JP2023102083A - Failure detection device and method for steeply inclined conveyor belt - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a detection device which has high versatility, which is low cost and which can efficiently detect occurrence of failure of a steeply inclined conveyor belt, and to provide a detection method.SOLUTION: A buried body 2 buried in a steeply inclined conveyor belt 17 has a passive type IC tag 3, and a linear detection element 7 connected to the IC tag 3 and becoming a loop circuit 9. The loop circuit 9 is made to extend to a joint portion (detection object portion M) with a base belt 18 and a cleat 23 and a flange 24, a transmission radio wave W1 is transmitted from a detector 10 toward the IC tag 3, and by using information from the IC tag 3 transmitted to the detector 10 by a reply radio wave W2 transmitted from the IC tag 3 according to the transmission radio wave W1, presence/absence of electric conduction of the loop circuit 9 is determined by a calculation part 13. Based on this determination result, occurrence of failure at the detection object portion M where the loop circuit 9 is buried is detected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a failure detection device and method for a steeply inclined conveyor belt, and more particularly to a detection device and method capable of efficiently detecting the occurrence of a failure of a steeply inclined conveyor belt while having high versatility and low cost.

Steeply inclined conveyor belts are used to convey coal, earth and sand, cement, etc. at steep gradients from a lower position to an upper position. A steeply inclined conveyor belt has a structure in which a large number of cleats are erected at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of the conveying surface of the conveyor belt (base belt) as a base, and corrugated flanges are erected at both ends of the conveying surface in the belt width direction so as to sandwich these cleats.

Since such cleats and flanges are attached to the base belt afterward, the joints may peel or crack over time, and the cleats and flanges themselves are also damaged over time. Since there are a large number of these parts and their joints, a great deal of labor is required for an inspector to check the state of wear, the presence or absence of cracks and delamination, and the like. Even if it is attempted to simply detect the occurrence of failures in these parts or joints using non-contact sensors or the like, it is difficult to detect the occurrence of failures because these parts have complex shapes and it is difficult to grasp the state of the joints from the outside. Also, providing a dedicated failure detection device for each steeply inclined conveyor belt requires a huge cost. Therefore, there is room for improvement in efficiently detecting the occurrence of faults in steeply inclined conveyor belts while having high versatility and low cost.

JP 2011-255985 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a detection apparatus and method capable of efficiently detecting the occurrence of a failure in a steeply inclined conveyor belt while having high versatility and low cost.

In order to achieve the above object, a failure detection device for a steeply inclined conveyor belt of the present invention comprises a plurality of cleats standing on the conveying surface of a base belt in the longitudinal direction of the belt at predetermined intervals, and corrugated flanges erected at both ends of the conveying surface in the width direction of the conveying surface so as to sandwich the cleats. The embedded object has a passive IC tag and a linear detection element connected to the IC tag and extending to a detection target portion outside the IC tag to form a loop circuit. A transmission radio wave is transmitted from the detector toward the IC tag, and information from the IC tag is transmitted to the detector by a return radio wave transmitted from the IC tag in response to the transmission radio wave. Then, based on the result of this determination, it is characterized in that occurrence of a failure in the detection target portion in which the loop circuit is embedded is detected.

A failure detection method for a steeply inclined conveyor belt according to the present invention is a method for detecting a failure of a steeply inclined conveyor belt having a number of cleats standing on the conveying surface of a base belt at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the belt, and wave-shaped flanges erected at both ends of the conveying surface in the width direction of the conveying surface so as to sandwich the cleats, wherein an embedded body is embedded in the steeply inclined conveyor belt, and a detector that wirelessly communicates with the embedded body without contact is installed in the steeply inclined conveyor belt, The embedded object has a passive IC tag and a linear detection element that is connected to the IC tag and extends to a detection target portion outside the IC tag to form a loop circuit, the detector transmits a transmission radio wave toward the IC tag, the IC tag transmits a return radio wave in response to the transmission radio wave, and the information from the IC tag transmitted to the detector is used to determine whether or not the loop circuit is energized by the computation unit. Based on the above, it is characterized in that the occurrence of a failure in the detection target portion in which the loop circuit is embedded is detected.

