Part monitoring system

Abstract

A part monitoring system comprising a plurality of monitoring units (12) each mounted on a part within an industrial system. An identification code is associated with each of the monitoring units (12) and a plurality of light emitters (28) are provided on the monitoring units. A unique set of the light emitters (28) on each monitoring (12) is illuminated corresponding to the identification code and a portable device is used to take an image of the sets of lights of a plurality of the monitoring units (12) when installed in a location within the industrial system. The image is processed by the central monitoring unit to recognize the illuminated lights of each monitoring unit (12) and associate the identification code of said monitoring unit (12) with one of the parts.

Description

“PART MONITORING SYSTEM”Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for monitoring parts within an industrial system, such as monitoring physical wear of parts in a conveyor system.Background to the Invention

[0002] Many industrial systems utilise multiple components which will degrade during use. Industrial conveyor systems, for example, use wear plates to direct material along the conveyor belt and these plates will wear down over time. Monitoring systems may therefore be deployed on the wear plates within such systems to monitor and report on the level of wear of each part. Maintenance can therefore be performed at appropriate intervals to replace worn parts while minimizing the impact of shut downs.

[0003] One issue with such systems is tracking data associated with each part when there are significant number of parts within the system. If the monitoring units on each part include wireless communications to a central monitoring system, each part must be identified in some fashion and the identification must be transmitted to the central monitoring unit which needs corresponding information on the location of the part within the system. Setting up such a system with identification information for each part being correctly associated with a location within the system can be time consuming.

[0004] The present invention is aimed at reducing the time taken to store identification information for a part within a monitoring system in conjunction with the location at which the part is installed.Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a part monitoring system comprising: a plurality of monitoring units, each monitoring unit to be mounted relative to a part within an industrial system or section of an industrial system where one or more characteristics of the part are to be monitored over time and transmitted to a central monitoring system; an identification code associated with each of the monitoring units; and a plurality of light emitters provided on the monitoring unit; wherein a unique set of the light emitters on each monitoring is illuminated corresponding to the identification code of the monitoring unit such that a portable device may take an image of the sets of lights of a plurality of the monitoring units when installed in a location within the industrial system such that the image is processed by the central monitoring unit to recognize the illuminated lights of each monitoring unit and associate the identification code of said monitoring unit with one of the parts.

[0006] Preferably each of the monitoring units comprises a housing in communication with sensors provided on the part and a transmitter to transmit information regarding the characteristics to the central monitoring system.

[0007] Preferably the housing includes a transparent cover, through which the light emitters are visible.

[0008] Preferably the light emitters are provided in an array.

[0009] Preferably the light emitters are provided in a rectangular array.

[0010] Preferably the illuminated set of light emitters function as a QR code.

[0011] Preferably the housings each have a circuit board and the light emitters comprise LEDs mounted to the circuit board.

[0012] Preferably the portable device includes a mobile phone such that the camera on the mobile phone takes the image of the monitoring units.

[0013] Preferably the mobile phone includes application software in communication with the central monitoring unit to transmit the images to the central monitoring system.

[0014] In accordance with the present invention, there is method of monitoring parts within an industrial system comprising the steps of: mounting a plurality of monitoring units to parts within an industrial system, or section of an industrial system, each monitoring unit having a plurality of light emitters provided on the monitoring unit; illuminating a unique set of the light emitters on each monitoring corresponding to an identification code of the monitoring unit; taking an image of a plurality of the monitoring units when installed in a location within the industrial system; and processing the image within a central monitoring unit to recognize each of the illuminated sets of light emitters in order to associate the identification code of each of the monitoring units with the part on which the monitoring unit is mounted.

[0015] Preferably the method includes the steps of: creating a digital representation of the parts in the industrial system, the digital representation comprising a plurality of regions each representing the relative physical location of one of the parts; overlaying the digital representation of the parts onto the image taken.

[0016] Preferably the method includes the step of manipulating the position and size of the digital representation so that the regions each correspond to one of the parts in the image and each region includes the light pattern displayed on a single housing in order to associate the identification code of that monitoring unit in that region with the part.

[0017] Preferably the method includes the step of illuminating the lights such that the lights function as a QR code.

