Conveyor idler monitoring apparatus, systems, and methods
AssigneeSuperior Industries, Inc.
InventorsOsvaldo Baggio, Eduardo Martinelli
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Conveyor idler monitoring apparatus, systems and methods are provided. In some embodiments, one or more sensors (e.g., temperature sensors, load sensors, etc.) are supported by the shaft of a conveyor idler. In some embodiments, one or more sensors are in data communication with a wireless transmitter. In some embodiments, a power generator driven by rotation of the idler is in electrical communication with one or more sensors and/or a wireless transmitter. In some embodiments, a plurality of idlers monitoring systems are in data communication with a conveyor monitoring system and/or operational monitoring system.
Claims20
A method for monitoring a plurality of conveyor idlers, each conveyor idler having a cylinder with an inner surface and an outer surface, the cylinder rollingly supported on a shaft by a plurality of bearings, the method comprising:
- using first temperature sensors associated with each said conveyor idler, measuring a first temperature of one of the bearings of each conveyor idler;
- measuring a rotational speed of each said conveyor idler:
- using a vibration sensor, measuring a vibration of each said conveyor idler, using a transmitter associated with each conveyor idler, transmitting data including said first temperature, said rotational speed and said vibration to a wireless receiver;
- by an internal generator associated with each conveyor idler at least partly powered by rotation of the conveyor idler, powering at least one of said transmitter, said first temperature sensor, and said vibration sensor;
- transmitting said data to an application server via a gateway;
- displaying current values of said first temperature, said rotational speed, and said vibration on a user interface;
- on said application server, using an artificial intelligence algorithm to predict, based on said first temperature, said vibration and said rotational speed, a predicted failure time for each of the conveyor idlers;
- and displaying on said user interface a failure indication associated with at least one of the conveyor idlers, said failure indication based on said predicted failure times for each of the conveyor idlers.
A method for monitoring a plurality of conveyor idlers each having a cylinder with an inner surface and an outer surface, each cylinder rollingly supported on a shaft by a plurality of bearings, the method comprising:
- gathering data from a plurality of conveyor idler monitoring systems associated with each conveyor idler, each conveyor idler monitoring system comprising a first and second sensor;
- using an application server in data communication with said gateway, predicting an idler failure time for each of the conveyor idlers based on said data gathered by each of said conveyor idler monitoring systems;
- displaying on a user interface said data for each of the conveyor idlers;
- and on said application server, using an algorithm to predict, based on said data, a predicted failure time for each of the conveyor idlers;
- and displaying on said user interface a failure indication associated with at least one of the conveyor idlers, said failure indication based on said predicted failure times for each of the conveyor idlers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.