JP2003030355A - Maintenance system for working machine using two-way communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a maintenance system for a working machine, which eliminates manual input by a service engineer, etc., by automating the transmission of maintenance data from the working machine side to a center server side through two-way communication between the center server and the working machine. SOLUTION: A managing server 12 maintain and manages hydraulic shovels 11A to 11C by sending and receiving data to and from the hydraulic shovels by two-way communication through a communication line. Each hydraulic shovel is equipped with a storage part 44 which stores operation data and maintenance data, a maintenance completion switch 27 for inputting maintenance operation completion, a communication device 50 which sends maintenance operation completion data and maintenance data to the managing server and receives data regarding maintenance information sent from the managing server, and a display device 49 which displays the maintenance information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a maintenance system for work machines using bidirectional communication, and more particularly, to bidirectional communication suitable for maintenance (maintenance / management / maintenance) of construction work machines such as hydraulic excavators. The maintenance system of the working machine used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a hydraulic excavator, which is a typical example of construction machinery, service personnel regularly perform periodic inspections such as replacement of consumables and oil in order to prevent failures. Service personnel go to the work site where the hydraulic excavator is deployed, measure the data over multiple items such as engine exhaust temperature, exhaust pressure, cooling water temperature, engine speed, hydraulic oil temperature, hydraulic pressure, etc., and predict the failure. We also carry out replacement maintenance for parts not included in the replacement items for scanning and periodic inspections to prevent failures. However, it requires experience and know-how to read the precursor of a failure from the data, and there is a risk that it will be biased depending on the skill level of each service person.

Therefore, in order to deal with such a problem, a work machine management system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-259729 has been proposed. This management system detects the operating status of each of a large number of work machines as operating data and sends the operating data from the operating data communication device to the support center on a regular basis. Terminal device (computer) there using a mobile terminal or returning to the affiliated office
The data related to the information of the periodic inspection or the trouble repair is transmitted to the support center via the, while the support center organizes the transmitted data and stores it in the main database. To send the above-mentioned operation data to the support center, a service person uses the above-mentioned operation data communication device, a mobile terminal and a wired communication means, or the above operation data communication device and an office computer and a wireless communication means. It is carried out by utilizing the satellite data or directly from the above operating data communication device by using satellite communication. Furthermore, in the support center, a computer (arithmetic processing unit) statistically arithmetically processes causal relationships using operation data, regular inspection data, and failure repair data stored in the main database for a large number of work machines to predict failure prediction. Automatically generate reports and store them in the main database. The failure prediction report is
It is configured to be able to send and receive to and from each related department via the Internet.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
According to the above-described work machine management system disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 729, the accuracy of failure prediction is improved based on the operation data stored in the main database and the data related to the work of the periodic inspection and the failure repair. Maintenance service can be provided. The regular inspection data and the trouble repair data transmitted by the service person are given to the main database based on the manual input to the computer by the service person or the clerk of the office.

The problem here is that the service person usually inputs the repair data to the computer at the work site or after returning to the office after the repair work, but after the repair work, he or she goes to another work site. If you accidentally forget to enter the data, or if you use a mobile device at the work site, you may make a mistake in entering the model or machine number.

When the above-mentioned input error is artificially generated, the data stored in the main database in the support center becomes inaccurate. As a result, the accuracy of the content of the failure prediction report created as described above deteriorates, and data that maintenance is completed is generated for work machines that are not undergoing maintenance, resulting in situations where maintenance is not actually performed properly. Occurs, and an unexpected failure may occur in the work machine.

Further, when the time when maintenance is required for each work machine based on the failure prediction report comes, the person in charge of the support center informs the need for maintenance of the work machine manager by telephone or the like. However, in this case as well, problems such as delay in notification and occurrence of non-notification occurred due to manual labor.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems. Based on two-way communication between a management center server (support center) and a work machine at the work site, the work machine side Automates the transmission of maintenance management data to the center server side, reduces the manual input by service personnel, reduces input errors, reduces the work man-hours for service personnel, and works from the center server. An object of the present invention is to provide a maintenance system for a work machine using two-way communication in which notification of maintenance time to the machine side is also automated so as to prevent manual notification delay and non-notification.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a maintenance system for a working machine using bidirectional communication according to the present invention is configured as follows.

