GROUND COMPACTOR

Description

The present invention relates to a ground compactor having a compactor structure movable over a substrate to be compacted, for example asphalt material, wherein at least one compactor roller rotatable about a roller rotation axis and an operating station with at least one operating workstation for an operator are provided on the compactor structure.

Such a ground compactor is known from DE 10 2016 224 348 A1. As the ground compactor moves over the substrate to be compacted, the movements of the ground compactor over the substrate to be compacted are detected on the basis of the continuously detected position of the ground compactor and displayed on display devices such as a laptop, a tablet PC, a smartwatch, data glasses or a head-up display, or projected into the field of vision of an operator operating the ground compactor.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a ground compactor in which the provision and display of information representing a processing condition of a substrate to be compacted is carried out in such a way that an operator is enabled to carry out a compaction process more easily and with greater precision.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a ground compactor comprising a compactor structure movable over a substrate to be compacted, wherein at least one compactor roller rotatable about a roller rotation axis and an operating station with at least one operating workstation for an operator are provided on the compactor structure, wherein at least one substrate observation window is provided on the operating station in association with the at least one operating workstation, wherein a field of view for observing a region of the substrate to be compacted lying in front of the ground compactor in a direction of movement of the ground compactor is exposed through the at least one substrate observation window, wherein a head-up display is provided in association with at least one substrate observation window, wherein the head-up display is designed to display processing condition information representing a processing condition of the region of the substrate to be compacted lying in front of the ground compactor in the direction of movement of the ground compactor.

The processing condition information comprises:

• • a perspective projection of passes already made or/and still to be made by the ground compactor over the substrate to be compacted in the region of the substrate to be compacted that lies in front of the ground compactor in the direction of movement of the ground compactor,
  • or/and
  • a perspective projection of the region of the substrate to be compacted that lies in front of the ground compactor in the direction of movement of the ground compactor with a representation distinguishing regions with a different condition of the substrate to be compacted.

In the ground compactor constructed according to the invention, the processing condition information is generated or provided to an operator by means of the head-up display in such a way that when viewing the region of the substrate to be compacted in front of the ground compactor in the direction of movement of the ground compactor, due to the perspective projection, for example, the passes shown in the head-up display appear to the operator as if they were located on the region of the substrate to be compacted in front of the ground compactor, which is visible through the substrate observation window. This enables the operator to control the ground compactor precisely in such a way that, based on the fictitious representation projected onto the region of the substrate to be compacted in front of the ground compactor, the operator can approach or work on precisely those regions which, for example, require further compaction or, if applicable, a first compaction according to a compaction plan.

The processing condition information may further comprise substrate information representing the condition of the substrate to be compacted. The substrate information can, for example, be displayed in an edge region of the head-up display.

In order to be able to distinguish between different passes that have already been carried out, in the representation of the already performed passes, the passes can be characterized in terms of their temporal sequence and/or a direction of movement of the ground compactor during a respective pass and/or a number of the passes performed in pass tracks representing the respective passes.

When displaying regions with different conditions of the substrate to be compacted, regions of different degrees of compaction and/or regions of different substrate temperatures can be displayed in a differentiated manner, for example in different colors.

The substrate information displayed to an operator on the head-up display may, for example, comprise information about a degree of compaction and/or information about a substrate temperature. The degree of compaction or the substrate temperature can be related to the region of the substrate to be compacted that the ground compactor is currently passing over

In order to be able to create an optical link between the perspective representation on the head-up display and the substrate to be compacted, a device for providing position information representing a position of the ground compactor on the substrate to be compacted can be provided on the ground compactor.

A device for providing temperature information representing a temperature of the substrate to be compacted can further be provided on the ground compactor, so that in the representation of regions with different conditions of the substrate to be compacted, the regions of different conditions can be represented on the basis of the position information and on the basis of the temperature information.

Furthermore, a device for providing compaction condition information representing a compaction condition of the substrate to be compacted can be provided on the ground compactor. This allows the display, in the representation of regions with a different condition of the substrate to be compacted, of the regions with a different condition on the basis of the position information and on the basis of the compaction condition information.

