Sensor roller and method for producing a sensor roller

Abstract

The invention relates to a sensor rolling body (1), comprising a raceway layer (2) and a sensor layer (4) arranged radially inside the raceway layer (2), at least one electronic device (6) being embedded in the sensor layer (4) and at least one sensor layer (5) being arranged radially inside the sensor layer (4). The sensor layer (4) and the at least one electronic device (6) are produced by means of an additive manufacturing method.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a sensor rolling element according to claim 1. Furthermore, this invention relates to a method for producing such a sensor rolling element according to claim 10. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of bearings (such as rolling or sliding bearings), it is necessary to monitor the condition of the bearings to ensure the reliable operation of the bearings and the devices in which they are mounted. This can be achieved via sensors installed in or on the bearings. However, many challenges need to be overcome.

[0003] If active sensors are used, they require cabling for operation, which is difficult to implement in rotating systems or space-constrained applications because wires must be routed to the point of use. The use of wireless sensors in bearings (especially rolling elements) is hindered, for example, by the shielding of the metal-based materials commonly used in the bearing industry. This material can prevent the sensor from receiving or transmitting signals, resulting in no usable data.

[0004] Sensor rolling elements (specifically sensor rollers) consisting of hollow rollers and inlets are indeed known. The inlet includes the measuring sensor and associated electronics for data transmission. However, the production of these sensor rollers is expensive because both the rollers themselves and the sensor inlet must be manufactured separately and then assembled.

[0005] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a sensor rolling element that can be easily and cost-effectively produced. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This objective is achieved by a sensor rolling element according to patent technology solution 1 and by a method for producing such a sensor rolling element according to patent technology solution 10.

[0007] As described above, the previously used sensor rolling element consisted of a hollow roller and a separately manufactured sensor inlet inserted into the roller. Various sensors could be mounted on the sensor inlet.

[0008] Compared to previous sensor rolling elements, a sensor rolling element is proposed here to simplify the production of sensor rolling elements. The sensor rolling element has a raceway layer and a sensor layer disposed radially inside the raceway layer, wherein at least one electronic device is embedded in the sensor layer, and wherein the sensor layer and the at least one electronic device are produced by means of an additive manufacturing method.

[0009] Additive manufacturing methods can be understood as various production methods that apply material layer by layer to produce three-dimensional workpieces (in this case, for example, producing a sensor layer with at least one electronic device). This additive manufacturing method is also commonly referred to as 3D printing, and includes various production methods such as powder bed methods, free space methods (FDM, FFF), stereolithography, screen printing, laser sintering, binder jetting, extrusion (fused layer modeling), LDM (liquid deposition modeling), cold gas spraying, etc.

[0010] Therefore, the sensor rolling element is a multi-material rolling element or a composite rolling element. The housing structure that mechanically contacts the bearing ring during operation is designed as a raceway layer. A sensor layer, incorporating at least one electronic device, is radially disposed within this raceway layer. The sensor layer and at least one electronic device are manufactured together in a single additive manufacturing operation. In this way, an easy-to-manufacture, cost-effective sensor rolling element is provided.

[0011] According to another embodiment, the raceway layer can also be produced by an additive manufacturing method. Therefore, the entire sensor rolling element can be produced using additive manufacturing methods. This provides a particularly advantageous production method because the sensor rolling element can be produced in any shape and size using additive manufacturing methods. In this way, the sensor rolling element can be flexibly adapted to different requirements in terms of shape and / or size (e.g., diameter, whether or not it has an inner bore, the diameter of the inner bore, etc.).

[0012] According to another embodiment, the stiffness of the sensor rolling element or its individual components (such as the sensor layer) can be adjusted through the design of individual layers and / or through the selection of additive manufacturing methods. This can be achieved, for example, by grading porosity, density, or structure and / or by providing a hollow structure. This allows for modeling of the elastic behavior of materials such as steel (in rolling bearings) or other materials. For example, the elastic behavior of the raceway layer for rolling contact can be approximated to that of such a material, i.e., the surface pressure can be adjusted according to predefined design guidelines. This also allows the stiffness or surface pressure distribution to be localized or adjusted globally.

[0013] According to another embodiment, the thickness of the different layers can be varied as needed. This allows the raceway layer and / or sensor layer to be adapted to different requirements. For example, the raceway layer can be thicker or thinner to withstand higher or lower loads. Similarly, the thickness of the sensor layer can be varied depending on the electronics to be embedded. For example, the sensor layer can be designed to be thick enough that the electronics are fully embedded. If the electronics are not intended to be fully embedded, for example, to allow contact with the electronics, the sensor layer can be correspondingly thinner to partially release the electronics without covering them. This can be useful for, for example, pH measurement, moisture / water content measurement, fluid temperature measurement, etc.

