Method and apparatus for controlling excavation eqiupment
First Claim
1. A method for controlling a piece of excavation equipment that is excavating near a buried cable and/or pipe, that carries a locating signal independent of the control of the excavation equipment, to prevent the excavation equipment from severing the cable and/or pipe, comprising the steps of:
- continuously determining the strength of the locating signal, carried by the cable and/or pipe independent of the control of the excavation equipment, to sense if the buffed cable and/or pipe is sufficiently close to the excavation equipment to be potentially damaged thereby;
alerting the excavation equipment when the buffed cable and/or pipe is sufficiently close to the excavation equipment to be potentially damaged thereby; and
temporarily disabling the excavation equipment, upon being alerted if the buried cable and/or pipe is sufficiently close to the excavation equipment to prevent the equipment from further excavating.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Control of a piece of excavation equipment (10) to temporarily disable it from further excavating in an area where a buried cable and/or pipe (50) is present is accomplished by providing a detector (54) for sensing if the buried cable and/or pipe is sufficiently close to be potentially damaged. The detector provides a signal indicative of the presence of the buried cable for transmission, via a transmitter-receiver pair (56, 60), to a control valve (62). When a buried cable and/or pipe is detected, the control valve is actuated to divert hydraulic oil that would otherwise flow to a cylinder (44) that provides forward movement of a bucket (38) on the excavating equipment, thereby preventing further excavation by the bucket in the region of the buried cable and/or pipe.
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Citations
6 Claims
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1. A method for controlling a piece of excavation equipment that is excavating near a buried cable and/or pipe, that carries a locating signal independent of the control of the excavation equipment, to prevent the excavation equipment from severing the cable and/or pipe, comprising the steps of:
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continuously determining the strength of the locating signal, carried by the cable and/or pipe independent of the control of the excavation equipment, to sense if the buffed cable and/or pipe is sufficiently close to the excavation equipment to be potentially damaged thereby; alerting the excavation equipment when the buffed cable and/or pipe is sufficiently close to the excavation equipment to be potentially damaged thereby; and temporarily disabling the excavation equipment, upon being alerted if the buried cable and/or pipe is sufficiently close to the excavation equipment to prevent the equipment from further excavating. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. Apparatus for temporarily disabling a piece of excavation equipment that is excavating near a buried cable and/or cable that carries a locating signal that is independent of the control of the excavation equipment, comprising:
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a detector for detecting if the locating signal that is carried by the buried cable and/or pipe independent of the control of the excavation equipment is above a prescribed threshold, and if, so, then generating an alerting signal of a predetermined magnitude; means coupled to said detector means and responsive thereto for alerting the excavation equipment of the buried cable and/or pipe; and means coupled to said alerting means for temporarily disabling the excavation equipment upon being alerted of the presence of the buffed cable and/or pipe.
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5. The apparatus according to 4 wherein the alerting means comprises:
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a transmitter for transmitting an RF signal upon receipt of the alerting signal from said detector; and a receiver responsive to said transmitter for generating a control signal when said RF signal received by said receiver is above a prescribed magnitude. - View Dependent Claims (6)
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Specification