Construction machine and construction machine management system

Abstract

A hydraulic excavator includes a work attachment a drive unit, a load cell, a machine load calculator, a soil pressure load calculator, and a soil quality estimator. The machine load calculator calculates, from orientation information of the work attachment and information about a load that the drive unit receives, a machine load, which is a load that a bucket receives from earth and sand. The soil pressure load calculator calculates, from a shape of a soil mass, the orientation information, the shape of the bucket, the density of the soil, a wall surface frictional angle, a soil pressure load.

1 . A construction machine comprising:
 a machine body including a travelling unit capable of travelling on a ground surface;   a work attachment including a rising and falling body supported by the machine body so as to be rotatable in a rising and falling direction with respect to the machine body, the work attachment including a bucket rotatably supported by a distal end of the rising and falling body;   a drive unit that allows driving of the work attachment such that the bucket excavates the ground surface;   an orientation information acquisition unit that acquires orientation information that is information regarding an orientation of the work attachment relative to the ground surface;   a drive load information acquisition unit that acquires drive load information that is information regarding a load received by the drive unit as the bucket excavates the ground surface;   a machine load calculator that calculates a machine load that is a load received by the bucket from earth and sand from the orientation information acquired by the orientation information acquisition unit and the drive load information acquired by the drive load information acquisition unit as the bucket excavates the ground surface;   a soil pressure load calculator that calculates a soil pressure load that is a load applied to the bucket by a soil mass, based on a soil pressure theory from a shape of the soil mass constituted by a soil dammed by the bucket, the orientation information acquired by the orientation information acquisition unit, a shape of the bucket, a density of the soil, and a wall surface frictional angle between the soil and the bucket as the bucket excavates the ground surface; and   a soil quality estimator that estimates a soil quality of the soil at a work site based on the machine load calculated by the machine load calculator and the soil pressure load calculated by the soil pressure load calculator.   
     
     
         2 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the soil quality estimator estimates an internal frictional angle of the soil and a cohesive force of the soil at the work site as the soil quality on an assumption that the machine load and the soil pressure load acting on the bucket coincide with each other. 
     
     
         3 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the drive unit includes   a rising and falling body cylinder that is hydraulic and expands and contracts so as to rotate the rising and falling body, and   a bucket cylinder that is hydraulic and expands and contracts so as to rotate the bucket,   the construction machine further includes a cylinder length detector that allows detection of a length of the rising and falling body cylinder and a length of the bucket cylinder, and   the orientation information acquisition unit acquires the orientation information by calculating the orientation of the work attachment based on the length of the rising and falling body cylinder and the length of the bucket cylinder detected by the cylinder length detector.   
     
     
         4 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 an angle detector that allows detection of each of a relative angle of the rising and falling body with respect to the machine body and a relative angle of the bucket with respect to the rising and falling body,   wherein the orientation information acquisition unit acquires the orientation information by calculating the orientation of the work attachment based on at least the relative angle of the rising and falling body and the relative angle of the bucket detected by the angle detector.   
     
     
         5 . The construction machine according to  claim 4 , further comprising
 a machine body inclination detector that allows detection of an inclination of the machine body with respect to a horizontal plane,   wherein the orientation information acquisition unit acquires the orientation information by calculating the orientation of the work attachment based on the relative angle of the rising and falling body and the relative angle of the bucket detected by the angle detector and the inclination of the machine body detected by the machine body inclination detector.   
     
     
         6 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the drive unit includes   a rising and falling body cylinder that is hydraulic and expands and contracts so as to rotate the rising and falling body, and   a bucket cylinder that is hydraulic and expands and contracts so as to rotate the bucket,   the construction machine further includes a cylinder pressure detector that allows detection of a pressure of the bucket cylinder, and   the drive load information acquisition unit acquires the drive load information by calculating the load received by the drive unit based on the pressure of the bucket cylinder detected by the cylinder pressure detector.   
     
     
         7 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 a load sensor that is disposed at a distal end of the rising and falling body and allows detection of a load acting on the bucket,   wherein the drive load information acquisition unit acquires the drive load information by calculating the load received by the drive unit based on the load acting on the bucket detected by the load sensor.   
     
     
         8 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 a display unit that receives a predetermined display command signal and displays information to be notified to a worker in accordance with the display command signal,   wherein the soil quality estimator inputs, to the display unit, the display command signal corresponding to the soil quality having been estimated.   
     
     
         9 . The construction machine according to  claim 8 , wherein the display unit allows displaying of a latest soil quality and a past soil quality estimated by the soil quality estimator. 
     
     
         10 . The construction machine according to  claim 8 , further comprising
 a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the machine body at the work site,   wherein the soil quality estimator inputs, to the display unit, the display command signal in which the soil quality having been estimated and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit are associated with each other.   
     
     
         11 . The construction machine according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the display unit further allows displaying of map information at the work site, and displays the soil quality estimated by the soil quality estimator and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit on the map information in association with each other.   
     
     
         12 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the drive unit allows reception of a predetermined command signal and driving of the work attachment based on an output characteristic according to the command signal, and the construction machine further includes an output characteristic setting unit that inputs a command signal to the drive unit so as to adjust the output characteristic in accordance with the soil quality acquired by the soil quality estimator.   
     
