U.S. patent application number 10/239987 was filed with the patent office on 2003-06-19 for system for determining rental of construction machine.
Invention is credited to Adachi, Hiroyuki, Hirata, Toichi, Komatsu, Hideki, Shibata, Koichi, Sugiyama, Genroku, Watanabe, Hiroshi.
Application Number | 20030110667 10/239987 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26589230 |
Filed Date | 2003-06-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030110667 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Adachi, Hiroyuki ; et
al. |
June 19, 2003 |
System for determining rental of construction machine
Abstract
A construction machine rental fee setting system comprises a
receiver, provided at a location remote from a construction
machine, that receives information relating to the usage conditions
and/or the usage environment of the construction machine
transmitted from the construction machine, and a rental fee setting
device that sets a construction machine rental fee based on the
information received at the receiver.
Inventors: |
Adachi, Hiroyuki;
(Tsuchiura, JP) ; Hirata, Toichi; (Ushiku, JP)
; Sugiyama, Genroku; (Ryuugasaki, JP) ; Watanabe,
Hiroshi; (Ushiku, JP) ; Shibata, Koichi;
(Niihari, JP) ; Komatsu, Hideki; (Kitasouma,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Oliff & Berridge
P O Box 19928
Alexandria
VA
22320
US
|
Family ID: |
26589230 |
Appl. No.: |
10/239987 |
Filed: |
September 27, 2002 |
PCT Filed: |
March 30, 2001 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP01/02814 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
37/348 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G07F 17/0042 20130101; G06Q 20/127 20130101; G07C 5/008 20130101;
G07F 17/0014 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
37/348 |
International
Class: |
E02F 005/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 31, 2000 |
JP |
2000-99165 |
Mar 31, 2000 |
JP |
2000-99166 |
Claims
1. A construction machine rental fee setting system, comprising: a
receiver, provided at a location remote from a construction
machine, that receives information relating to usage conditions
and/or usage environment of the construction machine transmitted
from the construction machine, and a rental fee setting device that
sets a rental fee for the construction machine based on the
information received at the receiver.
2. A construction machine rental fee setting system, comprising: an
information acquisition unit, provided in a construction machine,
that acquires information relating to usage conditions and/or usage
environment of the construction machine; a transmitter that
transmits the information that has been acquired; a receiver,
provided at a location remote from the construction machine, that
receives the information relating to the usage conditions and/or
the usage environment of the construction machine transmitted from
the transmitter, and a rental fee setting device that sets a rental
fee for the construction machine based on the information received
at the receiver.
3. A construction machine rental fee setting system according to
claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: the information relating to the usage
conditions of the construction machine includes at least one of
information relating to a workload, information relating to a
traveling load, information relating to a working time, information
relating to a swiveling time, and information relating to a
traveling time of the construction machine.
4. A construction machine rental fee setting system according to
claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: the information relating to the usage
conditions of the construction machine is information relating to
whether a specialized function other than normal functions is
used.
5. A construction machine rental fee setting system according to
claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: the information relating to the
environmental conditions of the construction machine includes any
of information relating to a working location of the construction
machine and information relating to weather.
6. A construction machine rental fee setting system according to
claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: the receiver and the rental fee
setting device are provided in a rental company, and the receiver
receives the information from the construction machine via a relay
station.
7. A construction machine rental fee setting system according to
claim 6, wherein: the relay station transmits the information from
the construction machine to the rental company using an electronic
mail.
8. A construction machine rental fee setting system according to
claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: the rental fee setting device sets the
rental fee based on the information received by the receiver and
loan data stored in a specified database.
9. A rental fee setting system that receives information
transmitted from a construction machine having been rented, using a
receiving station, wherein: the construction machine comprises a
detector that detects a location of the construction machine, a
measurement unit that measures operating conditions of the
construction machine, and a transmitter that transmits the
information relating to the location and the operating conditions,
and the receiving station comprises a receiver that receives the
information transmitted from the construction machine, a weather
information acquisition unit that acquires weather information for
a region indicated by received location information, and a data
processor that correlates and outputs the information relating to
the operating conditions that has been received and the weather
information that has been acquired.