The head-up display can be designed to display environmental condition information representing an environmental condition, so that the operator is also able to carry out or continue the compaction process taking such environmental condition information into account.

For example, the environmental condition information may comprise an environmental temperature information and/or air humidity information and/or wind speed information and/or precipitation amount information.

In order to enable the operator to have the most comprehensive possible fictitious projection of the processing condition information onto the region of the substrate to be compacted in front of the ground compactor, it is advantageous for at least half, preferably at least 80% of the substrate observation window to be covered by the head-up display.

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached figures. In particular:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a ground compactor;

FIG. 2 shows a representation illustrating a field of view of an operator from an operating station of the ground compactor of FIG. 1 through a substrate observation window in viewing direction II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a representation of the substrate observation window corresponding to the figure with a display generated by means of a head-up display.

In FIG. 1, a ground compactor 10 is shown in side view. The ground compactor 10 comprises a compactor structure, generally designated 12, with a rear carriage 14 and a front carriage 16 pivotally connected to the rear carriage 14 for steering the ground compactor 10. Drive wheels 18 driven by a drive unit and an operating station 20 are provided on the rear carriage 14. On the front carriage 16, a compactor roller 22 is provided which can rotate about a roller rotation axis orthogonal to the plane of representation in FIG. 1. The ground compactor 10 moves over a substrate 24 to be compacted in a direction of movement B, so that, by means of the compactor roller 22, a region 26 of the substrate 24 to be compacted lying in front of the ground compactor 10 in the direction of movement B is compacted. For example, the substrate to be compacted may be made of asphalt material.

In the operating station 20, an operating workstation 28 is provided for an operator 30. In the operating station 28, the operator 30 can sit on a seat 42 and operate the ground compactor 10 or control it during compaction operations by manipulating various control elements 34.

A substrate observation window 36, also generally referred to as a front pane, is provided at the operating station 20, in the direction of movement B in front of the operator workstation 28. Through the substrate observation window 36, there is a field of view 38 for the operator 30, in which the operator 30 can see the region 26 of the substrate 24 to be compacted lying in front of the ground compactor 10 in the direction of movement B. It should be emphasized that windows can also be provided on the side of the operating station 30 or facing backwards, through which the operator can also see regions of the substrate 24 to be compacted that are located next to the ground compactor 10 or behind the ground compactor 10.

Furthermore, a device 40 comprising, for example, a GPS system is provided on the ground compactor 10 for providing position information representing a position of the ground compactor 10 on the substrate 24 to be compacted. Furthermore, a device 42 for providing temperature information representing a temperature of the substrate 24 to be compacted is provided on the ground compactor 10. The device 42 can comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors 44, 46, for example infrared sensors, on the rear carriage 14 and on the front carriage 16 in order to provide temperature information regarding the region of the substrate to be compacted that is currently being passed over by the ground compactor 10. Since the position information is also provided simultaneously by means of the device 40, a link to the temperature information also generated at this location can be provided in association with each positioning of the ground compactor 10.

The ground compactor 10 comprises, in association with the compactor roller 22, a vibration excitation device 48 shown in principle. This can be designed, for example, to generate a vibratory movement of the compactor roller 22 and can comprise one or more unbalanced masses that can be driven to rotate, for example, about the roller's axis of rotation.

In order to provide oscillation information representing the movement of the ground compactor 10 or the compactor roller 22 during such vibration processing of the substrate 24 to be compacted, acceleration sensors 50, 52, for example, can be provided in association with the compactor roller 22, which can detect the acceleration of the compactor roller 22 in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction. Taking into account the detected accelerations of the compactor roller 22 and the movement speed of the ground compactor 10 in the direction of movement B, which can be derived, for example, from the position information, it is possible to provide information about the compaction condition of the substrate to be compacted at the position currently traversed by the ground compactor 10 or the compactor roller 22 and to also link this information to the position information.

In association with the substrate observation window 36, a head-up display 54 is provided, illustrated in FIG. 3 using a generated representation. This can, for example, generate a representation, by means of a projector provided on a control panel 55 in the operating station 20, on a film-like coating, for example, on the substrate observation window 36, through which the operator 30 can see the region 26 of the substrate 24 to be compacted lying in front of the compactor 10 in the direction of movement B.

