Management system embedded in an industrial vehicle

Abstract

Operation of the industrial vehicle is managed by devices onboard the vehicle. One such management device includes a portable memory device issued to a person authorized to operate the vehicle. The vehicle control system, by reading data from the portable memory device, determines whether the person is permitted to operate that particular industrial vehicle and if so enables that operation. Another management device transmits a data signal through a power line on the industrial vehicle and uses a magnetically permeable wire bead in a unique manner to negate a short circuit effect that a component has on the data signal transmission. A further management device includes a module to interface a data acquisition module, designed to connect to a communication network of one type of industrial vehicle, for use with other vehicles.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]Not applicable.STATEMENT CONCERNING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]Not applicable.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]1. Field of the Invention[0004]The present invention relates to industrial vehicles, such as lift trucks; and more particularly monitoring and managing the operation of the industrial vehicles.[0005]2. Description of the Related Art[0006]Material handling vehicles are powered vehicles commonly used in a facility, such as warehouse, a factory or a store, to transport materials and finished goods. A human operator either sits on a seat or stands on a platform of the vehicle and manipulates controls which govern movement through the facility and operation of a load carrier on which items being transported are placed. Examples of material handling vehicles include, but are not limited to, fork lift trucks, order pickers, stand-up counterbalanced lift trucks, sit-down counterbalanced lift trucks, lift trucks and t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes an interface module that can receive signals from multiple components on an industrial vehicle. The interface module has a storage device with a mapping table that connects the inputs to the components. This helps the data acquisition module identify the specific component that the data is associated with. The technical effect of this invention is that it enables seamless integration of various components on an industrial vehicle, making it easier to collect and utilize data from different sources.

Problems solved by technology

Some AGV's followed a wire buried in the floor and thus were limited to traveling along a fixed path defined by that wire.

In warehousing operations, material quantities and inventory turnover rates are increasing rapidly.

Running the wiring harness throughout the vehicle is time consuming and expensive because of the number of connection points.

Such a local area communication network was relatively expensive and sometimes too costly for small facilities or those with only a few vehicles.

Although a person may have received basic training for a material handling vehicle, his or her operation may be limited until a level of experience has been acquired.

For example, until a person has operated a vehicle for a specified number of hours the speed at which his / her vehicle may travel or certain other function may be limited.

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