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US-12618229-B2 - Working vehicle and attachment usage system

US12618229B2US 12618229 B2US12618229 B2US 12618229B2US-12618229-B2

Abstract

A working vehicle includes a hitch to attach and detach an attachment thereto and therefrom, a receiver to receive wireless signal(s) which are transmitted periodically from transmitter(s) in or on the attachment(s), which include respective piece(s) of identification information of the attachment(s), and which are compliant with a near field communication standard, and a controller. The controller is configured or programmed to perform a selecting process and a predetermined process when the attachment is attached to the hitch and when a predetermined switch is operated with the attachment attached to the hitch, the selecting process including selecting, according to a predetermined condition, one of the piece(s) of identification information that is included in one of the wireless signal(s) received by the receiver, the predetermined process corresponding to the one of the piece(s) of identification information selected in the selecting process.

Inventors

  • Yuji Fukuda

Assignees

  • KUBOTA CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20240701

Claims (17)

  1. 1 . A working vehicle comprising: a hitch to attach and detach one of one or more attachments selectively thereto and therefrom; a receiver to receive one or more wireless signals which are transmitted periodically from one or more transmitters in or on the one or more attachments, which include respective one or more pieces of identification information of the one or more attachments or one or more pieces of identification information of the one or more transmitters, and which are compliant with a near field communication standard; an attaching switch to be operated to attach one of the one or more attachments selectively to the hitch; and a controller including a computer having a processor and a memory; wherein the controller is configured or programmed to: perform a first selecting process when the attaching switch is operated with no attachments attached to the hitch, and a first predetermined process when the attachment is attached to the hitch and when the attaching switch is operated with the attachment attached to the hitch, the first selecting process including selecting, according to a first predetermined condition, one of the one or more pieces of identification information that is included in one of the one or more wireless signals received by the receiver; and perform a second selecting process when the attaching switch is operated with the one of the attachments attached to the hitch, and a second predetermined process corresponding to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the second selecting process, the second selecting process including selecting, according to a second condition differing from the first condition, the one of the one or more pieces of identification information that is included in one of the one or more wireless signals received by the receiver.
  2. 2 . The working vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the hitch includes: a latching mechanism selectively operable in a latching state in which one of the one or more attachments is secured or an unlatching state in which any of the one or more attachments is not secured; and an actuator to actuate the latching mechanism selectively to the latching state or the unlatching state; and the controller is configured or programmed to: when the attaching switch is operated while the latching mechanism is in the unlatching state, cause the actuator to actuate the latching mechanism to the latching state and perform the first selecting process; and when the attaching switch is operated while the latching mechanism is in the latching state, perform the second selecting process.
  3. 3 . The working vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to, when the attaching switch is operated continuously for a first period or more while the latching mechanism is in the unlatching state, cause the actuator to actuate the latching mechanism to the latching state and then start the first selecting process.
  4. 4 . The working vehicle according to claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to perform the second selecting process when the attaching switch is operated continuously for a second period or more while the latching mechanism is in the latching state, the second period being shorter than the first period.
  5. 5 . The working vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to cause a memory to store, for a period of time, one or more received signal strengths of the one or more wireless signals received by the receiver and the one or more pieces of identification information included in the one or more wireless signals such that the one or more received signal strengths are in association with the one or more pieces of identification information; the first selecting process includes selecting, according to the first condition, one of the one or more pieces of identification information stored in the memory; and the second selecting process includes selecting, according to the second condition, one of the one or more pieces of identification information stored in the memory.
  6. 6 . The working vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the first selecting process to be performed by the controller includes selecting one of the one or more pieces of identification information stored in the memory based on at least one of (i) the one or more received signal strengths of the one or more wireless signals corresponding to the one or more pieces of identification information, (ii) one or more points in time at which the one or more wireless signals were received, or (iii) a number of identical ones of the one or more pieces of identification information.
  7. 7 . The working vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the second selecting process to be performed by the controller includes extracting, from the memory, one or more specific pieces of identification information included in one or more wireless signals that were received by the receiver during a third period which ended when the attaching switch was operated, and selecting one of the one or more specific pieces of identification information based on at least one of (i) the one or more received signal strengths of the one or more wireless signals corresponding to the extracted one or more specific pieces of identification information, (ii) one or more points in time at which the one or more wireless signals were received, or (iii) a number of identical ones of the extracted one or more specific pieces of identification information.
