1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to machine control systems, and more particularly to a machine system controlled by a wireless electronic network.
2. Background of the Invention and Description of the Prior Art
Hydraulic machine systems are widely used in mobile equipment used in such outdoor activities as agriculture, well drilling and servicing, building and road construction and maintenance, mining of minerals and fossil fuels, and the like. Hydraulic machines are especially adapted to lifting and moving heavy and unwieldy materials. Such mobile hydraulic apparatus is conventionally operated by sets of hand-operated levers or knobs, etc., and whose operating positions are translated into control actions on various machine elements by controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid in manifolds and plumbing networks equipped with various kinds of valves, actuators, filters, pumps, motors, etc. These types of control elements require the operator to be positioned on or next to the machine to operate the controls. Often the operating conditions are difficult, inconvenient, or even hazardous due to the location of the particular control. Some machines require more than one operator to provide full control of the machine. Complex machines having many operations that must be controlled may require more than one operator, often complicating the control operations, reducing efficiency and accuracy in executing them. An example of such a machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,810,574 issued to Stukey, et al. (who are included among the inventors of the present application) for a “Submersible Pump Puller and method of Use,” incorporated in its entirety herein.
Computer control of machine elements is well known in the art. Conceptually, the control of a machine by a programmed computing device is routinely utilized in many industries. Typically a programmable computer is connected to a machine to be controlled. However, there are instances where the complexity of control increases to accommodate more complex machines having multiple functions, such as by the need to operate them by remote control, by the need to enable multiple control programs within a system of machines, or by the need to accommodate optional modes of operation, custom-designed machines for dedicated uses, etc. The traditional Master & Slave concept may no longer be adequate to apply to complex machinery or an entire system but only to a portion of it. Further, a machine system may have component entities that are intermediate to components associated with a master unit and one or more slave units.
Remote control of vehicles, appliances, robots, etc. is commonplace. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,089,225 Goossen, U.S. Pat. No. 8,199,109 Robbins et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 8,240,599 Edelson et al. describe systems, methods or apparatus for remotely controlling a vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 7,526,362 Kim et al. U.S. Pat. No. 8,106,748 Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 8,150,384 Abifaker et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 8,258,917 Cai et al. describe remote control devices that base remote control signals on three-axis sensors such as accelerometers or gyroscopes to communicate motion and position information to a remotely controlled device. U.S. Pat. No. 8,019,867 Allen et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 8,216,036 Eyzaguirre et al. disclose wireless remote control of toys and other apparatus. However, the wireless, multi-axis remote control of complex hydraulic machine systems having a plurality of functions is a combination unknown in the prior art. Such systems frequently must rely on data from multiple sensing elements, increasing the burden of control.
What is need to overcome the disadvantages of hydraulic control systems implemented by traditional apparatus and methods is a remote control system that is convenient for a single person to operate hydraulic machinery through complex sequences of operation yet provide simplicity of operation, efficiency of control, and maximum flexibility to adjust the actions of the machine system to particular conditions that arise during its operation.