According to the present invention, the embedded body has a simple configuration including a passive IC tag and a linear detection element connected to the IC tag and extending to a detection target portion outside the IC tag to form a loop circuit. Therefore, the embedded body can be composed of general-purpose parts, which is advantageous in terms of cost reduction. In addition, since the detector only needs to be capable of wireless communication with the embedded object, it can be constructed from general-purpose parts, which is advantageous in terms of cost reduction.

When the loop circuit is embedded in the part to be detected where the failure occurs, the loop circuit is broken, so that the IC tag connected to the detection element forming the loop circuit can grasp whether or not the loop circuit is energized. Therefore, by using the information from the IC tag transmitted to the detector by the return radio wave, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the loop circuit is energized by the calculation unit. Therefore, based on the determination result, it is possible to grasp whether or not a failure has occurred in the detection target portion in which the loop circuit is embedded. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently determine whether or not the steeply inclined conveyor belt is faulty while the steeply inclined conveyor belt is running without performing complicated work.

1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an embodiment of a failure detection device for a steeply inclined conveyor belt installed in a conveyor device having a steeply inclined conveyor belt, as viewed from the side of the conveyor belt; FIG. It is a perspective view which notches and illustrates a part of steeply inclined conveyor belt. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1; It is explanatory drawing which illustrates arrangement|positioning of an embedding body by the planar view of a conveyor belt. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates another arrangement|positioning of an embedding body by the planar view of a conveyor belt. It is an explanatory view which illustrates an embedding object by plane view. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the embedded body of FIG. 6 as viewed from the front; It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the modification of an embedded body by planar view. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a loop circuit embedded in the cleat; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a loop circuit embedded in a flange;

Hereinafter, the failure detection device and method for a steeply inclined conveyor belt of the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

A steeply inclined conveyor belt 17 (hereinafter referred to as conveyor belt 17) is stretched between pulleys 15a and 15b of the conveyor device 15 illustrated in FIG. Between the pulleys 15a and 15b, the conveyor belt 17 is supported by the disk rollers 16 and extends up and down at a steep angle close to vertical.

As exemplified in FIG. 2, the conveyor belt 17 has a large number of cleats 23 erected at predetermined intervals in the belt longitudinal direction L on the conveying surface of the base belt 18, and wave-shaped flanges 24 erected at both ends of the conveying surface in the belt width direction W so as to sandwich the cleats 23. Arrow L in the drawing indicates the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt 17 (base belt 18), and arrow W indicates the width direction of the conveyor belt 17 (base belt 18).

The base belt 18 is constructed by integrating an upper cover rubber 21, a lower cover rubber 22, and a core layer 19 interposed therebetween. The surface of the upper cover rubber 21 serves as a conveying surface, and both ends in the width direction W of the base belt 18 are guided from the outside in the width direction W by the disc rollers 16 . The core layer 19 is formed by arranging a large number of steel cords 20 extending in the longitudinal direction L in parallel in the width direction W, and joining these steel cords 20 via coat rubber (adhesive rubber). The core layer 19 is not limited to the steel cord 20, and may be a fiber layer made of canvas or the like. The base belt 17 is provided with other members as required.

The cleat 23 is mainly made of rubber and has a rectangular thin plate-like base portion 23a and a plate-like main body portion 23b projecting upward from the base portion 23a. A base portion 23 a is joined to the surface of the upper cover rubber 21 . The cleats 23 are arranged so as to extend in the belt width direction W and traverse the base belt 18, and each cleat 23 has the same specifications.

The flange 24 is mainly made of rubber and has a rectangular thin plate-like base portion 24a and a corrugated plate-like body portion 24b projecting upward from the base portion 24a. A base portion 24 a is joined to the surface of the upper cover rubber 21 . The flanges 24 extend in the belt longitudinal direction L and are arranged to traverse the entire circumference of the base belt 18, and each flange 24 has the same specification. Each cleat 23 and each flange 24 are not directly joined. The conveyed article C is put between the cleats 23 at the lower position of the conveyor device 15, held in a space surrounded by the conveying surface (the surface of the upper cover rubber 21), the cleat 23, and the flange 24, and is conveyed to the conveying destination at the upper position and discharged.