[0018] Preferably the method includes the step of taking the image on a mobile phone and transmitting the image to the central monitoring system.Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0020] Figure 1 is an upper perspective view of a housing of a part monitoring unit to be installed on a part to monitor the state of the part;

[0021] Figure 2 is an upper perspective view of the housing of Figure 1 with a front cover removed;

[0022] Figure 3 is a front view of the housing of Figure 1 with the front cover removed;

[0023] Figure 4 is a representation of an image taken of parts of an industrial system for use with the part monitoring system and the housings installed on each part.Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

[0024] The present invention relates to a part monitoring system comprising a plurality of monitoring units 12 each to be installed on a part of an industrial system. The monitoring units 12 each sense one or more characteristics of the part and transmits information regarding these characteristics back to a central monitoring system. In the embodiment of Figure 4, the parts are shown as wear plates 11 and the characteristic that is sensed is the amount by which surfaces of the plates have worn. It will be appreciated however that the invention may be applied to other types of parts and other sensed characteristics.

[0025] The monitoring unit 12 comprising a housing 14 to be secured to the part to be monitored. In the case of the wear plates 11 , the wear plates 11 are secured in place by bolts 13 and the housing 14 is mountable to one of the bolts 13 on each of the wear plates 11. The housing 14 includes circuitry to receive information from a sensor provided on the part. The sensor may, for example, comprise a wear sensor such that the characteristic sensed is the thickness of the wear plate. Information regarding the sensed thickness of the wear plate is received by the circuitry within the monitoring unit 12 and may be transmitted to a central monitoring system which can then monitor the wear of the wear plate 11 over time.

[0026] The housing 14 in the embodiment shown comprises a base wall 16 to be secured in use adjacent a rear surface of the wear plate and a side wall 18 extending up from around the periphery of the base wall 16 to define a cavity 20. A circuit board 22 is provided within the cavity having connection to the sensor on the wear plate 11 and includes a transmitter to transmit information to the central monitoring system.

[0027] A cover 24 is provided to seal across the open end of the side wall 18 of the housing 14. The cover 24 includes clips 26 to engage with an outer surface of the side wall 18 of the housing 14.

[0028] Each of the monitoring units 12 includes an identification code to identify the data transmitted by the monitoring unit 12 to the central monitoring system. The central monitoring system can thereby monitor changes in the sensed characteristics of the parts at each location within the industrial system. The central monitoring system can therefore produce relevant information, such as charts or images of the amount of wear at various locations in a conveyor system, which can be used to more efficiently schedule maintenance of the wear plates 11 .

[0029] Each of the monitoring units 12 includes a plurality of light emitters 28. Each of the light emitters 28 may be switched on or off and, in embodiment shown, each comprises an LED mounted to a surface of the circuit board 22 on a side adjacent the cover 24. The cover 24 is formed from a transparent ortranslucent material such that the illuminated light emitters 28 can be viewed through the cover 24.

[0030] The light emitters 28 are arranged in an array such that illuminating a set of the light emitters 28 within one of the monitoring units 12 creates a pattern of illuminated light emitters 28. In the embodiment shown, the array comprises a rectangular array of light emitters 28. It will be appreciated however that other configurations of light emitters 28 may be possible. In embodiment shown, where the light emitters 28 are arranged in a rectangular array, the illuminated set of light emitters 28 may function as a QR code.

[0031] Each of the monitoring units 12 includes a unique set of illuminated light emitters 28 such that the pattern of illuminated light emitters 28 on the monitoring unit 12 is different to the illuminated set of light emitters 28 on other monitoring units 12 within the industrial system. It will be appreciated that the unique set of illuminated light emitters 28 may be unique within a particular section of the industrial system rather than a whole industrial system, for example, within a particular chute of a conveyor system or particular wall of a conveyor chute.

[0032] An image of the illuminated set of light emitters 28 on each monitoring unit 12 may be taken by a suitable portable device to identify the set of illuminated light emitters 28. The portable device for scanning the illuminated light emitters 28 may comprise a mobile phone which utilises the camera of the phone to take an image of a plurality of the housings 14 with the light emitters illuminated. The mobile phone can then provide this image to the central monitoring system. The phone may have application software installed and be in communication with the central monitoring system in order to provide the images to the central monitoring system.

[0033] The central monitoring system then uses the images of the illuminated light emitters 28 on the housings 14 within the image to determine the identification code of each housing 14 and the particular part on which that housing 14 is installed. The central monitoring system can therefore associatedata sent from each housing 14 with a particular part, based on the transmitted identification code from the monitoring unit 12 of that part.

[0034] The central monitoring system includes a digital representation 30 of the industrial system or of one or more sections of the industrial system. The digital representation 30 comprises data regarding the physical position of each part relative to other parts within the industrial system or section. The digital representation 30 may, for example, be displayed on a display screen with information regarding the sensed characteristics of each of the parts.

