System and method for monitoring a cabin of a machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10352084-B2
Application number	US-201715651405-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2017
Priority date	Jul 17, 2017
Publication date	Jul 16, 2019
Grant date	Jul 16, 2019

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring a cabin of machine is provided. The system includes an operator presence sensor, a cabin pressure sensor, a door sensor, and a carbon dioxide sensor configured to generate the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal and the fourth output signal respectively. The system includes a controller configured to selectively process at least one of the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal or the fourth output signal. The controller is further configured to control one or more conditions inside the cabin based on the selective processing of the at least one of the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal or the fourth output signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for controlling one or more conditions inside a cabin of a machine, the system comprising:
an operator presence sensor for detecting presence of an operator inside the cabin, and generate a first output signal;
a cabin pressure sensor for determining a pressure inside the cabin, and generate a second output signal;
a door sensor for detecting whether doors of the cabin are open, and generate a third output signal;
a carbon dioxide sensor for determining a level of carbon dioxide inside the cabin, and generate a fourth output signal; and
a controller communicably coupled to the operator presence sensor, the cabin pressure sensor, the door sensor, and the carbon dioxide sensor, wherein the controller is configured to:
receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, and the fourth output signal;
selectively process at least one of the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, or the fourth output signal based on one or more rules; and
control the one or more conditions inside the cabin based on the selective processing of the at least one of the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, or the fourth output signal.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a window sensor to detect whether one or more windows of the cabin are open and generate a fifth output signal, wherein the controller is configured to receive the fifth output signal and determine whether the one or more windows of the cabin are open based on the fifth output signal.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein, when controlling the one or more conditions, the controller is configured to control the pressure inside the cabin by automatically closing the one or more windows of the cabin when the fifth output signal from the window sensor indicates that the one or more windows of the cabin are open.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
detect that the operator is present inside the cabin based on the first output signal; and
process the second output signal from the cabin pressure sensor to determine whether the pressure inside the cabin is less than a first threshold of cabin pressure upon detecting that the operator is present inside the cabin.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to:
determine that the pressure inside the cabin is less than a first threshold of cabin pressure based on the second output signal from the cabin pressure sensor;
process the third output signal from the door sensor to determine whether doors of the cabin are open upon determining that the pressure inside the cabin is less than the first threshold of cabin pressure; and
automatically close the doors of the cabin to maintain the cabin pressure upon determining that doors of the cabin are open.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
determine that the pressure inside the cabin is less than a second threshold of cabin pressure but more than a first threshold of cabin pressure, wherein the second threshold exceeds the first threshold; and
process the fourth output signal from the carbon dioxide sensor to determine that the level of carbon dioxide is more than a third threshold of carbon dioxide level upon determining that the pressure inside the cabin is less than the second threshold of cabin pressure but more than the first threshold of cabin pressure.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein, when controlling the one or more conditions, the controller is configured to:
process the fourth output signal from the carbon dioxide sensor and determining that the level of carbon dioxide is more than a third threshold of carbon dioxide level; and
increase a speed of a ventilation component to introduce more ambient air inside the cabin to reduce a level of carbon dioxide in the cabin.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein, when controlling the one or more conditions, the controller is configured to control the pressure inside the cabin by automatically closing doors of the cabin when the third output signal from the door sensor indicates that doors of the cabin are open.

9. A method for controlling one or more conditions inside a cabin of a machine, the method comprising:
detecting, by an operator presence sensor, presence of an operator inside the cabin, and generating, by the operator presence sensor, a first output signal;
determining, by a cabin pressure sensor, a pressure inside the cabin, and generating, by the cabin pressure sensor, a second output signal;
detecting, by a door sensor, whether doors of the cabin are open, and generating, by the door sensor, a third output signal;
determining, by a carbon dioxide sensor, a level of carbon dioxide inside the cabin, and generating, by the carbon dioxide sensor, a fourth output signal;
receiving, by a controller, the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, and the fourth output signal;
selectively processing, by the controller, at least one of the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, or the fourth output signal based on one or more rules; and
controlling, by the controller, the one or more conditions inside the cabin based on the selective processing of the at least one of the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, or the fourth output signal.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:
detecting, by a window sensor, whether one or more windows of the cabin are open;
generating a fifth output signal based on the detection whether the one or more windows of the cabin are open;
receiving, by the controller, the fifth output signal;
determining whether the one or more windows of the cabin are open based on the fifth output signal; and
automatically closing the one or more windows of the cabin when the fifth output signal from the window sensor indicates that the one or more windows of the cabin are open.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
selectively processing, by the controller, the second output signal from the cabin pressure sensor to determine whether the pressure inside the cabin is less than a first threshold of cabin pressure upon detecting that the operator is present inside the cabin; and
controlling, by the controller, the pressure inside the cabin based on the determination that the pressure inside the cabin is less than the first threshold of cabin pressure.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
selectively processing, by the controller, the third output signal from the door sensor to determine whether doors of the cabin are open upon determining that the pressure inside the cabin is less than a first threshold of cabin pressure; and
automatically closing, by the controller, the doors of the cabin to maintain the cabin pressure upon determining that doors of the cabin are open.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
selectively processing, by the controller, the fourth output signal from the carbon dioxide sensor to determine that the level of carbon dioxide is more than a third threshold of carbon dioxide level upon determining that the pressure inside the cabin is less than the second threshold of cabin pressure but more than the first threshold of cabin pressure; and
increasing, by the controller, a speed of a ventilation component to introduce more ambient air inside the cabin to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the cabin.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein controlling the one or more conditions includes at least one of increasing a speed of a ventilatio

Assignees

• Caterpillar Inc

Inventors

• Hovel Douglas John
• Carr Daren Robert
• Njos Erick Alan
• Spurgeon Daniel Alan
• Valerio Micheal David

Classifications

• E05F15/70 Primary

  with automatic actuation · CPC title

• E05Y2900/55

  Windows · CPC title

• E05Y2900/531

  Doors · CPC title

• G01N33/004

  CO or CO2 · CPC title

• E05Y2900/518

  for working vehicles · CPC title