnets activate the sensors in sequence as they pass in front of the sensors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle fleet management information system identifies location and direction of movement of each vehicle in a fleet in real-time, and automatically reports such information, as well as status of predetermined events in which the vehicle is engaged, directly to the fleet manager. Each fleet vehicle has an assigned time slot to transmit its reporting information over a communications network without interfering with transmissions from other vehicles in their own respective time slots. A timing control phase lock loop (PLL) provides precise time synchronization for timing corrections from a global positioning system (GPS) based time reference. A dual band full-duplex interface of the network has TDMA on one-half and broadcast on the other half. Microprocessor time processing units in components of the network perform precise clock synchronization. Space diversity performed on received vehicle transmitted messages avoids data corruption. Different vehicles have different periodic transmission intervals, by dynamically allocating the slots for various update rates. Auxiliary reporting slots enable prompt reporting of important data by the respective vehicle transmitters independent of the slower periodic transmission intervals.
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Citations
17 Claims
- 1. A sensor apparatus for producing a signal that indicates the speed and direction of a drum on a ready mix truck comprising an array of magnets mounted about the axis of rotation of the truck'"'"'s mixer drum, and dual magnetic field sensors mounted in fixed confronting relation thereto, wherein the magnets activate the sensors in sequence as they pass in front of the sensors.
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8. A system for automated reporting of the status of a material transport truck, including the status of events related to the usage, function, operation, location, systems or cargo of the truck, to a remote location for system users including dispatchers and managers using a wireless network, the automated reporting system comprising, on board the truck:
at least one sensor for measuring vehicle engine data bus parameters, and computer apparatus for automatically receiving an input from engine data bus parameter measurements, and for transmitting data denoting the measurements to the remote location over the wireless network, said truck being a semi-tractor trailer for carrying the material.
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9. A system for automated reporting of status of a ready mix slurry material mixer truck, including status of events related to the usage, function, operation, location, systems or cargo of the truck, to a management office for system users including dispatchers and managers using a wireless network, the management office including a dispatch software application for issuing dispatch instructions over the wireless network to said truck, the automated reporting system comprising, on board the truck:
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a plurality of sensors for automatically detecting or measuring the current status of various selected ones of said events, computer apparatus for receiving inputs from said plurality of sensors indicative of the respective detected or measured events, and for storing for later transmission data denoting the status of events of interest, derived from the event-indicative inputs, to the management office over the wireless network, and navigation apparatus for automatically detecting the current geographic location of the truck, said navigation apparatus and sensors among said plurality of sensors automatically detecting at least one of the events of truck (i) arrival at its slurry material plant site, (ii) loading at the plant site, (iii) departure from the plant site, (iv) arrival at its designated job site, (v) begin pour at the job site, and (vi) end pour at the job site, (vii) undergoing a wash at the job site, and (viii) departure from the job site, said computer apparatus also receiving inputs from said navigation apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for automated determination of status of a ready mix slurry material mixer truck, including status of events related to the usage function, operation, location, systems or cargo of the truck, the automated determination system comprising, on board the truck:
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a plurality of sensors for measuring parameters related to the usage function operation location systems, or cargo of the truck, said parameters indicative of various selected ones of said events, and computer apparatus for receiving inputs from said plurality of sensors indicative of the respective detected or measured events, and for computing the status of events of interest, derived from the event-indicative inputs, wherein at least one of the events is a loading event, a begin pour event, an end pour event, or the truck undergoing a wash. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A system for automated determination of a status of a ready mix slurry material mixer truck having a mixing drum, including status of events related to the usage, function, operation, location, systems or cargo of the truck, the automated determination system comprising, on board the truck:
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a plurality of sensors for measuring parameters related to the usage, function, operation, location, systems, or cargo of the truck said parameters indicative of various selected ones of said events, and computer apparatus for receiving inputs from said plurality of sensors indicative of the respective detected or measured events, and for computing the status of events of interest, derived from the event-indicative input, wherein at least one of the sensors is configured to detect at least one of the speed of rotation of the drum, the direction of rotation of the drum, the weight of the truck, the weight of the drum and its contents, water flowing from a pressurized tank on the truck, or opening of the driver'"'"'s door. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification