Method for operating an industrial vehicle to manage energy costs
First Claim
1. A method for controlling an industrial vehicle that is powered by a battery that is recharged as necessary by electricity from a utility company, wherein the utility company charges a first rate for electricity delivered during a first period of a day and charges a higher second rate for electricity delivered during a second period of the day, said method comprising:
- operating the industrial vehicle in a limited manner to carry loads during a restricted operation time period to prolong battery life so that recharging is not required until the first time period of the day; and
enabling unrestricted operation of the industrial vehicle during an unrestricted operation time period.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An industrial vehicle has a controller connected to a plurality of sensors for accumulating information related to operation of the vehicle. The controller employs that information in governing further vehicle operation to reduce the likelihood of damage to the vehicle or a load being transported. The information also is analyzed to determine how efficiently the industrial vehicle and its operator are performing in relation to performance benchmarks for the vehicle and in comparison to other industrial vehicles. Performance of the industrial vehicle can be limited to conserve battery power and restrict recharging the battery to off-peak hours of an electrical utility. When the sensors detect a malfunction of the industrial vehicle, a fault code is produced. A service technician can use that fault code to automatically access service manuals stored in the computer system of the vehicle and obtain information for diagnosing and correcting the malfunction.
50 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for controlling an industrial vehicle that is powered by a battery that is recharged as necessary by electricity from a utility company, wherein the utility company charges a first rate for electricity delivered during a first period of a day and charges a higher second rate for electricity delivered during a second period of the day, said method comprising:
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operating the industrial vehicle in a limited manner to carry loads during a restricted operation time period to prolong battery life so that recharging is not required until the first time period of the day; and enabling unrestricted operation of the industrial vehicle during an unrestricted operation time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for controlling an industrial vehicle that is powered by a battery that is recharged as necessary by electricity from a utility company, wherein the utility company bills at a first monetary rate for electricity delivered during a first time period of a day and bills at a higher second monetary rate for electricity delivered during a second time period of the day, said method comprising:
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operating the industrial vehicle in a limited manner to carry loads during the second time period to prolong battery life so that recharging is not required until the first time period of the day; and enabling unrestricted operation of the industrial vehicle during the first time period. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification