Work machine and work machine management system

• US 9,773,352 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2013
• Issued: 09/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Inventors: Yamanobe, Hiroo, Tada, Shigeyuki, Morita, Junya, Komori, Shinya
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): POINT, RUFUS C
• Application Number:
  US14/350,895
• Publication Number:
  US 20150279123A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,407 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/26 Indicating devices E02F5/145 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/00 Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A work machine includes: an information generation unit that generates work machine information as information on the work machine; a division unit that divides the work machine information by a predetermined data amount to generate divided work machine information; an information assignment unit that assigns attribute information indicating an attribute of the divided work machine information to the divided work machine information; and a communication unit that transmits, to an outside of the work machine, the work machine information or the divided work machine information to which the attribute information is assigned.

Claims

1. A work machine comprising:

an information generation unit that generates work machine information as information on the work machine;

a division unit that divides the work machine information by a predetermined data amount to generate divided work machine information;

an information assignment unit that assigns attribute information indicating an attribute of the divided work machine information to the divided work machine information;

a storage device that stores the divided work machine information divided by the division unit; and

a communication unit that obtains the work machine information or the stored divided work machine information and transmits, to an outside of the work machine, the work machine information or the divided work machine information to which the attribute information is assigned,

wherein the attribute information includes a manufacturing number of the communication unit or a manufacturing number of the work machine, and a division identifier that is used to identify whether the attribute information is divided.

2. The work machine according to claim 1,

wherein the attribute information includes at least information indicating the work machine information that is divided into the divided work machine information, information indicating an order of the divided work machine information, and a division number.

3. The work machine according to claim 1,

wherein the communication unit transmits the work machine information by a first communication system, and when a communication is not established by the first communication system, the communication unit transmits the divided work machine information to which the attribute information is assigned by a second communication system of which an information transmission amount of one communication is smaller than that of the first communication system.

4. The work machine according to claim 3,

wherein when all of the divided work machine information is not transmitted by the second communication system, the communication unit re-transmits the all of the divided work machine information in a next transmission by the second communication system.

5. The work machine according to claim 1,

wherein the division unit treats the work machine information as the divided work machine information even when the work machine information does not need to be divided, and

wherein the information assignment unit assigns the attribute information to the divided work machine information.

6. The work machine according to claim 1,

wherein the division unit generates the divided work machine information when a data amount of the work machine information is larger than the predetermined data amount.

8. A work machine management system comprising:

the work machine according to claim 1; and

a restoration unit that generates the work machine information from the divided work machine information transmitted from the communication unit.

11. The work machine according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit transmits the divided work machine information to which the attribute information is assigned by a short message service.

12. The work machine according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit uses a short message service to transmit the divided work machine information to which the attribute information is assigned.

7. A work machine comprising:

a communication unit that receives at least one assignment information piece including at least information assigned to the work machine and attribute information indicating an attribute of the information;

a storage device that stores the at least one assignment information piece received by the communication unit; and

a restoration unit that obtains the at least one assignment information piece from the storage device, generates the information assigned to the work machine by deleting the attribute information from the assignment information piece when there is a single assignment information piece, and generates the information assigned to the work machine by combining a plurality of assignment information pieces based on the attribute information and deleting the attribute information when there are the plurality of assignment information pieces,

wherein the attribute information includes a manufacturing number of the communication unit or a manufacturing number of the work machine, and a division identifier that is used to identify whether the attribute information is divided.

9. A work machine management system comprising:

the work machine according to claim 7; and

an information generation unit that generates the assignment information piece and transmits the assignment information piece to the communication unit.

13. The work machine according to claim 7, wherein the restoration unit generates the information assigned to the work machine by combining a plurality of assignment information pieces when the assignment information pieces are transmitted using a short message service.

14. The work machine according to claim 7, wherein the at least one assignment information piece is generated by and transmitted from another work machine.

15. The work machine according to claim 7, further comprising a storage device for storing the at least one assignment information piece after receipt by the communication unit, the restoration unit generating the information assigned to the work machine using the at least one assignment information stored in the storage device.

10. A work machine comprising:

an information generation unit that generates work machine information as information on the work machine;

a division unit that divides the work machine information by a predetermined data amount to generate divided work machine information;

an information assignment unit that assigns attribute information indicating an attribute of the divided work machine information to the divided work machine information;

a storage device that stores the divided work machine information divided by the division unit; and

a communication unit that obtains the work machine information or the stored divided work machine information, and transmits, to an outside of the work machine, the work machine information or the divided work machine information to which the attribute information is assigned,

wherein the attribute information includes at least information indicating the work machine information that is divided into the divided work machine information, information indicating an order of the divided work machine information, a division number, a manufacturing number of the communication unit or a manufacturing number of the work machine, and a division identifier that is used to identify whether the attribute information is divided, and

wherein the communication unit transmits the work machine information by a packet communication, and when a communication is not established by the packet communication, the communication unit transmits the divided work machine information to which the attribute information is assigned by a short message service.