10. A rental fee setting system according to claim 9, further
comprising: a fee setting device that sets a rental fee based on
the information relating to the operating conditions that has been
received, and wherein; the data processor correlates and outputs
the information relating to the operating conditions, the weather
information and information relating to the rental fee.
11. A rental fee setting system that receives information
transmitted from a construction machine having been rented, using a
receiving station wherein: the construction machine comprises a
measurement unit that measures usage time of a specialized function
other than normal functions, and transmitter that transmits
information representing a specialized function usage time having
been measured, and the receiving station comprises a receiver that
receives transmitted information.
12. A rental fee setting system according to claim 11, wherein: the
receiving station further comprises a fee calculating unit that
calculates a usage charge for the specialized function based on the
information about the specialized function usage time having been
received.
13. A rental fee setting system according to claim 11, wherein: a
fee calculating system outputs fee data calculated by adding a
usage charge for the specialized function to a normal fee.
14. A rental fee setting system that receives information
transmitted from a construction machine having been rented, using a
receiving station, wherein: the construction machine comprises a
measurement unit that measures a normal operating time and a usage
time for a specialized function other than normal functions
respectively, and a transmitter that transmits information
representing measured operating time and specialized function usage
time, and the receiving station comprises a receiver that receives
transmitted information, and a fee calculating unit that calculates
a rental fee for the construction machine based-on received
information.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a rental fee setting system
for setting rental fees for construction machines.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] In rental procedures for construction machines (for example
hydraulic excavators), it is common practice not to charge a rental
fee for the day that contact is received from a user that a machine
is not in use due to bad weather. With this type of system, the
user must contact the rental company each day that a machine is
idle.
[0003] There are hydraulic excavators capable of a crane operation
with a hook attached to a bucket. These types of hydraulic
excavator are provided with an overload protector (a Moment
Limiter: hereafter referred to as ML) as a crane safety device. It
is common practice with rental companies to bill clients by adding
a fee for use of the ML to the normal rental fee in the event that
the user has utilized the ML. Specifically, oil becomes degraded
significantly when using the ML and it makes a change of oil
necessary earlier than usual, so that a larger rental fee shall be
charged than for when the ML is not used. There are also situations
where a breaker is used instead of the bucket, and an additional
usage charge will also be added in such cases, for similar reasons.
Generally, the users themselves have been trusted to notify the
rental company of whether or not an ML or breaker has been used,
with the result that it has not always been possible to charge an
appropriate rental fee.
[0004] Also, the load imposed on a construction machine varies
depending on usage conditions (for example, workload, traveling
load, working time etc.), and so it is desired to reflect these
usage conditions and the usage environment in the rental charge.
However, it is currently difficult for a rental company to
accurately ascertain the usage conditions and usage environment of
a construction machine, and there is no system available that
enables setting of a rental fee taking these factors in to
consideration.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a
construction machine rental fee setting system that is capable of
ascertaining usage conditions and usage environment of a
construction machine without notification from a user, to charge an
appropriate rental fee.
[0006] In order to achieve this object, a construction machine
rental fee setting system of the present invention comprises a
receiver, provided at a location that is remote from the
construction machine, for receiving information relating to the
usage conditions and/or the usage environment of the construction
machine transmitted from the construction machine, and a rental fee
setting device for setting the construction machine rental fee
based on the information received at the receiver.
[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to set an
appropriate construction machine rental fee because the rental fee
is set based on the information relating to the usage conditions
and the usage environment of the construction machine in
question.
[0008] Information relating to the usage conditions of the
construction machine includes information relating to workload,
information relating to traveling load, information relating to
working time, information relating to swiveling time, information
relating to traveling time of the construction machine, and
information relating to whether or not any special functions other
than normal functions have been used.