The embodiment of the failure detection device 1 (hereinafter referred to as the detection device 1) exemplified in FIGS. 1 and 3 to 5 is applied to this conveyor device 15 to detect the occurrence of failure (excessive wear, cracking, peeling, etc.) of the conveyor belt 17. The detection device 1 includes an embedded body 2 embedded in a conveyor belt 17 , a detector 10 and a calculation section 13 . An alarm 14 is also provided in this embodiment. An alarm 14 can optionally be provided. 4 and 5, the steel cord 20 is partially omitted, and the base portions 23a and 24a are indicated by dashed lines.

The embedded body 2 has a passive IC tag 3 and a linear detection element 7 connected to the IC tag 3 . The detection element 7 is embedded in a portion of the conveyor belt 17 to be subjected to failure detection (detection target portion M) and extends to form a loop circuit 9 . The detector 10 has a transmitter 11 and a receiver 12 . The detection target portion M can be set at any desired position without being limited to a specific position.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 , the IC tag 3 has an IC chip 4 and an antenna section 5 connected to the IC chip 4 . IC chip 4 and antenna section 5 are arranged on substrate 6 . The IC chip 4 and the antenna section 5 are covered with an insulating layer 6a, and the entire IC tag 3 is electrically insulated from the outside. However, the IC tag 3 and the detection element 7 are electrically connected so as to be energized. The insulating layer 6a is made of a known insulating material such as insulating rubber, resin such as polyester, or natural fiber.

The IC chip 4 optionally stores tag-specific information such as the identification number of the IC tag 3, element identification information for specifying the detection element 7 connected to the IC tag 3, and other necessary information. Although various known types can be used for the antenna section 5, a dipole antenna extending symmetrically from the IC chip 4 is employed in this embodiment. The antenna portion 5 has a folded shape so as to increase the extension length in a limited space.

For the IC tag 3, specifications that are generally distributed are adopted, and for example, an RFID tag can be used. The area of the IC tag 3 is, for example, 2 cm ² or more and 70 cm ² or less, more preferably 3 cm ² or more and 34 cm ^{2 or} less, still more preferably 3 cm ² or more and 27 ^cm or less, and the thickness is preferably 0.5 mm or less, for example 0.01 mm or more and 0.4 mm or less, more preferably 0.03 mm or more and 0.15 mm or less. In this way, the size of the IC tag 3 is made as small as possible, and the heat resistance temperature is specified to be about 200.degree.

The detection element 7 extends to the detection target portion M outside the connected IC tag 3 to form a loop circuit 9 . In this embodiment, as exemplified in FIG. 4, the joints between the base belt 18 and the respective cleats 23 are detection target portions M. As shown in FIG. Specifically, a loop circuit 9 is formed between the surface of the upper cover rubber 21 and the base portion 23a. The loop circuit 9 extends in a rectangular shape slightly inside the outer edge of the base portion 23a along the outer edge.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the joints between the base belt 18 and the respective flanges 24 are detection target portions M. As shown in FIG. Specifically, a loop circuit 9 is formed between the surface of the upper cover rubber 21 and the base portion 24a. The loop circuit 9 extends in a rectangular shape slightly inside the outer edge of the base portion 24a along the outer edge. This loop circuit 9 is preferably arranged so as to cover the entire length of each flange 24 in the longitudinal direction L of the belt. Therefore, for example, the loop circuit 9 is extended and arranged for each range obtained by dividing the entire length of each flange 24 (base portion 24a) in the longitudinal direction L. As shown in FIG.

The detection element 7 is a conductive linear body, and is made of a known material such as conductive rubber, conductive paste, or metal wire. The outer diameter (width) of the detection element 7 is, for example, about 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm. The detection element 7 may be a wire having a simple circular cross section, or may be a flat wire (band-shaped wire).

If the detection target portion M is the joint between the cleat 23 and the base belt 18 or the joint between the flange 24 and the base belt 18 , conductive rubber or conductive paste may be used as the detection element 7 . For example, the detection element 7 is made of a conductive paste in which a conductor (carbon, metal powder, etc.) is mixed with an adhesive for bonding rubbers together. When joining the base belt 18, the cleat 23, and the flange 24, the detection element 7 is interposed between these joints.

The outer peripheral surface of the detection element 7 is covered with an insulator 8 so that the detection element 7 is electrically insulated from the outside. The insulator 8 is made of a known insulating material like the insulating layer 6a.

