AU2021311660B2

AU2021311660B2 - Gyratory crusher, and predictive failure diagnoser for and predictive failure diagnosis method of making predictive failure diagnosis on gyratory crusher

Info

Publication number: AU2021311660B2
Application number: AU2021311660A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Takashi Kijima; Jun Kobayashi; Takayuki Masuda; Yoshichika Sato
Original assignee: Earthtechnica Co Ltd
Current assignee: Earthtechnica Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-20
Filing date: 2021-07-20
Publication date: 2024-03-07
Anticipated expiration: 2041-07-20
Also published as: JPWO2022019317A1; JP7308364B2; WO2022019317A1; AU2021311660A1

Abstract

This gyratory crusher comprises a mantle fixed to a main shaft, a concave forming a crushing chamber between the mantle and the concave, an eccentric sleeve supporting a lower portion of the main shaft via a lower bearing, a drive motor rotationally driving the eccentric sleeve, and a power transmission mechanism that includes a bevel pinion and a bevel gear and that transmits output of the drive motor to the eccentric sleeve, wherein: an engagement vibration acceleration generated by engagement between the bevel pinion and the bevel gear is acquired; an engagement vibration acceleration waveform is obtained by arranging, in a time series, the engagement vibration accelerations detected in a no-crushing-load-period in which an object to be crushed is not supplied to the crushing chamber; and the existence of a sign of a failure is diagnosed on the basis of an analysis result of the engagement vibration acceleration waveform.

Description

DESCRIPTION Title of Invention: GYRATORY CRUSHER, AND PREDICTIVE FAILURE DIAGNOSER FOR AND PREDICTIVE FAILURE DIAGNOSIS METHOD OF MAKING PREDICTIVE FAILURE DIAGNOSIS ON GYRATORY CRUSHER Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a gyratory crusher, a predictive failure diagnoser for making a predictive failure diagnosis on the gyratory crusher, and a predictive failure diagnosis method of making a predictive failure diagnosis on the gyratory crusher.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there has been a known gyratory crusher that includes: a concave that forms a crushing chamber; and a mantle fixed to a main shaft. The main shaft is caused to make eccentric turning motion in such a manner that an upper suspended portion of the main shaft serves as a supporting point, so that to-be-crushed objects are caught and crushed between the concave and the mantle. The gyratory crusher thus configured is often used in a mine to crush stones, rocks, and ore. In order to address the shortage of proficient workers in mines, it has been discussed to introduce labor-reduced operation into mines by adopting centralized monitoring from a remote location. In order to do so, there is a demand for an automated gyratory crusher with high maintainability. A gyratory crusher with high maintainability means, for example, that the gyratory crusher requires less frequent maintenance and a shorter downtime.

[0003] Patent Literature 1 discloses a system for remotely monitoring a crusher. In this system, an automatic operation control panel is connected, by wire or wirelessly, to a central monitoring panel at a remote location. The central monitoring panel monitors information on the automatic operation control panel, and remotely operates the automatic operation control panel. The crushing force of the crusher changes depending on the size of the discharge opening, i.e., the size of the set, of the crushing liner (the concave and the mantle) and the amount the raw material fed into the crusher. A change in the crushing force is indicated by a change in a crushing pressure and a change in a motor load. Accordingly, the automatic operation control panel detects a change in the set and a change in the motor load based on a set detection signal and a load detection signal, respectively. In a case where a motor overload or packing occurs, the automatic operation control panel generates an alarm, and automatically expands the set so that no damage to the body of the machine will be caused, thereby stabilizing the motor load. The central monitoring panel displays a monitoring screen that shows the operating state of the crusher in real time. The monitoring screen shows, as operation data, the current value of the set as well as the motor load factor. Also, in a case where there is an abnormality or abnormalities in operation conditions, a red lamp is kept turned on until all the abnormalities in the operation conditions are eliminated.

Citation List Patent Literature

[0004] PTL 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2000-070752

Summary of Invention Technical Problem

[0005] Conventional gyratory crushers are equipped with a safety device called an interlock circuit. The safety device obtains, mainly from auxiliary equipment (e.g., a lubricating hydraulic device and an electric board), process data such as the temperature and amount of hydraulic oil, amperage, oil level, etc., and only in a case where these process data are within a preset range, allows the crusher to operate. In a case where these process data are not within the preset range, the safety device generates an abnormality alarm.

