Patent ID: 12202709

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

AsFIG.1shows, the construction and/or material-handling machine11can be in the form of a crane, for example in the form of a revolving tower crane, and can comprise a plurality of set-up elements12from which the construction and/or material-handling machine11can be constructed. Typically, the set-up elements12can be provided variably and/or installed at various locations so that the machine can be operated in various configurations depending on the presence, number and mounting position of the set-up elements12.

Such set-up elements12can be, in particular, mechanical structural components such as structural steel members, guyings, ballast weights, and similar. In a crane, for example, the set-up elements12may comprise boom sections and/or tower sections from which the boom13or tower14of the crane may be assembled. Depending on the crane type, these can be, for example, a truss carrier, telescopic apron or tower segments or boom segments.

Other set-up elements12can comprise ballast weights, upper and/or lower undercarriage elements, guying elements, or other assemblies of the respective construction and/or material-handling machine11.

AsFIG.1shows, electronic identification elements1can be attached to said set-up elements12, in particular rigidly attached, which can be done, for example, by gluing or in another way. Advantageously, at least one identification element1is permanently assigned to each set-up element12.

Said identification elements1can be in the form of ID labels or smart labels that are affixed to the respective set-up element12.

AsFIG.2shows, the identification elements1can comprise electronic data processing and/or communication equipment to process and/or store and/or transmit and/or receive information. Advantageously, the identification element1can comprise data processing logic, for example in the form of hard wiring or in the form of a program stored in a program memory, which can be processed by a microprocessor.

In order to be self-sufficient in energy over a long period of time, even under unfavorable conditions, the identification element1comprises energy-generating means10that can generate energy from the environment surrounding the identification element1. Said energy-generating means10can thereby advantageously comprise a plurality of energy-generating modules operating in different ways to be able to convert various environmental influences into electrical energy.

AsFIG.2shows, the energy-generating means10can advantageously comprise at least one thermoelectric energy-generating means8, or can, for example, be in the form of a Peltier element.

Advantageously, such a thermoelectric energy-generating module8can on the one hand be connected to a usually warm ambient element and on the other hand to a usually cold ambient element via a thermally highly conductive material, for example a thermally conductive paste9. For example, one side of the Peltier element or the thermoelectric energy-generating module8can form part of the mounting surface of the identification element1, which mounting surface is connected to the set-up element12, for example is flatly connected to the surface of the set-up element12, or is glued on. If the set-up element12is a metal component, it is subject to major temperature fluctuations, for example great heat when exposed to sunlight or great cold at night or cold outside temperatures.

Another surface of the thermoelectric energy-generating module8, in particular an opposite surface of the Peltier element can be connected, for example, to the inside of the electronic element1, in particular to its data processing and/or transmitting devices, via said conductive material9.

The temperature gradient applied to the two surfaces of device8is converted into electrical energy by device8.

Alternatively, or in addition to such a thermoelectric energy module8, the energy-generating means10may advantageously also comprise at least one mechanical electrical energy-generating module4, for example in the form of a piezo element. Such a mechanical-electrical energy-generating module4may be integrated into the identification element1and/or connected to surrounding components to undergo deformations of the identification element1and/or a respective surrounding component, or to be deformed by such deformations. AsFIG.2shows, for example, a mechanical-electrical energy-generating module4may be attached to the connection surface of the identification element1, which is flatly connected to the respective set-up element12. Alternatively or additionally, another mechanical-electrical energy-generating module4may be integrated into the housing and/or into the interior of the identification element1to undergo a corresponding deformation when the element1is deformed and/or strained. Said mechanical deformation is converted into electrical energy.

Alternatively or additionally, at least one photoelectric energy-generating module5may also be provided, which can be attached to an outer side or outer housing of the identification element1to capture ambient light falling on the identification element1, in particular to capture solar radiation or light. The captured light is converted into electrical energy by device5.

Alternatively or additionally, the identification element1may also comprise an inductive energy-generating module3, for example in the form of a coil, to convert communication signals or waves acting on the identification element1from the environment, such as near field communication signals or radio signals, into energy.

The various energy-generating modules of the energy-generating means10are advantageously connected, via an energy control and/or management device6, to at least one energy accumulator7in which the electrical energy generated by said modules can be stored. In this respect, said energy control and/or management device6can, for example, limit the storing of energy, for example if a plurality of energy-generating modules provide more energy than can be stored in the energy accumulator7. Alternatively or additionally, said energy control and/or management device can distribute the electrical energy provided by the energy-generating means10to various energy accumulators7, which may be controlled in the manner explained at the beginning, for example, depending on the amount and/or the expected duration of energy generation.

