Systems and procedures

Abstract

A system and procedure are proposed. The system has at least one control unit (10) and a bearing configuration (12), the bearing configuration (12) including at least one sensor unit (14) for measuring a quantity, wherein the system is configured to find a first value of the quantity in a first time span for a first set of times by means of the at least one sensor unit, and the system is configured to infer a second value of the quantity for a second set of times from a third value measured by the at least one sensor unit in a second time span, the first set of times being different from the second set of times.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and a procedure. Background Art

[0002] Systems are known that use a single average of a set of measured values ​​to detect a problem with a bearing. The problem is water ingress. Furthermore, the measurement of the level of water content in grease is known from patent application GB2559791. Summary of the invention

[0003] The object of the present invention is in particular to provide a system with improved effectiveness. According to the present invention, this object is solved by the features of the technical solution 1 of the present patent, while the advantageous concepts and further improvements of the present invention can be obtained by the subordinate technical solutions.

[0004] The proposed system has at least one control unit and a bearing configuration, the bearing configuration comprising at least one sensor unit for measuring a quantity, wherein the system is configured to find a first value of the quantity in a first time span for a first set of moments with the aid of the at least one sensor unit, and the system is configured to infer a second value of the quantity for a second set of moments from a third value measured via the at least one sensor unit in a second time span, the first set of moments being different from the second set of moments.

[0005] According to the invention, an increase in effectiveness can be achieved. In particular, water ingress into a bearing originating from different sources and occurring at different timescales can be detected very efficiently and effectively. In particular, the reliability of the water ingress detection can be improved. Furthermore, more or less instantaneous water ingress as well as slowly accumulated humidity buildups can be detected very effectively. In addition, the robustness of the bearing arrangement can be increased, so that very precise information about the point in time of water ingress is obtained. In particular, it is easier to find the root cause of the water ingress.

[0006] Further advantages are obtained from the following description of the drawings. The drawings show examples of the invention. The drawings, the description and the claims contain a combination of several features. A person skilled in the art will also consider the features individually and combine them into meaningful other combinations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 shows a schematic cross section through a system according to the invention, and

[0008] Figure 2A schematic cross section through a further system according to the invention is shown, in which the sensor unit is arranged outside the bearing.

[0009] Description of Reference Numerals

[0010] 10Control Unit

[0011] 12 Bearing configuration

[0012] 14 sensor units

[0013] 15 sensor units

[0014] 16 outer ring

[0015] 18 Inner Circle

[0016] 20 rolling elements

[0017] 22 Seals

[0018] 24 Seals

[0019] 26 Axis

[0020] 28 Shell DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Figure 1 A schematic cross section through a system according to the invention is shown. The system is given by a bearing arrangement 12, which comprises a control unit 10 and a sensor unit 14 capable of measuring a quantity. The quantity is the level of water content in the grease contained in the bearing arrangement. The bearing arrangement has an outer ring 16, an inner ring 18 and rolling elements 20 contacting the outer ring and the inner ring. In addition, seals 22, 24 seal the space between the inner ring and the outer ring where the rolling elements are located. The grease is arranged in the bearing arrangement so as to facilitate the movement of the rolling elements relative to the outer ring and the inner ring. In the embodiment shown, the rolling elements are balls.

[0022] The control unit 10 is configured to measure, with the help of a sensor unit, a first value of the quantity during a first time span for a first set of instants of time. The time span is given by the operating duration of the bearing configuration. In addition, the control unit is configured to measure, with the help of a sensor unit, a third value of the quantity in a second time span for a third set of instants. The first time span and the second time span are identical. In other embodiments of the invention, they may be different. Adjacent moments of the first set of instants are one second apart. In other words, the control unit initiates a measurement so as to obtain a first value per second. The third set of instants is identical to the first set of instants. Due to this, the third value and the first value are identical.

[0023] The control unit is configured to infer a second value of the quantity for a second set of moments from a third value measured via the sensor unit in a second time span. Adjacent moments of the second set of moments are one hour apart. For each moment of the second set of moments, the control unit obtains one of the second values ​​of the quantity by calculating the average of the third values ​​of the quantity measured in the hour before the corresponding moment of the second set of moments. In other embodiments of the invention, the calculation of the average value is replaced by finding the median or by applying another statistical metric.

[0024] In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, adjacent moments in the second set of moments are separated by an amount of time other than one hour.