[0006] Each of the above central monitoring panel of Patent Literature 1 and the above safety device notifies an operator that an abnormality has occurred in the crusher. When notified of the occurrence of the abnormality, the operator immediately stops the crusher from operating, starts maintenance work, and places an order for a replacement component. However, it is often the case that such a replacement component for the crusher is used exclusively for that crusher, and for this reason, it may take a long time after the placement of the order until the replacement component is delivered, in which case the downtime is prolonged and productivity is significantly lowered.

[0007] To shorten the downtime, it is effective to find a sign of a failure before the failure actually occurs and to start maintenance preparation when the sign of the failure is found. In view of the above, an object of the present disclosure is, for the purpose of shortening the downtime, to propose a crusher capable of making a predictive failure diagnosis by analyzing information that is detected from the crusher while the crusher is in operation, and to propose a method of making the predictive failure diagnosis.

Solution to Problem

[0008] A gyratory crusher according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a main shaft; a mantle fixed to the main shaft; a concave located to face the mantle, the concave and the mantle forming a crushing chamber therebetween; an eccentric sleeve that supports a lower part of the main shaft via a lower bearing; a driving motor that drives the eccentric sleeve to rotate; a power transmission including a horizontal shaft driven by the driving motor to rotate, a bevel pinion located on the horizontal shaft, and a bevel gear located on the eccentric sleeve, the bevel gear meshing with the bevel pinion, the power transmission transmitting power output from the driving motor to the eccentric sleeve; a meshing vibration detector that detects meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion and the bevel gear mesh with each other; and a predictive failure diagnoser.

[0009] A predictive failure diagnoser for making a predictive failure diagnosis on the gyratory crusher according to one aspect of the present disclosure: obtains meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion and the bevel gear mesh with each other; determines a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, in which the meshing vibrational accelerations within a no-crushing-load period are chronologized, the no-crushing-load period being a period in which no to-be-crushed objects are fed into the crushing chamber; and makes a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure based on a result of analyzing the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform.

[0010] A predictive failure diagnosis method of making a predictive failure diagnosis on the gyratory crusher according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: obtaining meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion and the bevel gear mesh with each other; determining a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, in which the meshing vibrational accelerations within a no-crushing-load period are chronologized, the no-crushing load period being a period in which no to-be-crushed objects are fed into the crushing chamber; and making a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure based on a result of analyzing the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

[0011] The present disclosure makes it possible to propose a crusher capable of making a predictive failure diagnosis by utilizing information that is detected from the crusher while the crusher is in operation, and to propose a method of making the predictive failure diagnosis. Therefore, the present disclosure can contribute to shortening the downtime, which is a period of time from when a failure has occurred in the crusher until when the crusher is recovered from the failure.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0012] FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a gyratory crusher according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system configuration of the crusher. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration relating to predictive failure diagnosis. FIG. 4 shows a flow of processing performed by a predictive failure diagnoser. FIG. 5 is one example of a frequency analysis result of a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform within a no-crushing-load period. FIG. 6 is one example of a frequency analysis result of a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform within a period in which a crushing load occurs.

Description of Embodiments

[0013] Next, an embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a gyratory crusher 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The gyratory crusher 100 shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a cone crusher. The configuration of the crusher 100, excluding a predictive failure diagnoser 40 and control circuitry 50, is known.

[0014] The gyratory crusher 100 includes a frame 30, which includes an upper frame 31 and a lower frame 32 coupled to the upper frame 31. A crusher center axis A extending in the vertical direction is defined at the center in an internal space of the frame 30. A hopper 3 is continuously mounted to the upper part of the frame 30. To-be-crushed objects are fed into the hopper 3 from a feeder 9, which is a conveyor.