A maintenance system according to the present invention (corresponding to claim 1) has the following configuration. This maintenance system transmits / receives data to / from each of the plurality of work machines via a communication line by bidirectional communication, manages the plurality of work machines by a center server (management server), and manages the plurality of work machines. Perform individual maintenance of. Each of the plurality of work machines has an operation data storage unit for storing operation data and maintenance data, an operation means (maintenance completion switch) for inputting maintenance work completion, and operation data and maintenance work completion data given from the operation means. And a data transmitting unit (communication device) for transmitting maintenance data to the center server, a data receiving unit (communication device) for receiving data related to the maintenance information transmitted from the center server, and a display device for displaying the maintenance information. Prepare The center server also includes a data receiving unit (communication receiving unit) that receives the transmitted operation data, maintenance work completion data, and maintenance data, an operation database that stores operation data, a maintenance database that stores maintenance data, and an operation database. A calculation means for calculating the maintenance time based on the operation data stored in the database and the maintenance data stored in the maintenance database, and a data transmission means for transmitting the data related to the maintenance information including the maintenance time to the work machine (communication transmission unit ) And.

According to the above maintenance system, the work machine side is provided with a maintenance completion switch, and maintenance work such as replacement of parts and repair of troubles is completed,
After that, when the maintenance completion switch is turned on, the maintenance data and the like are automatically transmitted from the work machine to the center server side via the electric communication line. The maintenance data is stored and saved in the maintenance database in the center server. On the other hand, the center server is provided with a maintenance time calculation unit, and the maintenance required part and the maintenance time are calculated using the operation data sent from the work machine side and the above maintenance data. This maintenance information is transmitted to the work machine side as maintenance data and is displayed as the maintenance information on the screen of the display device provided in the work machine to prompt the operator to perform the maintenance work. Accurate maintenance data is transmitted to the center server by automating the transmission of maintenance data from the work machine side to the center server. Further, by automating transmission of maintenance information (maintenance required portion and maintenance time) from the center server side to the work machine, it is possible to surely perform the maintenance work on the work machine side.

In the maintenance system according to the present invention (corresponding to claim 2), preferably, the maintenance work in which the completion information is input by the operating means includes the failure repair work, and the maintenance data includes the work machine. It is characterized in that it includes fault location data in.
In addition to the instruction for maintenance work from the center server side, even when a failure occurs on the work machine side and repair is required, the repair information is used by the operation means, which is a maintenance completion switch, to provide the repair information to the center server side. It becomes possible to record the accurate contents of the information as maintenance data in a database.

[0013]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The configurations, shapes, sizes and arrangement relationships described in the embodiments are merely schematic ones to the extent that the present invention can be understood and practiced, and the numerical values are merely examples. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and can be modified into various forms without departing from the scope of the technical idea shown in the claims.

FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of a maintenance system for a working machine according to the present invention. As an example of the work machine to be maintained, three hydraulic excavators 11A, 1
1B and 11C are shown. The work machine is not limited to the hydraulic excavator. In fact, this maintenance system manages a large number of hydraulic excavators,
It is managed and maintained), but for convenience of explanation, Unit 1 and 2
Only three hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C of No. 3 and No. 3 are shown. Each hydraulic excavator is located at each work site. Each of the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C includes a maintenance monitor device having the same configuration from the viewpoint of being managed by the maintenance system according to the present embodiment, as described below. Each of the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C is equipped with a control device including a computer, and the control device includes a communication device, an operation control unit, an arithmetic processing unit, a storage unit, and the like. Hydraulic excavators 11A-11C
Is configured to be able to send and receive information to and from the outside through an electric communication line based on the control device. The above-described maintenance monitor device is realized based on the control device having the above configuration.

The plurality of hydraulic excavators 11A to 11 described above
A management server (or center server) 12 for managing the maintenance of these hydraulic excavators is provided for C. The management server 12 is installed in the base station for the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C which are installed in the work site which is a remote place. The management server 12 is operated by a manufacturer, a rental company, a sales company, a maintenance management company, or the like. In the management server 12, a computer 13, various input devices 14, a display device (display) 15, an operation database 16 that stores operation data, maintenance data (data by regular inspection, failure repair data, replacement of parts and consumables, etc.) A maintenance database 17 for storing Computer 1 of management server 12
3 has a communication device and an arithmetic processing unit as functional parts,
Hydraulic excavator 1 in a remote place via a telecommunication line 1
Information (command, data, etc.) is transmitted and received with each of 1A to 11C.

