Shovel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11952741-B2
Application number	US-202017034494-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2020
Priority date	Mar 30, 2018
Publication date	Apr 9, 2024
Grant date	Apr 9, 2024

Abstract

A shovel (100) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a lower travelling body (1), an upper pivot body (3) pivotably mounted to the lower travelling body (1), an object detection device (70) provided to the upper pivot body (3), and a controller (30) that brakes a drive unit of the shovel. The controller (30) is configured to, when the object detection device (70) detects an object, automatically brake the drive unit. The controller is configured to, upon determining that an operator has an intention to continue operation during execution of the braking, deactivate the braking.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A shovel, comprising:
a lower travelling body;
an upper pivot body pivotably mounted to the lower travelling body;
a cabin provided to the upper pivot body;
an actuator that drives the lower travelling body or the upper pivot body;
an operation lever mounted in the cabin and operated to move the actuator;
an object detection device provided to the upper pivot body; and
a hardware processor that brakes the actuator, wherein the hardware processor automatically brakes the actuator in response to the object detection device detecting an object while an operator is performing an operation with the operation lever, and deactivates the braking in response to determining that the operator has an intention to continue the operation, and
the hardware processor determines that the operator has the intention to continue the operation in response to determining that the operator has performed another operation with the operation lever after the braking of the actuator.

2. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor determines that the operator has performed said another operation with the operation lever in response to determining that the operator has operated the operation lever in a predetermined operation direction multiple times.

3. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor determines that the operator has the intention to continue the operation in response to determining that the operator has performed said another operation with the operation lever with a predetermined switch being operated after the braking of the actuator.

4. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
an indoor capturing device that captures an interior of a cabin,
wherein the hardware processor determines whether the operator has the intention to continue the operation based on an image captured by the indoor capturing device.

5. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor determines that the operator has performed said another operation with the operation lever in response to determining that the operator has operated the operation lever in a predetermined direction for longer than or equal to a certain time.

6. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a sound recognition device that recognizes a sound,
wherein the hardware processor determines whether the operator has the intention to continue the operation based on the sound recognized by the sound recognition device.

7. The shovel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor determines that the operator has the intention to continue the operation in response to determining that the operator has performed said another operation with the operation lever within a period longer than or equal to a predetermined lower limit time and shorter than or equal to a predetermined upper limit time, the predetermined lower limit time and the predetermined upper limit time each being time elapsed from the braking of the actuator.

Assignees

• Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co Ltd

Inventors

• Izumikawa Takeya

Classifications

• E02F3/435 Primary

  for dipper-arms, backhoes or the like · CPC title

• E02F9/2004

  Control mechanisms, e.g. control levers (control levers per se G05G) · CPC title

• E02F9/2033

  Limiting the movement of frames or implements, e.g. to avoid collision between implements and the cabin (sub-groups of E02F3/431 of E02F3/435 take precedence; for turntables E02F9/123) · CPC title

• E02F9/262 Primary

  with follow-up actions to control the work tool, e.g. controller · CPC title

• E02F3/32

  working downwardly and towards the machine, e.g. with backhoes · CPC title