AU2018101067A4 - Wear plate sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

In one aspect of the invention there is provided a wear sensor for a sacrificial member such as a wear liner, including a circuit board having a plurality of printed tracks thereon, each of which are connected to discrete inputs of a microcontroller or 5 1/O chip, on or adjacent the circuit board, to thereby generate a binary number, wherein the printed tracks are sequentially severable by wear of the sensor, such that said binary number of the microcontroller or 1/O chip is altered. mmm

Description

invention there is provided a wear sensor for a sacrificial member such as a wear liner, including a circuit board having a plurality of printed tracks thereon, each of which are connected to discrete inputs of a microcontroller or 5 I/O chip, on or adjacent the circuit board, to thereby generate a binary number, wherein the printed tracks are sequentially severable by wear of the sensor, such that said binary number of the microcontroller or I/O chip is altered.

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Figure 1

WEAR PLATE SENSOR

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a wear sensor for an abrasive resistant wear plate, liner or skirt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Abrasion resistant wear plates or liners are used in various applications where friction caused by an abrasive material will lead to damage or degradation of machinery or material handling equipment. The removable wear plates or liners are installed over the surface of machinery or equipment to protect the underlying metal surface.

It is necessary to monitor the amount of wear of the plate or liner to ensure that the underlying metal material is not impacted, which may lead to damage with resultant downtime while the machinery or material handling equipment is repaired.

Due to mineral conditions such as hardness, humidity and/or granulometry, the wear speed of the plates/liners may vary significantly over time. It is therefore difficult to predict in advance the date for replacement of the wear plates/lines. Accordingly, it is important to constantly monitor the amount of abrasion that is occurring.

Simply visual inspection of the wear plates/liners can be difficult in some situations and therefore sensors are commonly used to monitor the amount of wear.

One such wear sensor disclosed in the published prior art, is found in International Application No. PCT/AU2010/000219 (DAVIES), which teaches a wear sensor comprising an electrical circuit having a plurality of discrete elements. The elements contribute to a measurable electrical characteristic of the circuit and can be electrically decoupled from the circuit by action of wear on the sensor, thereby changing the measurable electrical characteristic. The electrical elements of DAVIES are resistors that change the resistance of the circuit as they are worn away.

This use of resistors however requires the use of a junction box and/or processor that is capable of measuring the change in the resistance of the circuit to generate usable data. Furthermore, the measurable electrical characteristic alone

2018101067 01 Aug 2018 does not indicate a sensor fault, where a resistor’s failure is not due to being worn away.

It should be appreciated that any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification is included solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention and should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art was widely known or formed part of the common general knowledge in the field as it existed before the priority date of the application. The term wear liner used throughout the description and claims should be understood to encompass wear plates and other types of sacrificial members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the invention, but not necessarily the broadest or only aspect, there is proposed a wear sensor, including:

a circuit board having a plurality of printed tracks thereon, each of which are connected to discrete inputs of a microcontroller or I/O chip, on or adjacent said 15 circuit board, to thereby generate a binary number, wherein the printed tracks are sequentially severable by wear of said sensor, such that said binary number of said microcontroller or I/O chip is altered.

Preferably the wear sensor is used to monitor the abrasion of a sacrificial member being a wear liner.

The reader will appreciate that the severable printed tracks normally being whole, form part of said circuit board under conditions of normal operation, however, when the printed tracks are severed and becoming open they are removed from the circuit when a predetermined wear point has been reached and therefore the binary number changes.

The severance of said printed tracks causes activation of an indicator means to provide a display that the predetermined wear point has been achieved.

A display means may be connected to the microcontroller or I/O chip for indicating the level of wear of said wear sensor.

This also means that if there is an error in the chip where the binary number 30 does not follow the sequential altering of the binary number it will be recognised that

2018101067 01 Aug 2018 an error has occurred. This would not be the case with the sensor of DAVIES, which only measures an electrical characteristic, since there is no indication as to which discrete element has been decoupled. Therefore, if a resistor of DAVIES prematurely fails a false reading would be produced.

Preferably the printed tracks and microcontroller or I/O chip are mounted onto the same circuit board. However, the reader will appreciate that the printed tracks may be printed on the circuit board and the microcontroller or I/O chip may adjoin said circuit board.