An electric communication line (data communication path) is provided between the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C and the management server 12. The telecommunication lines are communication satellite 18 and ground station 1.
9. It is composed of a public line or the Internet 20. The hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C and the management server 12 are
It is configured to be able to perform bidirectional communication via each communication device and via the electric communication circuit having the above configuration.

In FIG. 1, arrows 21, 22, 23, 2
4 shows a state in which communication is being performed. These are examples.

The arrow 21 indicates a state in which the hydraulic excavator 11A is transmitting the operation data 25 to the management server 12 via the communication satellite 18, the ground station 19, and the like. The operation data 25 indicated by blocks is data relating to the frequency distribution of the engine speed, hydraulic oil temperature, radiator water temperature, pump pressure, etc. of the hydraulic excavator 11A. In the hydraulic excavator 11A, the operation data 25 is obtained by the control device through an operation sensor for various operations, and the operation data is stored in the storage unit. The operation data is collected and stored by the maintenance monitor device. The operation data is transmitted to the management server 12 side by the control device and the communication device of the hydraulic excavator 11A regularly or as needed, and the operation database 16
Recorded in.

An arrow 22 indicates a state in which the management server 12 sends a maintenance command to the hydraulic excavator 11B. The content of this maintenance instruction is displayed on the vehicle-mounted display device 26 provided in the cab of the hydraulic excavator 11B, for example, a message "please change oil". In FIG.
6 is exaggerated and enlarged.

Further, an arrow 23 indicates a state 29 in which a maintenance completion signal is transmitted to the management server 12 side when the maintenance completion switch 27 provided on the hydraulic excavator 11C is turned on by a service person or an operator 28. The service person performs, for example, maintenance work on the items displayed on the in-vehicle display device 26, and when the work is completed, the maintenance completion switch 2
Press 7. As a result, the operating time and the maintenance work item at that time are automatically transmitted to the management server 12, and the contents are recorded in the maintenance database 17 of the management server 12.

As described above, necessary data and commands are transmitted and received between each of the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C arranged at each work site and the management server 12 based on bidirectional communication.

The user 31 can access the management server 12 via the Internet 30 using the Internet terminal device 32. The user 31 is a person related to any of the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C.
The user 31 can access the home page for providing maintenance information prepared by the management server 12, enter the ID and password, and be authenticated for information access, and obtain maintenance information of the hydraulic excavator or the like related to himself / herself. .

Hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C according to FIG.
A specific configuration of the maintenance monitor device provided in the above will be described.

The maintenance monitor device 41 is realized by a control device 42 including a computer. Control device 42
Is a CPU 43, a storage unit (memory) 44, a sensor input interface (I / F) 45, a display interface (I / F) 46, and a communication interface (I / F).
F) 47. An operation sensor 48 is arranged in each part of the machine such as the engine of the hydraulic excavator, the hydraulic system, the fuel supply system, etc., and signals related to the operation detected by these operation sensors 48 are transmitted via the sensor input interface 45 to C
It is input to the PU 43. The CPU 43 stores operation data based on various input operation signals in the storage unit 44.
The storage unit 44 stores programs and data for various processes. The stored data includes, in addition to the above operation data, model / unit data, maintenance data, and maintenance information. The above-mentioned maintenance completion switch 27 is provided in the operator's cab of the hydraulic excavator. An ON operation signal for the maintenance completion switch 27 is input to the CPU 43. The control device 42 includes a display device 49. The display device 49 corresponds to the on-vehicle display device shown in FIG. Data to be displayed is sent from the CPU 43 via the display interface 46, and information related to maintenance is displayed on the screen of the display device 49. The maintenance monitor device 41 includes a communication device 50. The communication device 50 forms a data communication terminal. Various types of data are transmitted and received between the control device 42 and the management server 12 via the communication device 50. The communication device 50 uses the CPU 43 via the communication interface 47.
Connected with.

The details of the processing executed by the maintenance monitor device 42 having the above-described configuration are described in the management server 12.
It will be described later based on the communication relationship with.