[0009] Information relating to the usage environment of the
construction machine includes information relating to the site the
construction machine is being used at, and information relating to
weather.
[0010] In a construction machine rental fee setting system of
another aspect of the invention, a detector for detecting the
location of a construction machine, a measurement device for
measuring operating conditions of the construction machine, and a
transmitter for transmitting information relating to location and
operating conditions, are provided in the construction machine,
while a receiving station comprises a receiver for receiving
information transmitted from the construction machine, a weather
information acquisition unit for obtaining weather information for
the locality indicated by the received location information, and a
data processor for correlating and outputting information relating
to the received operating conditions and the acquired weather
information.
[0011] According to this aspect of the present invention, the
location information and the information relating to operating
conditions are transmitted from the construction machine (rented
machine) side, while at the receive station side weather
information for the locality indicated by the received location
information is acquired, and also information relating to the
received operating conditions and the acquired weather information
are correlated and output. As a result, it is possible to ascertain
whether or not a construction machine has been operated without
relying on notification from the user, and to charge an appropriate
rental fee. By showing weather information for the locality where
the construction machine is located, it is also possible to notify
the user of a billing for operating a hydraulic excavator even in
rainy weather, making it possible to avoid the occurrence of
problems.
[0012] In a construction machine rental charge system of further
another aspect of the present invention, a measurement device for
measuring time spent using special functions, besides the normal
functions, and a transmitter for transmitting information
representing measured special function operating time, are provided
in the construction machine. A receiving station has a receiver for
receiving the transmitted information.
[0013] According to this aspect of the invention, since the amount
of time spent using special functions other than normal functions
is measured at the construction machine side and transmitted, and
then this information is received at the receiving station side to
set a special function usage charge, it is possible to accurately
ascertain whether or not any special functions have been used
without relying on notification from the user, and to set an
appropriate rental fee.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a rental fee setting system
of a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing information collection
processing for a hydraulic excavator.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing information communication
processing for a hydraulic excavator.
[0017] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing in a base
station.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing in a rental
company.
[0019] FIG. 6 is a drawing showing one example of a charge table
created at a rental company.
[0020] FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing of a rental fee setting system
of a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 8 is a block diagram for information collection and
input output processing for a hydraulic excavator.
[0022] FIG. 9 is a drawing showing content of daily report
data.
[0023] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing information collection
processing for a hydraulic excavator.
[0024] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing information communication
processing for a hydraulic excavator.
[0025] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing at a base station
side.
[0026] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing at a rental
company side.
[0027] FIG. 14 is a drawing showing one example of a charge table
created using the processing of FIG. 13.
[0028] FIG. 15 is a block diagram for information collection and
input/output processing at a hydraulic excavator of a third
embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a control system in a
rental company.
[0030] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing one example of information
collection processing for a hydraulic excavator.
[0031] FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing one example of rental fee
setting processing for a rental company.
[0032] FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing processing flow up to bill
creation and bill transmittal based on a rental fee calculated and
stored using the processing of FIG. 18.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0033] -First Embodiment-
[0034] An embodiment of a rental fee setting system according to
the present invention will now be described by applying it to a
hydraulic excavator using FIG. 1-FIG. 6.
[0035] This embodiment is for enabling a rental company to acquire
weather information for a construction site and reflect this
weather information in a rental fee.
[0036] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the system of this
embodiment. GPS control units 11 mounted separately in each
hydraulic excavator 10 calculate location information for each
hydraulic excavator 10 (in which they are mounted) by receiving
radio signals from a plurality of GPS satellites 21. The calculated
location information is input to a main control unit 12. The
location information here is, for example, geographic information
(i.e., information about latitude and longitude). The main control
unit 12 measures operating time of its own machine and stores the
information in a memory 12B, and also transmits information
relating to this operating time and the detected location
information from a transmission section 12A at a predetermined time
every day, as will be described later. Information to be
transmitted is a variety of information such as fault information
etc., as well as the above described operating time information and
location information.
