Method and Apparatus for Tracing and Blending Commingled Non-Liquid Bulk Materials
First Claim
1. A method for determining the location of each of multiple loads of commingled non-liquid bulk material in a storage container comprising:
- obtaining a first surface map of an upper surface of existing bulk material stored in a bulk material storage container;
recording properties and identification information associated with loads of bulk material added to said bulk material storage container, including at least a first load of bulk material added to said bulk material storage container;
obtaining a second surface map of said upper surface of bulk material stored in said bulk material storage container, said second surface map obtained after said first surface map and after at least said first load of bulk material is added to said bulk material storage container; and
arranging said properties and identification information to indicate actual sequential layering of each of said loads of bulk material added to said bulk material storage container.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system collects and manipulates information from various sources for the purpose of determining the location of loads of material in a bulk material storage container and tracing the number and identity of bulk material sources, such as farms or processing plants, for loads located within a bulk material storage container. Such production source information is thus uniquely associated with a particular non-liquid bulk material load. Surface mapping of a surface of bulk material stored in a storage container is performed before and after material is added to the container, and are used to determine position of loads within the storage container. Embodiments of the present invention, using knowledge of the position of loads within the container, may be used for the purposes of preplanning and enhancing blended load-out batches.
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A method for determining the location of each of multiple loads of commingled non-liquid bulk material in a storage container comprising:
-
obtaining a first surface map of an upper surface of existing bulk material stored in a bulk material storage container; recording properties and identification information associated with loads of bulk material added to said bulk material storage container, including at least a first load of bulk material added to said bulk material storage container; obtaining a second surface map of said upper surface of bulk material stored in said bulk material storage container, said second surface map obtained after said first surface map and after at least said first load of bulk material is added to said bulk material storage container; and arranging said properties and identification information to indicate actual sequential layering of each of said loads of bulk material added to said bulk material storage container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method for determining the source(s) of each of multiple loads of commingled non-liquid bulk material withdrawn from a storage container comprising:
-
obtaining a first surface map of an upper surface of bulk material stored in a bulk material storage container; obtaining stored load information associated with stored loads of bulk material stored at said bulk material storage container, said load information including properties and identification information for said stored loads and sequential layering information of said stored loads; obtaining a second surface map of said upper surface of bulk material stored in said bulk material storage container, said second surface map obtained after said first surface map and after a first load of bulk material is withdrawn from said bulk material storage container; and identifying, based on said stored load information, identification information for each stored load that comprises at least a portion of said first load. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method for determining input volumes from one or more containers holding one or more sources of non-liquid commingled bulk material to obtain a blended output meeting a target output specification, comprising:
-
obtaining first container load information associated with stored loads of bulk material stored at a first bulk material storage container, said load information including properties and identification information for said stored loads and sequential layering information of said stored loads at said first bulk material storage container; obtaining load information associated with stored loads of bulk material stored at one or more additional bulk material storage containers, said load information including properties and identification information for said stored loads and sequential layering information of said stored loads at respective bulk material storage containers; obtaining a target specification of at least one property of an output load; calculating a volume of bulk material to be withdrawn from said first container and said one or more additional containers to achieve said target specification, said calculating based on said first container load information and load information of said one or more additional containers. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A system for locating and tracking loads of commingled non-liquid bulk material added/withdrawn to/from bulk material storage container(s), comprising:
-
a mapping unit operable to receive surface data indicative of a surface of bulk material stored at one or more bulk material storage container(s); a database operable to store properties and identification information associated with loads of bulk material added to and removed from said bulk material storage container(s) and operable to store a sequence in which said loads were added and removed; and a processor operable to determine a location of one or more loads of bulk material within at least a first bulk material storage container based on said surface data, said sequence information, and said properties and identification of said loads of bulk material stored at said first bulk material storage container. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
-
Specification