Spreader or sprayer and control system therefore

Abstract

A vehicle mounted spreader for spreading materials such as sand, salt, or other granular chemicals onto snow and ice covered road surfaces comprises a hopper for containing the material to be spread, a spinner for spreading the material, a conveyor for conveying the material from the hopper to the spinner, a vehicle speed sensor, a load sensor, and a controller programmed with an intended density of material (e.g., pounds per acre) and desired width of coverage; within the controller the vehicle speed sensor measurement and load sensor inputs are processed to generate outputs to control the speed of the conveyor and spinner, to both control the rate of material distribution and the pattern of material distribution to approach the intended density and width.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle mounted spreader for spreading materials such as sand, salt, or other granular chemicals onto snow- and ice-covered road surfaces comprising:
 a hopper for containing material to be spread,   one or more load sensors coupled to said hopper for measurement of said hopper contents,   a spinner for spreading said material,   a conveyor for conveying said material from said hopper to said spinner,   a vehicle speed input, and   a controller,   wherein said load sensor, spinner, conveyor, and speed input are coupled to said controller, and said controller is programmed with an intended density of material and desired width of coverage, and   wherein said controller processes measurements from a vehicle speed measurement and load sensor input to generate outputs to control a speed of said conveyor and a speed of said spinner,   whereby said controller controls a rate of material distribution and a pattern of material distribution to approach said intended density and width.   
     
     
         2 . The spreader of  claim 1  wherein said controller adapts an assumed output rate developed from a current spinner and conveyor rate using load sensor readings, such that said controller refines said output rate and adjusts said speed of said conveyor toward said intended density of material. 
     
     
         3 . The spreader of  claim 1  wherein controller controls said speed of said spinner to achieve a desired width of coverage. 
     
     
         4 . The spreader of  claim 1  further comprising a human interface, wherein said controller provides feedback information via the human interface to an operator. 
     
     
         5 . The spreader of  claim 4  wherein said feedback information comprises a range within which vehicle speed must be maintained to permit accurate control of said rate of material distribution at said target density. 
     
     
         6 . The spreader of  claim 1  further comprising a wireless communication system coupled to said controller, said controller delivering feedback information from said controller to a remote server via said wireless communication system. 
     
     
         7 . The spreader of  claim 6  wherein information delivered by said controller comprises historical measurements of coverage density and width of coverage, speed, and load sensor data. 
     
     
         8 . The spreader of  claim 6  further comprising a positioning system coupled to said controller producing location and motion information, said controller delivering location information to said speed input of said controller, said human interface and/or said remote server. 
     
     
         9 . The spreader of  claim 6  wherein said controller receives instructions from a dispatcher via said wireless communication system. 
     
     
         10 . The spreader of  claim 1  further comprising a cradle supported by said vehicle, said cradle having at least one load cell, said hopper supported by said at least one load cell. 
     
     
         11 . The spreader of  claim 1  wherein said conveyor is an auger. 
     
     
         12 . The spreader of  claim 1  wherein said conveyor is a chain conveyor. 
     
     
         13 . A vehicle mounted apparatus for distributing snow and ice melt material onto snow- and ice-covered road surfaces comprising:
 a container for containing material to be distributed,   means for distributing said material,   means for conveying said material from said container to said means for distributing said material, and   a controller controlling said distributing means and conveying means in response to a measurement of a quantity of melt material in said container, said controller programmed with an intended density of melt material and desired width of coverage;   wherein said controller comprises a vehicle speed sensor and vehicle load sensor, delivering speed and load information to said controller, and said controller processes said speed and load information to generate output signals coupled to control a speed of said conveying means and distributing means, to both control said rate of material distribution and said pattern of material distribution to approach said intended density and width.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprising a cradle supported by said vehicle, said cradle having at least one load cell providing said load sensor input to said control system, a quantity of material in said container being measured by at least one load sensor. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein said material comprises one or more of sand, salt, or other granular chemicals. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein said means for distributing material is a spinner. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein said means for conveying material comprises one or more of an auger and a chain conveyor. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein said material comprises brine and said container is a tank, and said means for distributing said material is a nozzle array, and said means for conveying said material is a pump and a hose. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprising a cradle supported by said vehicle, said cradle having at least one load cell, said container supported by said at least one load cell.