Apparatus for representing a load to be carried by a dump truck

• US 4,921,578 A
• Filed: 06/05/1989
• Issued: 05/01/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Komatsu Seisakusho (Komatsu Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Komatsu Seisakusho (Komatsu Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kondo, Satoki, Shiraishi, Takao
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, Jr., George H.
• Application Number:
  US07/361,072
• Time in Patent Office: 330 Days
• Field of Search: 177/25.19, 177/136
• US Class Current: 177/25.19
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/60 Load
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/04 Means for informing, instructing or displaying
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/044 Alarm means
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/08 for incorporation in vehicles

Abstract

As earth and sand are loaded on a dump truck by operating a loader, a quantity of load to be carried by the dump truck is stepwise increased at every time when a loading operation is performed. To assure that the load does not substantially exceed a rated load given to the dump truck, there is a need of estimating a load to be carried by the dump truck during a next loading operation. To this end, there is provided an apparatus for representing a load to be carried by the dump truck for which representing is effected on the basis of the load which has been measured using a load meter of the type mounted on the dump truck. The apparatus includes a calculating unit for calculating the number of loading operations by addition at every time when the load is stepwise increased so as to allow a load to be carried by the dump truck during a next loading operation to be estimated with reference to the number of loading operations and the load which has been loaded on the dump truck till now and a display unit for representing an estimative load to be carried by the dump truck, the estimative load being calculated using the calculating unit.

Claims

1. An apparatus for representing a load to be carried by a dump truck for which representing is effected on the basis of said load which has been measured by a load meter of the type mounted on said dump truck, wherein said apparatus comprises;

calculating means for calculating the number of loading operations by addition at every time when said load is stepwise increased so as to allow a load to be carried by the dump truck during a next loading operation to be estimated with reference to the number of loading operations and the load which has been loaded on the dump truck till now, and

representing means for representing an estimative load to be carried by the dump truck, said estimative load being calculated by said calculating means.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said calculating means is such that a steady value indicative of a load to be carried by the dump truck is measured on the basis of variation of said load, a determination is made such that the load is stepwise increased, on the basis of a difference between a steady value before a single loading operation and another steady value after the same, and the number of loading operations is calculated by addition at every time when the load is stepwise increased.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein a determination is made such that a single loading operation has been performed, when it is found that a difference between a steady value before said single loading operation and another steady value after the same is in excess of a preset value.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said calculating means is such that a difference between a steady value before a single loading operation and another steady value after the same is calculated as a value indicative of a load to be carried by the dump truck during said single loading operation, an average load to be carried thereby is calculated by dividing a sum of respective loaded weights corresponding to the number of loading operations by the latter, and a load to be carried by the dump truck during a next loading operation is estimated by adding said average load to the carried load which has been loaded on the dump truck.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said calculating means is such that a difference between a steady value before a single loading operation and another steady value after the same is calculated as a value indicative of a load to be carried by the dump truck during said single loading operation, an average load to be carried thereby is calculated by dividing a sum of respective loaded weights corresponding to the number of loading operations by the latter, and a load to be carried by the dump truck during a next loading operation is estimated by adding said average load to the carried load which has been loaded on the dump truck.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said calculating means is such that it makes a determination that a quantity of load is stepwise increased, on the basis of a difference between a load for which sampling operations are performed at every preset time interval and another load for which a sampling operation is performed just before said determination and the load which has been loaded on the dump truck is then calculated by multiplying a quantity of stepwise increased load by the number of loading operations.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein a determination is made such that a single loading operation has been performed when it is found that a difference between a load for which sampling operations are performed at every preset time interval and another load for which a sampling operation is performed just before said determination.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said calculating means is such that a difference derived from a subtraction of a load for which a sampling operation is performed at the time when a loading operation is started from another load for which a sampling operation is performed at this time is calculated and a quotient derived from a division of said difference by the number of loading operations is added to said load for which a sampling operation is performed at this time so that a load to be carried by the dump truck during a next loading operation is estimated.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein said calculating means is such that a difference derived from a subtraction of a load for which a sampling operation is performed at the time when a loading operation is started from another load for which a sampling operation is performed at this time is calculated and a quotient derived from a division of said difference by the number of loading operations is added to said load for which a sampling operation is performed at this time so that a load to be carried by the dump truck during a next loading operation is estimated.