JP2023173682A - Load-carrying platform control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a load-carrying platform control apparatus capable of automatizing appropriate control of an inclination angle of a load-carrying platform.SOLUTION: A load-carrying platform control apparatus 100 includes: a sensor information acquisition section 30 for acquiring sensor information from axle-load sensors 3A, 3B and/or suspension stroke sensors 4A, 4B of a vehicle AA; an inclination control section 10 for inclining a load-carrying platform 2 of the vehicle AA; a decrease amount acquisition section 40 for acquiring based on the sensor information, a decrease amount of the load-carrying platform applied on the wheel and/or axle of the vehicle AA during unloading work; a determination section 50 for determining whether or not the decrease amount is a threshold value or more based on the decrease amount; and a restriction section 60 for restricting an inclination angle θ of the load-carrying platform 2 when it is determined that the decrease amount is a threshold value or more.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to a loading platform control device.

Patent Document 1 describes a loaded weight measuring device for a dump truck. The dump truck described in Patent Document 1 includes a set of equalizer bars rotatably provided on the left and right sides of the vehicle body, and a first equalizer bar supported on one side of each equalizer bar via a first suspension device. a second wheel supported on the other side of each equalizer bar via a second suspension device, and a second wheel provided on the left and right sides of the vehicle body spaced apart from each equalizer bar and supported via a third suspension device, respectively. It is equipped with a third wheel.

The loaded weight measuring device described in Patent Document 1 detects the first load applied to the second suspension device, and also detects the second load applied to the third suspension device. Further, this device detects the inclination angle of the vehicle body, and calculates the loaded weight based on each of the first and second loads and the inclination angle.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-227269

Incidentally, unmanned dump trucks are currently being considered for unmanned dump trucks, in which the loading platform of the dump truck is tilted to unload the truck. On the other hand, when the vehicle driver performs a dump-up operation, the driver appropriately controls the inclination angle of the loading platform (dump-up angle) based on the "feeling of the vehicle lifting up" that the driver feels. This prevents the wheels from coming off the ground and causing a wheelie. Therefore, when unmanned dumping, it is necessary to automate the appropriate control of the tilt angle of the loading platform, which the driver used to do based on his own senses.

Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a platform control device that can automate appropriate control of the inclination angle of a platform.

A loading platform control device according to the present disclosure is a loading platform control device mounted on a vehicle that is capable of unloading a load loaded on the loading platform by tilting the loading platform, and is equipped with a wheel load sensor and/or a suspension stroke of the vehicle. A sensor information acquisition section that acquires sensor information from the sensor; a tilt control section that tilts the loading platform; and a tilt control section that tilts the loading platform and unloads the cargo based on the sensor information acquired by the sensor information acquisition section. a reduction amount obtaining unit that obtains the amount of reduction in the load applied to the wheels and/or axles of the vehicle when the vehicle is in use; The vehicle includes a determination unit that makes a determination, and a restriction unit that limits the inclination angle of the loading platform when the determination unit determines that the amount of decrease is equal to or greater than a threshold value. .

This device calculates the amount of decrease in the load applied to the wheels and/or axle of the vehicle when the loading platform is tilted and unloaded based on sensor information from the vehicle's wheel load sensor and/or suspension stroke sensor. is obtained. Then, it is determined whether the amount of decrease is equal to or greater than a threshold value, and when it is determined that the amount of decrease is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the inclination angle of the loading platform is limited. Thereby, according to this device, it is possible to automate appropriate control of the inclination angle of the loading platform.

The loading platform control device according to the present disclosure includes a loading capacity acquisition unit that acquires the loading capacity of the cargo loaded on the loading platform, and the determination unit may perform the determination by considering the loading capacity acquired by the loading capacity acquisition unit. good. In this way, by considering the loading amount of the cargo, it becomes possible to more appropriately control the inclination angle of the platform.

In the loading platform control device according to the present disclosure, the limiting unit is a case where the determining unit determines that the amount of decrease is equal to or greater than a threshold value, and if the amount of decrease continues, unloading of the wheels and/or axle occurs. If this is predicted, the tilt angle may be limited by setting an upper limit of the tilt angle. In this case, future load loss, that is, a situation in which the wheels come off the ground, is reliably suppressed. That is, it becomes possible to more appropriately control the inclination angle of the loading platform.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a platform control device that can automate appropriate control of the inclination angle of a platform.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle in which a cargo platform control device according to the present embodiment is mounted. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the platform control device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one step of the loading platform control method according to the present embodiment.