[0015] A main shaft 5 is located at substantially the center of the frame 30. The center axis of the main shaft 5 is tilted relative to the crusher center axis A. The upper end of the main shaft 5 is supported by the upper frame 31 via an upper bearing 17. The upper bearing 17 is located on a spider 18, which protrudes inward from the upper end portion of the upper frame 31. The lower end of the main shaft 5 is supported by a ram 61 of a bearing cylinder 6 via a main shaft thrust bearing 2. The bearing cylinder 6 is a hydraulic cylinder that includes a cylinder tube 62 andtheram61. The ram 61 slides within the cylinder tube 62.

[0016] The lower part of the main shaft 5 is rotatably received in an eccentric sleeve 4. The eccentric sleeve 4 is rotatably received in a boss 7 of the lower frame 32. The lower part of the eccentric sleeve 4 is supported by the lower frame 32 via a thrust plain bearing 23.

[0017] A mantle core 12 is fixed to the upper part of the main shaft 5. The outer surface of the mantle core 12 is a truncated conical surface. A mantle 13 is mounted to the outer surface of the mantle core 12. The outer surface of the mantle 13 is a truncated conical surface. The outer surface of the mantle 13 faces the inner surface of a concave 14, which is located on the inner surface of the upper frame 31. The inner surface of the concave 14 and the outer surface of the mantle 13 form a crushing chamber 16, whose vertical cross-section is wedge-shaped. The to-be-crushed objects fed into the hopper 3 flow into the crushing chamber 16 due to their own weight.

[0018] A cylindrical partition plate 24 is located above the boss 7. A hydraulic pressure chamber 27 is formed by the partition plate 24, and is located above the eccentric sleeve 4 and the boss 7 and below the mantle core 12. A lubricant is fed from the hydraulic pressure chamber 27 into between the outer peripheral surface of the main shaft 5 and the inner peripheral surface of the eccentric sleeve 4 and into between the outer peripheral surface of the eccentric sleeve 4 and the inner peripheral surface of the boss 7. In the description herein, a journal plain bearing between the outer peripheral surface of the main shaft 5 and the inner peripheral surface of the eccentric sleeve 4 is referred to as "main shaft bearing 10" and a journal plain bearing between the outer peripheral surface of the eccentric sleeve 4 and the inner peripheral surface of the boss 7 is referred to as "sleeve bearing 11". Also, a multiple bearing formed by the main shaft bearing 10 and the sleeve bearing 11 is referred to as "lower bearing 15".

[0019] A driving motor 8 is located outside the frame 30. Motive power is transmitted from an output shaft 8a of the driving motor 8 to the eccentric sleeve 4 via a power transmission 20. The power transmission 20 includes: a pulley 22a located on the output shaft 8a; a horizontal shaft 21; a pulley 22b located on the horizontal shaft 21; a power transmission belt 22c wound around the pulleys 22a and 22b; a bevel pinion 19a located on the horizontal shaft 21; and a bevel gear 19b located on the eccentric sleeve 4. The horizontal shaft 21 is supported by the lower frame 32 via a horizontal shaft bearing 25. When the eccentric sleeve 4 rotates, the main shaft 5 makes eccentric turning motion with respect to the crusher center axis A, i.e., makes precession motion. Consequently, the distance between the outer surface of the mantle 13 and the inner surface of the concave 14 changes in accordance with the turning position of the main shaft 5. The to-be-crushed objects that have fallen into the crushing chamber 16 are crushed between the concave 14 and the mantle 13, and then discharged from the bottom of the lower frame 32 to be collected as a crushed product.

[0020] The crusher 100 configured as described above includes the predictive failure diagnoser 40 and the control circuitry 50. The control circuitry 50 controls the operation of the crusher 100. While the crusher 100 is operating or starting up, the predictive failure diagnoser makes a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure in the crusher 100 based on information detected from the crusher 100.

