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AssigneeOshkosh Truck Corporation
InventorsDuane R. Pillar, Neil Bjornstad, William M. Woolman, Bradley C. Squires
Estimating the term…
A turret control system includes one or more control modules, such as an envelope control module, turret targeting module, a turret pan module, a turret deploy module, a turret store module. The preferred turret control system also provides improved turret control flexibility and improved operator feedback.
A fire fighting vehicle comprising:
A fire fighting vehicle comprising:
A fire fighting vehicle comprising:
A fire fighting vehicle comprising:
A fire fighting vehicle comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Fire-fighting land vehicles
Electric devices on electrically-propelled vehicles for safety purposes; Monitoring operating variables, e.g. speed, deceleration or energy…:…
Using propulsion power supplied by engine-driven generators, e.g. generators driven by combustion engines: with additional electric power supply
For supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems or for: using multiplexing techniques
Term ended 30 Jul 2019 (estimated)
The present invention relates generally to the field of fire fighting vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to turret control systems and methods for fire fighting vehicles.
Various vehicles are known for use in fire fighting. Fire fighting vehicles, including aerial platform trucks, ladder trucks, pumpers, tankers, etc., often employ a turret for dispensing fire fighting agents (e.g. water, foams, foaming agents, etc.) onto areas such as fires, chemical spills, smoldering remains of a fire, or other similar areas. Such turrets typically comprise one or more arms which are extendable, rotatable, or otherwise moveable with electric, hydraulic, or pneumatic actuator systems. While fighting a fire, the turret may be moved around in a three-dimensional space by using the actuator system to move individual arms. Once a nozzle of the turret is brought to a particular position and orientation relative to a fire, a fire fighting agent may be dispensed from the nozzle and directed at the fire.
Typically, this positioning and aiming of turrets is controlled by a human operator. According to one approach, the operator positions and aims the turret using a joystick which is coupled to the turret actuators. Unfortunately, in situations where the fire produces a large amount of smoke, the turret and the precise location of the fire become obscured from an operator's view. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that the tremendous flow of water or other fire fighting agent through the turret creates forces which affect turret positioning, making it even more difficult for the operator to know the precise position of the turret. The result is that the operator is often susceptible to inadvertently causing the turret to collide with other objects, including for example the fire fighting vehicle upon which the turret is mounted. Additionally, because the operator's view of the turret nozzle as well as the fire may be severely limited, the operator's ability to control the position and orientation of the nozzle for maximum fire fighting effectiveness is also severely limited.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a fire truck having a control system according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control system of FIG. 1 showing selected aspects of the control system in greater detail;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an aerial device having a control system according to another embodiment of the present invention;
Patent application Ser. No. 09/384,393, filed Aug. 27, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,593, discloses various embodiments of a control system architecture in connection with fire trucks and other types of equipment service vehicles. The turret control systems and methods disclosed herein may be implemented using a stand-alone control system or using one of the control system architecture embodiments described in the aforementioned application. For convenience, the contents of the above-mentioned application is repeated below, followed by a description of a preferred turret control system and method for a fire fighting vehicle.
A. Fire Truck Control System
1. Architecture of Fire Truck Control System