APPARATUS TO MONITOR A PARKED VEHICLE AT A CONVENIENCE STATION

• US 20100093268A1
• Filed: 10/10/2008
• Published: 04/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Convoy Solutions LLC
• Original Assignee: Convoy Solutions LLC
• Inventors: McCall, Adam, Zelenak, Daniel, Merritt, Jesse
• Granted Patent: US 9,004,992 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 454/119
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00257 Non-transportable devices, disposed outside the vehicle, e.g. on a parking

Abstract

A service unit for providing a convenience service to a cab of a tractor trailer includes a supply panel which is operable to attach to a cab of a tractor trailer. The supply panel provides conditioned air to the cab. A vibration detection unit is configured to interact with the supply panel and detect an idling engine by detecting a vibration with a vibration detector, transmitting the vibration as vibration signals to a controller, performing a signal analysis on the vibration signals to identify an engine idle signature, and storing a duration of the engine idle signature.

Claims

1. A service unit for providing a convenience service to a cab of a tractor trailer, comprising:

a supply panel operable to attach to a cab of a tractor trailer, said supply panel providing conditioned air to said cab; and

a vibration detection unit, the vibration detection unit configured to detect vibration from an idling engine of the cab of the tractor trailer and operable to interact with the supply panel.

2. The service unit of claim 1 wherein the supply panel is further operable to provide at least one convenience service selected from the group consisting of radio signals, electrical power, telephone, computer network, and video.

3. The service unit of claim 1 further comprising:

a controller mounted in said supply panel and operable to activate said service unit.

4. The service unit of claim 3 wherein the controller is in electrical communication with the supply panel having a display and wherein the controller is operable to send a message to the display.

5. The service unit of claim 3 wherein the vibration detector and the controller communicate using an RS232 protocol.

6. The service unit of claim 3 wherein the service unit is further operable to:

detect a vibration with the vibration detector;

transmit the vibration as vibration signals to the controller;

perform a signal analysis by the controller on the vibration signals to identify an engine idle signature; and

in response to identifying an engine idle signature, store a duration of the engine idle signature.

7. The service unit of claim 1 wherein the vibration detection unit comprises:

a vibration detector; and

a controller in electrical communication with the vibration detector and operable to receive vibration data from the vibration detector.

8. A method for detecting an idling engine of a cab of a tractor trailer while providing a convenience service to the cab of the tractor trailer, the method comprising:

detecting a vibration with a vibration detector;

transmitting the vibration as vibration signals to a controller;

performing a signal analysis by the controller on the vibration signals to identify an engine idle signature; and

in response to identifying an engine idle signature, storing a duration of the engine idle signature.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

generating a report of the stored engine idle signature duration.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

performing a signal analysis by the controller on the vibration signals to identify an auxiliary motor signature; and

in response to identifying a motor signature, providing additional convenience services from a service unit,

wherein the auxiliary motor signature is an APU signature or a TRU signature, and

wherein the additional convenience services are selected from a group consisting of data reporting, TRU shore power, and identification of APU operation.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

in response to identifying the engine idle signature, reporting the engine idle signature to an operator of the cab of the tractor trailer or to a customer service representative.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

discontinuing the convenience service in response to identifying an extended duration of the engine idle signature.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein detecting a vibration with a vibration detector comprises:

measuring static and dynamic accelerations with an accelerometer.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein performing a signal analysis by the controller comprises:

monitoring a frequency component of the measured accelerations;

monitoring a magnitude component of the measured accelerations; and

comparing the monitored frequency and magnitude components to an empirical engine idle signature model.

15. A method for determining an idle signature, the method comprising:

receiving acceleration data representing vibrations;

monitoring the acceleration data for an established time period; and

in response to a magnitude of the acceleration data exceeding an idle limit for the established time period, indicating an idling status.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving angle data representing a position of a service module;

monitoring the angle data to detect a change in position of the service module; and

in response to an angle of the angle data being less than about 25°

, indicating a status that the service module is coupled to a vehicle.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

filtering the acceleration data through a digital low pass filter prior to monitoring the acceleration data.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

filtering the acceleration data through a moving average filter prior to monitoring the acceleration data.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein the established time period is approximately thirty consecutive seconds.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein the idle limit is approximately 0.035 g.