An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the description of each figure, the same or corresponding elements may be given the same reference numerals, and redundant description may be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle in which a cargo platform control device according to the present embodiment is mounted. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the platform control device shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in a vehicle AA equipped with a loading platform control device 100, a loading platform 2 is provided on a vehicle body 1, and the load R loaded on the loading platform 2 can be changed by tilting the loading platform 2. It is said that it is possible to take it down. Vehicle AA is, for example, a dump truck. Increasing the inclination of the loading platform 2 (raising the loading platform 2) is sometimes referred to as dumping up, and the inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2 from the reference plane L during dumping up is sometimes referred to as the dumping up angle.

The vehicle AA may be an automatic driving vehicle in which the dump-up operation is automated. In that case, the vehicle AA can, for example, automatically drive to the site where cargo R such as earth and sand is to be loaded and unloaded according to a preset schedule, and automatically raise and lower the loading platform 2 at the site. .

Vehicle AA is provided with wheel load sensors 3A, 3B and suspension stroke sensors 4A, 4B. The wheel load sensor 3A is provided, for example, on a front wheel of the vehicle AA, and detects a load applied to the front wheel and/or a load applied to an axle corresponding to the front wheel. The wheel load sensor 3B is provided, for example, for a rear wheel of the vehicle AA, and detects a load related to the rear wheel and/or a load related to the rear wheel. The wheel load sensors 3A and 3B can provide information regarding the detected load to the platform control device 100 as one piece of sensor information.

The suspension stroke sensor 4A is provided, for example, on a front suspension that supports front wheels of the vehicle AA, and detects the stroke of the front suspension. The suspension stroke sensor 4B is provided, for example, for a rear suspension that supports rear wheels of the vehicle AA, and detects the stroke of the rear suspension. The suspension stroke sensors 4A and 4B can provide information regarding the detected stroke to the platform control device 100 as one piece of sensor information.

Further, the vehicle AA is provided with a load acquisition unit 5. The loading amount acquisition unit 5 acquires the weight (loading amount) of the load R loaded on the loading platform 2 of the vehicle AA. The loading capacity acquisition unit 5 may be a sensor that acquires the weight of the load R actually loaded on the loading platform 2, or may be an input reception unit that acquires the loading capacity by receiving input from an external device. It may be a means.

The loading amount acquisition unit 5 can provide the loading platform control device 100 with information regarding the acquired loading amount of the cargo R. If the loading capacity acquisition unit 5 is the latter input receiving means, the loading capacity acquisition unit 5 may be included in the loading platform control device 100 as one element of the loading platform control device 100.

The platform control device 100 is, for example, an electronic control unit (ECU) that includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. In the platform control device 100, for example, each functional unit described below is realized by loading a program stored in a ROM into a RAM and executing it by a CPU. The loading platform control device 100 may be configured with a single electronic control unit, or may be configured with a plurality of electronic control units.

The platform control device 100 includes a tilt control section 10 , a loading amount acquisition section 20 , a sensor information acquisition section 30 , a reduction amount acquisition section 40 , a determination section 50 , and a restriction section 60 . The tilt control unit 10 tilts the loading platform 2 (dumps up the loading platform) or releases the tilting of the loading platform 2 by controlling the drive mechanism of the loading platform 2.

The loading capacity acquisition unit 20 acquires information regarding the weight (loading capacity) of the load R loaded on the loading platform 2 of the vehicle AA by receiving information from the loading capacity acquisition unit 5 . Note that, as described above, when the loading capacity acquisition unit 5 is included in the platform control device 100, the loading capacity acquisition unit 5 and the loading capacity acquisition unit 20 may be integrated (the loading capacity acquisition unit 20 may be omitted). ). The loading capacity acquisition unit 20 provides the determination unit 50 with information regarding the acquired loading capacity.

The sensor information acquisition unit 30 receives input of sensor information from the wheel load sensors 3A, 3B and/or the suspension stroke sensors 4A, 4B, and acquires the sensor information. The sensor information acquisition unit 30 provides the acquired sensor information to the reduction amount acquisition unit 40.

Based on the sensor information acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 30, the reduction amount acquisition unit 40 is configured to reduce the amount applied to the wheels and/or axle of the vehicle AA when the tilt control unit 10 tilts the loading platform 2 to unload the cargo. Get the amount of load reduction. More specifically, when the sensor information is information regarding the load acquired by the wheel load sensors 3A and 3B, the reduction amount acquisition unit 40 calculates the difference in the load at a predetermined time interval and calculates the amount of reduction in the load. get.