     
         13 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the soil quality estimator determines whether estimation of the soil quality is allowed based on a characteristic value related to a magnitude of the soil pressure load. 
     
     
         14 . The construction machine according to  claim 13 , wherein the characteristic value is a soil volume in the bucket. 
     
     
         15 . The construction machine according to  claim 14 , wherein the soil quality estimator calculates the soil volume based on the shape of the soil mass and the shape of the bucket. 
     
     
         16 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the soil quality estimator determines the soil quality on condition that an angle of the bucket is included in an estimation angle set in advance. 
     
     
         17 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , wherein the soil quality estimator refers to a plurality of soil quality candidates prepared in advance, and determines one of the plurality of soil quality candidates as the soil quality at the work site based on the machine load calculated by the machine load calculator and the soil pressure load calculated by the soil pressure load calculator. 
     
     
         18 . The construction machine according to  claim 17 , wherein the soil pressure load calculator calculates a plurality of the soil pressure loads by using each of the plurality of soil quality candidates, and the soil quality estimator determines, as the soil quality at the work site, the soil quality candidate corresponding to the soil pressure load closest to the machine load calculated by the machine load calculator from among the plurality of soil pressure loads. 
     
     
         19 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 an input unit that receives a command for switching between a valid state and an invalid state,   wherein the valid state is a state in which the estimation of the soil quality by the soil quality estimator is permitted, and   the invalid state is a state in which the estimation of the soil quality by the soil quality estimator is prohibited.   
     
     
         20 . The construction machine according to  claim 19 , wherein a soil quality storage unit that stores information regarding the soil quality estimated previously when the valid state and the invalid state are switched by the command input to the input unit. 
     
     
         21 . The construction machine according to  claim 19 , further comprising a state display unit that allows displaying of the valid state and the invalid state. 
     
     
         22 . The construction machine according to  claim 19 , further comprising a state switching unit that inputs a command corresponding to the valid state to the input unit on condition that an angle of the bucket is included in an estimation angle set in advance. 
     
     
         23 . The construction machine according to  claim 22 , further comprising an angle request unit that requests that the angle of the bucket is included in the estimation angle as a condition for the soil quality estimator to execute the estimation of the soil quality. 
     
     
         24 . The construction machine according to  claim 22 , further comprising a bucket angle display unit that allows displaying of the estimation angle and a current angle of the bucket. 
     
     
         25 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the soil quality estimator receives a predetermined estimation start signal, acquires a plurality of soil qualities by repeatedly estimating the soil qualities at predetermined time intervals, and estimates a final soil quality based on the plurality of soil qualities, and   the soil quality estimator does not estimate the final soil quality when a number of the plurality of soil qualities is less than a preset threshold value after the estimation start signal is input.   
     
     
         26 . The construction machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising a completion display unit that displays information regarding whether the estimation of the soil quality by the soil quality estimator has been completed. 
     
     
         27 . A construction machine management system comprising:
 the construction machine according to  claim 1 ; and   a management device that is disposed at a position away from the construction machine and allows transmission and reception of information on the soil quality to and from the construction machine.   
     
     
         28 . The construction machine management system according to  claim 27 , wherein
 the construction machine further includes   a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the machine body at a work site, and   a machine body side transmitter that allows transmission of the position information and the information on the soil quality to the management device, and   the management device includes   a management device side receiver that allows reception of the position information and the information on the soil quality transmitted by the machine body side transmitter, and   a management device side storage unit that stores the position information and the information on the soil quality in association with each other.   
     
     
         29 . The construction machine management system according to  claim 27 , wherein
 the drive unit allows reception of a predetermined command signal and driving of the work attachment based on an output characteristic according to the command signal,   the construction machine further includes   a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the machine body at a work site,   a machine body side transmitter that allows transmission of the position information to the management device, and   a machine body side receiver that allows reception of information transmitted from the management device, and   the management device includes   a management device side storage unit that stores the position information, the information on the soil quality, and information on the output characteristic in association with each other,   a management device side receiver that allows reception of the position information transmitted by the machine body side transmitter,   a management device side output characteristic setting unit that sets a predetermined output characteristic from the management device side storage unit in accordance with the position information received by the management device side receiver, and   a management device side transmitter that transmits, to the construction machine, the command signal corresponding to the output characteristic having been set.   
     
     
         30 . The construction machine management system according to  claim 27 , wherein
 the drive unit allows reception of a predetermined command signal and driving of the work attachment based on an output characteristic according to the command signal, the construction machine further includes   a machine body side transmitter that allows transmission of the information on the soil quality to the management device, and   a machine body side receiver that allows reception of information transmitted from the management device, and   the management device includes   a management device side storage unit that stores the information on the soil quality and information on the output characteristic in association with each other,   a management device side receiver that allows reception of the information on the soil quality transmitted by the machine body side transmitter,   a management device side output characteristic setting unit that sets a predetermined output characteristic from the management device side storage unit in accordance with the information on the soil quality received by the management device side receiver, and   a management device side transmitter that transmits, to the construction machine, the command signal corresponding to the output characteristic having been set.