One longitudinal end and the other longitudinal end of the detection element 7 are electrically connected to the IC chip 4 . The IC tag 3 (substrate 6 ) is provided with a large number of pairs of terminals connected to the IC chip 4 . One longitudinal end and the other longitudinal end of the detection element 7 are electrically connected to the IC chip 4 by being connected to the pair of terminals. The detection element 7 and the pair of terminals are connected using an eyelet and a crimp terminal, or are connected by a conductive adhesive, welding, soldering, or the like. In this embodiment, five pairs of terminals are provided, but the number of pairs of terminals provided on the IC tag 3 (substrate 6) is not particularly limited and may be one. Due to space restrictions, the number of pairs of terminals provided on one IC tag 3 (substrate 6) is, for example, about one to six.

A large number of embedded bodies 2 are embedded in the detection target portion M of the conveyor belt 17 . Each IC tag 3 is preferably embedded in the widthwise end of the conveyor belt 17 . In this embodiment, each IC tag 3 is embedded in one end portion in the width direction of the conveyor belt 17, and the detection element 7 (loop circuit 9) extends to the portion M to be detected. Each IC tag 3 can also be buried dispersedly (for example, in a zigzag arrangement) at one widthwise end and the other widthwise end.

By embedding the IC tag 3 in the widthwise end of the conveyor belt 17, it is advantageous in protecting it from the impact of the conveyed object C and the like. Also, in this embodiment, the IC tag 3 is embedded in the lower cover rubber 22, which is more advantageous in protecting the IC tag 3 from the impact of the conveyed object C than in the case where it is embedded in the upper cover rubber 21.例文帳に追加Note that the IC tag 3 may be embedded in the upper cover rubber 21 .

As the detector 10, a commonly distributed specification that enables wireless communication with a passive RFID tag or the like is adopted. Thereby, the IC tag 3 and the detector 10 constitute an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system.

The detector 10 is arranged near the conveyor belt 17 and wirelessly communicates with each embedded object 2 (IC tag 3 ) without contacting the conveyor belt 17 . A transmitter 11 constituting the detector 10 transmits a transmission radio wave W1 toward the IC tag 3 . A receiving unit 12 constituting the detector 10 receives a return radio wave W2 transmitted from the IC tag 3 in response to the transmission radio wave W1. The information stored in the IC chip 4 is transmitted by the return radio wave W2 and received by the receiver 12 so that the detector 10 obtains the information.

The frequency of radio waves used for wireless communication in the present invention is mainly the UHF band (ranging from 860 MHz to 930 MHz, depending on the country; 915 MHz to 930 MHz in Japan), and the HF band (13.56 MHz) can also be used. The radio wave to be used may be linearly polarized or circularly polarized.

In this embodiment the detector 10 is arranged on the return side of the conveyor device 15 but could also be arranged on the carrier side. The distance between the detector 10 and the IC tag 3 (antenna unit 5) when they are closest to each other is set within 1 m, for example. That is, it is preferable that the detector 10 be installed at a position where the distance between the IC tag 3 (antenna section 5) and the IC tag 3 (antenna section 5) is 1 m or less when the IC tag 3 (antenna section 5) passes in front of the detector 10.

The computing unit 13 is communicably connected to the detector 10 via wire or wireless. A known computer or the like is used as the calculation unit 13 . Information obtained by the detector 10 is input to the calculation unit 13 . In addition, embedded position information (at least position data in the longitudinal direction L) of each IC tag 3 on the conveyor belt 17 is stored in the calculation unit 13 in association with tag-specific information specifying each IC tag 3 . Furthermore, position information (position data in the longitudinal direction L and width direction W) of each detection element 7 (loop circuit 9 formed by each detection element 7) connected to the IC tag 3 may be associated with each element identification information and stored in the calculation unit 13.

Examples of the warning device 14 include a warning device, a warning light, and a warning indicator. The warning device 14 is communicably connected to the computing unit 13 via a wire or wirelessly, and its operation is controlled by the computing unit 13 . The calculation unit 13 activates the warning device 14 when it is determined that a failure has occurred.