[0037] Information transmitted from a hydraulic excavator 10 is
sent via a communications satellite 22 to a specified management
server. With this embodiment, a mail server 30 is used as the
management server. On the other hand, a center server 41 is located
in a base station (for example, the main office or a branch office
of a construction machine company) 40 for managing the hydraulic
excavators 10, enabling reading of information sent from the mail
server 30, and transmission of information by mail etc. to each
terminal unit 51 or 61 of a user or the rental company, as
required.
[0038] Next, a specific processing example will be described with
reference to the flowcharts of FIG. 2 to FIG. 5.
[0039] FIG. 2 shows processing of the main control unit 12 of each
hydraulic excavator 10. Once the engine is turned on, the time at
that moment is stored in the memory 12B as the engine start time
(step S1). After that, if it is determined that the engine has been
shut off (step S2) the stored engine start time is subtracted from
the time at that moment (engine stop time) to calculate an
operating time for the hydraulic excavator 10 (step S3). The
calculated operating time is then added to the operating time for
that day currently stored, and this value is stored in the memory
12B (step S4). If there is no operating time for that day stored
yet, the calculated operating time is stored as it is. The total
operating time for one day is then finally stored in the memory
12B.
[0040] FIG. 3 shows communication processing for the main control
unit 12. If it is determined that a predetermined transmission time
has been reached, (step S11), location information at that point in
time is obtained from the GPS control unit 11 (step S12). Operating
time for one day is also read out from the memory 12B (step S13).
That operating time and location information is then transmitted
together with an ID number for identifying that hydraulic excavator
10 and the date (step S14). Here, transmission is carried out late
at night when the hydraulic excavator is not operating, and total
operating time for the previous day is transmitted every day.
[0041] Transmitted information from each hydraulic excavator 10 is
sent through the communications satellite 22 to the mail server 30,
as described above, and information is transferred from the mail
server 30 to the base station 40.
[0042] FIG. 4 shows processing for the center server 41 of the base
station 40. It is determined whether or not information transmitted
from the hydraulic excavator 10 has arrived (step S21), and if
information has arrived that information is read from the mail
server 30 (step S22). The read information is transmitted by email
or the like to the rental company 60 (step S23).
[0043] FIG. 5 shows processing for a terminal unit 61 of the rental
company 60. If it is determined that mail has arrived from the base
station 40 (step S31), the content of that mail is read out and
location information and operating time information for the
hydraulic excavator 10 in question are ascertained (step S32).
Weather information for the locality indicated by the read out
location information is also acquired (step S33). This weather
information may be acquired by, for example, preliminarily storing
weather information for that day for each region from the internet
and then selecting items that match the location information from
the total weather information, or by connecting to the internet at
the time when acquiring weather information. Whichever method is
adopted, it is necessary to use weather information that is
accurate over a comparatively narrow region (for example, within a
radius of 20 km).
[0044] Next, it is determined whether or not the read out operating
time for one day is, for example, one hour or more (step S34), and
if it is one hour or more, a standard usage fee is set (step S35).
If the usage time is less than one hour, the usage fee is set to 0
(step S36). Charge data correlating to the date, the region that
the hydraulic excavator 10 exists in, weather for that region,
whether or not the hydraulic excavator 10 was operated (whether or
not operating time was an hour or more), and the usage fee, is then
stored in a storage medium such as hard disc (step S37).
[0045] The above described processing of FIG. 5 is executed each
time mail is received from the base station 40, thus the charge
data of a plurality of hydraulic excavators 10 are stored for a
number of days. The stored data is then read out as required, and a
charge table such as that shown, for example, in FIG. 6 is created.
The rental fee will be billed to the user referring to this charge
table.
