Concrete buildup location determination

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11759974-B2
Application number	US-202117158442-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2021
Priority date	Jan 27, 2020
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

A vehicle includes a chassis, a drum, a load detection system, and a control system. The drum is coupled to the chassis and is configured to mix drum contents received therein. The load detection system is coupled to the chassis and includes a load sensor. The load sensor is positioned proximate to one of a forward end of the drum and a rear end of the drum. The load sensor is configured to determine a portion of a force applied by the drum to the chassis. The control system is communicably coupled to the load detection system and is configured to determine a longitudinal position of a concrete buildup in the drum based on the portion. The control system is also configured to generate at least one of a notification indicating the longitudinal position or a control signal based on the longitudinal position.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a chassis;
a drum coupled to the chassis and configured to mix drum contents received therein;
a load detection system coupled to the chassis, the load detection system comprising a load sensor positioned proximate to one of a forward end of the drum or a rear end of the drum, the load sensor configured to determine a portion of a force applied by the drum to the chassis; and
a control system communicably coupled to the load detection system, the control system configured to:
determine a longitudinal position of a concrete buildup in the drum based on the portion; and
generate at least one of a notification indicating the longitudinal position or a control signal based on the longitudinal position.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a support that is disposed between one of the forward end of the drum and the chassis or the rear end of the drum and the chassis, wherein the load sensor is a plate load cell that is coupled to the support.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a display device, wherein the control system is configured to generate the notification on the display device indicating the longitudinal position of the concrete buildup within the drum.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein determining the longitudinal position of the concrete buildup comprises:
determining a buildup force associated with a weight of the concrete buildup; and
evaluating a moment and force equilibrium based on the portion and the buildup force.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:
a drum drive system coupled to the drum and including a driver positioned to rotate the drum; and
a sensor positionable to facilitate monitoring an operating characteristic of the drum drive system,
wherein determining the longitudinal position of the concrete buildup comprises determining a buildup force associated with a weight of the concrete buildup, comprising:
storing a baseline operating characteristic for the drum drive system;
providing a step input to the driver to rotate the drum;
acquiring data from the sensor indicative of a current operating characteristic of the drum drive system in response to the step input; and
determining the buildup force based on a difference between the current operating characteristic and the baseline operating characteristic.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the driver includes a fluid pump driven by an engine, wherein the fluid pump is configured to provide a pressurized fluid to a fluid motor to rotate the drum, wherein the sensor includes a pressure sensor, and wherein the operating characteristic includes a pressure of the pressurized fluid, the baseline operating characteristic is a baseline pressure of the pressurized fluid, and the current operating characteristic is a current pressure of the pressurized fluid.

7. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the driver includes an electric motor, wherein the sensor includes at least one of a voltage sensor or a current sensor, and wherein the operating characteristic includes at least one of a voltage or an amount of current draw of the electric motor, the baseline operating characteristic includes at least one of a baseline voltage or a baseline amount of current draw of the electric motor, and the current operating characteristic includes at least one of a current voltage or a current amount of current draw of the electric motor.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein determining the longitudinal position of the concrete buildup comprises determining a buildup force associated with a weight of the concrete buildup based on the portion and a weight of the drum when the drum is empty and clean.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a drum drive system coupled to the drum and including a motor positioned to rotate the drum to agitate the drum contents, wherein the control system is communicably coupled to the drum drive system and is configured to generate the control signal to control operation of the drum drive system in response to at least one of the portion or the longitudinal position.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a tag axle coupled to the chassis, wherein the tag axle includes a pair of tractive elements, and wherein the control system is communicably coupled to the tag axle and is configured to generate the control signal to lower the tag axle in response to the longitudinal position.

11. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the longitudinal position is a position within the drum, between the forward and the rear end of the drum, at which the concrete buildup has accumulated.

12. A concrete buildup location determination system for a concrete mixer, the concrete buildup location determination system comprising:
a load sensor positionable to facilitate monitoring a portion of a force applied by a drum of the concrete mixer to a chassis of the concrete mixer; and
a control system communicably coupled to the load sensor, the control system configured to:
determine the portion from the load sensor;
determine a longitudinal position of a concrete buildup within the drum based on the portion; and

generate at least one of a notification indicating the longitudinal position or a control signal based on the longitudinal position.

13. The concrete buildup location determination system of claim 12 , wherein the load sensor is a plate load cell that is configured to couple to a support between the drum and the chassis.

14. The concrete buildup location determination system of claim 12 , wherein the control system is configured to be communicably coupled to a drum drive system of the concrete mixer, and wherein the control system is configured to generate the control signal to control operation of the drum drive system in response to at least one of the portion or the longitudinal position.

15. The concrete buildup location determination system of claim 12 , wherein determining the longitudinal position of the concrete buildup comprises:
determining a buildup force associated with a weight of the concrete buildup; and
evaluating a moment and force equilibrium based on the portion and the buildup force.

16. The concrete buildup location determination system of claim 12 , further comprising a sensor positionable to facilitate monitoring an operating characteristic of a drum drive system of the concrete mixer, wherein determining the longitudinal position of the concrete buildup within the drum comprises determining a buildup force associated with a weight of the concrete buildup, comprising:
storing a baseline operating characteristic for the drum drive system;
providing a step input to a driver of the drum drive system to rotate the drum;
acquiring data from the sensor indicative of a current operating characteristic of the drum drive system in response to the step input; and
determining the buildup force based on a difference between the current operating characteristic and the baseline operating characteristic.

17. A method, comprising:
determining, by a control system of a concrete mixer, a portion of a force applied by a drum of a vehicle that is coupled to a chassis of the vehicle and that is configured to mix drum contents received therein, to a chassis of the vehicle based on a signal received from a load sensor positioned proximate to one of a forward end of the drum or a rear end of the drum;
determining, by the control system, a longitudinal position of a concrete buildup in the drum based on the portion; and
generating, by the control system, at least one of a notification indicating the

Assignees

• Oshkosh Corp

Inventors

• Datema Bryan S
• Wei Zhenyi
• Tesmer Ted

Classifications

• B28C5/422 Primary

  Controlling or measuring devices (B28C5/4227 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60P3/16

  for carrying mixed concrete, e.g. having rotatable drums {(concrete-mixing apparatus specially adapted for being mounted on vehicles with provision for mixing during transport B28C5/42)} · CPC title

• B28C7/026

  by measuring data of the driving system, e.g. rotational speed, torque, consumed power · CPC title

• B28C5/421

  Drives (in general B28C5/0831) · CPC title