Machine operational state and material movement tracking
AssigneeBitstrata Systems Inc.
InventorsIan Robert Meier, Michael David Lockerbie
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus, a system and a method indirectly detect the operational state of a machine among a plurality of operational states and track the movement of a material through a plurality of machines.
Claims35
A computer implemented method for determining one or more locations of bulk material where the bulk material is conveyed from a source to a destination via intermediate transfers between two or more machines of a plurality of machines, each of which is configured to convey the bulk material between different physical locations, the method comprising:
- receiving, periodically by a processor electronically from each of at least a subset of the plurality of machines located remote therefrom, data indicative of a current or past operational state thereof;
- determining, automatically by the processor based on the received data, that an operational state of a first machine of the plurality of machines has changed indicative that a first transfer event is occurring, or has occurred, comprising an unloading of a first amount of the bulk material from the first machine and that an operational state of a second machine of the plurality of machines has changed indicative that a second transfer event is occurring, or has occurred, comprising a loading of the second machine of another amount of the bulk material;
- determining, automatically by the processor based on the first and second transfer events, whether the first transfer event is correlated with the second transfer event;
- and
- wherein when the first and the second transfer event are determined to be correlated, further determining, based thereon, at least the second amount of the bulk material that has been transferred from the first machine to the second machine;
- and
- wherein when the first transfer event is determined not to be correlated with the second transfer event, determining that the first machine has not unloaded the first amount of the bulk material to the second machine, the method further comprising:
- generating, automatically by the processor based on the determination, data indicative of an amount of bulk material transferred between the first machine and the second machine, a location of the bulk material transferred between the first machine and the second machine or a combination thereof.
A system for determining one or more locations of bulk material where the bulk material is conveyed from a source to a destination via intermediate transfers between two or more machines of a plurality of machines, each of which is configured to convey the bulk material between different physical locations, the system comprising:
- a processor and a memory coupled therewith, the memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
- receive, periodically electronically from each of at least a subset of the plurality of machines located remote from the processor, data indicative of a current or past operational state of each thereof;
- determine, automatically based on the received data, that an operational state of a first machine of the plurality of machines has changed indicative that a first transfer event is occurring, or has occurred, comprising an unloading of a first amount of the bulk material and that an operational state of a second machine of the plurality of machines has changed indicative that a second transfer event is occurring, or has occurred, comprising a loading of the second machine of another amount of the bulk material;
- determine, automatically based on the first and second transfer events, whether the first transfer event is correlated with the second transfer event;
- and
- wherein when the first and second transfer event are determined to be correlated, further determine, based thereon, at least the second amount of the bulk material that has been transferred from the first machine to the second machine;
- wherein when the first transfer event is determined not to be correlated with the second transfer event, determine that the first machine has not unloaded the first amount of the bulk material to the second machine;
- and
- generate, automatically based on the determination, data indicative of an amount of bulk material transferred between the first machine and the second machine, a location of the bulk material transferred between the first machine and the second machine or a combination thereof.
A system for determining one or more locations of bulk material where the bulk material is conveyed from a source to a destination via intermediate transfers between two or more machines of a plurality of machines, each of which is configured to convey the bulk material between different physical locations, the system comprising:
- means for receiving, periodically electronically from each of at least a subset of the plurality of machines located remote therefrom, data indicative of a current or past operational state thereof;
- means for determining, automatically based on the received data, that an operational state of a first machine of the plurality of machines has changed indicative that a first transfer event is occurring, or has occurred, comprising an unloading of a first amount of the bulk material from the first machine and that an operational state of a second machine of the plurality of machines has changed indicative that a second transfer event is occurring, or has occurred, comprising a loading of the second machine of another amount of the bulk material;
- means for determining, automatically based on the first and second transfer events, whether the first transfer event is correlated with the second transfer event;
- and
- wherein when the first and the second transfer event are determined to be correlated, further determining, based thereon, at least the second amount of the bulk material that has been transferred from the first machine to the second machine;
- and
- wherein when the first transfer event is determined not to be correlated with the second transfer event, determining that the first machine has not unloaded the first amount of the bulk material to the second machine, the system further comprising:
- means for generating, automatically based on the determination, data indicative of an amount of bulk material transferred between the first machine and the second machine, a location of the bulk material transferred between the first machine and the second machine or a combination thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.