COAL TRACKER

Abstract

A system to process and handle minerals, aggregates, or ore during mining operations in a way that automatically collects, carries and transmits data about the product being mined. When mining coal, the system has a loader with a tag writer and coal loadable trucks with beds having read and writeable electronic tags mounted externally.

Claims

1. A combination of coal transport vehicles comprises: a loader or loading device or machine with a control box, the control box having a tag reader/writer, GPS receiver, setting for method of extraction, loader identification; and a coal loadable truck, the truck comprising: a vehicle chassis and drive train; a bed for receiving and hauling coal; and a plurality of read/writable electronic tags mounted externally on the bed of the truck, each tag being readable and writable from a distance remotely, the plurality of tags being mounted in a defined pattern about the bed, wherein the defined pattern forms an array along each left and right side of the bed and a rear end of the bed.

2. The combination of coal transport vehicles of claim 1 wherein the rear of the bed has at least one tag.

3. The combination of coal transport vehicles of claim 1 wherein each left side and each right side have two or more tags.

4. The combination of coal transport vehicles of claim 1 wherein the loader or loading device or machine with a tag reader/writer is one of a bucket loader, a lift conveyor or shovel loader or any other loader.

5. The combination of coal transport vehicles of claim 1 wherein the tag antenna is mounted externally on a forward side of the coal loader.

6. The combination of coal transport vehicles of claim 1 wherein the read/writable tags on the bed are battery assisted.

7. The combination of coal transport vehicles of claim 1 wherein the tag writer can input data to the read/writable tags from a distance of several feet.

8. A method of mining coal comprises the steps of: inputting the GPS location of the coal into an electronic tag read/writer installed onto a loader; inputting the data onto the tag writer; mining the coal using a loader with the tag read/writer; loading the coal into a truck by approaching a bed of the truck with a plurality of read/writable electronic tags wherein one or more of the tags receives the data and GPS data from the loader when the loader approaches the bed of the truck loading the truck; optionally driving the truck to a weighing scale; weighing the truck with coal and electronically reading the tags sending the tag data to a central data control computer; dumping the coal; reweighing the unloaded truck to establish the coal weight; and wherein all the tag data is transmitted automatically to the central data center.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprises the steps of: analyzing the dumped coal by loading the coal onto a conveyor system that passes by a material analyzer, the material analyzer measures the coal to ash ratio and the amount of or presence of contaminants such as arsenic sulfur content and passes analyzer data to the central computer to establish the coal quality and weight; and segregating the coal by using a plurality of diverters to direct the coal to a dump site based on the analyzed coal properties.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprises the step of: inputting all the collected tag data weigh, dated and analyzed data to a computer program to make a record of each load, establishing the value per load, the fee owed per load automatically.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The invention will be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of data flow for surface mining utilizing the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of data flow for outbound coal by rail utilizing the system of the present invention.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of data flow for deep mining utilizing the system of the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of data flow for measuring fuel deliveries utilizing a version of the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 5 is a dump truck with externally mounted tags and a reader.

[0021] FIG. 5A is an example of a typical truck in a bay.

[0022] FIG. 5B shows a schematic view of the truck with externally mounted tags on each side of the bed, but offset.

[0023] FIG. 6 is a view of a loader with a tag writable transponder for inputting data.

[0024] FIG. 7 is an exemplary view of a material analyzer and conveyor system.

[0025] FIG. 8A is a control box.

[0026] FIG. 8B is an open control box that includes the RFID read/writer.

[0027] FIG. 9 is an exemplary tag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] With reference to FIG. 1, a schematic view of the data flow for surface mining of coal 2 is illustrated. In the illustrated diagram, in the upper left-hand corner are shown tabs, the left being high wall mining, the middle being auger mining and the one on the right being surface mining High wall mining involves cutting an L shaped structure onto the side of a mountain and removing seams of coal 2 from the vertical wall. Auger mining is quite similar in that an L shape is also provided and the wall is penetrated with augers that extract the coal 2 and place it on a conveyor system 70 that transports it into waiting trucks 20. Surface mining involves clearing the top surface of the ground of debris and soil until a seam layer of coal 2 is found. At that point, the coal 2 is extracted using front end or bucket loaders 10.

[0029] With regard to the present invention, a system 100 is provided wherein the front end bucket loader 10 is equipped with a GPS RFID writer 42, this writer 42 is inputted with the GPS location of the coal and the vehicle identification of the loader 10, this information can then be input into a coal receiving truck 20. The coal receiving truck 20 has a bed 25 with externally mounted RFID tags 40 to receive data from the coal loader 10. The RFID tags 40 are mounted externally on the bed 25 of the truck 20. As the loader 10 approaches the truck 20, the writer 42 transmits information to the tags 40 and inputs that information. That information includes the method of extraction and the coal location by GPS coordinates which is quite helpful because each GPS location can be used to identify the exact location of the material being mined. This is helpful because mineral rights holders called fee owners, need to know how much material is being extracted from their land.

[0030] As the loader 10 loads the truck 20 it will be filled with coal 2. Once filled, if truck weight scales are being used, it will be moved to weight scales 30. As shown in the diagram, the loaded truck 20 is backed onto a scale 30, the scale 30 then weighs the truck 20 and the RFID reader 45 takes the information from the tag 40 and transmits the data through a network data system that has network connectivity 60 to a main office 80. The main office has a central data processing center computer 83 that receives the inputted data and stores it locally or to the cloud 82.

[0031] Once the truck 20 has been weighed, it is then taken to either a plant where the coal 2 can be cleaned or it can be driven directly to a stock pile. Once dumped, the truck 20 is then reweighed and the net weight of the coal 2 that has been offloaded can be established.

[0032] With reference to FIG. 2, once the coal 2 is put into stockpiles, it can be loaded onto trains. The trains can have a connection to the main office and transaction information can be processed using the network to send information from the train loadout station to the main office. Once this is done and the train is loaded, it will move to its various destinations. Typically, a coal train has 110 coal carrying cars.

[0033] With reference to FIG. 3, the data flow can also be used in deep mine operations. In such a case, shafts are drilled into the earth and the coal 2 is dug out from below ground and delivered to the surface in such a fashion that it can be sent on conveyors to a plant to be processed. Once it is delivered to the plant, it can be piled in stockpiles and the data transmitted can be sent to the network similar to what was used in surface mining.

[0034] Optionally, in FIG. 4 another way of utilizing the system 100 has fuel trucks 29 loaded with RFID tags 40 such that when the trucks 20 come to the mine they can go on the scales 30 to be weighed prior to dumping their fuel 27 into the fuel storage tanks 28. Once the fuel 27 is dumped, the trucks 29 with RFID tags 40 can return to the scales 30 to be reweighed. At that point, the precise amount of fuel 27 delivered can be established. All this information is then taken from the RFID tags 40 and transmitted back to the main office 80 via the network.

[0035] With reference to FIG. 5, a truck 20 is shown with a bed 25. On the bed in FIG. 5 are four tags 40, these tags 40 are mounted externally as shown in the photo there is a tag reader 45 on each side of the truck. As illustrated, the tag reader 45 can be positioned several feet from the truck 20 and pick up signals from the tags 40. The tags 40 are unique in that they are battery assisted and can transmit data over several feet. This is important in that most RFID tags require very close proximity to the reader to be able to transmit data. In the present invention, a very rugged system has been developed wherein the tag can transmit over an extended distance of several feet, but not so far as to trigger false readings. This is important in that when the trucks 20 are at the mining location, the loaders 10 will move in close proximity, mostly centered on the side of the truck 20, when it is a bucket loader 10, such that the load can be centrally dumped in the truck to fill the bed 25 of the truck 20. In order to make this happen, as shown in FIG. 6, the loader 10 has the RFID writer 42 positioned offset from the front of the truck 20. This means it can be on the left or right side of the loader 10. When the loader 10 approaches the truck 20 from a side, the tags need to be shifted to the forward side, as shown in FIG. 5B, or to the rear side, as further shown in FIG. 5B, depending on which side the loader 10 needs to approach the truck 20.

[0036] FIG. 5A shows a conventional truck 20 backed into a bay without any tags. Additionally, where a shovel is used, the rear end of the truck 20 would have at least one tag 40 so that when the shovel when approaching the rear of the truck 20 can have data written as well.

[0037] With reference to FIG. 7, a feature added to the overall system 100 is a material analyzer 35. In this system, a truck 20 will dump its load onto a conveyor bin. In the conveyor bin, the bin above the conveyor 70 will then drop the material onto a conveyor 70 which than passes under a material analyzer 35. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 7, the analyzer 35 is an ash analyzer and the ash analyzer can calculate the amount of ash that is in the coal 2 being dumped. Coal 2 is a burnable material. Ash is considered any material in the mining operation that is not burnable. Electric companies using coal to power their generators have a certain percentage of ash intermixed with the coal. This is a fairly low percentage, but it needs to be uniform in order to precisely control the burn rate and to keep the temperatures of the material fueling the generators relatively constant as it burns. In the present invention, the coal analyzer 35 is able to transmit back to the network 60 such that the data with regard to the coal quality and weight can be established. In other words, the amount of ash in the material can be established with will then also affect the price of the material being sold and the royalties being paid for the coal being received. In addition, an elemental analyzer 35 can measure the amount of sulfur in the coal 2 and also any heavy metals such as arsenic or lead. These heavy metals if in a high enough concentration may make the material unusable. As such the analyzer 35 provides an efficient way of establishing the quality of the coal and whether or not it is suitable for its intended use.

[0038] FIG. 8A is a photograph of the control box 46 that can be installed in a loader 10. As shown in FIG. 8B, the inside of the control box 46 contains the RFID read/writer 49, method of extraction switch 47 and power converter 48.

[0039] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary tag 40 used to accept/send data from the coal processing.

[0040] Variations in the present invention are possible in light of the description of it provided herein. While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the subject invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the subject invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that changes can be made in the particular embodiments described which will be within the full intended scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.