Display Conveying Trolley Position to Operator

• US 20130261901A1
• Filed: 03/30/2012
• Published: 10/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Hendrickson, Matthew L., Gilmore, Donald J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,637,005 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/50
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/36 Vehicles designed to transport cargo, e.g. trucks
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/622 by satellite navigation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/10 by alarm
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/53 in combination with an external power supply, e.g. from overhead contact lines
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 9/00 Electric propulsion with power supply external to the vehicle electric propulsion for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways B60L13/00; in combination with batteries or fuel cells within the vehicle B60L50/53
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A display for use in an off-highway truck includes a position element providing an indication to an operator of the off-highway truck to align the off-highway truck with an overhead trolley line as well as a pantograph element providing an indication to the operator to raise or lower a pantograph associated with the off-highway truck to respectively make or break contact with the overhead trolley line. In an optional aspect, an alarm indicator may be provided for signaling an alarm condition to the operator of the off-highway truck.

Claims

1. A method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck to facilitate use of a trolley line for providing electrical power to the truck, the method comprising:

determining a position of the off-highway truck relative to the trolley line; and

generating a display within an operator cab of the off-highway truck, the display including a graphical element showing alignment of the off-highway truck to the trolley line.

2. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein the display within the operator cab comprises a heads up display on a windshield of the off-highway truck.

3. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein the display within the operator cab comprises a display shown on a display screen within the operator cab.

4. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein determining a position of the off-highway truck relative to the trolley line includes determining the position of the off-highway truck relative to a plurality of fixed ground features.

5. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of fixed ground features are features of a trolley line infrastructure.

6. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein determining a position of the off-highway truck relative to the trolley line includes determining the position of the off-highway truck via GPS.

7. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein determining a position of the off-highway truck relative to the trolley line includes sensing the position of the trolley line with a sensor.

8. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein determining a position of the off-highway truck relative to the trolley line includes determining the position of the trolley line via a position-encoded overlay.

9. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein the display includes a first visual element representing the off-highway truck and a second visual element representing a lateral range of the trolley line.

10. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein the display includes a visual element representing a steering direction to allow the off-highway truck to remain powered by the trolley line.

11. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein the display includes a pantograph indicator element indicating whether the operator is to raise or lower a pantograph associated with the off-highway truck.

12. The method for guiding an operator of an off-highway truck according to claim 1, wherein the display further includes an alarm indicator element for indicating that an alarm condition exists.

13. An off-highway truck having a self-contained power source for being selectively powered by a trolley line and by the self-contained power source, the off-highway truck comprising:

a pantograph adapted for selectively raising or lowering contacts to respectively make contact or break contact with an overhead trolley line;

one or more sensors located and configured to gather data indicative of a position of the off-highway truck relative to the trolley line;

a display generator for providing a display in a cab of the off-highway truck; and

a controller linked to the one or more sensors and the display generator, the controller being configured to cause the display generator to provide a display providing steering guidance to an operator of the off-highway truck to engage the pantograph with the trolley line.

14. The off-highway truck according to claim 13, wherein the display in the cab of the off-highway truck comprises a heads up display.

15. The off-highway truck according to claim 13, wherein the display in the cab of the off-highway truck comprises a screen display.

16. The off-highway truck according to claim 13, wherein the display includes a first visual element representing the off-highway truck and a second visual element representing a lateral range of the trolley line.

17. The off-highway truck according to claim 13, wherein the display includes a visual element graphically showing a steering direction to allow the off-highway truck to remain powered by the trolley line.

18. The off-highway truck according to claim 13, wherein the display includes a pantograph indicator element indicating whether the operator is to raise or lower the pantograph.

19. A display for use in an off-highway truck, the display comprising:

a position element providing an indication to an operator of the off-highway truck to steer the off-highway truck to align the off-highway truck with an overhead trolley line; and

a pantograph element providing an indication to the operator to raise or lower a pantograph associated with the off-highway truck to respectively make or break contact with the overhead trolley line.

20. The display for use in an off-highway truck according to claim 19, wherein the display comprises a heads up display.