[0046] With this embodiment, it is therefore possible to bill an
accurate amount without relying on notification from a user,
because a rental fee is set based on operating time transmitted
from each hydraulic excavator 10. Also, by displaying weather
information for each day in a charge table, it is possible to
clearly notify a user of charging for operation even if it is a
rainy day, making it possible to avoid the occurrence of
problems.
[0047] In the above description, a specified time for operation of
a hydraulic excavator has been made one hour, but this time can be
appropriately set according to the type of rental. As another way
of using weather information, it is also possible to consider a
system where even if there is operation of one hour or more on a
rainy day, for example, it is determined that this accompanies
traveling, and is automatically not charged. Further, in the above
description weather information is acquired at the rental company
side, but it is also possible to acquire the weather information at
the base station side, transmit information correlating the
operating time and the weather information to the rental company
side, and create a charge table in the rental company.
[0048] -Second Embodiment-
[0049] A second embodiment of the present invention will now be
described using FIG. 7-FIG. 14.
[0050] In this embodiment, it is automatically determined whether
or not specialized functions such as the above described ML (moment
limiter) or breaker have been used, and the results of
determination are reflected in a rental fee.
[0051] FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are schematic diagrams of the system of
this embodiment, and structural elements that are the same as those
in FIG. 1 have the same reference numerals attached thereto.
[0052] A plurality of hydraulic excavators 10 in the drawings are
all owned by a rental company 60. Each hydraulic excavator 10
comprises a GPS control unit 11 and a main control unit 12, the
same as the previous embodiment. The main control unit 12 collects
information representing usage conditions of that hydraulic
excavator 10 for one day. The collected information is used at the
base station 40 side when creating a daily report, and may be as
shown in FIG. 9.
[0053] Information shown in FIG. 9 (hereafter called daily report
data) is measured based on output from various switches and sensors
provided in the hydraulic excavator 10. Included in this
information an engine operating time is obtained based on ON and
OFF operations of an engine start switch SW3. Also, an ML operation
time and a breaker operating time are obtained based on operation
of an ML switch SW1 and a breaker switch SW2 respectively. The ML
switch SW1 is turned on when the ML is used, and turned off when
the ML is not in use. The main control unit 12 causes the maximum
discharge amount of a main hydraulic pump to be reduced lower than
at the time of normal operation when the ML switch is turned ON.
Also, the breaker switch SW2 is provided in a breaker actuating
hydraulic circuit (a pilot circuit) and is a pressure switch that
turns on when the breaker is in use.
[0054] The daily report data are transmitted from the transmission
section 12A at a predetermined time every day. The transmitted data
is sent to the base station 40 through the communications satellite
22 and the mail server 30, as described above. Transmission
information is various information besides the daily report data,
such as location information and fault information of the hydraulic
excavator.
[0055] Next, a specific example of processing of this embodiment
will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIG. 10-FIG.
13.
[0056] The processing of FIG. 10 is for measuring ML operating time
and is executed periodically in the main control unit 12 of each
hydraulic excavator 10 while the engine is turned on. If it is
determined that the ML switch SW1 is on (step S101) and that a
timer is not operating (step S102), the timer built in to the main
control unit 12 is started (step S103). On the other hand, if it is
determined that ML switch SW1 is off (Step S101), and that the
timer is running (step S104), the timer is stopped (step S105). The
time clocked by this timer, namely the time from when the ML switch
SW1 is turned on until it is turned off, is then obtained, that
time is added to the ML operating time for that day currently
stored and stored in the memory 12B (step S106). Therefore, the ML
operating time for one day is finally stored in the memory 12B.
[0057] A description has only been given above for a method of
measuring ML operating time, but breaker operating time can also be
measured in a similar way using the breaker switch SW2 and stored
in the memory 12B. It is also possible to measure the other daily
report data shown in FIG. 3 using processing that has not been
shown in the drawings and to store these data in the memory 12B in
a similar manner.