[0014] The additive manufacturing method can be performed in the axial direction, wherein both the raceway layer and the sensor layer having at least one electronic device can be applied layer by layer in the axial direction. Alternatively, the raceway layer can be applied first in the axial direction, followed by the sensor layer, and vice versa. The layer can also be applied layer by layer in the radial direction. The corresponding layer-by-layer application in the additive manufacturing method can depend particularly on the shape of the rolling element.

[0015] The printed layers can be bonded together during sintering via a diffusion process. It is crucial to ensure that the difference in thermal expansion between the two layer / layer systems does not cause detachment. Furthermore, different layers can be produced individually, as explained further below. These layers can then be bonded together, for example, by adhesive bonding.

[0016] The sensor layer can serve as a substrate (or carrier material) for at least one electronic device (which can be additively manufactured, in-situ, or separately introduced), and can be an electromagnetically permeable material. Because the sensor layer is electromagnetically permeable, electromagnetic waves from at least one electronic device can be received and / or emitted through it. This enables the capture of parameters of a rolling bearing in which a sensor rolling element can be mounted, based on the sensor.

[0017] According to another embodiment, the electromagnetically permeable material includes polymers, ceramics, and / or metals. Alternatively, low-density material combinations, such as foams, can be used. Other examples include aluminum nitride ceramics (AlN), alumina ceramics (Al2O3), or LTCC ceramics. For example, aluminum nitride ceramics have the advantage that AlN has good thermal conductivity and temperature management. Furthermore, AlN can be readily combined with silicon nitride, a material that can, for example, produce raceway layers. This means that when AlN is used, the sensor layer can be safely and reliably attached to the raceway layer.

[0018] LTCC ceramics (so-called low-temperature cofired ceramics) can be used, for example, to produce multilayer circuits based on sintered ceramic carriers. If this material is used for a sensor layer, at least one electronic device (e.g., conductor track, capacitor, resistor, and coil) can be introduced into the ceramic material of the sensor layer. For this purpose, at least one device can be applied to the ceramic material, for example, by means of screen printing or photochemical processes.

[0019] According to another embodiment, the sensor rolling element has a covering layer disposed radially inward on the at least one electronic device. In particular, the covering layer can be applied to protect the sensor layer. This is especially feasible if the sensor layer or the electronic device embedded therein does not need to be connected to the environment.

[0020] If the cover layer is only used to cover the sensor layer, for example, to prevent the sensor layer from contacting the external environment, then the cover layer can be made of the same material as the sensor layer. In this way, the cover layer can be easily applied or printed in the same additive manufacturing operation as the sensor layer.

[0021] According to another embodiment, the cover layer and the sensor layer comprise different materials. The cover layer may include, for example, polymers, resins, and / or composite materials. In addition to or as an alternative to the protective functions described above, the cover layer may also perform mechanical functions. Such mechanical functions may typically be, for example, providing support, increasing the overall size of the component, transferring loads, or acting as a reinforcing layer in the sense of crack deflection, crack branching, or general crack bridge behavior. Strain compensation is also possible, in a manner similar to a laminate, for example, by means of a prestressed layer that is prestressed by internal stress.

[0022] According to another embodiment, the sensor rolling element has at least one connecting element configured to contact the cover layer and the at least one electronic device. For example, such a connecting element can be used to connect the sensor layer or at least one electronic device to another sensor outside the sensor layer. Such a sensor could be, for example, a heat-sensitive sensor, which would not survive unscathed during a sintering step, such as that performed in a ceramic sensor layer. To enable the integration of such sensors, such as plug-and-play sensors, connection holes and / or slots can be provided in the sensor layer and / or cover layer.

[0023] According to another embodiment, the electronic device includes an antenna (e.g., an RFID antenna for wireless connectivity), a sensor, and / or an electrical line. Furthermore, the electronic device may have capacitors, inductors, resistors, transformers, and / or hybrid circuits.

[0024] Therefore, conductive, resistive, piezoelectric, and dielectric materials can be embedded in the sensor layer to form at least one electronic device. For example, materials from piezoelectric, NTC, and PTC types can be used to produce thermistors or switch-off elements. Mixtures of Si3N4 and MoSi2 are also possible, which produce a conductive-insulating combination in the sintered state.

