Apparatus and method for measuring properties of a rope
AssigneeCortland Industrial LLC
InventorsLuis S. Padilla, Wesley Conger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rope, a system and a method for measuring one or more properties of a rope. A property evaluation system for ropes can be deployed for a number of different applications including, but not limited to, moving lines, e.g., crane or winch and static lines, e.g., mooring lines, stays, etc., to evaluate physical properties of the ropes and, in some cases, to help evaluate structural health of the ropes. A sheave assembly (10) may transmit a signal into a rope (14) to measure at least one property of the rope. At least one sensor (25) may be coupled to or assembled in the rope to measure at least one property of the rope.
Claims18
A system for measuring one or more properties of a rope, the system comprising:
- a sheave assembly including a wheel having a circumferential groove for at least partially receiving the rope;
- and
- a transducer coupled to the wheel in the groove sheave, the transducer being operable to transmit a signal into the rope when the rope is in contact with the wheel to measure at least one property of the rope, the signal being transmitted in a generally transverse direction relative to a longitudinal direction of the rope.
A synthetic fiber rope comprising:
- a plurality of strands intertwined to form a rope having a length defining an axial direction;
- and
- a plurality of sensors coupled to the rope along the length of the rope, the sensors being adapted to sense a characteristic of the rope and selectively transmit a signal representative of the sensed characteristic, wherein individual sensors of the plurality of sensors are included in each strand of the rope to assess a health of each strand.
A synthetic fiber rope comprising:
- a plurality of strands intertwined to form a rope having a length defining an axial direction;
- and
- a plurality of sensors coupled to the rope along the length of the rope, the sensors being adapted to sense a characteristic of the rope and selectively transmit a signal representative of the sensed characteristic;
- wherein the plurality of strands is a first plurality of strands defining an outer surface and a longitudinal center passageway of the rope;
- and
- wherein the rope further comprises at least one second strand positioned within the center passageway of the rope and having different properties than the first plurality of strands, wherein the plurality of sensors are contained within or coupled to the at least one second strand.
A system for measuring one or more properties of a rope, the system comprising:
- a rope having a plurality of sensors contained within the rope, the plurality of sensors being configured to sense information relating to the rope;
- and
- a device adjacent to which the rope passes, the device being adapted to receive the information from the plurality of sensors as the rope passes adjacent the device, wherein the device includes a sheave assembly comprising a wheel having a circumferential groove for at least partially receiving the rope, and a transducer coupled to the wheel to receive a signal from the plurality of sensors within the rope, wherein the transducer is coupled to a trough of the groove.
A system for measuring one or more properties of a rope, the system comprising:
- a rope having a plurality of sensors contained within the rope, the plurality of sensors being configured to sense information relating to the rope;
- and
- a device adjacent to which the rope passes, the device being adapted to receive the information from the plurality of sensors as the rope passes adjacent the device, wherein the device includes a passageway for the rope to pass through and a pair of transducers on opposite sides of the passageway to receive information from the sensors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.