The printed tracks may be connected to a common ground to thereby set the 10 microcontroller or I/O chip’s inputs to a logical LOW or 0.

Preferably, together the inputs form a binary number. In one form, when all the printed tracks are intact, this number may be 0.....000. The number of 0’s will depend upon the number of printed tracks that are printed on said circuit board.

As the circuit board wears out, the tracks are sequentially severed or disconnect from the common ground and the microcontroller or I/O chip’s inputs become an opposite logical level, in the present form being HIGH or 1.

In the present form the binary number will therefore become 0....001,

0....011,0....111 and so on, depending upon the number of printed tracks on the circuit board and the number that have been severed.

The microcontroller or I/O chip may be polled via a communication interface by an external reader/telemetry system with the binary number being converted into a wear level. The reader/telemetry system may include or be attached to said display means for indicating the level of wear.

A binary number not conforming to the above sequential pattern is treated as 25 a sensor fault.

In another form the logic levels can be inverted such that the readings become LOW as the board wears out. In the immediately preceding form the number may be 1 when the printed track is intact and 0 when the printed track is severed.

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The wear sensor is preferably positioned within a housing constructed from the same material as the wear liner.

The wear sensor housing may be configured to replace one of the wear liner studs.

The housing in one form comprises a generally cylindrical body having a central bore for receiving the circuit board therein. A first end of the housing is tapered outwardly and configured to engage with an insert that is weldable within a hole drilled through the wear liner. The reader appreciate that other cross-sectional profiles could be used, i.e. square or rectangular.

An outer surface of the housing includes a thread for engaging with a locking nut, wherein the housing is inserted through the hole in the wear liner from a first side such that the tapered end engages the insert that is positioned within the hole, and the locking nut is screwed onto the housing from a second end thereof.

The insert may further include a cooperating thread such that the wear sensor 15 may be mounted to the wear liner at a manufacturer’s premises wherein it is inhibited from detaching from the wear liner during transport.

A protective cap may be secured over the second end of wear sensor during transport and/or prior to installation.

The second end of the housing includes an engagement portion for accommodating a circuit board mount. The engagement portion may include a thread that cooperates with a corresponding thread on the circuit board mount or other mechanism, such as glue may be used to hold the circuit board in place.

The circuit board mount is preferably connected to a communication node or other network device or ad hoc procedure may be utilised, using a handheld wireless 25 device or other device for reading the information from circuit board.

The wear sensor may be in the form of a wireless skirt sensor including a cast or machined enclosure, a communication antenna and mounting holes for engagement by fixing screws. The cast or machined enclosure may alternatively be welded into a pre-cut slot in the wear skirt or wear plate.

2018101067 01 Aug 2018

The wear sensor may include a NFC antenna, which allows reading of data using a smartphone or tablet via a wear management application.

In another aspect of the invention there is proposed a method of measuring the abrasion of a wear liner, including the steps of:

providing a wear sensor including, a circuit board having a plurality of printed tracks and a microcontroller or I/O chip thereon, each of said printed tracks being connected to discrete inputs of said microcontroller or I/O chip to thereby generate a binary number;

attaching the wear sensor through said wear liner, wherein as the wear liner is abraded the wear sensor is similarly abraded, whereby said printed tracks are sequentially severable;

recording a first binary number from the microcontroller or I/O chip;

recording a second binary number from the microcontroller or I/O chip after a first period of wear; and comparing the second binary number to said first binary number or a predetermined record, to thereby calculate the amount of wear of the wear sensor.

The above method further including the steps of:

recording a third binary number from the microcontroller or I/O chip after a second period of wear; and comparing the third binary number to either the first or the second binary numbers or the predetermined record, to thereby calculate the amount of wear of the wear sensor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an implementation of the invention and, together with the description and claims, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the sensor of the present invention attached within a sensor housing;

Figure 2 is a plan view of one embodiment of the sensor chip of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of the sensor housing of Figure 1;

