Monitoring apparatus and method

Monitoring apparatus for molds, said monitoring apparatus comprising a control unit connectable to:

• a first sensor associable with the mold and configured for emitting a first signal representative of a deformation parameter of said mold,
• a second sensor also associable with the mold and configured for emitting a second signal representative of a temperature of said mold,
• said control unit being configured for executing a control procedure comprising the following steps:
• receiving the first signal from the first sensor representative of a value of the deformation parameter,
• receiving the second signal from the second sensor representative of a temperature value of the mold,
• determining at least one alert condition,
• wherein the determination of the alert condition comprises:
• defining a value of a threshold parameter as a function of the temperature of the mold and comparing the value of the deformation parameter determined at the temperature of the mold with the value of the threshold parameter defined as a function of the temperature of the mold, or
• normalizing, at a reference temperature, the value of the deformation parameter determined at the temperature of the mold and comparing such value with a value of a threshold parameter defined at the reference temperature,
• wherein the deformation parameter normalized at the reference temperature comprises at least one between:
• a deformation of the mold standardized at the reference temperature,
• a displacement of the mold standardized at the reference temperature,
• a speed of the mold standardized at the reference temperature,
• an acceleration of the mold standardized at the reference temperature.

Monitoring apparatus for molds, said monitoring apparatus comprising a control unit connectable to:

• a first sensor associable with the mold and configured for emitting a first signal representative of a deformation parameter of said mold,
• a second sensor also associable with the mold and configured for emitting a second signal representative of a temperature of said mold,
• said control unit being configured for executing a control procedure comprising the following steps:
• receiving the first signal from the first sensor representative of a value of the deformation parameter,
• receiving the second signal from the second sensor representative of a temperature value of the mold,
• determining at least one alert condition,
• wherein the determination of the alert condition comprises:
• defining a value of a threshold parameter as a function of the temperature of the mold and comparing the value of the deformation parameter determined at the temperature of the mold with the value of the threshold parameter defined as a function of the temperature of the mold, or
• normalizing, at a reference temperature, the value of the deformation parameter determined at the temperature of the mold and comparing such value with a value of a threshold parameter defined at the reference temperature,
• wherein the monitoring apparatus further comprises:
• at least one first sensor associable with the mold and configured for emitting the first signal representative of the deformation parameter of said mold,
• at least one second sensor also associable with the mold and configured for emitting the second signal representative of a temperature of said mold,
• wherein the step of calculating the value of the deformation parameter of the mold comprises a sub-step of multiplying the first signal of the first sensor or an estimate of the value of the deformation parameter by the compensation coefficient in order to calculate the value of the deformation parameter of the mold.