The steel cord 20 has a great influence on the state of radio wave communication between the detector 10 and the IC tag 3. Therefore, when the core layer 19 is configured by arranging a large number of steel cords 20 in the width direction, the embedding direction of the IC tag 3 is set in a specific direction in which the strength of the return radio wave W2 received by the detector 10 is higher than a preset threshold value.

Therefore, the relationship between the embedding direction of the IC tag 3 and the intensity of the return radio wave W2 received by the detector 10 is grasped in advance by conducting a pre-test or the like. For example, test products are produced by embedding IC tags 3 in conveyor belts 17 or cut samples thereof with different embedding directions. A detector 10 is placed directly above the IC tag 3 of each test product, and a transmission radio wave W1 is transmitted from the transmitter 11 toward the IC tag 3. - 特許庁Then, the strength of the return radio wave W2 transmitted from the IC tag 3 in response to this transmission radio wave W1 and received by the receiving unit 12 is measured, and the relationship between the embedding direction of the IC tag 3 and the strength of the return radio wave W2 is grasped. Then, the embedding direction in which the strength of the return radio wave W2 received by the detector 10 is higher than a preset threshold value is specified. This threshold may be set to a value that allows stable wireless communication between the detector 10 and the IC tag 3 in practice.

When embedding the IC tag 3 in the conveyor belt 17, the IC tag 3 is embedded in the specified embedding direction. In this embodiment, a dipole antenna is used as the antenna section 5. Therefore, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6, the horizontal direction in which the antenna section 5 extends in a plan view is the extending direction of the steel cord 20 (that is, the IC tag 3 is embedded in the conveyor belt 17 so as to be orthogonal to the longitudinal direction L). With such an embedding direction, the communication state between the detector 10 and the IC tag 3 is improved and stable wireless communication can be performed (the communicable distance can be increased).

If the core layer 19 is a fiber layer made of canvas or the like, the core layer 19 does not greatly affect the state of radio communication between the detector 10 and the IC tag 3 . Therefore, although it is not necessary to strictly specify the embedding direction of the IC tag 3, it is preferable to specify the embedding direction as described above.

Since the embedding position and embedding direction of the IC tag 3 with respect to the conveyor belt 17 are fixed, it is preferable to use linearly polarized waves rather than circularly polarized waves in order to improve wireless communication between the detector 10 and the IC tags 3 . In this case, the direction of polarization of the linearly polarized wave (the direction of vertical polarization) is made to match (that is, parallel to) the horizontal direction in which the antenna unit 5 extends, and when the traveling IC tag 3 passes in front of the detector 10, the detector 10 and the IC tag 3 are positioned to face each other from the front. When circularly polarized waves are used, the detector 10 should be arranged so that when the running IC tag 3 passes in front of the detector 10, the detector 10 and the IC tag 3 face each other in front.

Next, an example of procedure of a method for detecting occurrence of failure of the conveyor belt 17 using the detection device 1 will be described.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, while the conveyor device 15 is in operation (while the conveyor belt 17 is running), the detector 10 transmits a transmission radio wave W1 from the transmitter 11 toward the IC tag 3 (antenna unit 5) passing in front of the detector 10 (front). When the IC tag 3 receives the transmission radio wave W1, it transmits a reply radio wave W2 to the receiving unit 12 in response to this transmission radio wave W1.

More specifically, if the embedded body 2 (loop circuit 9) is sound, the transmission radio waves W1 received by the antenna section 5 will input electricity to the IC chip 4 to activate it. When the IC chip 4 is activated, electricity flows from one end of the detection element 7 to the other end of the detection element 7 via the loop circuit 9 and is input to the IC chip 4 . As a result, the IC chip 4 recognizes that the loop circuit 9 has been energized. Then, the tag specific information of the IC tag 3 stored in the IC chip 4 and the element identification information of the detection element 7 forming the loop circuit 9 are called. Then, when the return radio waves W2 are transmitted from the antenna section 5, the tag unique information of the called IC tag 3 and the element identification information of the detection element 7 are transmitted by the return radio waves W2 and received by the receiving section 12. FIG.