2018101067 01 Aug 2018

Figure 4	is a front perspective view of the sensor housing of Figure 1; is a perspective view of the sensor and sensor housing of Figure 1 illustrating the attachment through a hole in a wear plate and communication node for attachment thereto;
	Figure 5
5	Figure 6	is a schematic view a communication bus connected to a number of communication nodes;
	Figure 7	is a perspective view of a control panel of the present invention;
	Figure 8	is a perspective view of a cellular gateway of the present invention;
	Figure 9a	is a schematic view of another embodiment of the sensor chip having
10		four pathways;
	Figure 9b	is a schematic view of the sensor chip of the Figure 9a worn down to a first position;
	Figure 9c	is a schematic view of the sensor chip of the Figure 9a worn down to a second position;
15	Figure 10	is a perspective view of another embodiment of the wear sensor comprising a wireless enclosure;
	Figure 11	is a rear view of the wireless enclosure of Figure 10 screwed to a rear of a wear skirt;
	Figure 12	is a side view of the wireless enclosure and wear skirt of Figure 11;
20	Figure 13	is a rear view of yet another embodiment of the wireless enclosure welded into a pre-cut slot in a wear skirt;
	Figure 14	is a side view of the wireless enclosure and wear skirt of Figure 13;
	Figure 15	is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the wear sensor including a NFC antenna; and
25	Figure 16	is a perspective view of the wear sensor of Figure 15 attached to a wear plate.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED AND EXEMPLIFIED EMBODIMENTS

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings. Dimensions of certain parts shown in the drawings may have been modified and/or exaggerated for the purposes of clarity or illustration.

Referring to the drawings for a more detailed description, there is illustrated a wear sensor 10, demonstrating by way of an example, an arrangement in which the principles of the present invention may be employed.

Figures 1,3 and 4, illustrate one embodiment of the wear sensor 10, including 10 a generally cylindrical housing 12, a circuit board 14 having a plurality of printed tracks 16 (conductors) and a microcontroller or I/O chip unit 18. The circuit board 14 is positioned within a bore 20 of the cylindrical housing 12.

The cylindrical housing 12 includes a first tapered end 22 including an inclined abutment face 24 for abutment with a corresponding shaped face 26 of an 15 insert 28, which will be discussed with reference to Figure 5.

Turning back to Figure 1, the cylindrical housing 12 including an outer thread 30 and a second end 32 that includes an engagement portion 34 for connection to a circuit board mount 36. In this way the circuit board 14 is held in position relative to the housing 12, as is known in the art.

The circuit board mount 36 includes contacts 38, 40, and is configured for connection to a communication node 42, which will be discussed with respect to Figure 5. As the reader will appreciate other devices could be used read the circuit board.

As shown in Figures 1 and 4, the first end 22 of the housing 12 includes blind ended depressions 44, which are engageable by a tool (not shown) including a correspondingly shaped head to impart torque to the housing to affix the wear sensor 10 through a wear liner 46. Alternatively, the depressions 44 may be used to hold the housing 12 in place while a nut 48 is screwed onto the thread 30 of the housing 12.

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The sensor housing 12 in one form is a metallic generally cylindrical shaped stud having the following specification; however, the reader will appreciate that other specifications could be used without departing from the scope of the invention and the follow is provided only for illustrative purposes.

Sensor Housing Specification

Material	DC 53, heat treated
Hardness	HRC 60
Thread	M16x2/M20x2.5/M24x3
Length, mm	45-100 mm
Compound	PUR, hardness 85 shore A, black; UL94 V-0
IP Rating	67
Working Temperature, °C	-40 ... +85

Figure 2 illustrates one embodiment of the circuit board 14, which includes a microcontroller or I/O chip unit 18 and printed tracks 16, in the present case being sixteen in number. The printed tracks 16 are all connected to a common ground 50.

Each of the printed tracks 16 are connected to a discrete input 52 of said microcontroller or I/O chip 18 to thereby generate a binary number. The reader will appreciate that the phrase ‘binary number’ means a number expressed in the base-2 numeral system, typically zeros (0) and ones (1).

In one embodiment, the number 0 indicates that the printed track is intact, and number 1 indicated that the printed track is severed. Accordingly, for the circuit 15 board 14 illustrated in Figure 2, there will be an input of sixteen 0’s or 1’s, or a combination thereof.

The reader will appreciate that as the wear sensor 10 is worn down from the end 54 the printed tracks 16 will be sequentially severed.