[0021] [Control Circuitry 50] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system configuration of the crusher 100. As shown in FIG. 2, a display 58, a setter 59, the predictive failure diagnoser 40, various measuring instruments 52, 55, 56, and control targets 8, 9, 6 are connected to the control circuitry 50. The functionality of the predictive failure diagnoser 40 and the control circuitry disclosed herein may be implemented using circuitry or processing circuitry which includes general purpose processors, special purpose processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), conventional circuitry and/or combinations thereof which are configured or programmed to perform the disclosed functionality. Processors are considered processing circuitry or circuitry as they include transistors and other circuitry therein. In the present disclosure, the circuitry, units, or means are hardware that carry out or are programmed to perform the recited functionality. The hardware may be any hardware disclosed herein or otherwise known which is programmed or configured to carry out the recited functionality. When the hardware is a processor which may be considered a type of circuitry, the circuitry, means, or units are a combination of hardware and software, the software being used to configure the hardware and/or processor.

[0022] The control circuitry 50 controls the feeding amount of the to-be-crushed objects. The control circuitry 50 is connected to a driving motor 9a of the feeder 9 by wire or wirelessly. The control circuitry 50 transmits, to the driving motor 9a of the feeder 9, a command signal corresponding to a target feeding amount. As a result of the driving motor 9a operating in response to the command signal from the control circuitry 50, the to-be-crushed objects in the target feeding amount are fed from the feeder 9 into the hopper 3.

[0023] The control circuitry 50 controls the value of the set. The set (specifically, the "closed set") is defined as the size of a gap between two crushing surfaces, i.e., the crushing surface of the concave 14 and the crushing surface of the mantle 13, at a position where the gap isthenarrowest. In the crusher 100 according to the present embodiment, the bearing cylinder 6 functions as a set adjuster. When the main shaft thrust bearing 2 is lifted/lowered together with the ram 61, the mantle 13 is lifted/lowered relative to the concave 14, and thereby the value of the set is changed. The grain size of the crushed product is determined by the value of the set.

[0024] There is a hydraulic pressure chamber 63 within the cylinder tube 62 of the bearing cylinder 6. The volume of the hydraulic pressure chamber 63 changes in accordance with a displacement of the ram 61. A hydraulic circuit 90 is connected to the hydraulic pressure chamber 63. As a result of hydraulic oil being supplied to the hydraulic pressure chamber 63 through the hydraulic circuit 90, the ram 61 is lifted. Also, as a result of the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic pressure chamber 63 being discharged to an oil tank 71 through the hydraulic circuit , the ram 61 is lowered. The control circuitry 50 is connected, by wire or wirelessly, to a set sensor 52, which detects the value of the set. The control circuitry 50 obtains information detected by the set sensor 52, and lifts/lowers the ram 61 to adjust the value of the set detected by the set sensor 52 to a target set value. In order to lift/lower the ram 61, the control circuitry generates cylinder hydraulic pressure by operating a pump motor and a solenoid valve (that are not shown) of the hydraulic circuit 90 to achieve a desired position of the ram 61.

[0025] The control circuitry 50 controls the rotation speed of the eccentric sleeve 4. The rotation speed of the eccentric sleeve 4 corresponds to the rotation speed of each of the horizontal shaft 21 and the main shaft 5, which are driven by the driving motor 8 to rotate. The control circuitry 50 is connected to the driving motor 8 by wire or wirelessly. The control circuitry 50 transmits, to the driving motor 8, a command signal corresponding to a target rotation speed. As a result of the driving motor 8 operating in response to the command signal from the control circuitry 50, the rotation speed of the eccentric sleeve 4 is adjusted to the target rotation speed.

[0026] [Predictive Failure Diagnoser 40] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration relating to predictive failure diagnosis. As shown in FIG. 3, a meshing vibration detector 43, a bearing vibration detector 44, and a load detector 56 are connected to the predictive failure diagnoser 40. The meshing vibration detector 43 detects meshing vibrational accelerations at a meshing part where the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b mesh with each other. The meshing vibration detector 43 is located on the body of the crusher 100 (e.g., on the lower frame 32 or on a sleeve of the horizontal shaft 21). The meshing vibration detector 43 maybe located on the lower frame 32 near the meshing part where the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b mesh with each other. The bearing vibration detector 44 detects vibrational accelerations of the horizontal shaft bearing 25. The bearing vibration detector 44 is located on the horizontal shaft bearing 25. The load detector 56 detects the motor load of the driving motor 8 to indirectly detect a crushing load. The load detector 56 uses a motor current as an index of the motor load, and detects an electric current value (i.e., the motor current) supplied to the driving motor 8.