[0058] FIG. 11 shows communication processing carried out in the
main control unit 12 of the hydraulic excavator 10. If it has been
determined that a predetermined transmission time has arrived (step
S111), daily report data is read from the memory 12B (step S112)
and that daily report data is transmitted together with an ID No.
for identifying that hydraulic excavator 10 (step S113). In this
example, transmission is carried out late at night when the volume
of other communications is relatively small and daily report data
for the previous day are transmitted every day.
[0059] Transmitted information from each hydraulic excavator 10 is
sent via a communications satellite 22 to the mail server 30, as
described above, and transferred to the base station 40.
[0060] FIG. 12 shows processing in a center server 41 of the base
station 40. It is determined whether or not information has arrived
from a hydraulic excavator 10 (step S121), and if information has
arrived, that information is read in (step S122). A daily report is
then created based on the read-in information (here it is daily
report data) (step S123), and that daily report is transmitted to a
user 50 using email or the like (step S124). In the case of a
hydraulic excavator 10 owned by a rental company 60, the same
information is also transmitted to the rental company 60.
[0061] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing one example of processing in
a terminal unit 61 of the rental company 60, and this is processing
for a single hydraulic excavator 10. Information (daily report)
from the base station 40 has already been received, and also, the
operating time, ML operating time and breaker operating time of the
excavator for one day have been obtained.
[0062] If it is determined, for example, that operating time of the
excavator for that day is less than one hour (step S131),
processing returns without performing charge setting. Specifically,
in the event that operating time is less than one hour, a rental
fee is not billed. On the other hand, if operating time is one hour
or more, a normal usage charge is calculated (step S132). If it is
determined that ML operating time is one hour or more (step S133),
a standard ML usage fee is calculated (S134), while if the ML
operating time is less than one hour, the ML usage fee is set to 0
(step S135). Similarly, if it is determined that breaker operating
time is one hour or more (step S136), a standard breaker usage fee
is calculated (S137), while if the breaker operating time is less
than one hour, the breaker usage fee is set to 0 (step S138). The
ML usage fee and the breaker usage fee are then added to the normal
usage fee to give a charge that is the rental fee for that day
(step S139).
[0063] FIG. 14 shows one example of the result of carrying out the
above described processing over a period of several days.
[0064] With this embodiment, usage time of specialized functions
other than normal functions, called ML operating time and breaker
operating time, are measured at the hydraulic excavator side and
transmitted. This transmission information passes through the base
station 40 and is received at the rental company 60, where an ML
usage fee and a breaker usage fee are set based on received
information at the rental company side. With this type of system,
it is possible to accurately ascertain whether or not the ML or
breaker have been used without relying on notification from a user,
making it possible to charge an appropriate rental fee.
[0065] It is also possible for the above described normal charge
for one day to be a predetermined amount, or to correspond to the
usage time as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent
Publication No. H8-273015. Although a criterion for determining
operation of the hydraulic excavator has been set to one hour, it
is also possible to appropriately set this time depending on the
type of rental. The specialized functions are not limited to the ML
and breaker, and may be other functions that require a separate
usage fee to be added to the normal charge. In the above
description, description has been given for a situation where daily
report data is transmitted to a base station, but it is also
possible to transmit directly to the rental company 60.
[0066] -Third Embodiment-
[0067] A third embodiment of the present invention will now be
described using FIG. 15-FIG. 19.
[0068] This embodiment is for setting rental fees taking various
usage conditions and usage environments of a hydraulic excavator 10
into consideration.
[0069] When an operating load or traveling load is heavy, the
burden placed on the hydraulic excavator 10 is large compared to
when the load is light, so that the life span of various parts is
shortened. Therefore, it is desirable to charge a higher rental fee
when the operating load or traveling load is heavier. The hydraulic
excavator 10 of this embodiment makes it possible to acquire
information relating to operating load and traveling load by
detecting discharge pressure of a hydraulic pump etc. used in
operation and traveling using a pressure sensor 13 (see FIG. 15).