[0035] The digital representation 30 includes a plurality of regions 32 (as can be seen in Figure 4) where each region represents the physical location of one of the parts, being the wear plates 11 in the embodiment of Figure 4. The regions 32 in Figure 4 comprise rectangular areas, corresponding to the rectangular shape of the wear plates 11. The relative arrangement of the regions 30 corresponds to the relative physical arrangement of the parts in the industrial system or section thereof.

[0036] The central monitoring system can overlay the digital representation 30 of the parts onto the image taken by the portable device. Figure 4 shows an example of an image taken of the wear plates 11 with the associated housings 14. The regions 32 of the digital representation 30 are shown overlaid over the image of the wear plates 11 . By manipulating the position and size of the digital representation 30 so that the regions 32 each generally correspond to the wear plates 11 and so that each region 32 includes the light pattern displayed on a single housing 14, the central monitoring system can scan each region 32 and then associate the particular identification code of the monitoring unit 12 in that region 32 with the part associated with that region 32 by recognising the pattern of illuminated light emitters 28.

[0037] The part monitoring system of the present invention may therefore easily capture the identification code and location information regarding a plurality of monitoring units 12 within the part monitoring system and provide this information to the central monitoring system. Efficiency of both setting up aplurality of monitoring units 12 within the system and also reconfiguring monitoring units 12, such as replacing monitoring units 12, is thereby improved.

[0038] It will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the relevant arts that various modifications and improvements may be made to the foregoing embodiments, in addition to those already described, without departing from the basic inventive concepts of the present invention.

Claims

Claims1 . A part monitoring system comprising: a plurality of monitoring units, each monitoring unit to be mounted relative to a part within an industrial system or section of an industrial system where one or more characteristics of the part are to be monitored over time and transmitted to a central monitoring system; an identification code associated with each of the monitoring units; and a plurality of light emitters provided on the monitoring unit; wherein a unique set of the light emitters on each monitoring is illuminated corresponding to the identification code of the monitoring unit such that a portable device may take an image of the sets of lights of a plurality of the monitoring units when installed in a location within the industrial system such that the image is processed by the central monitoring unit to recognize the illuminated lights of each monitoring unit and associate the identification code of said monitoring unit with one of the parts.

2. A part monitoring system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein each of the monitoring units comprises a housing in communication with sensors provided on the part and a transmitter to transmit information regarding the characteristics to the central monitoring system.

3. A part monitoring system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a transparent cover, through which the light emitters are visible.

4. A part monitoring system in accordance with claim 3, wherein the light emitters are provided in an array.

5. A part monitoring system in accordance with claim 4, wherein the light emitters are provided in a rectangular array.

6. A part monitoring system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the illuminated set of light emitters function as a QR code.

7. A part monitoring system in accordance with any one of the claims 2 to 6, wherein the housings each have a circuit board and the light emitters comprise LEDs mounted to the circuit board.

8. A part monitoring system in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein the portable device includes a mobile phone such that the camera on the mobile phone takes the image of the monitoring units.

9. A part monitoring system in accordance with claim 8, wherein the mobile phone includes application software in communication with the central monitoring unit to transmit the images to the central monitoring system.

10. A method of monitoring parts within an industrial system comprising the steps of: mounting a plurality of monitoring units to parts within an industrial system, or section of an industrial system, each monitoring unit having a plurality of light emitters provided on the monitoring unit; illuminating a unique set of the light emitters on each monitoring corresponding to an identification code of the monitoring unit; taking an image of a plurality of the monitoring units when installed in a location within the industrial system; and processing the image within a central monitoring unit to recognize each of the illuminated sets of light emitters in order to associate the identification code of each of the monitoring units with the part on which the monitoring unit is mounted.

11. A method in accordance with claim 10, including the steps of: creating a digital representation of the parts in the industrial system, the digital representation comprising a plurality of regions each representing the relative physical location of one of the parts;overlaying the digital representation of the parts onto the image taken.

12. A method in accordance with claim 11 , including the step of manipulating the position and size of the digital representation so that the regions each correspond to one of the parts in the image and each region includes the light pattern displayed on a single housing in order to associate the identification code of that monitoring unit in that region with the part.

13. A method in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 12, including the step of illuminating the lights such that the lights function as a QR code.

14. A method in accordance with any one of claims 10 to 13, including the step of taking the image on a mobile phone and transmitting the image to the central monitoring system.

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