[0027] By measuring the meshing vibrational accelerations, i.e., vibrational accelerations of the meshing between the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b, and chronologizing the measured meshing vibrational accelerations, a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform is obtained. FIG. 6 is one example of a frequency analysis result of the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform within a period in which a crushing load occurs. As shown in FIG. 6, a power spectrum that is obtained from analyzing the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform during crushing contains not only vibrations caused by the meshing, but also vibrations caused by the crushing. Accordingly, it is difficult to only extract a characteristic frequency component that serves as a sign of a failure from the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform during the crushing. Therefore, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 uses the meshing vibrational accelerations that are detected within a no-crushing-load period, in which no to-be-crushed objects are fed into the crushing chamber 16, to make a diagnosis on whether or not there is a signofafailure. The no-crushing-load period may occur not only while the crusher 100 is starting up, but also while the crusher 100 is in steady operation. The crusher 100 detects a no crushing-load period while the crusher 100 is starting up and while the crusher 100 is in steady operation, and samples meshing vibrational accelerations within the no-crushing-load period.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows a flow of processing performed by the predictive failure diagnoser 40. As shown in FIG. 4, while the crusher 100 is starting up and while the crusher 100 is in steady operation, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 obtains a crushing load value detected by the load detector 56 (step Si). The predictive failure diagnoser40 compares the obtained crushing load value with a predetermined load threshold value (step S2). The load threshold value is such a crushing load value that it can be considered that there is no to-be-crushed object in the crushing chamber 16 and no crushing is being performed. The load threshold value is obtained through an experiment or simulation, and is preset in the predictive failure diagnoser 40.

[0029] In a case where the crushing load is greater than or equal to the load threshold value (NO in step S2), the processing returns to step Sl, and steps Si and S2 are repeated. On the other hand, in a case where the crushing load is less than the load threshold value (YES in step S2), the predictive failure diagnoser 40 starts sampling the meshing vibrational accelerations detected by the meshing vibration detector 43.

[0030] Also while sampling the meshing vibrational accelerations, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 obtains and monitors the crushing load value (step S4). In a case where the crushing load is less than the load threshold value (YES in step S5), after the sampling is started, the sampling is continued until a predetermined sampling time elapses (NO in step S6). The sampling time can be arbitrarily set, and is a time that is sufficiently long to enable the analysis of the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform.

[0031] On the other hand, in a case where the crushing load is greater than or equal to the load threshold value (NO in step S5), and in a case where the sampling time has elapsed after the start of the sampling (YES in step S6), the predictive failure diagnoser 40 ends the sampling of the meshing vibrational accelerations (step S7). The predictive failure diagnoser 40 uses the sampled meshing vibrational accelerations to make a predictive failure diagnosis (step S8).

[0032] By performing FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform within the no-crushing-load period, a frequency analysis result of the meshing vibrational accelerations is obtained. FIG. 5 is one example of a frequency analysis result of the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform within the no-crushing-load period. In a power spectrum of the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform shown in FIG. 5, a peak derived from the meshing is prominent at a meshing frequency, and there are sideband peaks at frequencies different from the meshing frequency.

[0033] In vibration analysis of a rotating machine, it is known that if a failure occurs in meshing gears, then in a meshing vibrational acceleration power spectrum, not only does a peak derived from the meshing occurs at a meshing frequency, but sideband peaks also occur. There is also a known technique to estimate, for example, where the failure has occurred and what has caused the failure by specifying, for example, the frequencies at which the respective sideband peaks occur and the dispersion state of the sideband peaks. In a case where no failure has occurred, although no significant sideband peaks appear in the power spectrum, a sign of a failure may still appear in the power spectrum.

