Patent Description:
In a previous system, when a switch detects that the box has been lifted, the system sends an alarm. The alarm will sound in regular operating conditions which annoys and desensitizes the operator. Some operators have been known to shut off the system previously. When the system has been shut off, some operators forget to reactivate the system and when a dangerous situation arises, no warning or alarm is issued.

In <CIT>, there is disclosed an apparatus having a first sensor unit which determines an angle of a tractor-trailer. A second sensor unit determines a tilt angle of a tipper main portion of the tilting trailer. A third sensor unit determines a tilt angle between the towing vehicle and the tipping trailer. A control unit controls the angle and tilt angle of the tipper main portion and displays any hazardous combination of angle and tilt angle.

In <CIT>, there is disclosed a motor vehicle tailgate power lift system for displacing a motor vehicle tailgate between a closed position and at least one open position includes a first actuator for lengthening and shortening a first stay cable attached to a first tailgate side and a second actuator for lengthening and shortening a second stay cable attached to a second, opposed tailgate side. First and second sensors disposed on a motor vehicle body to which the tailgate is hingedly attached independently detect a latching operation of a first tailgate latch and a second tailgate latch. A controller is responsive to the first and second sensor to operate the first and second actuators when closing the tailgate, thereby adjusting for any tailgate to vehicle body misalignment.

In <FIG>, a vehicle <NUM> has a cab <NUM> with wheels <NUM> and a frame <NUM> supporting a dump body <NUM>. The dump body is pivotally mounted on the frame <NUM> about a pivot axis <NUM>. The pivot axis <NUM> is located near a rear <NUM> of the frame <NUM>. A gate <NUM> is located at a discharge end <NUM> of the dump body <NUM>. The gate <NUM> is pivoted at or near a top <NUM> of the dump body <NUM>, about a pivot axis <NUM>. The gate <NUM> is shown in a closed position. When the gate <NUM> is closed, it closes off the discharge end of the dump body <NUM>.

The dump body <NUM> is shown in a down position relative to the discharge end <NUM> and the dump body is substantially parallel to the frame <NUM>. A first sensor <NUM> is located on the dump body <NUM> to monitor a position of the dump body between a maximum up position (see <FIG>) and the down position relative to the discharge end <NUM> shown in <FIG>. A second sensor <NUM> is located to monitor a position of the gate between a fully closed position as shown in <FIG> and an open position (see <FIG>). The gate <NUM> has at least two gate locks <NUM> (only one of which is shown in <FIG>) to lock the gate when the gate is in the closed position. A third sensor <NUM> is located to monitor the gate locks <NUM> between a locked position and an unlocked position. A fourth sensor <NUM> is located on one of the wheels <NUM> to monitor a speed and direction of the vehicle <NUM>. The direction being monitored determines whether the vehicle is moving forward or in reverse. Each of the four sensors described can be more than one sensor. For example, the third sensor <NUM> is preferably a sensor on each of the locks <NUM>. Similarly, the fourth sensor <NUM> can be more than one sensor. For example, the vehicle <NUM> may have an ABS sensor tone ring (not shown in <FIG>) mounted on one of the wheels by the manufacturer of the vehicle, which can be used to monitor the speed of the vehicle, and another sensor may be required to be added in order to determine the direction of the vehicle. Also, the first and second sensors <NUM>, <NUM>, which are preferably proximity sensors, may each be more than one sensor. All of the at least four sensors are arranged to provide an output signal to a display <NUM> located in the cab <NUM> and visible to the operator (not shown). The display <NUM> is preferably a monitor and preferably has a speaker <NUM> so that both a visual and audio warning signal is produced when the vehicle is operated in an unsafe manner as described herein. The monitoring system is controlled by a computer. Preferably, the computer is a programmable controller. Preferably, the computer is located with the display or the display <NUM> in the cab <NUM> includes a programmable controller having a computer.

In <FIG>, a vehicle <NUM> has a dump body <NUM> which is in a maximum up position. The gate <NUM> is open and the gate locks <NUM> extend into gate loops <NUM> ( only one of which is shown in <FIG>) located at a lower edge of the dump body <NUM>. The gate locks <NUM> extend through the loops <NUM> in order to lock the gate <NUM> in the closed position as shown in <FIG>. The dump body <NUM> in <FIG> is raised to an up position and can be lowered to the down position by an hydraulic cylinder <NUM>. The same reference numerals are used in <FIG> for those components that are identical or similar to the components of <FIG>. The display and computer are preferably located within the cab <NUM>, but are not shown in the drawings.

