Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G43/00—Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting
  • B65G43/02—Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting detecting dangerous physical condition of load carriers, e.g. for interrupting the drive in the event of overheating

Definitions

• This disclosure relates generally to monitoring systems and more specifically to an apparatus and method for in-belt conveyor idler condition monitoring.
• Conveyor belts are used in many applications. In some applications, conveyor belts are used to transport bulk materials such as ore, coal and grain. Conveyor belts in such applications may be as long as 50 kilometers and may be installed in hazardous or environmentally unfriendly areas .
• a conveyor belt is driven by a head pulley at one end and a tail pulley at the other end. Between the head pulley and tail pulley, idler rollers are typically used to support the belt. The idlers are typically mounted on a frame and rotate on bearings.
• This disclosure provides an apparatus and method for in-belt conveyor idler condition monitoring.
• a method in a first embodiment, includes sensing a characteristic of a support structure of a conveyor belt using a sensor mechanically coupled to the conveyor belt and wirelessly transmitting a signal corresponding to the sensed characteristic. The method also includes determining a condition of the support structure based upon the transmitted signal.
• the support structure is one of a plurality of support structures and characteristics of each of the support structures are sensed and associated with identifiers for the support structures.
• the support structure includes a plurality of elements and each element is sensed by one of a corresponding plurality of sensors.
• a system in a second embodiment, includes a conveyor belt, a support structure of the conveyor belt, a sensor mechanically coupled to the conveyor belt, and a monitor system.
• the sensor senses a characteristic of the support structure and wirelessly transmits a signal corresponding to the sensed characteristic to the monitor system and wirelessly transmits a signal corresponding to the sensed characteristic.
• the monitor system determines a condition of the support structure based upon the transmitted signal.
• a system in a third embodiment, includes a sensor, a controller, and a wireless interface.
• the sensor is mechanically coupled to a conveyor belt, detects a characteristic of a support structure associated with the conveyor belt, and produces a first signal responsive to the characteristic.
• the controller receives and stores the first signal, and produces a second signal according to the stored first signal.
• the wireless interface receives and wirelessly transmits the second signal.
• FIGURE 1 is a schematic diagram of a conveyor belt system in accordance with this disclosure
• FIGURE 2 is a cross section of a conveyor belt system in accordance with this disclosure; and [0013] FIGURE 3 is a schematic diagram of an in-belt wireless sensor in accordance with this disclosure.
• FIGURE 1 is a schematic diagram of a conveyor belt system 100 in accordance with this disclosure.
• a conveyor belt 102 in accordance with this disclosure is installed around a head pulley 106 and a tail pulley 104. Between the head pulley 106 and the tail pulley 104, the belt 102 is supported by idler assemblies 108a-108h.
• Idler wear or bearing failure may result in conveyor belt wear or misalignment. Idler failure may result in a torn conveyor belt, with attendant significant loss of production. In conventional conveyor belt systems, inspection of idlers may be infrequent or expensive for reasons that may include the harshness of the conveyor belt environment, the length of the belt system, the difficulty of inspecting idlers while the belt is in operation.
• wireless sensor systems 110, 112 and 114 are embedded in the conveyor belt 102. As the sensors 110, 112 and 114 pass over each of the idler assemblies 108a-108h, the sensors 110, 112 and 114 sense one or more characteristics of the idler assembly and store the sensed information for later upload to a monitoring or control system. Uploading of stored information is performed when the sensor 114 comes within wireless communication range of a wireless communication node 116. Similarly, when the sensor systems 110 and 112 come within communication range of the i-node 116, they will perform an upload of stored information.
• the node 116 may also be referred to as an intermediate node, or i-node.
• the node 116 is in wireless communication with a gateway node 118, which is in communication over a communication link 122 with a monitor system 120.
• the sensor 114 is shown communicating wirelessly with the i-node 116, it will be understood that in other embodiments, the sensor 114 may come within wireless communication range of, and communicate directly with, the gateway 118.
