Controlling a conveyor in a mining system
AssigneeJoy MM Delaware, Inc.
InventorGareth Rimmington
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor for a mining system. The conveyor includes a sprocket, a chain, a drive mechanism, a hydraulic cylinder, and a controller. The chain is associated with the sprocket and has a top chain portion and a bottom chain portion. The drive mechanism is coupled to the sprocket and is operable to drive the sprocket. The controller includes a processing unit and a memory. The controller is configured to receive a first signal related to a characteristic of the drive mechanism, receive a second signal related to a reaction force of the sprocket, calculate a tension of the top chain portion based on the first signal and the second signal, and generate a control signal for controlling a position of the hydraulic cylinder based on the determined tension of the top chain portion.
Claims19
A conveyor for a mining system, the conveyor comprising:
- a first sprocket having a first position;
- a second sprocket having a second position, the first position being separated from the second position by a distance;
- a chain associated with the first sprocket and the second sprocket, the chain having a top chain portion and a bottom chain portion;
- a drive mechanism coupled to one of the first sprocket or the second sprocket, the drive mechanism operable to drive the one of the first sprocket or the second sprocket;
- a sensor operable to generate a first signal related to a characteristic of the drive mechanism;
- a load cell operable to directly measure a reaction force of the one of the first sprocket or the second sprocket and generate a second signal related to the reaction force of the one of the first sprocket or the second sprocket;
- a hydraulic cylinder;
- and
- a controller including a processing unit and a non-transitory computer readable data storage medium, the controller configured to
- receive the first signal from the sensor,
- receive the second signal from the load cell,
- calculate a tension of the top chain portion based on the first signal and the second signal, and
- generate a control signal for controlling a position of the hydraulic cylinder based on the determined tension of the top chain portion to control the distance between the first sprocket and the second sprocket.
A method of controlling tension of a conveyor chain, the conveyor chain having a top chain portion and a bottom chain portion, the method comprising:
- receiving, from a sensor, a first signal related to a characteristic of a drive mechanism, the drive mechanism operable to drive a sprocket;
- receiving, from a load cell, a second signal related to a reaction force of the sprocket, the load cell directly measuring a reaction force of a sprocket;
- calculating, with a processor, a tension of the top chain portion of the conveyor chain based on the first signal and the second signal;
- and
- generating a control signal for controlling a position of a hydraulic cylinder based on the calculated tension of the top chain portion.
A conveyor for a mining system, the conveyor comprising:
- a sprocket;
- a chain associated with the sprocket, the chain having a top chain portion and a bottom chain portion;
- a drive mechanism coupled to the sprocket, the drive mechanism operable to drive the sprocket;
- a hydraulic cylinder;
- and
- a controller including a processing unit and a non-transitory computer readable data storage medium, the controller configured to
- receive, from a sensor, a first signal related to a characteristic of the drive mechanism,
- receive, from a load cell, a second signal related to a reaction force of the sprocket, the load cell directly measuring a reaction force of the sprocket,
- calculate a tension of the top chain portion based on the first signal and the second signal, and
- generate a control signal for controlling a position of the hydraulic cylinder based on the determined tension of the top chain portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.