[0025] The sensors in the sensor layer can include those for monitoring temperature, humidity, strain / stress, vibration, acceleration, rotational speed, electric and magnetic fields (e.g., Hall effect), and gas and other concentration measurements (e.g., pH, H2, ammonia). Sensors can also detect misalignments within the bearing. For example, a dual-sensor system can be used for this purpose, where two sensors can be implemented at opposite ends of the sensor rolling elements, or one sensor can be implemented for each of the two sensor rolling elements. Additionally, monitoring the condition of the lubrication system, such as via pH monitoring, can also be considered. In summary, any type of sensor technology desired for use in sensor rolling elements in rolling bearings can be implemented by the sensor layer.

[0026] According to another embodiment, the raceway layer is made of metal and / or ceramic, wherein the metal is particularly steel (e.g., bearing steel) and the ceramic is particularly silicon nitride. Using such materials for the raceway layer ensures that the raceway layer, and therefore the sensor rolling elements, can withstand the standard operating conditions of the bearing. This material selection eliminates the need to adhere to specific load and speed limits.

[0027] According to another aspect, a method for producing the sensor rolling element as described above is proposed. The method includes the following steps:

[0028] -Provide a raceway layer,

[0029] - Using additive manufacturing methods, a sensor layer is applied layer by layer along with at least one electronic device, and

[0030] - The sensor layer is disposed radially inside the raceway layer.

[0031] For example, the sensor rolling element can be produced using an existing housing of a hollow body (in the case of a sensor roller) or another hollow body representing the raceway layer. The sensor layer can then be applied to this hollow body. Alternatively, the sensor layer can be applied around an existing housing, and the raceway layer can then be applied around the sensor layer. In this case, for example, the housing can be coated with a material suitable for the sensor layer. Shrinkage-free materials are also feasible here (e.g., shrinkage-free LTCC; shrinkage here is limited to the z-direction / or radial component). The housing with the shrinkage-free material can then be fired under suitable conditions.

[0032] Alternatively, providing the raceway layer may also include applying the raceway layer layer by layer using an additive manufacturing method. In this case (or in this particular case), a sensor rolling element consisting of at least a sensor layer produced by additive manufacturing and a raceway layer produced by additive manufacturing can be simultaneously fired. Layer-by-layer application can be performed, for example, as multi-material 3D printing, to enable the production of the sensor layer and the raceway layer from different materials.

[0033] According to another embodiment, the method further includes applying a covering layer, layer by layer, to the at least one electronic device on the radially inner side of the sensor layer. As explained above, a covering layer can be provided to protect the sensor layer, and in particular, to protect the electronic device. The covering layer can be made of the same material as the sensor layer. Alternatively, the covering layer can be made of a different material than the sensor layer. In the latter case, the covering layer can perform its own functions beyond pure coverage and protecting the electronic device from contact. Such a function could be, for example, protection against mechanical influence, in which case the covering layer could be made of a material capable of withstanding such mechanical influence.

[0034] The sensor rolling element proposed here is compatible with any type of standard rolling element and standard rolling bearing. Therefore, any rolling bearing can be enhanced by replacing the standard steel or ceramic rolling elements with a measurement and monitoring system. This makes it easy to observe and monitor the bearing's condition in situ.

[0035] If a ceramic raceway layer is chosen for the sensor rolling elements, the advantages of using a single ceramic rolling element in a bearing made entirely of steel can be combined (where the remaining rolling elements can also be made of steel). A single ceramic rolling element keeps the steel raceway free of foreign matter in dusty and dirty environments. It smooths the raceway, thus extending service life under dirty conditions while reducing wear. One or more sensor rolling elements can also be used in the bearing.

[0036] Further advantages and advantageous embodiments are specified in the specification, drawings, and claims. In particular, the combinations of features specified in the specification and drawings are merely illustrative herein, and therefore these features may exist independently or in other combinations. Attached Figure Description

[0037] The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. The exemplary embodiments and combinations shown in the exemplary embodiments are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the invention. The scope of protection of the invention is defined only by the appended claims.

[0038] In the attached diagram:

[0039] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the axial cross-section of the sensor's rolling element is shown; and

[0040] Figure 2 It shows Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the radial cross-section of the sensor's rolling element.

[0041] List of reference numerals

[0042] 1. Sensor rolling element

[0043] 2. Roller track layer

[0044] 4. Sensor layer

[0045] 6 Electronic devices

[0046] 8. Covering layer

[0047] 10-1, 10-2 Connecting elements Detailed Implementation

[0048] In the following figures, identical or functionally equivalent elements are identified by the same reference numerals.

[0049] Figure 1 The sensor rolling element 1 is shown. As shown, the sensor rolling element 1 can be a sensor roller, but it can also be any other type of sensor rolling element, such as a ball, pendulum roller, etc. The sensor rolling element 1 can be used in any rolling bearing and can, for example, replace one of the existing rolling elements to monitor the rolling bearing.