• additional i-nodes may serve to relay wireless communications between the i-node 116 and the gateway 118.
• conveyor belt 102 is shown with three wireless sensors in FIGURE 1, it will be understood that in other embodiments, fewer sensors may be used, or additional sensors may be included in a conveyor belt, to provide more frequent upload of stored information relating to idler condition. Similarly, additional i-nodes may be installed at other locations along the conveyor belt system 100 to permit the use of sensors with smaller storage capacity or to provide failure resistant redundant communication, as well as more frequent uploads of stored information. Also, while eight idler rollers are shown in FIGURE 1, it will be understood that in other embodiments more or fewer idlers may be used.
• the wireless sensor systems 110, 112 and 114 have self-contained power supplies, which may include batteries or other power supply devices. Where the power supply is a battery, the battery may be selected to provide a lifetime of several years, in order to reduce the frequency of stopping the conveyor belt in order to replace the battery.
• a recharge terminal 124 may be provided to recharge the power supply without requiring contact with the sensors.
• the recharge terminal 124 utilizes inductive power transfer to recharge the power supply in the sensor system 110.
• the recharge terminal 124 also serves as a location reference for the sensors 110, 112 and 114 as they pass around the pulleys and idlers of the conveyor belt system 100.
• the idler assembly 108g is identified as the first idler encountered after passing the recharge terminal 124, followed in sequence by the head pulley 106, the idler pulley 108h, the idler assemblies 108f, 108d and 108b, the tail pulley 104, and the idler assemblies 108a, 108c and 108e.
• the recharge terminal 124 as a location reference
• the sensors 110, 112 and 114 are able to identify stored information in a way that may be correctly interpreted by the monitor system 120.
• other location references may be provided for the sensors 110, 112 and 114.
• the i-node 116 or other wireless device may provide a location reference.
• a unique spacing between idler pulleys may be recognized as a location reference.
• FIGURE 2 is a cross section of a conveyor belt system in accordance with this disclosure.
• the conveyor belt 102 of FIGURE 1 lies atop an idler assembly 108a.
• the conveyor belt 102 is fabricated of rubber and is reinforced with steel cords 222.
• Embedded within the belt 102 and flush with, or adjacent to its inner surface (its lower surface in FIGURE 2) are the wireless sensor systems 110, 112 and 114.
• the sensor systems 110, 112 and 114 may be encapsulated in rubber as a plug and glued or fastened by other means into position in the conveyor belt 102. While the sensors are typically spaced along the length of the belt 102, as shown in FIGURE 1, they are shown within a single cross section of the belt 102 in FIGURE 2 for ease of description.
• the idler assembly 108a includes three idler rollers 202, 204 and 206 spaced across the width of the conveyor belt 102, giving the belt 102 a U-shaped configuration when a force 224 that is exerted by material being carried by the belt 102 presses it into the idler rollers.
• the idler roller 202 rotates about an axle 208 and is supported on the axle 208 by idler bearings 214a and
• the idler roller 204 rotates about an axle 210 and is supported by idler bearings 216a and 216b.
• the idler roller 206 rotates about an axle 212 and is supported by idler bearings 218a and 218b.
• the axles 208, 210 and 212 are supported by a base 220, which may be a solid structure, as shown in FIGURE 2, or may be a cable running along the periphery of the conveyor belt system 100.
• a base 220 which may be a solid structure, as shown in FIGURE 2, or may be a cable running along the periphery of the conveyor belt system 100.
• sensor 110 passes over the idler roller 202, it senses one or more characteristics of the condition of the roller 202 and the bearings 214a and 214b.
• the sensors 112 and 114 sense characteristics of the rollers 210 and 212, respectively, and their bearings.
• FIGURE 3 is a schematic diagram of an in-belt wireless sensor system 300 in accordance with this disclosure.
• the sensor system 300 includes a housing 301 that is adapted for fabrication or mounting within a conveyor belt.