The printed tracks 16 normally being whole, form part of said circuit board under conditions of normal operation, however, when the printed tracks are severed and becoming open they are removed from the circuit thereby altering the binary number. Accordingly, with respect to Figure 2, the binary number will be changed from 0000000000000000, where all printed tracks 16 are intact, sequentially through

2018101067 01 Aug 2018

0000001111111111, where six printed tracks 16 are intact (and the other sequential binary numbers therebetween), to 1111111111111111, indicating that all printed tracks 16 have been severed.

A binary number that include a T that is out of sequence, i.e.

0000001000111111, will indicate that there has been a chip/conductor error and the sensor must be replaced or disregarded.

The circuit board 14 further includes a common ground contact for power and logic 56 and 5VDC regulator contact 58 for connection to the circuit board mount 36.

As illustrated in Figure 5, the wear sensor 10 is for use on wear liners 46 that are affix to an underlying metal surface using lugs 60. In the present embodiment a hole 62 is drilled through the wear liners 46 in place of one of the lugs 60. An inert 28 is then welded in place within the hole 62. The insert 28 includes angled face 26 for abutment with the first tapered end 22 of the cylindrical housing 12, and a passageway 64 for engagement with the elongate cylindrical housing 12. The passageway may include an internal thread or may have a generally smooth wall surface.

During assembly the wear sensor 10 is inserted in through the insert 28 from a first side X of the wear lining 46, such that at least a part of the thread 30 extends outwardly from second side Y of the wear liner 46. The threaded nut 48 is then screwed onto the housing 12 when the wear is in place, using depressions 44. The communication node 42 can then be connected to circuit board mount 36 that is positioned on the second side Y of the wear liner 46.

As illustrated in Figure 6, a communication bus 66 may be connected to a plurality of communication nodes 42X connected to respective wear sensors 10. The 25 wear liners 46X may be positioned at different locations on or within the machinery being monitored.

There may be up to 31 nodes per unit of PLC/Communication Card or 64 nodes per cellular gateway.

Figure 7 illustrates one embodiment of the control panel 68, including an IP65 enclosure 70, IP rated as dust tight and protected against water projected from a nozzle, and a display panel 72 for displaying the wear progress. The control panel

2018101067 01 Aug 2018 has a power supply of 240 V, 5A and has a working temperature of -40 to 85°C 15 to 95% RH. The reader will however appreciate that other power sources could be used, such a battery power, or the systems may be backed up by a stand-alone power source.

Figure 8 illustrates a cellular gateway 74, including a IP66 enclosure 76, IP rated as dust tight and protected against powerful jets of water, and a communication antenna 78. The cellular gateway 74 has a power supply of 240 V, 5A and a working temperature of -40 to 85°C / 5 to 95% RH.

The system in which the wear sensor 10 is used may include the control panel 68, or may be connected to the cellular gateway 74 for sending data to server (not shown), or may include both the control panel 68 and cellular gateway 74.

In one embodiment, the resolution of the sensor 10, being the change that it can detected when used on wear liners sold under the ARCOPLATE® Trade Mark will be as follows:

Sensor Resolution:

Arcopiate® thickness	Resolution, mm	Resolution, % from alloy thickness
6/7	0.5	8.3
8/7	0.5	6.25
10/7	0.75	7.5
12/11	0.75	6.25
16/11	1	6.25
20/11	1.5	7.5
24/11	1.5	6.25
31/13	2	6.45

The reader will however appreciate that the resolutions listed above are provided only for illustration purposed and the invention is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the resolution may be customised depending upon the requirements of use.

2018101067 01 Aug 2018

The microcontroller or I/O chip 14 is polled via a communication interface by an external reader/telemetry system (not shown) and the binary number is converted into a wear level. Figures 9a to 9c, illustrate another embodiment of the integrated circuit (IC) that is connected to a communication interface (comm, interface). The 5 illustrated IC includes common ground 50 and printed tracks 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d.