Next, the configuration of the management server 12 and the main processing executed internally will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the management server 12 includes an operation database (operation DB) 16 and a maintenance database (maintenance DB) 17 as described above as a data storage unit. Various data transmitted from the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C to the management server 12 via the electric communication line are received by the communication reception unit 51 of the management server 12. After passing through the communication receiving unit 51, the operation data is stored (recorded) in the operation database 16. In the operation database 16, the operation data is organized and recorded in a file 16a provided separately for each model and each machine. Further, the maintenance data is also organized and recorded in the file 17a provided separately for each model and number in the maintenance database 17. In the computer 13 of the management server 12 described above, the maintenance time calculation unit 52 is provided as a functional unit. The maintenance time calculation unit 52, based on the maintenance standard obtained by statistically processing the operation data and maintenance data of a large number of hydraulic excavators, at each time and at appropriate timing, machine parts (maintenance required) for each model / unit. Calculate the time of maintenance (repair, replacement of parts, etc.) of the part). The data regarding the maintenance time for each model / number calculated by the maintenance time calculation unit 52 is transmitted to the hydraulic excavator of the corresponding model / number via the communication transmission unit 53 via the above-mentioned telecommunication circuit.

Next, the maintenance monitor device 41 and the management server 1 provided in each of the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C.
The contents of the processing relating to the transmission and reception of data based on the bidirectional communication with the two will be described.

In each hydraulic excavator, the maintenance monitor device 41 stores the operating state of the machine part that is operating every day as operating data at a predetermined time timing (step S11). In the recording process of the operation data, the CPU 43 fetches the operation signal via the various operation sensors 48 described above and stores it in the storage unit 44 as the operation data. The operation data stored in the storage unit 44 is stored in a state in which the information about the model / number is added. The CPU 43 transmits the operation data stored in the storage unit 44 to the management server 12 periodically (for example, every 100 hours of engine operation time) while the operation data for a certain period is stored in the storage unit 44. Processing is performed (step S12). The operation data transmission is
The processing is performed via the communication interface 47, the communication device 50, and the electric communication line such as the communication satellite 18 described above based on the processing of the CPU 43 (transmission procedure P11). The operation data to be transmitted includes the data of the model / number of the corresponding hydraulic excavator.

On the management server 12 side, when the communication receiving unit 51 receives the transmission of the operation data from the maintenance monitor device 41 of the hydraulic excavator (transmission procedure P11), the operation data database 16 receives the received operation data for each model / number.
(Step S21). Next, as described above, the maintenance timing calculation unit 52 calculates the maintenance timing for each maintenance-required site based on the calculation formula based on a predetermined standard (step S22). In the maintenance time calculation process, the maintenance database 17
The processing content recorded in (1) is referred to and used in the above-described calculation processing. A maintenance-required part is associated with the calculated maintenance time data. The data relating to the maintenance time obtained in the maintenance time calculation process (step S22) is transmitted to the maintenance monitor device 41 of the corresponding hydraulic excavator via the communication transmitting unit 53 as the maintenance information together with the related command (message) ( Step S23). The maintenance information is sent from the management server 12 to the maintenance monitor device 41.
Is transmitted via the above-mentioned telecommunication line to (the transmission procedure P
12).

In the maintenance monitor device 41, the maintenance information sent from the management server 12 is sent to the CPU via the communication device 50 and the communication interface 47.
43, and the CPU 43 displays the maintenance information on the display device 49 via the display interface 46 (step S13). An example of the display mode of the display device 49 is shown in the on-vehicle display device 26 provided in the hydraulic excavator 11B shown in FIG.

At the next stage, in the hydraulic excavator, maintenance work is performed by the service personnel according to the maintenance information sent from the management server 12. Normal,
The operator of the hydraulic excavator checks the contents displayed on the display device 49 of the vehicle body, confirms the maintenance item and the time, and requests the service person (or maintenance person) to perform the maintenance work. The service person performs the maintenance work displayed on the display device 49, and when the maintenance work is completed (step S14), the maintenance completion switch 27 for notifying the work completion by the service person.
Is turned on. When the maintenance completion switch 27 is turned on, an on signal is input to the CPU 43, so that the CPU 43 performs a work completion switch detection process (step S15). When the work completion switch detection process is performed, the CPU 43 performs a process of transmitting maintenance data to the management server 12 (step S1).
6). In this maintenance data transmission process, data such as model / unit, maintenance item, and operating time is stored in the storage unit 4.
4 and is transmitted to the management server 12 via the communication interface 47, the communication device 50, and the telecommunication line (transmission procedure P13). The management server 12 stores the received maintenance data in the maintenance database 17
To record. The recorded maintenance data is added to the basic data of the next maintenance time calculation processing S22 and reflected in the next maintenance prediction calculation.