• the sensor system 300 also includes a controller 308 that is powered by a power supply 314. Electrically coupled to the controller 308 are a pressure sensor 302, a vibration sensor 304, and a temperature sensor 306.
• the controller 308 is also electrically coupled to a wireless interface 310, which sends and receives wireless signals via an antenna 312.
• the power supply 314 may be a battery that is replaced when necessary.
• the power supply 314 may be a rechargeable device and an optional power input device 316 may be included in the sensor system 300.
• the power input device 316 may include a coil, allowing inductive power coupling with a external device such as the recharge station 124 of FIGURE 1.
• the power input device 316 may be a force transducer (such as a piezo-electric device) that converts some of the force experienced by the sensor when passing over an idler assembly into electrical power in order to recharge the power supply 316.
• the wireless sensor system 300 determines that it is passing over an idler from an increase in pressure detected by the pressure sensor 302. In other embodiments, the system 300 may determine that a sensor is passing over an idler by another method, for example, an amount of time that has passed since the sensor passed a location reference.
• the controller 308 receives measurements of pressure, vibration and temperature, respectively, from the sensors 302, 304 and 306 before, during and after passage of the sensor system 300 over an idler.
• the controller 308 stores the measurements along with an identifier associated with the idler. As discussed with reference to FIGURE 1, the identifier may be a sequence number indicating the idler's position in a sequence of idlers that follow a location reference.
• the controller 308 When the controller 308 receives a poll message via the antenna 312 and the wireless interface 310 from a wireless transceiver such as the i-node 116 of FIGURE 1, the controller 308 transmits some or all of the measurements and idler identifiers stored since the last poll message it received. [0031] As described with reference to FIGURE 1, the stored measurements are forwarded from the i-node 116 via the gateway 118 to the monitor system 120. The application may perform any necessary conversion on the received idler identifier and stores the measurements in a database arranged by idler identifier. The application then analyzes the received information, both within a single measurement and across a time series of measurements to detect characteristics and changes in characteristics of idlers .
• Characteristics such as the condition of an idler roller surface, misalignment of a roller or bearing causing the idler to be out of true, the condition of idler bearings, and others may be determined from an analysis of various ones of the pressure, vibration and temperature measurements acquired and sent by the wireless sensor systems 110, 112 and 114. Responsive to a condition detected, the monitor system 120 may schedule maintenance on one of idler assemblies 108a-108h, change an operating characteristic of the conveyor belt system 100 or take some other appropriate action.
• sensors for characteristics other than pressure, vibration and temperature may be used.
• some amount of calculation and analysis may be performed in the wireless sensor system 110, 112 or 114 prior to transmitting data to the i-node 116. In this way, the amount of data to be transmitted may be reduced from an embodiment that transmits raw measurement data from the sensor system.
• various functions described above are implemented or supported by a computer program that is formed from computer readable program code and that is embodied in a computer readable medium.
• computer readable program code includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code.
• computer readable medium includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM) , random access memory (RAM) , a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disc (DVD) , or any other type of media.
• Couple and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not those elements are in physical contact with one another.
• application and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer code (including source code, object code, or executable code) .
• transmit and “communicate,” as well as derivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication.
• controller means any device, system, or part thereof that controls at least one operation.
• a controller may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or some combination of at least two of the same. The functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.

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• Control Of Conveyors (AREA)
• Arrangements For Transmission Of Measured Signals (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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• 2008
  • 2008-02-04 US US12/025,141 patent/US7673739B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2009
  • 2009-01-24 JP JP2010545065A patent/JP2011510887A/ja active Pending
  • 2009-01-24 CN CN2009801040249A patent/CN101932517A/zh active Pending
  • 2009-01-24 EP EP09708806.6A patent/EP2238056A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2009-01-24 AU AU2009210587A patent/AU2009210587A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2009-01-24 WO PCT/US2009/031929 patent/WO2009099780A2/en not_active Ceased

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