By receiving this return radio wave W2, the receiving unit 12 acquires information (tag specific information and element identification information) from the IC chip 4 transmitted by the return radio wave W2. Information (tag-specific information and element identification information) acquired by the detector 10 is input to the calculation unit 13 . In the calculation unit 13, using the acquired tag-specific information of each IC tag 3, the embedding position information of the IC tag 3 on the conveyor belt 17 linked to the pre-stored tag-specific information is specified. Further, using the acquired element identification information of each detection element 7, the position information for the IC tag 3 to which the detection element 7 (the loop circuit 9 formed by the detection element 7) linked to the element identification information stored in advance is connected is specified.

In this way, the detecting element 7 for which the position information for the connected IC tag 3 has been identified by the computing unit 13 is sound, and the loop circuit 9 formed by this detecting element 7 is determined to be energized. Since information on the embedding position on the conveyor belt 17 of the IC tag 3 to which the detection element 7 is connected is specified, the embedding range on the conveyor belt 17 of the loop circuit 9 formed by the detection element 7 can be specified. Therefore, in the identified embedded range of the loop circuit 9, the calculation unit 13 determines that no peeling or cracking has occurred at the joint between the cleat 23 or the flange 24 and the base belt 18. FIG. That is, in this case, occurrence of failure in the detection target portion M in which the loop circuit 9 is embedded is not detected.

If peeling or cracking occurs at the joint between the cleat 23 or the flange 24 and the base belt 18, the loop circuit 9 is broken along with the peeling or cracking in the range where the peeling or cracking occurs. In this case, even if electricity is input to the IC chip 4 by the transmission radio waves W1 received by the antenna part 5 and activated, electricity does not flow in the loop circuit 9, so the IC chip 4 grasps that the loop circuit 9 is not energized. Therefore, even if the tag unique information of the IC tag 3 stored in the IC chip 4 is called, the element identification information of the detection element 7 forming the loop circuit 9 is not called. Then, when the return radio wave W2 is transmitted from the antenna part 5, the tag specific information of the called IC tag 3 is transmitted by the return radio wave W2 and received by the receiving part 12, but the element identification information of the detection element 7 forming the loop circuit 9 is not received by the receiving part 12. - 特許庁

That is, the information (tag-specific information) acquired by the detector 10 is input to the calculation unit 13, and the calculation unit 13 uses the acquired tag-specific information of each IC tag 3 to specify the embedding position information of the IC tag 3 on the conveyor belt 17 linked to the previously stored tag-specific information. However, since the element identification information of the detection element 7 connected to the IC tag 3 does not exist, it is determined that the loop circuit 9 formed by the detection element 7 is damaged. That is, in this case, it is determined that peeling or cracking has occurred at the joint between the cleat 23 or the flange 24 and the base belt 18, and the occurrence of failure at the detection target portion M in which the loop circuit 9 is embedded is detected.

When the IC tag 3 is damaged for some reason, even if the transmission radio wave W1 is transmitted from the transmission part 11 to the IC tag 3, the reception part 12 does not receive the tag specific information of the IC tag 3 nor the element identification information of the detection element 7 connected to the IC tag 3. Therefore, it is determined that the conveyor belt 17 is abnormal.

When it is determined that a failure has occurred, the warning device 14 is activated to inform the surroundings of the occurrence of the failure. Since the embedding position information in the conveyor belt 17 of the IC tag 3 for which the element identification information of the connected detection element 7 cannot be acquired is specified, the position (range) of the conveyor belt 17 in which the failure occurs is found by the specified embedding position information.

The administrator who recognizes the occurrence of the failure stops the conveyor belt 17 from running at an appropriate timing and takes measures such as repairing the area where the failure occurred. After this countermeasure is completed, the running of the conveyor belt 17 is resumed.

The detection device 1 has a simple configuration including an IC tag 3 in which the embedded body 2 is a passive type, and a linear detection element 7 connected to the IC tag 3 and extending to the detection target portion M of the conveyor belt 17 to form a loop circuit 9. Therefore, the embedded body 2 can be made up of general-purpose parts, which is advantageous in terms of cost reduction. In addition, since the detector 10 only needs to be capable of wireless communication with the buried body 2, it can be configured with general-purpose parts, which is advantageous for cost reduction.

