Apparatus and method for identifying containers from which material is collected and loaded onto a haulage vehicle
DCFirst Claim
1. A haulage vehicle comprising in combination:
- a mechanism for moving a container of material and loading the material onto the haulage vehicle while the vehicle remains stationary;
a sensor mounted to the vehicle proximate a region through which the container is moved for retrieving from the container a machine-readable code when the container is moved through the region; and
, an electronic processor for collecting the code retrieved by the sensor, time stamping the code and compiling a historical record identifying the container and a time when the material from it was collected.
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Abstract
A haulage vehicle is described that includes a mechanism for loading material from a container into the haulage vehicle while the vehicle remains stationary. A sensor mounted to the vehicle retrieves from the container a machine-readable code when the material from the container is collected by the vehicle. An electronic processor collects the code retrieved by the sensor, time stamps the code and compiles a historical record identifying the container and a time when the material from it was collected. Preferably, the vehicle includes a weighing device for determining a weight of the material collected from the container. The weight of the material is included in the historical record.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A haulage vehicle comprising in combination:
- a mechanism for moving a container of material and loading the material onto the haulage vehicle while the vehicle remains stationary;
a sensor mounted to the vehicle proximate a region through which the container is moved for retrieving from the container a machine-readable code when the container is moved through the region; and
, an electronic processor for collecting the code retrieved by the sensor, time stamping the code and compiling a historical record identifying the container and a time when the material from it was collected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
- a mechanism for moving a container of material and loading the material onto the haulage vehicle while the vehicle remains stationary;
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6. A method of tracking material collected by a haulage vehicle comprising the steps of:
- moving a container of material and loading the material onto the vehicle while the vehicle remains stationary;
monitoring a region through which the container must move when the material is loaded onto the haulage vehicle;
retrieving from the container a machine-readable code when the container is moved through the region;
time stamping the code; and
, compiling a historical record identifying the container and a time when the material was collected. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- moving a container of material and loading the material onto the vehicle while the vehicle remains stationary;
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12. A method for tracking bulk material collected by a haulage vehicle comprising the steps of:
- moving a container of bulk material and loading the material onto the haulage vehicle;
monitoring a region through which the container must move when the material is loaded onto the haulage vehicle;
retrieving from the container a machine-readable code when the container is moved through the region;
time-stamping the retrieved code; and
, downloading the code to a remote and fixed site via a wireless link. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
- moving a container of bulk material and loading the material onto the haulage vehicle;
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26. A method for identifying and recording as an event a change in a load hauled by a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
- interrogating a device associated with the load;
retrieving from the device a machine readable code in conjunction with the event;
sensing the change in the load and generating data describing the change;
time-stamping the data and the machine-readable code;
correlating the data and the code; and
compiling a historical record of the events for later use. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
- interrogating a device associated with the load;
Specification