[0034] In light of the above, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 obtains the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, in which the meshing vibrational accelerations detected by the meshing vibration detector 43 within the no-crushing-load period are chronologized, and makes a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure based on a result of analyzing the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform. In the analysis, a characteristic frequency component that serves as a sign of a failure is extracted from the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, and the extracted characteristic frequency component is converted into a numerical value in accordance with predetermined rules. Based on the magnitude of the failure-sign numerical value, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 makes a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure. For example, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 performs FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, and obtains an added-up value of a spectrum of an entire frequency band to be analyzed (i.e., obtains an overall value). In a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 determines that a sign of a failure has been found. On the other hand, in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the predetermined diagnostic threshold value, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 determines that no sign of failure has been found. As another example, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 performs FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, and obtains an added-up value of a spectrum of a particular frequency band (i.e., obtains a partial overall value). In a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 determines that a sign of a failure has been found. On the other hand, in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the predetermined diagnostic threshold value, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 determines that no sign of failure has been found.

[0035] In a case where a sign of a failure has been found, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 notifies that a sign of a failure has been found. The notification of the sign of the failure is performed, for example, through the display 58. When notified of the sign of the failure, the operator starts maintenance preparation. As the maintenance preparation, the operator prepares spare components and related materials, and creates a maintenance system. Creating the maintenance system includes reviewing an operation plan, drafting a component replacement schedule, securing a sufficient number of workers, etc. During the maintenance preparation period, the crusher 100 continues operating until the failure actually occurs, or until the possibility of the occurrence of the failure becomes high. That is, a time for the maintenance preparation can be secured without stopping the crusher 100 from operating. Therefore, in this case, the downtime can be shortened compared to a case where the maintenance preparation is started after the occurrence of the failure has been found.

[0036] As described above, the gyratory crusher 100 according to the above-described embodiment includes: the main shaft 5; the mantle 13 fixed to the main shaft 5; the concave 14 located to face the mantle 13, the concave 14 and the mantle 13 forming the crushing chamber 16 therebetween; the feeder 9, which feeds the to-be-crushed objects into the crushing chamber 16; the eccentric sleeve 4, which supports the lower part of the main shaft 5 via the lower bearing ; the driving motor 8, which drives the eccentric sleeve 4 to rotate; the power transmission 20 including the horizontal shaft 21 driven by the driving motor 8 to rotate, the bevel pinion 19a located on the horizontal shaft 21, and the bevel gear 19b located on the eccentric sleeve 4, the bevel gear 19b meshing with the bevel pinion 19a, the power transmission 20 transmitting power output from the driving motor 8 to the eccentric sleeve 4; the meshing vibration detector 43, which detects meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b mesh with each other; and the predictive failure diagnoser 40.

[0037] The predictive failure diagnoser 40 of the gyratory crusher 100 according to the above-described embodiment: obtains the meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b mesh with each other; determines a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, in which the meshing vibrational accelerations within a no-crushing-load period are chronologized, the no-crushing-load period being a period in which no to-be-crushed objects are fed into the crushing chamber 16; and makes a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure based on a result of analyzing the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform.

[0038] The predictive failure diagnoser 40 may: perform FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform; obtain an added-up value of a spectrum of an entire frequency band to be analyzed; and determine that a sign of a failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, but determine that no sign of failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the predetermined diagnostic threshold value. Alternatively, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 may: perform FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform; obtain an added-up value of a spectrum of a particular frequency band; and determine that a sign of a failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, but determine that no sign of failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the predetermined diagnostic threshold value.

[0039] Similarly, a method of making a predictive failure diagnosis on the gyratory crusher 100 according to the above-described embodiment includes: obtaining meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b mesh with each other; determining a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, in which the meshing vibrational accelerations within a no-crushing-load period are chronologized, the no-crushing-load period being a period in which no to-be-crushed objects are fed into the crushing chamber 16; and making a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure based on a result of analyzing the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform.

[0040] In the above method, the step of making a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure may include: performing FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform; obtaining an added-up value of a spectrum of an entire frequency band to be analyzed; and determining that a sign of a failure has been found in a case where the added up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, but determining that no sign of failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the diagnostic threshold value. Alternatively, in the above method, the step of making a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure may include: performing FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform; obtaining an added-up value of a spectrum of a particular frequency band; and determining that a sign of a failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, but determining that no sign of failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the predetermined diagnostic threshold value.

