Motor Speed Probe with Integral Accelerometers
AssigneeElectro-Motive Diesel, Inc.
InventorGeorge Maier
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A traction motor speed probe may include one or more accelerometers that report acceleration in three dimensions. The accelerometer signals may be compared to accelerometer signals associated with known conditions in either the motor or a machine on which the motor is operating, such as wheel lock-up, worn motor parts, or a flat spot on a wheel in a locomotive application. The accelerometer may also be useful in identifying when a zero reading from a speed sensor is because the motor speed probe is no longer firmly coupled to the motor or if motor or wheel are locked up.
Claims20
A motor speed probe comprising:
- a housing;
- a speed sensor disposed in the housing;
- and
- an accelerometer disposed in the housing.
A system for diagnosing fault conditions in a locomotive having an electric motor, the system comprising:
- a motor speed probe coupled to the motor, the motor speed probe including a housing, a speed sensor and an accelerometer wherein both the speed sensor and the accelerometer are disposed in the housing;
- a controller coupled to the motor speed probe, the controller including:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory having computer executable instructions that cause the processor to interpret the output of the speed sensor to determine a speed associated with the motor;
- the memory having further computer executable instructions that cause the processor to compare a signal output of the accelerometer with a stored signal to identify a fault condition in the locomotive.
A method of identifying fault conditions in a motor, the method comprising:
- coupling a motor speed probe to the motor, the motor speed probe including a housing containing i) a speed sensor configured to measure a speed of the motor, and ii) an accelerometer configured to measure acceleration in three-axes;
- receiving at a controller a first signal from the speed sensor that is used to determine the speed of the motor;
- receiving at the controller a second signal from the accelerometer that is used to determine motion in three dimensions of the housing;
- comparing the second signal to a database of pre-determined signals associated with one or more fault conditions;
- and
- providing an alert via the controller when the second signal matches one or more the pre-determined signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.