This information can be, for example, the time over which detected
pressure exceeds a specified value, or an average pressure
value.
[0070] Work carried out by the hydraulic excavator 10 is classified
into "working", "swiveling" and "traveling". As working time is
prolonged, damage to components on the working front becomes more
severe, and the longer swiveling time becomes the greater the
damage to components constituting a swiveling wheel. Similarly, as
traveling time increases, the more damage to undercarriage
components increases. This means that there is a desire to set the
rental fee for the hydraulic excavator 10 taking into account the
working time, traveling time and swiveling time. In the hydraulic
excavator 10 of this embodiment the operating time, swiveling time
and traveling time can be separately measured. These times may be
actuator operating times governing respective jobs, or times over
which pressure of respective hydraulic circuits is greater than a
predefined value. It may also be the time over which respective
operating members are being operated.
[0071] With respect to a working location, for example, there will
a lot more corrosion of the hydraulic excavator 10 when working on
the coast compared to working at a normal location, and since
working inside a tunnel involves a lot of dust, damage to the
hydraulic excavator 10 will be more severe. There is therefore also
a desire to set the rental fee of the hydraulic excavator 10 taking
into account the working location. The working location can be
identified from location information detected using the above
described GPS control unit 11.
[0072] Previously, examples were described assuming that work was
not carried out when it was raining, but the work is sometimes
carried out even though it is raining, such as, when the work is
behind schedule. Since working in rainy weather promotes corrosion,
it is more likely that the hydraulic excavator 10 will be damaged
compared to working in fine weather. There is thus a need for the
rental fee to take in to account weather information. A rental fee
in the case of using specialized functions such as a ML or a
breaker will be set as described in the second embodiment.
[0073] As shown in FIG. 16, a loan management database 62 is
provided in the rental company 60 owning the hydraulic excavators
10. This database 62 contains data such as a loaned machine ID No.,
machine type, specifications (including whether or not there is a
ML or breaker is provided), and loan period organized into each
user to which a machine has been loaned. A terminal unit 61, sets a
rental fee as will be described later based on information that has
been transmitted from the hydraulic excavator 10 and information
stored in the database 62.
[0074] A specific example of control for this embodiment will now
be described with reference to the flow charts of FIG. 17-FIG.
19.
[0075] FIG. 17 shows processing in the main control unit 12 of the
hydraulic excavator 10. If the engine is started, an operating load
which is detection output from the pressure sensor 13, is read in
(step S201) and it is determined whether or not this pressure is
greater than or equal to a predetermined value (step S202). If the
pressure is greater than or equal to the specified value, it is
determined whether or not a timer is running (step S203), and if
the timer is not running it is started in step S204 and processing
returns to the start. If the pressure is less than the
predetermined value, it is determined whether or not the timer is
running (step S205). If the timer is running, it is stopped (step
S206), and an elapsed time from starting to stopping of the timer
is added to a time already stored, and stored newly in the memory
12B (step S207). Therefore, the time over which the working load is
kept at or higher than the predefined value is stored in the memory
12B.
[0076] As shown in FIG. 17, an example of measuring the time over
which the working load is at or greater than a predefined working
load has been described, the traveling load is also measured using
a similar procedure. In fact, the working time, swiveling time and
traveling time are all measured in a similar manner. A procedure
for obtaining ML and breaker usage time and location information
for the hydraulic excavator 10 has been described in the previous
embodiment. The obtained time information is stored in the memory
12B correlated to an ID No. for identifying the hydraulic excavator
10.
[0077] Information stored in the memory 12B is read out when a
predetermined transmission time is reached, as described above, and
transmitted from the transmission section 12A together with
location information and an ID No. The transmitted information is
transferred to the base station 40 through a communications
satellite 22 and a mail server 30, and is transmitted further to
the rental company 60 using email, for example.
