Control system for material handling conveyor vehicle

• US 9,643,789 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2015
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nextier Completion Solutions Inc. (Patterson-Uti Energy Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Ty-Crop Manufacturing Limited
• Inventors: Teichrob, Gary Wayne, Jansen, Thomas Abraham
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Assistant Examiner(s): JHA, ABDHESH K
• Application Number:
  US14/732,928
• Publication Number:
  US 20150353291A1
• Time in Patent Office: 701 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 41/001 with the conveyor adjustably mounted on the supporting frame or base
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 41/005 mounted for both pivotal and linear movement
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 41/008 frames mounted on wheels or caterpillar for movement on rail tracks B65G41/02
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/021 specially adapted to land vehicles

Abstract

Control solutions for a mobile conveyor vehicle are provided. The vehicle includes a pair of movable belt conveyor systems for conveying bulk material to an elevated location. One of the conveyors may be rotated via turntable while the other is rotated by four-wheel steering motion of the vehicle. The control system may be configured to: receive user input indicative of desired infeed location of the infeed end and a desired output location of the output end; determine a desired control solution for disposing the infeed end at the desired infeed location and disposing the output end at the desired output location; and cooperatively operate the first powered actuator system, the second powered actuator system and the powered drive system according to the desired control solution.

Claims

1. A control system for a mobile conveyor vehicle for transporting material, the mobile conveyor vehicle including:

a first belt conveyor system and a second belt conveyor system mounted on a chassis and cooperatively coupled for conveyance of the material from an infeed end of the first belt conveyor system to an output end of the second belt conveyor system;

a first powered actuator system coupled to the first belt conveyor system for driving the infeed end to a desired location relative to the mobile conveyor vehicle;

a second powered actuator system coupled to the second belt conveyor system for driving the output end to a desired location relative to the mobile conveyor vehicle; and

a steerable, powered drive system for supporting and transporting the mobile conveyor vehicle on a surface,

wherein the control system comprises;

a. an operator interface configured to receive user input indicative of a desired infeed location of the infeed end and a desired output location of the output end;

b. a computation module configured to determine a control solution for disposing the infeed end at the desired infeed location and disposing the output end at the desired output location; and

c. a control center configured to cooperatively operate the first powered actuator system, the second powered actuator system and the powered drive system according to the control solution,

wherein the steerable, powered drive system is operative in a first operating condition to rotate the chassis about a pivot point, the pivot point being selectable relative to the chassis, thereby rotationally positioning at least one of the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system, and wherein the determined control solution disposes the steerable, powered drive system to rotate the mobile conveyor vehicle around a selected pivot point.

2. The control system according to claim 1, wherein one of the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system is non-rotatable horizontally with respect to the chassis.

3. The control system according to claim 2, wherein the steerable, powered drive system comprises at least three controllably horizontally pivotable support arms attached to the chassis and a plurality of controllably horizontally pivotable and drivable wheels mounted at respective ends of the support arms, and wherein steering of the steerable, powered drive system comprises horizontal pivoting of one or both of the at least three support arms and horizontal pivoting of the plurality of wheels.

4. The control system according to claim 3, further configured to adjust the support arms to maximize separation of the wheels mounted thereto in correspondence with the first operating condition of the mobile conveyor vehicle, thereby facilitating one or both of:

increased stability of the mobile conveyor vehicle and increased angular control with respect to said rotation of the mobile conveyor vehicle in place about the selectable pivot point.

5. The control system according to claim 1, further configured to receive signals from one or more sensors associated with the mobile conveyor vehicle, said one or more sensors configured to detect a location of an identified material source, and wherein the desired infeed location is determined to correspond to the detected location of the identified material source.

6. The control system according to claim 1, further configured to receive signals from one or more sensors associated with the mobile conveyor vehicle, said one or more sensors configured to detect a location of an identified material destination, and wherein the desired output location is determined to correspond to the detected location of the identified material destination.

7. The control system according to claim 1, wherein determining the control solution comprises automatically determining two or more potential control solutions and selecting the control solution based on an optimization of at least one of the potential control solutions with respect to one or more further criteria.

8. The control system according to claim 1, wherein determining the control solution is based on one or more further criteria selected from the group comprising:

a total distance travelled by the material;

a level of dust production due to material handling;

a determined elevation angle of the first belt conveyor system or a determined elevation angle of the second belt conveyor system or both;

a number of direction changes of the material during transport;

a total amount of direction change of the material during transport; and

a loading level on one or more components including the first belt conveyor, the second belt conveyor, chassis and the steerable, powered drive system.

9. The control system according to claim 1, wherein the control solution comprises a sequence of mobile conveyor vehicle poses for disposing the infeed end and the output end at a sequence of different configurations, each different configuration held for a particular amount of time according to the control solution, thereby facilitating conveyance of controllable amounts of material between a plurality of combinations of sources and destinations.