  8. 8 . The working vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to, when the controller fails to extract any specific piece of identification information from the memory, select one of one or more newly received pieces of identification information included in one or more wireless signals that were newly received by the receiver during a fourth period which started when the controller failed to extract any specific piece of identification information, based on at least one of (i) one or more received signal strengths of the newly received one or more wireless signals, (ii) one or more points in time at which the one or more wireless signals were newly received, or (iii) a number of identical ones of the one or more newly received pieces of identification information.
  9. 9 . The working vehicle according to claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to cause a user interface to output, during the fourth period, information indicating that one or more wireless signals are being received.
  10. 10 . The working vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to, upon detecting that a received signal strength of a wireless signal received by the receiver is higher than a predetermined value and/or that the wireless signal includes vibration information indicating that a corresponding one of the one or more attachments is vibrating, cause the memory to store, for the period of time, the received signal strength of the wireless signal and a piece of identification information included in the wireless signal such that the received signal strength is in association with the piece of identification information.
  11. 11 . The working vehicle according to claim 10 , further comprising: a traveling device to cause a vehicle body to travel; and a working device to perform work; wherein the hitch is connected to the working device; and the second selecting process to be performed by the controller includes selecting, according to the second condition, one of the one or more pieces of identification information that is included in one of the one or more wireless signals received by the receiver while at least one of the traveling device or the working device is operating.
  12. 12 . The working vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to, when performing the second selecting process, change the second condition depending on whether any of the one or more pieces of identification information is already selected.
  13. 13 . The working vehicle according to claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to, when performing the second selecting process, when any of the one or more pieces of identification information is already selected, change the second condition such that a number of pieces of identification information from which a piece of identification information is selected is larger than when no identification information is selected.
  14. 14 . The working vehicle according to claim 12 , wherein the second condition set by the controller includes at least one condition relating to at least one of (i) one or more received signal strengths of the one or more wireless signals, (ii) one or more points in time at which the one or more wireless signals were received, or (iii) a number of identical ones of the one or more pieces of identification information included in the one or more wireless signals; and when any of the one or more pieces of identification information is already selected when the controller performs the second selecting process, the second condition set by the controller includes a larger number of the at least one condition than when no identification information is selected.
  15. 15 . The working vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second predetermined processes to be performed by the controller includes performing control corresponding to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the first and second selecting processes and causing a user interface to output information relating to one of the one or more attachments that corresponds to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the first and second selecting processes, respectively.
  16. 16 . The working vehicle according to claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to: when the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the second selecting process differs from the one of the one or more pieces of identification information that had been selected in the first selecting process, cause the user interface to output information asking whether to use the one of the one or more attachments that corresponds to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the second selecting process instead of the one of the one or more attachments that corresponds to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the first selecting process; and when an instruction to use the one of the one or more attachments that corresponds to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the second selecting process is inputted via the user interface, perform the control corresponding to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the second selecting process and cause the user interface to output the information relating to the one of the one or more attachments that corresponds to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the second selecting process.