[0078] FIG. 18 shows one example of processing for the terminal
unit 61 of the rental company 60. This processing is to set a
rental charge for each day.
[0079] If it is determined that mail has arrived from the base
station 40 (step S211), the content of that mail is read out and
information relating to the hydraulic excavator 10 in question is
ascertained (step S212). Also, similarly to the first embodiment,
weather information of a region indicated by the read in location
information is acquired (step S213). Information such as type and
specifications of the hydraulic excavator 10 in question are also
read out from the loan management database 62 (step S214). A rental
fee for one day is then set based on information from the hydraulic
excavator 10 and information from the database 62 (step S215).
[0080] Various methods of setting a rental fee can be considered.
As one example, a basic charge per day is set in advance for each
type of machine, and an amount corresponding to usage conditions
and environmental conditions is added to the basic charge
corresponding to the type of the hydraulic excavator 10 in question
(determined using information from the database 62). Specific
examples are shown below.
[0081] (1) A predefined charge A is added if the time over which
working load or traveling load is a predetermined value or greater
exceeds a predetermined time. Alternatively, a predefined charge A
is added if an average value of working load or traveling load
exceeds a predetermined value.
[0082] (2) Predefined charges B, C or D are added if working time,
swiveling time or traveling time exceed respective predetermined
times.
[0083] (3) A predefined charge E is added in the case of working at
a location that subjects the hydraulic excavator to severe
environmental conditions, such as on the coast or in a tunnel. The
working location is determined from location information.
[0084] (4) A predefined charge F is added if working in rainy
weather or snowy conditions. Whether or not the weather is rainy
(or snowy) is determined from weather information.
[0085] (5) A specified charge G is added in the case of using
specialized functions such as a ML or breaker. The charge to be
added may be varied according to usage time
[0086] A final rental fee for one day is set through processing for
these various items. The set rental fee is stored in the database
62 correlated to the renting party (step S216).
[0087] After that, when a rental fee is charged, processing such as
that shown in FIG. 19, is executed. Specifically, all rental charge
data for rental days stored in the database 62 are read out (step
S221), a billed amount is calculated by adding these items of data,
and a bill is created (step S222). The created bill is transmitted
to a user (renting party) 50 using email, for example (step
S223).
[0088] The above described processing of FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 is
carried out for each hydraulic excavator 10 of the rental company
60.
[0089] With this embodiment, since usage conditions of the
hydraulic excavator 10 (working load, traveling load, working time,
swiveling time, traveling time, and whether or not an ML or breaker
is used) and environmental conditions (working location, weather)
are obtained and a rental fee is set based on this information, it
is possible to set an appropriate rental fee for all usage
conditions and environmental conditions.
[0090] A rental fee may be calculated by substituting respective
time information into specified arithmetic expressions without
determining a basic charge. By doing this, it is possible to set a
more detailed charge.
[0091] An example has been given above of setting rental fees in
units of one day and adding them together later, but it is also
possible to set a weekly or monthly rental fee by carrying out
rental fee setting processing once a week or once a month. For
example, the fee may be calculated by adding a specified charge to
a basic charge in the event that total working time per month
exceeds a predetermined time. It is expected that the above
described rental charge setting or bill creation could be made more
efficient by using dedicated software. For example, it is possible
to carry out the processing shown in FIG. 18 automatically without
the intervention of an operator. Alternatively, rental fee setting
and bill creation can be carried out through calculation by an
operator.
[0092] In the description above, information from a hydraulic
excavator 10 is sent to the rental company temporarily through a
base station 40 such as a construction machine maker, but it is
also possible to have a system that sends information from the
hydraulic excavator 10 directly to the rental company 60. In other
words, the rental company 60 maybe abase station.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0093] Description has been given above for a rental fee setting
system for hydraulic excavators, but the present invention can also
be applied to a rental fee setting system for construction machines
other than hydraulic excavators (for example a crane etc.).
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