Method and system for managing construction machine, and arithmetic processing apparatus

• US 6,907,384 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2001
• Issued: 06/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sato, Atsushi, Saito, Yoshiaki, Sugiyama, Genroku, Komatsu, Hideki, Mitsuya, Koji, Watanabe, Hiroshi, Shibata, Koichi, Adachi, Hiroyuki, Miura, Shuichi, Hirata, Toichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Kamini
• Application Number:
  US10/240,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20030115020A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,537 Days
• Field of Search: 701 29- 35, 701/50, 702/184, 702/187, 702/182, 702/177, 340/309.7, 340/457.4
• US Class Current: 702/184
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/205 Remotely operated machines, e.g. unmanned vehicles E02F3/8866 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2225 using pressure-compensating valves
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2239 using two or more pumps with cross-assistance
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/226 Safety arrangements, e.g. hydraulic driven fans, preventing cavitation, leakage, overheating
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2292 Systems with two or more pumps
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2296 Systems with a variable displacement pump
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/26 Indicating devices E02F5/145 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/267 Diagnosing or detecting failure of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24001 Maintenance, repair
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24055 Trace, store a working, operation history
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

A method and system for managing a construction machine whereby working time for each of different parts of a hydraulic excavator is measured. Measured data is stored in a memory of a controller and then transferred to a base station computer via satellite communication to be stored in a database. At each repair/replacement of a part in each hydraulic excavator, the base station computer calculates, based on the operation data, a replacement time interval of the part on the basis of the working time per section to which the part belongs, and then stores and accumulates it. The base station computer also reads the stored data for each hydraulic excavator, determines, for each part, a replacement rate of the part having a substantially equal replacement time interval, and calculates a target replacement time interval of the part in accordance with the replacement time interval corresponding to a maximum replacement rate.

Claims

1. A method for managing a construction machine, the method comprising:

a first step of measuring a working time for each section in each of a plurality of construction machines, and storing and accumulating the measured working time as operation data for each construction machine in a database;

a second step of determining, based on repair/replacement data for each part of the construction machine and said operation data, an actual repair/replacement time interval of each part on the basis of the working time per section to which the relevant part belongs; and

a third step of statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval and setting a target repair/replacement time interval of the relevant part to be used for deciding a scheduled repair/replacement timing of a corresponding part of the particular construction machine using the statistically processed data and wherein;

said third step further includes steps of determining a relationship between the actual repair/replacement time interval of a part determined in said second step and the number of times of actual repair/replacement of said part, determining a repair/replacement time interval corresponding to a maximum number of times of repair/replacement from said relationship, and deciding the target repair/replacement time interval of said part based on the determined repair/replacement time interval.

2. A method for managing a construction machine according to claim 1, further comprising:

a fourth step of determining, based on the operation data accumulated in said first step, a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of the particular construction machine, and comparing the determined working time with said target repair/replacement time interval, thereby calculating a remaining time up to a next repair/replacement of the relevant part.

3. A method for managing a construction machine, the method comprising:

a first step of measuring a working time for each section in each of a plurality of construction machines, and storing and accumulating the measured working time as operation data for each construction machine in a database;

a second step of determining, based on repair/replacement data for each part of the construction machine and said operation data, an actual repair/replacement time interval of each part on the basis of the working time per section to which the relevant part belongs; and

a third step of statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval and setting a target repair/replacement time interval of the relevant part to be used for deciding a scheduled repair/replacement timing of a corresponding part of the particular construction machine using the statistically processed data and wherein;

said first step further includes steps of measuring and collecting a load for each section in addition to the working time for each section, and storing and accumulating the measured working time and load for each section as the operation data for each construction machine in said database; and

said method further includes a fourth step of statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval of the part and the load both determined in said second step, and a fifth step of determining said target repair/replacement time interval, as a value modified depending on loads, based on the operation data of the particular construction machine and the statistically processed data.

4. A method for managing a construction machine according to claim 3, wherein:

said fourth step further includes steps of calculating, for each actual repair/replacement time interval of the part, a load factor of the relevant part and determining a correlation between the load factor and the repair/replacement time interval; and

said fifth step further includes steps of determining a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of the particular construction machine, calculating a load factor during the determined working time, and referring the calculated load factor to said correlation to determine a corresponding repair/replacement time interval as said target repair/replacement time interval.