  17. 17 . An attachment usage system to perform work using one of one or more attachments with a working vehicle, the attachment usage system comprising: the working vehicle; and one or more transmitters in or on the one or more attachments to periodically transmit one or more wireless signals which include respective one or more pieces of identification information of the one or more of the one or more attachments or identification information of the one or more transmitters and which are compliant with a near field communication standard; wherein the working vehicle includes: a hitch to attach and detach one of the one or more attachments selectively thereto and therefrom; and a receiver to receive the one or more wireless signals transmitted from the one or more transmitters; an attaching switch to be operated to attach one of the one or more attachments selectively to the hitch; and a controller including a computer having a processor and a memory; wherein the controller is configured or programmed to: perform a first selecting process when the attaching switch is operated with no attachments attached to the hitch, and a first predetermined process when the attachment is attached to the hitch and when the attaching switch is operated with the attachment attached to the hitch, the first selecting process including selecting, according to a first predetermined condition, one of the one or more pieces of identification information that is included in one of the one or more wireless signals received by the receiver; and perform a second selecting process when the attaching switch is operated with the one of the attachments attached to the hitch, and a second predetermined process corresponding to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the second selecting process, the second selecting process including selecting, according to a second condition differing from the first condition, the one of the one or more pieces of identification information that is included in one of the one or more wireless signals received by the receiver.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to techniques to use attachments on working vehicles. 2. Description of the Related Art For example, the specification of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/412040 discloses a system to automatically identify the attachment attached to a working vehicle among attachments in the vicinity of the working vehicle. The system is such that a first communication unit (tool module) including a first acceleration sensor is provided on an attachment such as a bucket, a quick changer configured to quickly and simply attach and detach the attachment thereto and therefrom is provided at the distal end of the boom of the working vehicle (excavator), a second communication unit (receiving module) including a second acceleration sensor is provided at the quick changer, and the working vehicle is provided with an identification module and a controller. The first communication unit transmits, to the second communication unit via a near field communication such as RFID or Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy, a first acceleration signal relating to the instantaneous acceleration of the attachment detected by the first acceleration sensor and an identifying signal of the attachment. The second communication unit transmits, to the identification module, the first acceleration signal and the identifying signal received from the first communication unit and the second acceleration signal relating to the instantaneous acceleration of the quick changer detected by the second acceleration sensor. The identification module identifies the attachment attached to the quick changer based on the comparison (e.g., difference) between the first acceleration signal and the second acceleration signal received from the second communication unit and/or the received signal strength of the first acceleration signal, and transmits the identification information relating to the attachment to the controller. The controller performs an appropriate operation (work action) of the working vehicle based on the received identifying signal. However, with known systems as described above, the identification of the attachment attached on the working vehicle and the predetermined process may not be performed at the time intended by the user, and responsivity to the user operation may not be good, which may be inconvenient. Also, for example, in cases where the identification module identifies the attachment and performs an appropriate predetermined process each time the attachment is attached or the excavation arm is moved by the user operation for working or each time the first acceleration signal and the second acceleration signal are received by the identification module, the processing load on the identification module needlessly increases, and the predetermined process may not be performed smoothly, which is inefficient. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Example embodiments of the present invention make it possible for working vehicles to improve the responsivity and the efficiency of a predetermined process corresponding to the attached attachment. A working vehicle according to an example embodiment of the present invention includes a hitch to attach and detach an attachment thereto and therefrom, a receiver to receive one or more wireless signals which are transmitted periodically from one or more transmitters in or on one or more of the attachments, which include respective one or more pieces of identification information of the one or more attachments, and which are compliant with a near field communication standard, and a controller, wherein the controller is configured or programmed to perform a selecting process and a predetermined process when the attachment is attached to the hitch and when a predetermined operator is operated with the attachment attached to the hitch, the selecting process including selecting, according to a predetermined condition, one of the one or more pieces of identification information that is included in one of the one or more wireless signals received by the receiver, the predetermined process corresponding to the one of the one or more pieces of identification information selected in the selecting process. An attachment usage system according to an example embodiment of the present invention is a system to perform work using an attachment with a working vehicle, the attachment usage system including the working vehicle and the one or more transmitters. In an example embodiment of the present invention, the operator may include an attaching switch to be operated to attach the attachment to the hitch. The controller may be configured or programmed to perform the selecting process when the attaching switch is operated to attach the attachment to the hitch and when the attaching switch is operated with the attachment attached to the hitch. In an example embodiment of the present invention, the controller may be configured or progra