Figure 9a illustrates all the printed tracks 16a-16d intact with the binary number being 0000. Figure 9b shows the circuit board 14 where abrasion has occurred, as indicated by the broken line, to a point where the printed track 16a has been severed. The binary number in this case would be 0001, which means that three tracks 16b-16d are still intact, but one track 16a has been severed. As previously mentioned if the binary number was 0100, i.e. the third track 16c, is severed it would mean that there is a sensor fault and it would need to be replaced or ignored or at least taken into consideration when assessing the amount of wear. The use of the common ground 50 means that the binary number change will always be sequential. The reader should appreciate that if the change of not sequential the sensor can still be used however it makes the user or processor aware that one of the tracks has prematurely failed.

Figure 9c illustrates the wear line, indicated by the broken line, as moving further to the right to illustrate further abrasion of the wear sensor 10. In this case 20 printed tracks 16a and 16b have both been severed and therefore the binary number would be 0011.

In another embodiment, as illustrated in Figure 10 the wear sensor 10 is in the form of a wireless skirt sensor including a cast or machined enclosure 80, a communication antenna 78 and mounting holes 82. As illustrated in Figures 11 and 25 12, the wireless sensor 10 is attached by screws 84, to the back of a wear skirt 86 having attachment apertures 88.

Alternatively, as illustrated in Figures 13 and 14, the cast or machined enclosure 80 of the wireless sensor 10 is welded into a pre-cut slot 90 in a wear skirt 86.

In still another embodiment, as illustrated in Figures 15 and 16, the wear sensor 10 includes a NFC antenna 92, which allows reading of data using a smartphone or tablet, via a wear management application. The wear sensor 10, of

2018101067 01 Aug 2018

Figure 15 includes a housing 12 being of smaller dimensions than the stud version as previously illustrated in Figure 1.

The skilled addressee will now appreciate the advantages of the illustrated invention over the prior art. In one form the invention provides a wear sensor for 5 measuring the abrasion of a wear liner that provides a simplified binary number output. The sensor also provides a means of indicating when a circuit board error has occurred. The reader will appreciate that the sensor of the present invention does not use discrete elements (resistors) and the Ohm’s Law to determine how many conductors have worn out, as is the case with DAVIES. In contrast, the printed 10 tracks/conductors of the present invention are connected to an input/output chip which essentially are in a digital discrete form.

Various features of the invention have been particularly shown and described in connection with the exemplified embodiments of the invention, however it must be understood that these particular arrangements merely illustrate the invention and it is 15 not limited thereto. Accordingly, the invention can include various modifications, which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

2018101067 01 Aug 2018

Claims (10)

1. A wear sensor, including:

a circuit board having a plurality of printed tracks thereon, each of which are connected to discrete inputs of a microcontroller or I/O chip, on or adjacent

5 said circuit board, to thereby generate a binary number, wherein the printed tracks are sequentially severable by wear of said sensor, such that said binary number of said microcontroller or I/O chip is altered.

2. The wear sensor in accordance with claim 1, wherein said binary number comprises a plurality of 1’s (ones) and 0’s (zeros), wherein a 1 indicates that

10 the printed track is intact and a 0 indicates that the printed track is severed, or a 0 indicates that the printed track is intact and a 1 indicates that the printed track is severed.

3. The wear sensor in accordance with claim 1, for use on a wear liner, wherein said printed tracks are connected to a common ground and the circuit board

15 is held within a housing having a generally cylindrical body and constructed from the same material from which said wear liner is made or a material that has similar durability properties.

4. The wear sensor in accordance with claim 1, wherein said microcontroller or I/O chip is polled via a communication interface by an external

20 reader/telemetry system to determine the wear level, and/or a display means indicates the level of wear of said wear sensor.

5. A method of measuring the abrasion of a wear liner, including the steps of: providing a wear sensor including, a circuit board having a plurality of printed tracks and a microcontroller or I/O chip thereon, each of said printed tracks

25 being connected to discrete inputs of said microcontroller or I/O chip to thereby generate a binary number;

attaching the wear sensor through said wear liner, wherein as the wear liner is abraded the wear sensor is similarly abraded, whereby said printed tracks are sequentially severable;

30 recording a first binary number from the microcontroller or I/O chip;

recording a second binary number from the microcontroller or I/O chip after a first period of wear; and

2018101067 01 Aug 2018 comparing the second binary number to said first binary number or a predetermined record, to thereby calculate the amount of wear of the wear sensor.

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Figure 16