The head-up display 54 is designed to display processing condition information, generally designated 56, in the substrate observation window 36, which information contains various information contents in perspective projection. This can give the operator 30 the impression that the processing condition information actually displayed on the substrate observation window 36 is projected onto the region 26 of the substrate 24 to be compacted, which region is located in front of the ground compactor 10. The projection can, for example, be realized in central perspective, wherein the spatial region in which the head of the operator 30 will be positioned can be used as the center of the perspective view. In order to be able to adapt to operators 30 with different body sizes, for example, the projection can be displaced with respect to the substrate observation window 36 and/or can also be varied in size by means of adjustment elements provided, for example, on the control panel 55.

For example, the processing condition information may include a perspective projection of passes 58 already performed by the ground compactor 10 in the past. Since the position of the ground compactor 10 is known at all times during such a pass, it is possible to record the course of such passes 58 and to display them in perspective, i.e. spatial, projection on the substrate observation window 36. For example, adjacent passes can be displayed in different colors so that the operator 30 can distinguish them from one another. For example, a pass 58′ that is currently being carried out or is to be carried out can be shown in the central region. It is also possible to display passes that have not yet been carried out but are specified on the basis of a compaction plan and to distinguish them from passes that have already been carried out, for example by means of appropriate colored markings or other markings.

In association with the various passes 58 shown in perspective projection, the processing condition information 56 can also represent information differentiating the condition of the substrate to be compacted. Since, by means of the device 60 comprising the acceleration sensors 50, 52 for providing compaction condition information representing the compaction condition of the substrate 24 to be compacted for each region of the substrate 24 to be compacted over which the ground compactor 10 has already passed, the various passes can also contain the compaction condition information representing the compaction condition, for example by means of colored coding or other coding. Here, for example, local regions 62, 62′ in which a compaction condition differs from the surrounding region can also be identified.

The representation distinguishing the different conditions of the substrate 24 to be compacted can also be used, for example, to identify regions of different temperature. Here, for example, the temperature detected when passing over a respective region of the substrate 24 to be compacted can be used as the basis for displaying such ground processing condition information.

The head-up display can be further configured to display, in addition to the information comprising perspective projections, substrate information, such as the temperature of the region of the substrate 24 currently being passed over or its compaction condition, for example in an edge region of the head-up display 54 and outside the perspective projection. Where, for example, information about the temperature of the region 26 of the substrate 24 to be compacted in front of the ground compactor 10 is to be displayed in the region of the perspective representation, numerical values, for example for the temperature or the compaction condition, can be displayed within the represented passes 58.

The head-up display 54 can be further configured to display, for example in the edge region, environmental condition information 64, 64′, such as the ambient temperature, the air humidity, the wind speed or the amount of precipitation. This information also enables the operator 30 to carry out a compaction process to be carried out, if necessary adapted to such environmental conditions, and if necessary also deviating from a compaction plan drawn up taking other environmental conditions into account.

The perspective information generated by the head-up display 54 and thus fictitiously projected onto the region 26 of the substrate 24 to be compacted in front of the ground compactor 10 enables the operator 30 to carry out a compaction process without having to observe displays positioned outside the field of vision 38 and evaluate them with regard to the information displayed. This means that the operator 30 is able at any time to observe the region 26 of the substrate 24 to be compacted in front of the ground compactor and at the same time to perceive information associated with this region 26 which characterizes this region 26 or individual sections thereof with regard to various parameters relevant to compaction and also to differentiate them from one another.

Finally, it should be noted that such a ground compactor can be provided with multiple substrate observation windows and associated head-up displays. For example, two operating workstations can be provided in an operating station, associated with opposite directions of movement of a ground compactor. For example, the seat provided in an operating station could be rotatable so that, depending on the direction in which a ground compactor is moved, the operator can use one of the two operating workstations and observe the substrate to be compacted through a substrate observation window associated with a respective operating workstation with a head-up display associated therewith.