Further, when the sensor information is information regarding the stroke acquired by the suspension stroke sensors 4A and 4B, the reduction amount acquisition unit 40 calculates the difference (elongation amount) of the stroke at a constant time interval, and also calculates the difference (elongation amount) of the stroke at a constant time interval Based on this, it is possible to calculate the amount of decrease in load according to the difference in stroke. The reduction amount acquisition unit 40 provides the determination unit 50 with information regarding the acquired load reduction amount.

Note that when the sensor information includes both information regarding the load acquired by the wheel load sensors 3A and 3B and information regarding the stroke acquired by the suspension stroke sensors 4A and 4B, the reduction amount acquisition unit 40 , it may be configured to calculate a single reduction amount by taking both of these pieces of information into consideration, or it may be configured to calculate the reduction amount of the load separately based on the difference between the load and the stroke, and to calculate the reduction amount of the load separately based on the difference between the load and the stroke. It may be configured to adopt one of the reduced amounts (for example, the one calculated to be larger).

The determination unit 50 determines, based on the amount of load decrease acquired by the decrease amount acquisition unit 40, whether or not the amount of decrease is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The threshold here is, for example, that when the load decreases by the amount of decrease acquired by the decrease amount acquisition unit 40 continues for a certain period of time, at least the front wheels of the vehicle AA (or the axle corresponding to the front wheels) will be reduced in the future. (the same applies hereafter)) may be set as the minimum value at which the vehicle AA can enter a wheelie state when the load is removed. The determination unit 50 provides information indicating the determination result to the restriction unit 60.

Note that the determination unit 50 may make the determination in consideration of the loading capacity of the cargo R acquired by the loading capacity acquisition unit 20. When the inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2 increases (dumping is performed) and the center of gravity of the vehicle AA moves to the rear side of the vehicle AA, and the load applied to the front wheels decreases, the load on the front wheels decreases. The amount of decrease (the amount of movement of the center of gravity) is related to the loading amount of the cargo R. For example, when the load is relatively large, the amount of decrease in the load on the front wheels is considered to be larger for a given inclination angle θ, compared to when the load is relatively small. Therefore, the determination unit 50 can take the loading amount into consideration and set the threshold value smaller as the loading amount becomes larger. Alternatively, the load applied to the front wheels also naturally decreases as the unloading of the load R progresses (the load amount decreases). Therefore, the determination unit 50 may take the load amount into consideration and offset the threshold by the amount of natural load reduction corresponding to the decrease in the load amount.

The limiting unit 60 limits the inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2 when the determining unit 50 determines that the amount of decrease in load is equal to or greater than a threshold value. More specifically, when the determination unit 50 determines that the amount of decrease in load is equal to or greater than a threshold value, and the amount of decrease continues for a certain period of time, the restriction unit 60 reduces the load on the wheel and/or axle. The inclination angle θ is limited by setting an upper limit of the inclination angle θ so that the dump-up does not proceed beyond a certain level when it is predicted that the load will be lost (mainly the front wheel loses its load).

Subsequently, a loading platform control method performed by the loading platform control device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one step of the loading platform control method according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, in this method, first, the load capacity acquisition unit 20 receives information from the load capacity acquisition unit 5, thereby determining the weight (load capacity) of the load R loaded on the platform 2 of the vehicle AA. ) is acquired (step S11). Step S11 may be executed when the cargo R is loaded onto the platform 2 of the vehicle AA, or may be executed immediately before starting dumping.

Subsequently, the inclination control unit 10 controls the drive mechanism of the loading platform 2 to increase the inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2 and starts dumping up (step S12).

Subsequently, the sensor information acquisition unit 30 receives input of sensor information from the wheel load sensors 3A, 3B and/or the suspension stroke sensors 4A, 4B, and acquires the sensor information (step S13). As will be described later, when calculating the amount of decrease in load, the temporal difference in sensor information is used. Therefore, step S13 is also continuously performed multiple times to obtain sensor information at multiple times.

Subsequently, the reduction amount acquisition unit 40 acquires the amount of reduction in the load applied to the wheels and/or axle of the vehicle AA based on the sensor information acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 30 (step S14). As described above, in step S14, the amount of decrease in the load is obtained based on the difference in sensor information obtained at different times.

Subsequently, the determination unit 50 determines whether or not the load reduction amount acquired by the reduction amount acquisition unit 40 is greater than or equal to a threshold value (step S15). If the result of the determination in step S15 is that the amount of decrease in the load is not equal to or greater than the threshold value (step S15: No), the dump-up continues (without limiting the inclination angle θ) and ends.

On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S15 is a result indicating that the amount of decrease in the load is equal to or greater than the threshold value (step S15: Yes), the restriction unit 60 adjusts the dump-up angle (inclination angle θ) of the loading platform 2. limit and end.