5. A method for managing a construction machine according to claim 4, further comprising:

a sixth step of determining, based on the operation data accumulated in said first step, a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of the particular construction machine, and comparing the determined working time with said target repair/replacement time interval, thereby calculating a remaining time up to a next repair/replacement of the relevant part.

6. A method for managing a construction machine according to claim 3, wherein:

said fourth step further includes steps of modifying the actual repair/replacement time interval of the part depending on loads, collecting the repair/replacement time interval modified depending on loads, and setting a load-dependent modification index value for the target repair/replacement time interval; and

said fifth step further includes steps of calculating a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of the particular construction machine, modifying the calculated working time depending on loads, and comparing the working time modified depending on loads with said load-dependent modification index value, thereby determining said target repair/replacement time interval.

7. A method for managing a construction machine according to claim 6, wherein:

said fourth step further includes steps of determining an average value of the collected data of the repair/replacement time interval modified depending on loads, and setting the average value as said load-dependent modification index value.

8. A method for managing a construction machine according to claim 6, further comprising:

a sixth step of comparing the working time of the corresponding part of the particular construction machine determined in said fifth step with the target repair/replacement time interval modified depending on loads, thereby calculating a remaining time up to a next repair/replacement of the relevant part.

9. A method for managing a construction machine, the method comprising:

a first step of measuring a working time for each section in each of a plurality of construction machines, and storing and accumulating the measured working time as operation data for each construction machine in a database;

a second step of determining, based on repair/replacement data for each part of the construction machine and said operation data, an actual repair/replacement time interval of each part on the basis of the working time per section to which the relevant part belongs; and

a third step of statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval and setting a target repair/replacement time interval of the relevant part to be used for deciding a scheduled repair/replacement timing of a corresponding part of the particular construction machine using the statistically processed data and wherein;

said first step further includes steps of measuring and collecting a load for each section in addition to the working time for each section, and storing and accumulating the measured working time and load for each section as the operation data for each construction machine in said database; and

the method further comprises a fourth step of determining, based on the operation data accumulated in said first step, a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of a particular construction machine, determining a load factor during the determined working time, modifying the determined working time in accordance with the load factor, and comparing the modified working time with a preset target repair/replacement time interval, thereby calculating a remaining time up to a next repair/replacement of the relevant part.

10. A system for managing a construction machine, the system comprising:

operation data measuring and collecting means for measuring and collecting a working time for each section in each of a plurality of construction machines; and

a base station computer installed in a base station and having a database for storing and accumulating, as operation data, the working time measured and collected for each section,

said base station computer comprising first means for determining, based on repair/replacement data for each part of the construction machine and said operation data, an actual repair/replacement time interval of each part on the basis of the working time per section to which the relevant part belongs; and

second means for statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval and setting a target repair/replacement time interval of the relevant part to be used for deciding a scheduled repair/replacement timing of a corresponding part of the particular construction machine using the statistically processed data and wherein;

said second means further includes means for determining a relationship between the actual repair/replacement time interval of a part determined by said first means and the number of times of repairs/replacements of said part, means for determining a repair/replacement time interval corresponding to a maximum number of times of repairs/replacements from said relationship, and means for deciding the target repair/replacement time interval of said part based on the determined repair/replacement time interval.

11. A system for managing a construction machine according to claim 10, wherein:

said base station computer further comprises third means for determining, based on said accumulated operation data, a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of the particular construction machine, and comparing the calculated working time with said target repair/replacement time interval, thereby calculating a remaining time up to a next repair/replacement of the relevant part.

12. A system for managing a construction machine, the system comprising:

operation data measuring and collecting means for measuring and collecting a working time for each section in each of a plurality of construction machines; and

a base station computer installed in a base station and having a database for storing and accumulating, as operation data, the working time measured and collected for each section,

said base station computer comprising first means for determining, based on repair/replacement data for each part of the construction machine and said operation data, an actual repair/replacement time interval of each part on the basis of the working time per section to which the relevant part belongs; and

second means for statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval and setting a target repair/replacement time interval of the relevant part to be used for deciding a scheduled repair/replacement timing of a corresponding part of the particular construction machine using the statistically processed data and wherein;

said operation data measuring and collecting means further includes means for measuring and collecting a load for each section in addition to the working time for each section;

said base station computer includes means for storing and accumulating the measured working time and load for each section as the operation data in said database; and

said system further includes third means for statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval of the part and the load both determined by said first means, and fourth means for determining said target repair/replacement time interval, as a value modified depending on loads, based on the operation data of the particular construction machine and the statistically processed data.