In the above structure, a plurality of maintenance information can be displayed on the display device 46 of the maintenance monitor device 41. Maintenance work is performed on each of the presented plurality of maintenance information. The ON operation for notifying the completion of the work by the maintenance completion switch 27 may be performed for each maintenance work, or may be performed in a state where a series of maintenance works are completed.

Further, in the above configuration, the maintenance work for which completion information is input by the maintenance completion switch 27 can include a failure repair work, and the maintenance data can include failure point data in the hydraulic excavator. In addition to the maintenance work instructed by the management server 12 side, even when a failure occurs on the hydraulic excavator side and a repair is required, the maintenance completion switch 27 is used to send the failure repair information to the management server 12 side. It can be sent and recorded as a maintenance database.

Data transmission / reception based on bidirectional communication between the maintenance monitor device 41 and the management server 12 described above is performed by each of the hydraulic excavators 11A to 11C and the management server 1.
It is done separately between 2 and.

In the above embodiment, the hydraulic excavator has been described as an example, but the working machine is not limited to the hydraulic excavator.

[0037]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, bidirectional communication is performed between a center server and each of a plurality of work machines via a telecommunication line such as a communication satellite or the Internet. The work machine is equipped with a maintenance monitor that collects maintenance data necessary for maintenance management and stores it in the storage unit. Since the information is automatically transmitted to the center server side, it is possible to reliably transmit the maintenance data by eliminating the manual input work conventionally performed by the service personnel and the like.

On the side of the center server, the operation data and the maintenance data stored in the database are used to create the required maintenance site and the maintenance time for each work machine as maintenance information, which is transmitted to the corresponding work machine and the operator The maintenance work can be executed reliably because it is presented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a maintenance system for a work machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a maintenance monitor device mounted on a hydraulic excavator.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram showing a configuration and processing of a main part in the management server.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing bidirectional data transmission / reception between a maintenance monitor device of a hydraulic excavator and a management server.

[Explanation of symbols]

11A, 11B, 11C hydraulic excavator 12 Management server 16 operational database 17 Maintenance database 18 communication satellites 27 Maintenance complete switch 41 Maintenance monitor device 42 Control device 43 CPU 44 memory 48 working sensor 49 Display 52 Maintenance time calculation section

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroshi Ogura             Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.             Ceremony Company Tsuchiura Factory (72) Inventor Genroku Sugiyama             Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.             Ceremony Company Tsuchiura Factory (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Adachi             Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.             Ceremony Company Tsuchiura Factory (72) Inventor Hideo Karasawa             Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.             Ceremony Company Tsuchiura Factory F term (reference) 3G084 AA06 BA33 DA14 DA27 EB06                       EC01

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Data is sent and received by bidirectional communication with each of a plurality of work machines via a communication line, the plurality of work machines is managed by a center server, and each of the plurality of work machines is individually managed. A maintenance system for performing maintenance of the work machine, wherein the work machine has operation data storage means for storing operation data and maintenance data, operation means for inputting maintenance work completion, and maintenance work provided from the operation data and the operation means. Data transmission means for transmitting completion data and the maintenance data to the center server, data receiving means for receiving data relating to the maintenance information transmitted from the center server, and a display device for displaying the maintenance information, The center server uses the transmitted operation data and maintenance work completion data. And a data receiving means for receiving the maintenance data, an operation database for storing the operation data, a maintenance database for storing the maintenance data, the operation data stored in the operation database and the maintenance database. A two-way communication is used, which comprises: a calculation unit that calculates a maintenance time based on the maintenance data; and a data transmission unit that transmits data related to maintenance information including the maintenance time to the work machine. Work machine maintenance system. 2. The maintenance work in which completion information is input by the operation means includes a failure repair work, and the maintenance data includes failure point data in the work machine. A maintenance system for work machines using bidirectional communication.