As explained above, the platform control device 100 tilts the platform 2 to unload the cargo based on sensor information from the wheel load sensors 3A, 3B and/or suspension stroke sensors 4A, 4B of the vehicle AA. The amount of decrease in the load applied to the wheels and/or axle of the vehicle AA when the vehicle AA is in the vehicle is acquired. Then, a determination is made as to whether or not the amount of decrease is greater than or equal to a threshold value, and when it is determined that the amount of decrease is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2 is limited. Thereby, according to the loading platform control device 100, it is possible to automate appropriate control of the inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2. Therefore, it is possible to automate dump-up while suppressing a wheelie state.

The platform control device 100 also includes a loading amount acquisition unit 20 that acquires the loading amount of the cargo R loaded on the loading platform 2. Then, the determination unit 50 makes the determination in consideration of the loading amount acquired by the loading amount acquisition unit 20. In this way, by considering the loading amount of the cargo R, it becomes possible to more appropriately control the inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2.

Further, in the cargo platform control device 100, the limiting unit 60 controls the wheels and/or axles when the determining unit 50 determines that the amount of decrease in load is equal to or greater than a threshold value, and when the amount of decrease in load continues. When it is predicted that load loss will occur, the inclination angle θ is limited by setting an upper limit of the inclination angle θ. Therefore, future load loss, that is, a situation in which the wheels come off the ground, is reliably suppressed. That is, the inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2 can be more appropriately controlled.

The above embodiment describes one form of a loading platform control device according to the present disclosure. Therefore, the platform control device according to the present disclosure may be an arbitrary modification of the platform control device 100 described above.

For example, in the above embodiment, the wheel weight sensors 3A, 3B and the suspension stroke sensors 4A, 4B were provided to correspond to the front wheels and rear wheels of the vehicle AA, respectively. However, if it is sufficient to monitor the load applied to the front wheels or front axle when suppressing a wheelie condition, the wheel load sensor 3B and suspension stroke sensor 4B corresponding to the rear wheels may be omitted.

In this case, the sensor information acquisition section 30 acquires sensor information only from the wheel load sensor 3A and suspension stroke sensor 4A corresponding to the front wheels of the vehicle AA, and the reduction amount acquisition section 40 acquires sensor information from the vehicle AA based on the sensor information. Only the amount of decrease in the load applied to the front wheels (front axle) of the AA may be calculated. In this case, the determination unit 50 determines whether the amount of decrease in the load applied to the front wheels (front axle) of the vehicle AA is equal to or greater than a threshold value, and the restriction unit 60 determines whether the amount of decrease in the load applied to the front wheels (front axle) of the vehicle AA is The inclination angle θ of the loading platform 2 is limited when the amount of decrease in the load applied to the axle) is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the vehicle AA is provided with both the wheel load sensors 3A, 3B and the suspension stroke sensors 4A, 4B, but the wheel load sensors 3A, 3B and the suspension stroke sensors 4A, 4B Either one of these may be omitted.

2... Loading platform, 3A, 3B... Wheel load sensor, 4A, 4B... Suspension stroke sensor, 10... Incline control section, 20... Loading amount acquisition section, 30... Sensor information acquisition section, 40... Decrease amount acquisition section, 50... Judgment Part, 60...Restriction part, AA...Vehicle, R...Load, θ...Inclination angle.

Claims (3)

A loading platform control device mounted on a vehicle capable of unloading cargo loaded on the loading platform by tilting the loading platform,
a sensor information acquisition unit that acquires sensor information from a wheel load sensor and/or a suspension stroke sensor of the vehicle;
a tilt control unit that tilts the loading platform;
Based on the sensor information acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit, the tilt control unit acquires the amount of decrease in the load applied to the wheels and/or axle of the vehicle when the loading platform is tilted to unload the cargo. a decrease amount acquisition unit,
a determination unit that determines whether the decrease amount is equal to or greater than a threshold based on the decrease amount acquired by the decrease amount acquisition unit;
a limiting unit that limits the inclination angle of the loading platform when the determining unit determines that the amount of decrease is equal to or greater than a threshold;
A loading platform control device comprising: comprising a loading amount acquisition unit that acquires the loading amount of the cargo loaded on the loading platform,
The determination unit makes the determination in consideration of the load amount acquired by the load amount acquisition unit.
The loading platform control device according to claim 1. The limiting unit is configured when the determining unit determines that the amount of decrease is equal to or greater than the threshold, and it is predicted that if the amount of decrease continues, unloading of the wheel and/or the axle will occur. in the case where the inclination angle is limited by setting an upper limit of the inclination angle;
The loading platform control device according to claim 1 or 2.

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