Said energy control and/or management device6can also be connected in a reverse manner to consumers of the identification element1, in order to control their energy supply and/or the reclaiming of energy from the energy accumulator7.

Such a consumer may be, for example, a communication device15that may include a data transmitting device and/or a data receiving device to transmit and/or receive information.

In order to be able to communicate with different remote stations, said communication device15can advantageously have various antenna devices16. For example, the antenna device16may include a multi-frequency antenna and/or a directional antenna, for example in the form of a phased array antenna or a radiocommunication antenna, and/or a near field communication antenna and/or a cellular communication antenna and/or a GPS and/or tracking antenna for communicating with a navigation satellite or other positioning device.

AsFIG.1shows, the identification elements1can advantageously communicate with one other or with each other, which can be done, for example, via the near field communication antenna of the communication device15. Alternatively or additionally, said identification elements1or at least one of said identification elements1can communicate with a mobile radio device17and/or with a navigation satellite17or with another positioning device, for example in the form of a radio tower.

Alternatively or additionally, the communication device15of at least one identification element1can be configured to communicate with a cloud18in which the information or data of all identification elements1can be stored.

In further development of the invention, it is also possible that not the identification elements1themselves, but an interposed communication device, for example a communication module of a machine control, for example the crane control device, communicates with said navigation satellite17and/or the mobile radio device16and/or the cloud18in order to forward or transmit data received from the identification elements1thereto or, conversely, to receive information from said devices and forward it to the identification elements1or transmit it in a processed form.

In order to save energy for communication, the communication device15of at least one identification element1may include a radio power control device19that increases or decreases or turns off the radio power depending on how much radio power is needed. This can be controlled, for example, as a function of the distance to an adjacent identification element1or to another remote station, and/or as a function of a transmit function to be performed and/or as a function of a received information signal.

Advantageously, said radio power control device19is designed to transmit radio signals only in the environment necessary for the task at hand. In particular, crossings between element groups can be avoided. In addition, it is advantageous to transmit with the lowest possible power and thus to save energy.

Alternatively or additionally, the communication device15may be configured to adapt the transmission frequencies to the environment in order to establish radio links to different remote stations and to keep the communication stable.

In further embodiments of the invention there is provided a position determining device20which may be integrated into one or each of the identification elements1and/or provided on an external data processing module of the construction and/or material-handling machine1such as a crane control device.

By means of such a position determining device20, there can be determined the exact position of a respective identification element1and thus of the set-up element12identified thereby. Said position determining device20may be configured to operate in various ways. For example, the position determining device20may perform GPS positioning, for example by evaluating a navigation satellite signal received in the respective identification element1. Alternatively or additionally, the position determining device20can determine the position of the identification element1receiving the signal from the mobile radio signal received by the mobile radio device16, for example with the aid of triangulation techniques and/or with the aid of directional techniques.

Alternatively or additionally, the position determining device20may also determine the position of the identification elements1by measuring the propagation time of the radio signals between the elements1.

In order to save energy, the identification elements1are advantageously configured to send only the most necessary data of a predetermined time period, such as a tag, in order to obtain the shortest possible transmission cycles and to save energy. Advantageously, a dynamic telegram adaptation is carried out and/or information is strung together, for example, in the manner of a daisy chain structure.

Such a stringing together of information advantageously also makes it possible to determine the sequence of the individual assemblies and elements, as shown inFIG.3.

Advantageously, an interrogation initiated by a first identification element can be forwarded by a second identification element to a third identification element up to an nth identification element, in each case the reception time and/or runtime of the interrogation signals and/or the reception confirmation signals being determined and sent back, cf.FIG.3. On the basis of the signal propagation times and/or reception times and/or on the basis of the dynamically assembled data packets, which may comprise, for example, the sum of the identification codes of the individual elements in a predetermined sequence, there can be determined the sequence and/or the spacing of the elements1.

All information of the elements1can advantageously be combined in a higher-level system, for example a machine control, which can be a crane control, or a data cloud, as shown inFIG.1.

Furthermore, the identification elements can also be used to determine a storage location of the respective set-up element12if the set-up element12is not installed on a machine but is stored in a storage location. AsFIG.4shows, there can be determined the position of a respective identification element1and thus of a corresponding set-up element12, for example, in said manner via mobile radio positioning and/or GPS satellite navigation positioning. Alternatively or additionally, however, the position determining device20can also evaluate a central radio station21of the storage location, possibly in a refined manner via directional radio.

Alternatively or additionally, communication can also take place with a hand-held transmitter22, with the aid of which the set-up elements12or the identification elements1attached to them can be scanned or located at their storage location, cf.FIG.5.