Concrete Mixer Truck Return Concrete Detection and Reuse Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing technologies for managing fresh concrete operations are inefficient in reusing return concrete, often resulting in it being dumped due to complexities in logistics and regulatory compliance, leading to economic penalties and loss of value.
Innovation Solution
A coordination scheme involving truck sensors and computers communicating over a telecommunications network, with a coordinator platform that facilitates communication between buyers, producers, and truckers, includes methods for detecting return concrete and performing assessments to ensure compliance with regulations, allowing for timely and efficient reuse or disposal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If return concrete is reused, then economic value is recovered and waste is reduced, but regulatory compliance complexity and logistics coordination difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a coordinator platform as an intermediary system that connects batch plants, job sites, and mixer trucks. This platform manages the complex logistics of return concrete by automatically matching available return concrete with suitable job sites, tracking compliance with regulations, and coordinating transportation. The intermediary handles the regulatory and logistical complexity, allowing individual participants to benefit from return concrete reuse without bearing the full burden of coordination complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the coordinator platform continuously monitors the status of return concrete (quantity, quality, location) and adjusts job site matching decisions accordingly. Job sites provide feedback on their concrete requirements and acceptance of return concrete, while the platform provides feedback to drivers about available return concrete loads. This feedback loop enables dynamic optimization of return concrete distribution while maintaining regulatory compliance.
2Ease of operation
If return concrete is dumped, then regulatory compliance is simplified and logistics are reduced, but economic penalties are incurred and value is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service for return concrete management by allowing job sites to independently indicate their willingness to accept return concrete and their specific requirements. Mixer truck drivers can independently identify available return concrete loads through the platform and make decisions about which jobs to service. This distributed self-service approach maintains operational simplicity while enabling economic recovery from return concrete reuse.
3Productivity
If the coordinator platform matches return concrete with job tickets, then reuse efficiency increases and waste decreases, but communication system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coordinator platform is designed as a universal system that handles multiple functions: matching return concrete with job tickets, tracking regulatory compliance, coordinating truck assignments, monitoring concrete quality parameters, and managing communications between all stakeholders. By consolidating these diverse functions into a single multi-functional platform, the system achieves high reuse efficiency without proportionally increasing communication complexity, as the same infrastructure supports all functions.
Data Source
AI summary
There is described a method of operating a concrete mixer truck having a rotary drum configured to receive fresh concrete and an on-board computer. The method generally having: performing an unloading operation including unloading a first portion of the fresh concrete from the drum at a job site, a second portion of the fresh concrete remaining in the drum as return concrete subsequently to the unloading operation; the computer acquiring a first signal indicative of a presence of fresh concrete in the drum; the computer acquiring a second signal indicative of termination of the unload operation; the computer activating an indicator perceivable by a driver of the concrete mixer truck contingent upon receiving both the first signal and the second signal, the indicator signalling a presence of return concrete in the rotary drum to the driver.