[0041] According to the above-described crusher 100, the above-described predictive failure diagnoser 40 of the crusher 100, and the above-described method, although each of the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b receives a crushing load, an influence of vibrations caused by the crushing load can be ignored in the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, which is used in making the diagnosis. Therefore, a characteristic frequency component that serves as a sign of a failure can be extracted from the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform of the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b. Since a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure in the crusher 100 (in particular, whether or not there is a sign of a failure in the bevel pinion 19a and the bevel gear 19b) can be made, if a sign of a failure is found, maintenance preparation can be started at the time. That is, a time for the maintenance preparation can be secured without stopping the crusher 100 from operating. Therefore, in this case, the downtime can be shortened compared to a case where the maintenance preparation is started after the occurrence of the failure has been found.

[0042] Further, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 of the crusher 100 according to the above-described embodiment: obtains a crushing load of the crusher 100; setting a period in which the crushing load is less than a predetermined load threshold value as the no-crushing-load period; and samples the meshing vibrational accelerations within the no-crushing-load period.

[0043] Similarly, the method of making a predictive failure diagnosis on the gyratory crusher 100 according to the above-described embodiment includes: detecting a crushing load; setting a period in which the crushing load is less than a predetermined load threshold value as the no-crushing-load period; and sampling the meshing vibrational accelerations within the no crushing-load period.

[0044] As described above, the no-crushing-load period is determined based on the crushing load, and meshing vibrational accelerations are automatically sampled within the no-crushing load period that occurs while the crusher 100 is operating. This makes it possible to automatically make a predictive failure diagnosis without stopping the crusher 100 from operating.

[0045] Although the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure is as described above, specific structural and/or functional details of the above-described embodiment can be modified without departing from the inventive idea of the present disclosure, and such modifications would fall within the scope of the present disclosure. The above-described configurations can be modified, for example, as described below.

[0046] For example, the above-described crusher 100 is a hydraulic crusher 100, the set of which is adjusted by the cylinder pressure of the bearing cylinder 6. Alternatively, the crusher 100 maybe a mechanical crusher 100. The mechanical gyratory crusher 100 includes a lifting/lowering device (e.g., a hydraulic cylinder) that lifts/lowers the concave 14 relative to the mantle 13.

[0047] For example, the predictive failure diagnoser 40 may be located remotely from the crusher100. In this case, information detected by the meshing vibration detector 43 and the bearing vibration detector 44 is transmitted to the predictive failure diagnoser 40 through a communication network, and the predictive failure diagnoser 40 transmits a predictive failure diagnosis result through the communication network to the control circuitry 50 located near the crusher100. The control circuitry 50 maybe located remotely from the crusher 100. The predictive failure diagnoser 40 may be realized in the form of a cloud service. In this case, a cloud server may, when accessed from a particular computer, execute a predetermined program to function as the predictive failure diagnoser 40, and based on meshing vibrational acceleration information provided, calculate and feed a predictive failure diagnosis result back to the computer. Further, the calculated predictive failure diagnosis result may be stored in the cloud server in such a manner that the calculated predictive failure diagnosis result is accessible by the particular computer. Similarly, the control circuitry 50 may be realized in the form of a cloud service.

Reference Signs List

[0048] 4: eccentric sleeve 5: main shaft 6: bearing cylinder 8: driving motor 9: feeder 10: main shaft bearing 11: sleeve bearing 13: mantle 14:concave 15: lower bearing

16: crushing chamber 17: upper bearing 19a: bevel pinion 19b: bevel gear : power transmission 21: horizontal shaft : horizontal shaft bearing : frame 31: upper frame 32: lower frame : predictive failure diagnoser 43: meshing vibration detector 44: bearing vibration detector : control circuitry 100: gyratory crusher

