Universal control system with alarm history tracking for mobile material distribution apparatus
First Claim
1. A control system for controlling the operation of a mobile material distribution apparatus comprising:
- an input device and an output device for interacting with a user;
a microprocessor having at least one input port and at least one output port arranged to form at least one feedback loop for controlling an attached material distribution apparatus, the microprocessor being adapted to detect errors; and
a memory associated with the microprocessor for storing error identification information received from the microprocessor;
wherein the microprocessor causes the memory to store the error identification information in chronological order; and
wherein the error identification information includes a proposed solution to the error.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system for controlling the operation of a mobile distribution apparatus is disclosed. The disclosed control system includes an alarm tracking system wherein any errors noted by the control system are recorded in an addressable memory in chronological order. This addressable memory can be read out at any time in order to perform diagnostics and the like. In order to control the length of the list of errors generated by the system, the system will only record the same error three times. Upon the fourth occurrence of a given error, the oldest record of the error is deleted. In addition, the control system classifies errors into distinct categories and provides the user of the system with both audible and visual indications of the occurrence of an error.
61 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A control system for controlling the operation of a mobile material distribution apparatus comprising:
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an input device and an output device for interacting with a user; a microprocessor having at least one input port and at least one output port arranged to form at least one feedback loop for controlling an attached material distribution apparatus, the microprocessor being adapted to detect errors; and a memory associated with the microprocessor for storing error identification information received from the microprocessor; wherein the microprocessor causes the memory to store the error identification information in chronological order; and wherein the error identification information includes a proposed solution to the error. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A control system for controlling the operation of a mobile material distribution apparatus comprising:
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an input device and an output device for interacting with a user; a microprocessor having at least one input port and at least one output port arranged to form at least one feedback loop for controlling an attached material distribution apparatus, the microprocessor being adapted to detect errors; and a memory associated with the microprocessor for storing error identification information received from the microprocessor; wherein the microprocessor is adapted to only save the same error to the memory a predetermined number of times; and wherein, when an error occurs after it has already been saved the predetermined number of times, the microprocessor deletes the oldest error from the memory and stores the most current error. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A control system for controlling the operation of a mobile material distribution apparatus comprising:
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an input device and an output device for interacting with a user; a microprocessor having at least one input port and at least one output port arranged to form at least one feedback loop for controlling an attached material distribution apparatus, the microprocessor being adapted to detect errors; and a memory associated with the microprocessor for storing error identification information received from the microprocessor; wherein the microprocessor is adapted to only save the same error to the memory a predetermined number of times; and wherein the predetermined number is three. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A control system for controlling the operation of a mobile material distribution apparatus comprising:
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an input device and an output device for interacting with a user; a microprocessor having at least one input port and at least one output port arranged to form at least one feedback loop for controlling an attached material distribution apparatus, the microprocessor being adapted to detect errors; and a memory associated with the microprocessor for storing error identification information received from the microprocessor; wherein the microprocessor will only store a predetermined maximum number of errors to the memory. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. Apparatus for controlling a mobile material distribution device comprising:
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a microprocessor having at least one input port and at least one output port arranged to form at least one feedback loop for controlling the distribution of material, the microprocessor being adapted to identify errors; a memory associated with the microprocessor for storing error identification information received from the microprocessor; and a user interface having a display for displaying error identification information to a user in response to the identification of an error by said microprocessor; wherein said error identification information includes a proposed solution to the error.
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21. Apparatus for controlling a mobile material distribution device comprising:
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a microprocessor having at least one input port and at least one output port arranged to form at least one feedback loop for controlling the distribution of material, the microprocessor being adapted to identify errors; a memory associated with the microprocessor for storing error identification information received from the microprocessor; and a user interface having a display for displaying error identification information to a user in response to the identification of an error by said microprocessor; wherein the microprocessor classifies each error into at least one of a plurality of categories; and
wherein the apparatus further comprises an audible device coupled to the microprocessor for generating audible alarm signals in response to the identification of an error, the microprocessor driving the audible device to produce audible alarm signals corresponding to the category of error the microprocessor has identified.
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22. Apparatus for controlling a mobile material distribution device comprising:
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a microprocessor having at least one input port and at least one output port arranged to form at least one feedback loop for controlling the distribution of material, the microprocessor being adapted to identify errors; a memory associated with the microprocessor for storing error identification information received from the microprocessor; and a user interface having a display for displaying a visual error message to the user based upon the stored error identification information, including the time at which an error was identified and a description of the error. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification