Work Vehicle Access Monitoring and Control System

Abstract

An access control system for a work vehicle that has an engine and a location is provided, the system including location sensor that indicates the vehicle's location and an electronic control unit coupled to the sensor that receives the location signal and selectively disables the engine based upon the vehicle's position outside job site boundary's or based upon the time of operation at a plurality of job sites, each job site having its own time of operation.

1 . An access control system for a work vehicle having an engine and a location, the system comprising:
 a location sensor on the vehicle, the sensor configured to provide a location signal indicative of the vehicle's location; and   an electronic control unit coupled to the location sensor to receive the location signal, the electronic control unit further comprising an electronic memory configured to store data indicative of a plurality of non-contiguous job sites, and further wherein the electronic control unit is configured to permit operation of the vehicle within the non-contiguous job sites and to disable the vehicle when the vehicle leaves the non-contiguous job sites.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to shut down the engine when the vehicle leaves the plurality of non-contiguous job sites. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit is configurable to prevent the vehicle from being driven between two of the plurality of non-contiguous job sites. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic memory stores a boundary for each of the plurality of non-contiguous job sites. 
     
     
         5 - 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein electronic memory is also configured to store a first timer associated with the first job site, and to store a second timer associated with the second job site. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the location sensor includes a GPS receiver. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to store in the first timer a value indicative of the amount of time the vehicle is located at the first job site, and wherein the electronic control unit is configured to store in the second timer a value indicative of the amount of time the vehicle is located at the second job site. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to store in the first timer a value indicative of the engine's running time at the first job site, and wherein the electronic control unit is configured to store in the second timer a value indicative of the engine's running time at the second job site. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to receive a definition of a third job site from a circuit selected from a group comprising a long-range wireless communications circuit, a short-range wireless communications circuit, and a wired computer communications circuit. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the long-range wireless communications circuit is a circuit selected from a group comprising a cellular telephone and a satellite telephone. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the short-range wireless communications circuit is a circuit selected from a group comprising a Bluetooth circuit and an 802.11 circuit. 
     
     
         17 - 18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured for disabling the vehicle such that the vehicle is prevented from being driven from one of the plurality of non-contiguous job sites to another of the plurality of non-contiguous job sites. 
     
     
         20 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the electronic control unit is also configured to store a first total engine running time and a second total engine running time, and is configured to shut down the engine when the first timer exceeds the first total engine running time and when the second timer exceeds the second total engine running time. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to store timer values indicative of vehicle movement at each job site and disable the vehicle if either value exceeds an associated predetermined vehicle time limit for vehicle movement at each job site. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to store timer values indicative of implement operation at each job site and disable the vehicle if either value exceeds an associated predetermined vehicle time limit for implement operation at each job site. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the electronic control unit also includes a timer configured to store an overall engine running time of the vehicle.