[0050] The sensor rolling element 1 has a raceway layer 2 and a sensor layer 4. One or more electronic devices 6 can be embedded in the sensor layer 4, which is disposed radially inside the raceway layer 2. For simplicity, the one or more electronic devices 6 are shown as a continuous layer. However, it should be understood that the electronic devices 6 can also be implemented by one or more independent elements that can be embedded as separate components in the sensor layer 4.

[0051] One or more electronic devices 6 may be, for example, sensors, antennas, wires, chips, or any other electronic devices. One or more devices 6 may be used to monitor the sensor rolling element 1 or the bearing in which the sensor rolling element 1 is mounted, for example, by capturing parameters of the sensor rolling element 1 or the bearing (such as vibration, temperature, load, etc.). Furthermore, one or more electronic devices 6 may be used to transmit such captured parameters to an external device, such as a control unit. For this purpose, the electronic device 6 may be designed as, for example, an antenna.

[0052] To facilitate the production of the sensor rolling element 1, sensor layer 4, and at least one electronic device 6, additive manufacturing methods are employed. In this way, the sensor layer 4 and (one or more) electronic devices 6 can be produced in a single step.

[0053] Alternatively, the raceway layer 2 can also be produced using additive manufacturing methods. This has the advantage that the sensor rolling element 1 can be produced in a simple and cost-effective manner using a single method.

[0054] If the intention is to protect the electronic device 6, a cover layer 8 can be applied to the sensor layer 4 so that at least the electronic device 6 is covered. Alternatively, the entire sensor layer 4 can also be covered by the cover layer 8. The cover layer 8 can be made of the same material as the sensor layer 4, which allows for easy production. Alternatively, the cover layer 8 can be made of a different material and can, for example, provide its own properties. Such properties can be, for example, insulating properties. The cover layer 8 can also be produced by additive manufacturing methods.

[0055] As in Figure 2 As can be seen, the electronic device 6 can be completely surrounded by the sensor layer 4 and the cover layer 8. Openings (not shown) may also be provided in the sensor layer 4 and / or the cover layer 8 to allow, for example, cables to be guided from the electronic device 6 to the outside or to otherwise contact the electronic device 6.

[0056] As in Figure 2 As can be seen in the lower region of the cross-sectional view, optional connecting elements 10-1 and 10-2 can be provided. These connecting elements can also be used to contact the electronic device 6. Connecting elements 10-1 and 10-2 can also establish a connection between the electronic device 6 and the cover layer 8, enabling, for example, the capture of pressure on the cover layer 8.

[0057] In summary, a sensor rolling element that can be produced in a simple and cost-effective manner is provided.

Claims

1. A sensor rolling element (1) having a raceway layer (2) and a sensor layer (4) disposed radially inside the raceway layer (2), wherein, At least one electronic device (6) is embedded in the sensor layer (4), and the sensor layer (4) and the at least one electronic device (6) are produced by means of an additive manufacturing method.

2. The sensor rolling element according to claim 1, characterized in that, The raceway layer (2) is produced by means of additive manufacturing.

3. The sensor rolling element according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The sensor layer (4) serves as a substrate for the at least one electronic device (6) and has an electromagnetically permeable material.

4. The sensor rolling element according to claim 3, characterized in that, The electromagnetically permeable material includes polymers, ceramics, and / or metals.

5. The sensor rolling element according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The cover layer (8) is disposed on the radially inner side of the at least one electronic device (6).

6. The sensor rolling element according to claim 5, characterized in that, The cover layer (8) and the sensor layer (4) are made of different materials.

7. The sensor rolling element according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, At least one connecting element (10-1, 10-2) is configured to contact the cover layer (8) and the at least one electronic device (6).

8. The sensor rolling element according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The electronic device (6) has an antenna, a sensor and / or wires.

9. The sensor rolling element according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The raceway layer (2) has a metal and / or a ceramic, wherein the metal is in particular steel and the ceramic is in particular silicon nitride.

10. A method for producing a sensor rolling element (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The method includes the following steps: - Provides a raceway layer (2), - Using an additive manufacturing method, a sensor layer (4) is applied layer by layer together with at least one electronic device (6), and - The sensor layer (4) is disposed radially inside the raceway layer (2).

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, Providing the raceway layer (2) includes applying the raceway layer (2) layer by layer by means of an additive manufacturing method.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The method further includes applying a cover layer (8) to the at least one electronic device (6) layer by layer on the radially inner side of the sensor layer (4) by means of an additive manufacturing method.

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