Mechanical devices and method of creating prescribed vibration

Abstract

The invention provides a system for creating a prescribed vibration profile on a mechanical device comprising a sensor (30) for measuring an operating condition of the mechanical device, a circular force generator CFG (20) for creating a controllable rotating force vector comprising a controllable force magnitude, a controllable force phase and a controllable force frequency, a controller (22) in electronic communication with said sensor and said circular force generator, the controller operably controlling the controllable rotating force vector, wherein the difference between the measured operating condition and a desired operating condition is minimized.

Description

[0001]Some mechanical devices perform specific functions through use of induced vibratory motion. Such devices include monitoring damage detection and structural assessment of civil structures and mechanical devices, damping in civil structures, searching for oil and gas with seismic impulse exciters, medical device and equipment, controlling fluid flow in a pipe, deliquifying screens, material separators, vibratory feeders and conveyors, attrition mills, mold shakeout machines, and vibratory compactors. Typically these devices utilize one or more force generators to create a predefined force profile for inducing vibration within the device. These force generators may include linear drives or imbalanced rotors driven by synchronous motors or induction motors whose speed is an integer fraction of the electrical source frequency. To vary the frequency of vibration, variable frequency drives (VFDs) are used in conjunction with these motors. To tailor the shape of the vibration profile ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011](f) communicating the changes to the force vector to the CFG such that the difference between the measured operating function and the prescribed operating function is reduced.

Problems solved by technology

The aforementioned devices are incapable of maintaining a desired vibration profile when operating conditions change, such as a change in material loading, changes in temperature, changes in material properties, or other variables that can alter the response of the mechanical device.

In some cases, the aforementioned devices cannot create certain desirable vibration profiles.

In other cases, the aforementioned devices cannot create a variety of selectable vibration profiles within limits imposed by the authority of their respective force generators.

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