Then, as described above, by using the information from the IC tag 3 transmitted to the detector 10 by the return radio wave W2, the calculation unit 13 can accurately determine whether or not the loop circuit 9 is energized. Therefore, occurrence of failure of the conveyor belt 17 at the detection target portion M in which the loop circuit 9 is embedded can be accurately detected based on the determination result of whether or not the loop circuit 9 is energized. As the cost of the buried body 2 is reduced, a large number of buried bodies 2 can be buried, which is more advantageous for accurately detecting the occurrence of a failure.

Furthermore, the presence or absence of failures in a large number of detection target portions M can be grasped while running the steeply inclined conveyor belt without performing complicated work. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently perform the work of confirming the presence or absence of a failure.

When the detection target portion M is the joint between the cleat 23 and the base belt 18 or the joint between the flange 24 and the base belt 18, using conductive rubber or conductive paste as the detection element 7 makes it easier to break the detection element 7 when peeling or cracking occurs in the joint. Therefore, it is advantageous for accurately detecting the occurrence of delamination or cracking of the joint.

An embedded body 2 illustrated in FIG. 8 can also be used. In this embedded body 2, a plurality of (five) detection elements 7a to 7e are connected to one IC tag 3. FIG. An insulator 8 covers the outer peripheral surface of each of the detection elements 7a to 7e. Each detection element 7a-7e forms an independent loop circuit 9a-9e. Therefore, a plurality (five) of independent loop circuits 9 are connected to one IC tag 3 .

If the part M to be detected is the cleat 23 as illustrated in FIG. 9, it is preferable to adopt a specification in which a plurality of independent loop circuits 9 are connected to one IC tag 3 illustrated in FIG. The loop circuits 9a to 9e embedded in the cleat 23 illustrated in FIG. 9 extend in the width direction W while being spaced apart in the height direction in the body portion 23b of the cleat 23. As shown in FIG. Each of the loop circuits 9a to 9e can be embedded in any position, but it is preferable to embed them so as to cover the entire body portion 23b. Further, each loop circuit 9a to 9e is preferably embedded at a wear limit depth from the surface of the body portion 23b.

By using this embedded body 2, it is possible to widen the range in which failure can be detected with one embedded body 2 as compared with the embedded body 2 illustrated in FIG. Therefore, it is advantageous to reduce the number of embedded bodies 2 embedded in the entire conveyor belt 17 .

When the surface of the body portion 23b is worn down to the wear limit depth, the loop circuits 9a to 9e embedded and extending in the body portion 23b are exposed on the surface and eventually broken. Further, when the body portion 23b is cracked and reaches the loop circuits 9a to 9e, the loop circuits 9a to 9e are eventually broken. Due to the loop circuits 9a to 9e being damaged in this manner, the calculation section 13 determines that a failure has occurred in the detection target portion M in which the respective loop circuits 9a to 9e are embedded, as described above. As a result, occurrence of failure in the detection target portion M is detected.

Even when the detection target portion M is the flange 24 as illustrated in FIG. 10, a plurality of detection elements 7a to 7d are connected to one IC tag 3, and a plurality of independent loop circuits 9a to 9d. Each of the loop circuits 9a to 9d embedded in the flange 24 illustrated in FIG. 10 extends in the longitudinal direction L while being spaced apart in the height direction of the body portion 24b. Each of the loop circuits 9a to 9d can be arranged arbitrarily, but it is preferable to arrange them so as to cover the entire body portion 24b. Therefore, for example, the loop circuits 9a to 9d are arranged so as to extend for each range obtained by dividing the entire length of each main body portion 24b in the longitudinal direction L. As shown in FIG. Also, each of the loop circuits 9a to 9d may be embedded at a wear limit depth from the surface of the body portion 24b.

When the surface of the body portion 24b is worn down to the wear limit depth, the loop circuits 9a to 9d embedded and extending in the body portion 24b are exposed on the surface and eventually broken. Further, if a crack occurs in the body portion 24b and reaches the loop circuits 9a to 9d, the loop circuits 9a to 9d will eventually break. Due to the loop circuits 9a to 9d being damaged in this manner, the calculation unit 13 determines that a failure has occurred in the detection target portion M in which the respective loop circuits 9a to 9d are embedded, as described above. As a result, occurrence of failure in the detection target portion M is detected.