13. A system for managing a construction machine according to claim 12, wherein:

said third means includes means for calculating, for each actual repair/replacement time interval of the part, a load factor of the relevant part and means for determining a correlation between the load factor and the repair/replacement time interval; and

said fourth means includes means for determining a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of the particular construction machine, means for calculating a load factor during the determined working time, and means for referring to said correlation using the calculated load factor to determine a corresponding repair/replacement time interval which is set as said target repair/replacement time interval.

14. A system for managing a construction machine according to claim 13, wherein:

said base station computer further comprises fifth means for determining, based on said accumulated operation data, a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of the particular construction machine, and comparing the determined working time with said target repair/replacement time interval, thereby calculating a remaining time up to a next repair/replacement of the relevant part.

15. A system for managing a construction machine according to claim 12, wherein:

said third means further includes means for modifying the actual repair/replacement time interval of the part depending on loads, means for collecting the repair/replacement time interval modified depending on loads, and means for setting a load-dependent modification index value for the target repair/replacement time interval; and

said fourth means includes means for calculating a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of the particular construction machine, means for modifying the calculated working time depending on loads, and means for comparing the working time modified depending on loads with said load-dependent modification index value, thereby determining said target repair/replacement time interval.

16. A system for managing a construction machine according to claim 15, wherein:

said third means includes means for determining an average value of the collected data of the repair/replacement time interval modified depending on loads, and means for setting the average value as said load-dependent modification index value for the target repair/replacement time interval.

17. A system for managing a construction machine according to claim 15, wherein:

said base station computer further comprises fifth means for comparing the working time of the corresponding part of the particular construction machine determined by said fourth means with the target repair/replacement time interval modified depending on loads, thereby calculating a remaining time up to a next repair/replacement of the relevant part.

18. A system for managing a construction machine, the system comprising:

operation data measuring and collecting means for measuring and collecting a working time for each section in each of a plurality of construction machines; and

a base station computer installed in a base station and having a database for storing and accumulating, as operation data, the working time measured and collected for each section,

said base station computer comprising first means for determining, based on repair/replacement data for each part of the construction machine and said operation data, an actual repair/replacement time interval of each part on the basis of the working time per section to which the relevant part belongs; and

second means for statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval and setting a target repair/replacement time interval of the relevant part to be used for deciding a scheduled repair/replacement timing of a corresponding part of the particular construction machine using the statistically processed data and wherein;

said operation data measuring and collecting means includes means for collecting and measuring a load for each section in addition to the working time for each section;

said base station computer includes means for storing and accumulating the measured working time and load for each section as the operation data in said database; and

said base station computer further comprises third means for determining, based on said accumulated operation data, a working time of a corresponding part on the basis of the working time per section of a particular construction machine, for determining a load factor during the determined working time, for modifying the determined working time in accordance with the load factor, and for comparing the modified working time with a preset target repair/replacement time interval, thereby calculating a remaining time up to next repair/replacement of the relevant part.

19. A processing apparatus, comprising means for storing and accumulating, as operation data, a working time for each section in each of a plurality of construction machines means for determining, based on repair/replacement data for each part of the construction machine and said operation data, an actual repair/replacement time interval of each part on the basis of the working time per section to which the relevant part belongs, means for statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval, and means for setting a target repair/replacement time interval of the relevant part to be used for deciding a scheduled repair/replacement timing of a corresponding part of the particular construction machine using the statistically processed data and which further includes means for storing and accumulating, as the operation data, a load for each section in addition to the working time for each section, means for statistically processing the actual repair/replacement time interval of the part and the load, and means for determining said target repair/replacement time interval, as a value modified depending on loads, based on the operation data of the particular construction machine and the statistically processed data.