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A predictive failure diagnoser for making a predictive failure diagnosis on a gyratory crusher, the gyratory crusher including: a main shaft; a mantle fixed to the main shaft; a concave located to face the mantle, the concave and the mantle forming a crushing chamber therebetween; an eccentric sleeve that supports a lower part of the main shaft via a lower bearing; a driving motor that drives the eccentric sleeve to rotate; a power transmission including a horizontal shaft driven by the driving motor to rotate, a bevel pinion located on the horizontal shaft, and a bevel gear located on the eccentric sleeve, the bevel gear meshing with the bevel pinion, the power transmission transmitting power output from the driving motor to the eccentric sleeve, wherein the predictive failure diagnoser: obtains meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion and the bevel gear mesh with each other; determines a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, in which the meshing vibrational accelerations within a no-crushing-load period are chronologized, the no-crushing load period being a period in which no to-be-crushed objects are fed into the crushing chamber; and makes a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure based on a result of analyzing the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform.
2. The predictive failure diagnoser according to claim 1, wherein the predictive failure diagnoser: obtains a crushing load of the gyratory crusher; setting a period in which the crushing load is less than a predetermined load threshold value as the no-crushing-load period; and samples the meshing vibrational accelerations within the no-crushing-load period.
3. The predictive failure diagnoser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the predictive failure diagnoser: performs FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform; obtains an added-up value of a spectrum of an entire frequency band to be analyzed; and determines that a sign of a failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, but determines that no sign of failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the predetermined diagnostic threshold value.
4. The predictive failure diagnoser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the predictive failure diagnoser: performs FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform; obtains an added-up value of a spectrum of a particular frequency band; and determines that a sign of a failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, but determines that no sign of failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the predetermined diagnostic threshold value.
5. A predictive failure diagnosis method of making a predictive failure diagnosis on a gyratory crusher, the gyratory crusher including: a main shaft; a mantle fixed to the main shaft; a concave located to face the mantle, the concave and the mantle forming a crushing chamber therebetween; an eccentric sleeve that supports a lower part of the main shaft via a lower bearing; a driving motor that drives the eccentric sleeve to rotate; a power transmission including a horizontal shaft driven by the driving motor to rotate, a bevel pinion located on the horizontal shaft, and a bevel gear located on the eccentric sleeve, the bevel gear meshing with the bevel pinion, the power transmission transmitting power output from the driving motor to the eccentric sleeve, wherein the predictive failure diagnosis method comprising: obtaining meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion and the bevel gear mesh with each other; determining a meshing vibrational acceleration waveform, in which the meshing vibrational accelerations within a no-crushing-load period are chronologized, the no-crushing- load period being a period in which no to-be-crushed objects are fed into the crushing chamber; and making a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure based on a result of analyzing the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform.
6. The predictive failure diagnosis method according to claim 5, comprising: obtaining a crushing load; setting a period in which the crushing load is less than a predetermined load threshold value as the no-crushing-load period; and sampling the meshing vibrational accelerations within the no-crushing-load period.
7. The predictive failure diagnosis method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the step of making a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure includes: performing FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform; obtaining an added-up value of a spectrum of an entire frequency band to be analyzed; and determining that a sign of a failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, but determining that no sign of failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the diagnostic threshold value.
8. The predictive failure diagnosis method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the step of making a diagnosis on whether or not there is a sign of a failure includes: performing FFT spectrum processing on the meshing vibrational acceleration waveform; obtaining an added-up value of a spectrum of a particular frequency band; and determining that a sign of a failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is greater than a predetermined diagnostic threshold value, but determining that no sign of failure has been found in a case where the added-up value is less than or equal to the predetermined diagnostic threshold value.
9. A gyratory crusher comprising: a main shaft; a mantle fixed to the main shaft; a concave located to face the mantle, the concave and the mantle forming a crushing chamber therebetween; an eccentric sleeve that supports a lower part of the main shaft via a lower bearing; a driving motor that drives the eccentric sleeve to rotate; a power transmission including a horizontal shaft driven by the driving motor to rotate, a bevel pinion located on the horizontal shaft, and a bevel gear located on the eccentric sleeve, the bevel gear meshing with the bevel pinion, the power transmission transmitting power output from the driving motor to the eccentric sleeve; a meshing vibration detector that detects meshing vibrational accelerations that occur when the bevel pinion and the bevel gear mesh with each other; and the predictive failure diagnoser according to any one of claims 1 to 4.