10. The control system according to claim 1, further configured to determine, from sensor readings input thereto, a material flow rate indicative of a volumetric rate at which material is moved by the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system, said material flow rate accounting for an estimated amount of roll-back or bounce-back of material on the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system.

11. The control system according to claim 1, further configured to determine mobile conveyor vehicle orientation with respect to a local coordinate system by determining position within the local coordinate system of at least two predetermined points on the mobile conveyor vehicle and defining said mobile conveyor vehicle orientation based on relative angular position of said at least two predetermined points.

12. The control system according to claim 1, further comprising a record and playback module configured to record mobile conveyor vehicle movements performed under control of an operator, and to subsequently reproduce said recorded mobile conveyor vehicle movements automatically upon command.

13. The control system according to claim 1, further configured to adjust conveyor slope angle while retaining the infeed end at the desired infeed location and retaining the output end at the desired output location by making an adjustment in length of one or both of the infeed end of the first belt conveyor system and the output end of the second belt conveyor system, and moving the mobile conveyor vehicle chassis in compensation to the adjustment in length.

14. The control system according to claim 1, the control system further configured to maintain mobile conveyor vehicle pose within a range in which the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system counterbalance one another.

15. The control system according to claim 1, wherein the steerable, powered drive system comprises a plurality of controllably pivotable wheels, the control system further configured to orient the wheels to brace against forces induced by the material being conveyed by the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system.

23. The control system according to claim 2, wherein another of the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system is horizontally rotatable about an axis and wherein the control solution disposes the steerable, powered drive system to align the pivot point with the axis.

24. The control system according to claim 1, wherein determining the control solution includes selecting the pivot point.

25. The control system according to claim 1, wherein the first operating condition corresponds to rotation of the mobile conveyor vehicle in place, and wherein a second operating condition of the mobile conveyor vehicle corresponds to transporting the mobile conveyor vehicle on the surface by orienting all wheels of the steerable, powered drive system in parallel.

16. A method for controlling a mobile conveyor vehicle for transporting material, the mobile conveyor vehicle including:

a first belt conveyor system and a second belt conveyor system mounted on a chassis and cooperatively coupled for conveyance of the material from an infeed end of the first belt conveyor system to an output end of the second belt conveyor system;

a first powered actuator system coupled to the first belt conveyor system for driving the infeed end to a desired location relative to the mobile conveyor vehicle;

a second powered actuator system coupled to the second belt conveyor system for driving the output end to a desired location relative to the mobile conveyor vehicle; and

a steerable, powered drive system for supporting and transporting the mobile conveyor vehicle on a surface,

the method automatically using a computer operatively coupled to a user interface, sensors of the mobile conveyor vehicle and actuators for controlling the mobile conveyor vehicle, the method comprising;

a. receiving user input indicative of desired infeed location of the infeed end and a desired output location of the output end;

b. determining a control solution for disposing the infeed end at the desired infeed location and disposing the output end at the desired output location; and

c. cooperatively operating the first powered actuator system, the second powered actuator system and the powered drive system according to the control solution

wherein the steerable, powered drive system is operative in a first operating condition to rotate the chassis about a pivot point, the pivot point being selectable relative to the chassis, thereby rotationally positioning at least one of the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system, and wherein the determined control solution disposes the steerable, powered drive system to rotate the mobile conveyor vehicle around a selected pivot point.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein one of the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system is non-rotatable horizontally with respect to the chassis.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the steerable, powered drive system comprises at least three controllably horizontally pivotable support arms attached to the chassis and a plurality of controllably horizontally pivotable and drivable wheels mounted at respective ends of the support arms, and wherein steering of the steerable, powered drive system comprises horizontal pivoting of one or both of the at least three support arms and the plurality of wheels.

19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising receiving signals from one or more sensors associated with the mobile conveyor vehicle, said one or more sensors configured to detect a location of an identified material source or material destination, and wherein the desired infeed location or output location is determined to correspond to the detected location of the identified material source or material destination, respectively.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein determining the control solution is based on one or more further criteria selected from the group comprising:

a total distance travelled by the material;

a level of dust production due to material handling;

a determined elevation angle of the first belt conveyor system or a determined elevation angle of the second belt conveyor system or both;

a number of direction changes of the material during transport; and

a loading level on one or more components including the first belt conveyor system, the second belt conveyor system, chassis and the steerable, powered drive system.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein the control solution comprises a sequence of mobile conveyor vehicle poses for disposing the infeed end and the output end at a sequence of different configurations, each different configuration held for a particular amount of time according to the control solution, thereby facilitating conveyance of controllable amounts of material between a plurality of combinations of sources and destinations.

22. The method according to claim 16, further comprising determining, from sensor readings input thereto, a material flow rate indicative of a volumetric rate at which material is moved by the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system, said material flow rate accounting for an estimated amount of roll-back or bounce-back of material on the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system.

26. The method according to claim 17, wherein another of the first belt conveyor system and the second belt conveyor system is horizontally rotatable about an axis and wherein the control solution disposes the steerable, powered drive system to align the pivot point with the axis.