If the detection element 7 is made of a thin wire material having a simple circular cross section, the detection element 7 embedded in the cleat 23 or the flange 24 may be cut by the sharp part of the conveyed article C when the sharp conveyed article C is thrown into the conveyor belt 17. Then, even if fatal damage does not actually occur, since the loop circuit 9 formed by the detection element 7 is broken, the calculating part 13 judges that a failure has occurred, resulting in erroneous detection.

Therefore, it is preferable to use a flat linear body (belt-shaped wire rod) as the detection element 7 . Using the band-shaped detection element 7 in plan view is advantageous in avoiding the above-described erroneous detection. The width of the flat detection element 7 is, for example, about 5 mm to 10 mm.

1 Detector 2 Embedded object 3 IC tag 4 IC chip 5 Antenna unit 6 Substrate 6a Insulating layer 7 (7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e) Detecting element 8 Insulator 9 (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e) Loop circuit 10 Detector 11 Transmitter 12 Receiver 13 Calculation unit 14 Warning device 15 Conveyor device 15a, 15b Pulley 16 Disc roller 17 Steeply inclined conveyor belt 18 Base belt 19 Traction layer 20 Steel cord 21 Upper cover rubber 22 Lower cover rubber 23 Cleat 23a Base portion 23b Body portion 24 Flange 24a Base portion 24b Body portion M Detection target portion C Transported object

Claims (7)

A malfunction detection device for a steeply inclined conveyor belt having a large number of cleats standing on the conveying surface of a base belt at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the belt, and wave-shaped flanges standing on both ends of the conveying surface in the belt width direction so as to sandwich the cleats,
An embedded object embedded in the steeply inclined conveyor belt, a detector that wirelessly communicates with the embedded object without contacting the steeply inclined conveyor belt, and a computing unit connected to the detector,
The embedded object has a passive IC tag and a linear detection element connected to the IC tag and extending to a detection target portion outside the IC tag to form a loop circuit,
A fault detection device for a steeply inclined conveyor belt, wherein a transmission radio wave is transmitted from the detector toward the IC tag, and information from the IC tag transmitted to the detector by a return radio wave transmitted from the IC tag in response to the transmission radio wave is used to determine whether or not the loop circuit is energized by the calculation unit, and based on the determination result, the occurrence of a failure in the detection target portion in which the loop circuit is embedded is detected. 2. The failure detection device for a steeply inclined conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein said detection element is any one of conductive rubber, conductive paste and metal wire. 3. The failure detection device for a steeply inclined conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of independent loop circuits are connected to one IC tag, and the independent loop circuits are embedded at intervals. The failure detection device for a steeply inclined conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the traction layer of the steeply inclined conveyor belt is constructed by arranging a large number of steel cords in parallel in the width direction, and the embedding direction of the IC tag is set in a specific direction in which the intensity of the return radio wave received by the detector is higher than a preset threshold value. The detection target portion is at least one of the cleat, the flange, the joint between the cleat and the base belt, or the joint between the flange and the base belt, and the detection element is a conductive rubber or a conductive paste. The steep inclination conveyor belt failure detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. In a failure detection method for a steeply inclined conveyor belt having a large number of cleats standing on the conveying surface of a base belt at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the belt, and wave-shaped flanges standing on both ends of the conveying surface in the belt width direction so as to sandwich the cleats,
An embedded object is embedded in the steeply inclined conveyor belt, a detector is installed in the steeply inclined conveyor belt for wireless communication with the embedded object in a non-contact manner, and a computing unit is provided to receive information from the detector,
The embedded object has a passive IC tag and a linear detection element connected to the IC tag and extending to a detection target portion outside the IC tag to form a loop circuit,
A failure detection method for a steeply inclined conveyor belt, comprising: transmitting a transmission radio wave from the detector to the IC tag; using information from the IC tag transmitted to the detector by a return radio wave transmitted from the IC tag in response to the transmission radio wave; determining whether or not the loop circuit is energized by the computing unit; 7. A failure detection method for a steeply inclined conveyor belt according to claim 6, wherein the traction layer of said steeply inclined conveyor belt is constructed by arranging a large number of steel cords in parallel in the width direction, the relation between the embedding direction of said IC tag and the intensity of said return radio wave received by said detector is grasped in advance, said embedding direction in which the intensity of said return radio wave received by said detector is higher than a preset threshold value is specified, and said IC tag is embedded in said detection target part in said specified embedding direction. .

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