A concrete mixer vehicle includes a mixer drum, a chute, and a controller. The mixer drum has an inner volume configured to hold a mixture for transportation and placement. The chute is configured to receive mixture exiting the mixer drum and direct the mixture. The controller is configured to receive a selected mode of operation of the mixer drum and the chute. The selected mode of operation is selected from a set of multiple modes of operation of the mixer drum and the chute. The controller is configured to adjust an operation of at least one of the mixer drum or the chute to cause at least one of the mixer drum or the chute to operate according to the selected mode of operation.

A mixer vehicle includes a mixer drum, a first acceleration sensor, a second acceleration sensor, and a controller. The first acceleration sensor is configured to produce first acceleration signals and the second acceleration sensor is configured to measure accelerations within the mixer drum to produce second acceleration signals. The controller is configured to receive the first acceleration signals from the first acceleration sensor and second acceleration signals from the second acceleration sensor. The controller is further configured to determine a presence of material within the mixer drum based on the first acceleration signals and the second acceleration signals. The controller is further configured to determine one or more properties of the material within the mixer drum based on the first acceleration signals and the second acceleration signals.

The present invention provides a method and system for detecting hardened concrete buildup in a mixer drum which is substantially devoid of plastic concrete. An exemplary method involves monitoring the hydraulic pressure required to rotate the drum through at least two successive rotations at constant speed, using a hydraulic pressure sensor on hydraulic charge side, discharge side, or preferably both sides of the hydraulic motor which turns the mixer drum; and detecting when the pressure/time data curve indicates eccentric behavior of the mixer drum, whereby an alarm or other indication is provided to confirm that the hardened concrete buildup in the truck is not acceptable. The buildup detection method and system of the present invention does not require the use of an automated slump monitoring system, but can be implemented in combination with such systems with favorable results and advantages.

A vehicle control system includes a vehicle controller and a portable user device. The vehicle controller is configured to control operation of a vehicle component of a vehicle. The portable user device is configured to wirelessly connect to the vehicle controller and facilitate providing a command to the vehicle controller regarding operation of the vehicle component from an exterior of the vehicle.

A system and process for detecting dynamic segregation in concrete rotated within a mixer drum, such as mounted on a delivery truck. A system processor is programmed to monitor an instantaneous and averaged rheology parameter (e.g., instantaneous and averaged slump values) and to deploy one or more protocols for detecting the occurrence of segregation. A first protocol comprises monitoring the averaged slump or other rheology value of concrete during and immediately after a jump in drum speed of at least plus or minus four rotations per minute and detecting when a change in the averaged slump value meets or exceeds a threshold limit pre-selected by the user or the system processor; and an optional second protocol comprises monitoring the instantaneous slump or other rheology value of the concrete when the mixer drum is rotating at a constant speed for at least three (and more preferably for at least five) successive rotations and detecting when the instantaneous slump value meets or exceeds a threshold limit pre-selected by the user or processor. Preferably, both protocols are used, in any sequence, to confirm segregation within the rotating drum. Once segregation is detected, one or more operations can be initiated, such as sending an alarm or signal to the operator to confirm dynamic segregation is detected, introducing an admixture to mitigate the segregation, sending data to the batch plant for adjusting the mix design for subsequent deliveries, or other operations.

A vehicle includes a prime mover, a mixer drum assembly configured to selectively discharge a contents thereof, and a control system having a sensor. The control system is configured to detect, via the sensor, a state of a receiving device that is configured to receive the contents discharged from the mixer drum assembly, determine a desired state of the receiving device, adjust a vehicle state to reduce a difference between the state of the receiving device and the desired state of the receiving device, and cause a presentation of an indication of the adjustment of the vehicle state.

Globally our environment comprises structures built to perform a meet different requirements including residential, commercial, retail, recreational and service infrastructure. Whilst, millions of tons of construction materials are deployed annually the quality control procedures in many instances have not changed to reflect today's demands. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide construction companies, engineering companies, infrastructure owners, regulators, etc. with means to automated testing/characterization of construction materials during at least one of its manufacture, deployment in construction and subsequent infrastructure life. It would be further beneficial for such automated methods to exploit self-contained data acquisition/logging modules allowing them to be employed with ease at the different points in the life cycle of a construction material and/or construction project.

Apparatus and method for measurement and monitoring of physical properties of materials, such as liquids, and more particularly to acoustic instruments, methods, and systems that automatically measure air content in real-time within liquids, including concrete, mortar, or other hydratable cementitious mix suspensions using resonant electroacoustic transducers that have their radiating surfaces in contact with the liquid.

A system features an acoustic sensor configured to mount on a wall of a mixing drum, sense an acoustic characteristic of a mixture of a slurry, including concrete, contained in a mixing drum when rotating, and provide acoustic sensor signaling containing information about the acoustic characteristic sensed; and a signal processor configured to receive the acoustic sensor signaling, and determine corresponding signaling containing information about a slump characteristic of the mixture of concrete contained in the mixing drum, based upon the signaling received.

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.