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US 5,491,553 AGranted
Triple laser rotary kiln alignment system
AssigneePhillips Kiln Service Company of Canada, Ltd.
InventorWalter M. Gebhart
Life of this patent
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AssigneePhillips Kiln Service Company of Canada, Ltd.
InventorWalter M. Gebhart
Estimating the term…
The locating of the local centre of rotation of a cylindrical body from outside the body, while the body is rotating upon supporting bearings is carried out using a number of distance-measuring diode lasers mounted upon a movable chassis. Such determination of local centres of rotation can be used in the case of hot kilns to re-align the supporting sets of bearings upon which the kiln is rotatably supported. The integrated triangulation monitoring chassis is located in sequence at respective axial stations located along the kiln, adjacent the supporting bearings, and at each station a simultaneous single set of readings from three diode lasers to the shell surface enables a computer to calculate the location of the centre of rotation relative to the chassis. The location of the chassis, relative to a selected datum, is determined by the use of an integrated total station theodolite, which is repositioned, as required, to enable it to access and locate the chassis. A pair of prism reflectors mounted to the chassis facilitate the action of the theodolite, remote radio control being used to align the respective prisms towards the theodolite, in reflecting relation therewith. With each relocation of the theodolite datum its location relative to the original datum is determined, so that the derived centre distances, as measured by the diode lasers, can be plotted in true relation with a common datum, enabling ready determination of the corrections to the supporting bearings that are necessary, in order to achieve a unified axis of rotation for the kiln.
Apparatus for determining the location of a rotatable body relative to an established datum, comprising survey theodolite means positioned at the established datum for reading upon a distant, portable chassis means located adjacent said rotatable body, the chassis means having at least two reflecting targets, and target adjustment means for aligning the at least two reflecting targets in substantially aligned reflecting relation with the theodolite means to enable line of sight measurement from the established datum to the portable chassis, to thereby accurately determine the location of the chassis means in three dimensions, relative to said datum, said chassis means including at least two distance measuring means for measuring selected distances between said chassis means and said rotatable body.
A centre location apparatus, for use in determining the centre of rotation of a rotating cylinder, comprising a chassis for location in predetermined spaced relation adjacent a surface of said cylinder, having three distance measuring means mounted in mutually spaced relation on said chassis, and operable substantially simultaneously to provide read-out of respective distances therefrom to said surface, and computer means to receive said read-out therefrom.
The method of surveying a rotating cylindrical body from a position adjacent thereto, including locating near-distance measuring means at a first station adjacent said body, for obtaining coordinated triangulation measurements substantially simultaneously from the rotating surface of said body, operating said near-distance measuring means to provide said measurements, and calculating the centre of rotation of said body relative to said measuring means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.