Patent Application
20210025770
Ratchet straps, also known as tie down straps are fasteners used to hold down cargo or equipment during transport. Ratchet straps are ideal for a number of tie-down applications, like securing loads to vehicles and keeping construction materials in place. While tie down straps have several advantages, there are certain pitfalls as well.
Between 2011-2014, road debris was a factor in a total of more than 200,000 police-reported crashes, resulting in approximately 39,000 injuries and 500 deaths in the United States. The numbers will be much higher if other countries are taken into consideration, especially the developing and underdeveloped countries. Road debris can be extremely dangerous to motorists, especially on roadways where cars travel at high speeds and have less time to react to objects in the road. Many debris-related crashes are preventable. According to research, two in three debris-related crashes result from items falling from a vehicle due to improper maintenance or an unsecured load. Common types of road debris include parts becoming detached from the vehicle (e.g. tires and wheels), unsecured cargo (e.g. furniture and appliances), and tow trailers becoming separated and hitting other vehicles
When goods are tied to vehicles using fasteners like ratchet straps, cables, and wires, the chances of these fasteners to fail tends to be very high due to constant movement of the vehicle during transportation. Even if the goods are securely strapped around, they may tend to loosen up over time due to rattling of vehicle, poor quality of strap, weather conditions, and the like. Constant monitoring of straps is required to make sure that accidents do not happen. It will be much more efficient and effective if technology can be used to monitor the performance of straps that are used to tie goods/cargo to avoid human judgmental errors.
Examples are described in the following detailed description and in reference to the drawings, in which:
Strap-based fasteners like ratchet straps, cables, and the like are used extensively for tying up and securing goods for transportation. Strap-based fasteners are extensively used worldwide in multiple modes of transportation including trains, ships, airplanes, buses, trucks, and the like. There are many types of straps and strap materials that may be used in securing goods to vehicles. Strapping may be performed by using materials including steel, polypropylene, polyester, nylon, paper, coir, and the like. The type and strength of strapping material is chosen according the requirements on a case to case basis.
According to the European Commission Transportation Department it has been estimated that up to 25% of accidents involving trucks can be attributable to inadequate cargo securing. Cargo that is improperly secured can cause severe accidents and lead to the loss of cargo, lives, and vehicles, or cause environmental hazards. Strapping, also known as bundling and banding, is the process of applying a strap to an item to combine, stabilize, hold, reinforce, or fasten it. The strap may also be referred to as strapping and remains as one of the most popular method for securing goods and cargo for transportation.
Examples described herein may improve safety of goods strapped onto vehicles for transportation. The examples described herein describes an apparatus (strap monitor) for continuously monitoring the health of straps and alerting a user via an electronic device upon detecting changes in physical properties of straps that may affect secure transportation and storage of goods and cargo. The electronic device may be used to communicate with the strap monitor and alert the user upon detecting any issue with the straps or the cargo secured by the straps. Further, the user may also set customized threshold values for monitoring the health of straps based on the type of straps. Thus, the examples described herein may enhance the reliability and utility of straps used for securing goods/cargo for transportation.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present techniques. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present apparatus, devices, and systems may be practiced without these specific details. Reference in the specification to “an example” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described may be included in at least that one example, but not necessarily in other examples.
Referring to figures,
The strap monitor 102 may comprise of one or more sensors to continuously monitor and determine the physical parameters of the tie down strap 104 that it is attached with. In one example, the strap monitor 102 may measure parameters such as tensile strength, shear stress, tensile yield stress, and the like. Furthermore, the strap monitor 102 is communicatively connected to an electronic device and transmits data associated with the strap continuously to the electronic device. The strap monitor 102 may be connected to the electronic device via wireless communication means such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM based communication such as 3G, 4G, 5G, and the like. The strap monitor 102 may continuously send data associated with the tie down strap 104 to the electronic device for further processing.
The performance of the strap is determined based on one or more physical parameters associated with it including tensile strength, shear stress, tensile yield, and the like. The electronic device may be configured to receive TYS of the strap that is used to tie a load and notify the user if the load is too tight or too loose. It may also notify the user via the electronic device if the strap fails based on the TYS value receive from the strap monitor.
The electronic device determines that the load is too tight if the received TYS is greater than a preset high TYS value. Further it determined that the load is loose if the received TYS is lesser than a preset low TYS value. Furthermore, it is determined if the strap has failed if the received TYS is lesser than a preset critical TYS value.
A single application running in an electronic device may communicate with multiple strap monitors attached to multiple straps which makes the device much efficient and robust in practical use cases. Furthermore, the strap monitor may come in clamshell cases thereby protecting the device against physical wear and tear that are common with transportation. The clamshell design may protect the strap monitor against rough usage, weight, stress, changing weather conditions, heat, cold, rains, and the like.
The electronic device wherein the application for monitoring the performance of the strap is setup may comprise of a processor, a memory, a database, a network card, and I/O devices. Example processor can be custom made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU), an auxiliary processor, a semiconductor-based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chip set, for example), a macro processor, or generally any device for executing computer-readable program code. In one example the processor may be an ARM based processor.
Example memory may be a computer-readable storage medium. In some examples, memory can have a distributed architecture, where various components are situated remote from one another may be used. Processors may be configured to execute software stored within associated one of the memories, to communicate data to and from the memory, and to generally control operations of applications running in memory pursuant to the computer-readable program code.
The application for monitoring the performance of the straps may be a non-transitory program code that may be stored in any storage means. The program code may be compiled and loaded as an application to the memory of the electronic device. The processor may be used to run the application loaded in the memory. Different modules of the application may configure the electronic device to pair with the strap monitor via the network card present in the electronic device. The application may further allow the electronic device to continuously receive data from the sensors of the strap monitor. The application further processes this data to determine the physical parameters of the strap and may generate an alert if the values of the calculated physical parameters are within the range that is specified by the user.
The terms “straps”, “tie down straps”, “cables”, “strap-based fasteners” and “ratchet straps” have been used interchangeably throughout this document. The meaning of these terms remains the same and usage does not affect the essence and spirit of this invention. The terms have been used based on their context to suit the examples described herein and does not limit the scope of this invention either. A person ordinarily skilled in the art may readily understand that context in which these terms are used throughout this document.
Examples described herein can also be used in various other scenarios and for various purposes. It may be noted that the above-described examples of the present solution are for the purpose of illustration only. Although the solution has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment thereof, numerous modifications may be possible without materially departing from the teachings and advantages of the subject matter described herein. Other substitutions, modifications, and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present solution. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.
The terms “include,” “have,” and variations thereof, as used herein, have the same meaning as the term “comprise” or an appropriate variation thereof. Furthermore, the term “based on,” as used herein, means “based at least in part on.” Thus, a feature that is described as based on some stimulus can be based on the stimulus or a combination of stimuli including the stimulus.
The present description has been shown and described with reference to the foregoing examples. It is understood, however, that other forms, details, and examples can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter that is defined in the following claims.