[0025] The control unit is configured to extract first trend information from the first set and the first values. In addition, the control unit is configured to extract second trend information from the second set and the second values. The first trend information is a first trend value, and the control unit is configured to send a signal when the first trend value exceeds a first threshold value, and the second trend information is a second trend value, and the system is configured to send a signal when the second trend value exceeds a second threshold value. The signal sent can be sent from the control unit to an alarm unit via radio communication, and the alarm unit displays or sounds an alarm to indicate that there is a problem with the bearing configuration. The first trend information is an average of the first values, and the second trend information is an average of the second values, which, of course, lies in the past relative to the evaluation time point when the second trend information is evaluated. Of course, in other embodiments of the present invention, the trend information can also be different quantities, for example, it can also be the first-order derivative of the interpolation curve (1 stderivative of an interpolation curve). In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the control unit may be constructed in such a way that the second trend information is evaluated at very different ( / distinctly different) time points, and at each of these time points, the last moment in the second set of moments is used as the corresponding time point when evaluating the second trend information. The last aspect may imply that all second values ​​must be recalculated, which means that in this case the second trend information is a moving average.

[0026] The control unit and the sensor unit may receive their energy from batteries or also by energy harvesting.

[0027] In other embodiments of the system according to the invention, the control unit may be located outside the bearing arrangement.The communication between the control unit and the sensor unit may then be accomplished using radio communication.

[0028] By using the first trend information and the second trend information, it is avoided to detect water ingress using only a single average, which is too fast or too noisy to initiate a reliable alarm, or too slow to detect a small event of water ingress.

[0029] The slower second trend is configured to have a much lower alarm level than the faster first trend, because it is more reliable. Typically, a short trend indicates the time when the sensor unit detects new water injection, and a long trend indicates the amount of water after mixing with grease.

[0030] Instead of the level of water content in the grease, it is also possible to use the humidity in the bearing arrangement as the quantity. By separating the measurement in slow and fast trends, free water particles can be detected before they mix with the grease.

[0031] Instead of one time span, a plurality of time spans can also be used for additional alarm response time.

[0032] Figure 2 Optional embodiments are shown. Components, features, and functions that remain substantially the same are labeled with the same reference numerals throughout. However, to distinguish between the embodiments, Figure 2 The following description is essentially limited to the embodiments described in Figure 1 For the same components, features and functions, reference can be made to Figure 1 Description of the implementation method in .

[0033] Figure 2 Another embodiment according to the present invention is shown. The bearing arrangement 12a of the system comprises a housing 28a, to which the outer ring 16a is fixed. The inner ring 18a is fixed to the shaft 26a of the bearing arrangement 12a. The inner ring and the outer ring are part of the bearing of the bearing arrangement 12a. The first sensor unit 14a and the second sensor unit 15a are fixed to the housing. The control unit 10a of the system can measure the level of moisture content of the bearing or grease using the first sensor unit and / or the second sensor unit. In an optional embodiment, the (second) sensor unit 15a does not exist. In another optional embodiment, the (first) sensor unit 14a does not exist.

Claims

1. A system for measuring a quantity, comprising at least one control unit (10) and a bearing arrangement (12), the bearing arrangement (12) comprising at least one sensor unit (14) for measuring the quantity, wherein: The quantity is the humidity in the bearing arrangement, or the level of water content in the grease contained in the bearing arrangement, Wherein, the bearing configuration comprises: Outer ring (16), Inner ring (18), rolling elements (20) contacting the outer race and the inner race, A sealing member (22, 24) is located in the space between the inner ring and the outer ring where the rolling element is located. wherein the grease is arranged in the space, wherein the system is configured to find, by means of the at least one sensor unit, a first value of the quantity in a first time span for a first set of moments, The system is configured to infer a second value of the quantity for a second set of moments in time from a third value measured via the at least one sensor unit in a second time span, the first set of moments in time being different from the second set of moments in time, The interval between adjacent moments of the second group of moments is between one hour and one thousand hours, and the interval between adjacent moments of the first group of moments is between one second and ten minutes. wherein the system is configured to extract first trend information from the first value, wherein the system is configured to extract second trend information from the second value, and The slower second trend information is configured to have a lower alarm level than the faster first trend information, the short trend information indicates the time when the at least one sensor unit detects new water injection, and the long trend information indicates the amount of water after mixing with grease.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The first trend information is a first trend value, and the system is configured to send a signal when the first trend value exceeds a first threshold.

3. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The first trend information is a first trend value, and the system is configured to send a signal when the first trend value exceeds a first threshold. The second trend information is a second trend value, and the system is configured to send a signal when the second trend value exceeds a second threshold.

4. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first trend information is a first trend value that is an average of the first values ​​and / or the second trend information is a second trend value that is an average of the second values.

5. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The at least one control unit is located outside the bearing arrangement, the at least one control unit communicating with the at least one sensor unit via radio communication.

6. A program executed by a system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: finding a first value of the quantity in a first time span for a first set of moments by means of at least one sensor unit, From a third value of the quantity measured in a second time span, a second value of the quantity for a second set of instants is inferred, the first set of instants being different from the second set of instants.

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