In <FIG>, a schematic circuit diagram shows the display <NUM> with a speaker <NUM>, the first sensor <NUM>, the second sensor <NUM>, the third sensor <NUM> and the fourth sensor <NUM>. The fourth sensor has a tone ring <NUM>, which can be used to monitor the velocity or speed of the vehicle. There are two sensors <NUM> shown in <FIG>. If the locks <NUM> (not shown in <FIG>) have dual pistons, then two sensors <NUM> are required to monitor each of the locks. The circuit diagram shown in <FIG> is for a mechanically driven locks.

In <FIG>, a schematic circuit diagram is for hydraulically or pneumatically driven locks <NUM>. There are two, third sensors <NUM> shown in <FIG> depending on whether the locks <NUM> (not shown in <FIG>) have one piston or two pistons as described with respect to <FIG>. The reference numerals in <FIG> are identical to the reference numerals in <FIG>.

The programmable controller or computer located in the display, not only controls the operation of the sensors and issuance/non-issuance of warning signals and alarms, but it allows adjustable parameters or pre-set conditions to be programmed into the system. elapsed time, time delay), Speed and Distance are programmable and can be adjusted or changed for specific applications.

In <FIG>, there are a series of schematic side views (labelled "A" to "G") of the vehicle <NUM> when the vehicle is used in a Dumping Mode. The vehicle has four sensors, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> thereon. The speed of the vehicle in the Dumping Mode is <NUM> to <NUM> kilometres/hour. In <FIG>, the dump body is down and none of the sensors show an unsafe condition and no warning signal is produced. In <FIG>, the dump body is in an up position, but the gate is closed and locked and sensor <NUM> shows an unsafe condition. However, there is no warning signal as there is a seven second delay before actually dumping. In <FIG>, the seven second delay has expired and the warning signal is issued to the display and speaker because the dump body is up, but the gate is still locked and closed. In <FIG>, the gate is still closed, but the gate locks are unlocked so the warning signal is issued. In <FIG>, the gate locks are still locked and the gate is still closed and the alarm continues. In <FIG>, there is an alarm and warning signal because the gate locks are unlocked, the gate is open and the dump body is up but the dump body is empty. In <FIG>, pre-set Dumping Mode parameters have been exceeded. For example, if the speed has exceeded <NUM> kilometres or the time has exceeded <NUM> seconds or the distance has exceeded <NUM> metres, the alarm still sounds and the warning signal is still given.

In <FIG>, there is shown a series of schematic side views (labelled "A" to "E") of the vehicle in a Rolling Mode where the speed is greater than <NUM> kilometres per hour. In <FIG>, no warning signal is provided because the dump body is down, the gate is closed and the gate locks are locked. In <FIG>, the dump body is down, the gate is closed, but the gate locks or at least one of the gate locks is unlocked, resulting in a warning signal being issued. In <FIG>, the dump body is down, the gate locks are locked, but the gate is open so a warning signal is issued. In <FIG>, the gate locks are locked and the gate is closed but the dump body is in the up position, so a warning signal is issued. In <FIG>, the dump box is up, the gate locks are unlocked and the gate is open, resulting in a warning signal being issued.

In <FIG>, there are a series of schematic side views (labelled "A" to "C") of the vehicle when the vehicle is being used in a Spreading Mode at a speed of <NUM> to <NUM> kilometres per hour. In <FIG>, the dump body is up, the gate locks are unlocked, but the gate is still closed. There is no warning signal issued because the vehicle has not yet moved and spreading of material <NUM> has not begun.

In <FIG>, the dump body is up, the gate locks are unlocked and the gate is open and spreading of material <NUM> from the dump box has begun. The vehicle is being operated under safe conditions within the proper speed and no warning signal is issued.

In <FIG>, a warning signal has been issued because the speed is greater than <NUM> kilometres per hour or the time lapse for the spreading is greater than <NUM> seconds that had been inputted or the distance travelled is greater than <NUM> metres and a warning signal is issued even though the box is up, the locks are unlocked and the gate is open and spreading of the material <NUM> is still continuing. When any or all of these parameters are exceeded the warning signal will be issued and the alarm will sound.

In each of these modes, the monitoring system can be adjusted. Each mode can be set beforehand with parameters or pre-set conditions, for example, for velocity, time before unloading, time after unloading and total distance. When any of these parameters or pre-set conditions are breached, a warning signal will be issued and the alarm will sound.

With the monitoring system of the present invention, there are four safety features that are monitored on the vehicle simultaneously. These are the raised or lowered position of the dump body or box, the closed or open position of the gate, the locked or unlocked position of the gate locks (or gate loops) and the direction and speed of the vehicle. The operator of the vehicle is alerted in several dangerous situations, without always being alerted as soon as the box is lifted. The monitoring system allows spreading applications without a warning signal being issued and without an alarm sounding. The monitoring system of the present invention can be configured so that an operator can silence the alarm in order to spread without the alarm, but the alarm will still sound if any of the pre-set conditions of speed, distance or elapsed time are breached. If any of the pre-set conditions are not met, the warning signal will be issued even if the alarm has been silenced. This reduces the risk of an operator forgetting to reinitiate the alarm.

In <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>, the sensor or sensors that cause the warning signal to issue and the alarm to sound are shown as solid black circles. When a sensor or sensors do not cause a warning signal to issue or an alarm to sound the intension of the circle for those sensors is white.

The low speed range and high speed range can be adjusted within limits. For example, instead of having a low speed range being <NUM> to <NUM> kilometres per hour, the low speed range could be <NUM> to <NUM> kilometres per hour with a high range of speed being above the low range or the low speed range could be adjusted to <NUM> to <NUM> kilometers per hour.

Preferably, the monitoring system of the present invention cannot be turned off or shut down as long as the vehicle is operating.

Low range of speed <NUM> to <NUM> kilometres per hour, high range of speed greater than <NUM> kilometres per hour.

With the system of the present invention, the gate locks or gate loops must be opened when the box is lifted or the gate is to be opened. Otherwise, an alarm sounds and visual messages are displayed regardless of the spreading conditions or velocity conditions existing. If it is desired to have a dump body that only unlocks the loops or gate locks when the box has been lifted to a certain height, the system of the present invention has a delay so that the warning signal and alarm will not be triggered until the particular height has been exceeded.

After the dump body is lowered, the gate must be closed and locked. If that condition is not achieved, some problem must exist to prevent the gate from closing. In this condition, an alarm and visual messages are issued regardless of the spreading condition and velocity condition.

When the vehicle is stopped (not moving) a warning signal will be issued and the alarm will sound only if one or more of the sensors detects a problem.

Similarly, when the vehicle is travelling in the low range of speed or the high range of speed and is in the travelling mode, a warning signal will be issued and the alarm will sound if the gate locks are unlocked or the box is lifted or the gate is opened. Similarly, if the vehicle does not have a velocity sensor and the gate locks are unlocked or the box is raised or the gate is opened, an alarm will sound if the spreading mode cannot be used without an installed velocity sensor.

In the spreading mode, as long as no unsafe conditions are detected, no warning signal or alarm will be issued unless the vehicle exceeds the speed limit, the time limit or the distance limit for the spreading mode.

Claim 1:
A monitoring system for a vehicle having a dump body thereon, the system comprising at least four sensors mounted on the vehicle (<NUM>), the dump body (<NUM>) having a discharge end (<NUM>), a first sensor (<NUM>) located to monitor a position of the dump body (<NUM>) between a maximum up position and a down position relative to the discharge end (<NUM>), the discharge end (<NUM>) having a gate (<NUM>) located therein, a second sensor (<NUM>) located to monitor a position of the gate between a closed position and an open position, the gate having at least two gate locks (<NUM>), a third sensor (<NUM>) located to monitor the gate locks (<NUM>) between a locked position and an unlocked position, the vehicle (<NUM>) having wheels thereon, and at least a fourth sensor (<NUM>) located on one of the wheels to monitor a speed and direction of the vehicle (<NUM>), all of the sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) arranged to provide an output signal to a display (<NUM>), the display (<NUM>) controlled by a computer and software to provide a warning signal to an operator whenever any of the position of the dump body (<NUM>), the gate (<NUM>), gate locks (<NUM>), speed and/or direction are unsafe or breached, wherein when the warning signal is initiated, the warning signal continues until adjustments are made to one or more of the position of the dump body (<NUM>), gate (<NUM>), locks (<NUM>), speed and/or direction that results in the operation of the vehicle (<NUM>) being in a safe mode, and wherein the display (<NUM>) has a speaker (<NUM>) and the warning signal is a visual symbol or symbols on the display (<NUM>) and an audio alarm through the speaker (<NUM>), the warning signal occurring when the dump body (<NUM>) is down, the gate (<NUM>) is open and the gate lock (<NUM>) is locked or when the dump body (<NUM>) is up, the gate (<NUM>) is closed, and the gate lock (<NUM>) is locked or when the dump body (<NUM>) is up, the gate (<NUM>) is closed and the gate locks (<NUM>) are unlocked, the warning signal is silent when the dump body (<NUM>) is up, the gate (<NUM>) is open and the gate locks (<NUM>) are unlocked.