Color change type stress sensor and overload indication safety chain formed by same
By installing color-changing stress sensors on the outer chain plate, the real-time and visualization problems of chain stress monitoring in existing technologies are solved, enabling real-time detection of local stress points in the chain and improving equipment safety and service life.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- HANGZHOU CHIZHENG TECH
- Filing Date
- 2025-05-12
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-12
AI Technical Summary
Existing chain stress monitoring methods cannot locate local stress concentration points in real time and intuitively, and the installation is complicated or dependent on lighting conditions, making it difficult to cover multiple chain links, which affects the safety and service life of the equipment.
Design a color-changing stress sensor comprising a transparent outer shell and a tube containing color-developing material and colorant. When the tube breaks under stress, it releases the colorant to achieve color development. The stress state is visually displayed through the transparent outer shell. It is installed on the outer chain plate to achieve multi-link coverage.
It enables real-time, visual detection of local stress points in the chain, reducing costs and improving stress detection efficiency, chain safety, and service life.
Smart Images
Figure CN224231131U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of chain stress sensing technology, and particularly relates to a color-changing stress sensor and an overload indication safety chain composed of it. Background Technology
[0002] As a mechanical transmission unit, chains are widely used in various fields such as industry and transportation. Their main functions include power transmission, material conveying, and synchronous control. During operation, periodic alternating loads will generate stress on the chain, including tensile stress or bending stress. If the stress exceeds the chain's bearing capacity threshold due to overload, it will cause problems such as plastic deformation, continuous breakage, or pin wear, seriously affecting the safety and service life of the equipment.
[0003] Currently, monitoring the stress state of chains mainly relies on methods such as tension gauge detection, strain gauge mounting, and machine vision inspection, but all of these methods have certain limitations, specifically:
[0004] The tension meter testing method mainly calculates the force by measuring the overall tension of the chain. Its disadvantage is that it cannot locate the local stress concentration point on one side of the chain plate.
[0005] The strain gauge mounting measurement method involves attaching resistance strain gauges to the surface of the chain plate and calculating the load through the strain-stress relationship. However, it has the disadvantages of complex installation, easy detachment, and difficulty in covering multiple chain links.
[0006] Machine vision inspection methods capture chain deformation or cracks using cameras and combine them with AI algorithms to analyze damage. However, they are dependent on lighting conditions and cannot monitor the internal stress distribution in real time.
[0007] Based on the above analysis, this application designs a color-changing stress sensor and an overload indication safety chain thereof. Utility Model Content
[0008] The purpose of this invention is to provide a color-changing stress sensor and an overload indication safety chain thereof, in order to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology.
[0009] To address the aforementioned issues, this solution provides a color-changing stress sensor, comprising a transparent outer shell containing a color-changing component. The color-changing component includes a color-developing material and a color-developing agent. The color-developing agent is fused into a tube made of a fragile material. When subjected to external dynamic stress of a certain intensity, the tube will structurally break, thereby releasing the color-developing agent and bringing it into contact with the color-developing material.
[0010] As a preferred embodiment of this application: the tube is arranged longitudinally inside the transparent outer shell and its two ends abut against the inner wall of the transparent outer shell.
[0011] As a preferred embodiment of this application: a buffer pad is provided at the position where the tube body abuts against the inner wall of the transparent outer shell. The buffer pad includes multiple critical buffer thresholds. A buffer pad with a critical buffer threshold and the tube body constitute a buffer tube body of a corresponding level. When the external stress reaches the critical buffer threshold, the corresponding buffer pad fails, and then the buffer tube body structurally breaks, releasing the color developer.
[0012] As a preferred embodiment of this application, the tube body is a thin-walled glass tube.
[0013] As a preferred embodiment of this application, the color-developing principle of the color-developing material and color-developing agent adopts any one of oxidation-reduction color development, humidity-sensitive color development, and acid-base color development.
[0014] As a preferred embodiment of this application, the transparent outer shell is elongated or dumbbell-shaped, and its size is less than or equal to the thickness of the outer chain plate.
[0015] As a preferred embodiment of this application, the transparent outer shell is made of any one of PA, PE, PER and PC.
[0016] This application also provides an overload indicator safety chain, including an outer chain plate, on the outer side of which the aforementioned color-changing stress sensor is mechanically coupled and deforms synchronously with the outer chain plate.
[0017] As a preferred embodiment of this application: a hole is made at the center of the surface of the outer chain plate, and the color-changing stress sensor is fixed in the hole.
[0018] Compared with existing technologies, the advantages of this application are:
[0019] This solution provides a color-changing stress sensor, which includes a transparent outer shell and a color-changing component composed of a color-developing material and a color-developing agent. The color-developing agent is fused into the tube body. When the tube body is subjected to a certain intensity of external dynamic stress (any one of tensile stress, bending stress, or impact stress), it will undergo structural breakage, thereby releasing the color-developing agent to contact the color-developing material and achieve color change. The color change state can be directly displayed through the transparent outer shell. It can be seen that this stress sensor reflects the magnitude of the stress in a timely manner through the color change state. Compared with traditional resistance strain gauges, its structure is simple, it does not rely on other auxiliary conditions, reduces the cost of use, and the detection results are visible, improving the efficiency of stress detection.
[0020] This solution also provides an overload-indicating safety chain. The outer chain plates are all nested with the aforementioned color-changing stress sensors, achieving multi-link coverage. These sensors can detect the load conditions at different locations on the chain in real time, and visually reflect overload through color changes, enabling the sensing and detection of localized stress points on the chain plates. Therefore, this improved chain, through its color-changing stress sensors, can reflect overload conditions at different locations on the chain plates in real time and intuitively, facilitating timely detection and localized replacement or repair by staff. This avoids chain breakage during use after repeated overloads, improving the safety and lifespan of the chain. Attached Figure Description
[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the main structure of the color-changing stress sensor provided by this utility model.
[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the color-changing stress sensor provided by this utility model.
[0023] Figure 3 This is a front view structural diagram of the overload indicator safety chain provided by this utility model.
[0024] Figure 4 This is a top view of the overload indicator safety chain provided by this utility model.
[0025] Figure Labels
[0026] 10 is a color-changing stress sensor; 11 is a transparent outer shell; 12 is a color-developing material; 13 is a tube; 14 is a color developer; 15 is a buffer pad;
[0027] 21 is a link; 22 is an outer link plate; 23 is an opening. Detailed Implementation
[0028] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be emphasized that the following description is merely exemplary and not intended to limit the scope and application of the present invention.
[0029] Example 1:
[0030] This embodiment provides a color-changing stress sensor, such as Figure 1-2As shown, the stress sensor includes a transparent outer shell 11, inside which a color-changing component is encapsulated. The color-changing component includes a color-developing material 12 and a color-developing agent 14. The color-developing agent 14 is fused within a tube 13, which is made of a fragile material. When the tube 13 is subjected to a certain intensity of external dynamic stress, it will structurally break, thereby releasing the dye and allowing it to come into contact with the color-developing material 12. It is understood that the certain intensity of external dynamic stress should be less than or equal to the maximum stress that the tested device can withstand. At the same time, the strength of the tube 13 can be specifically selected according to its actual application environment.
[0031] Specifically, the transparent outer shell 11 serves two purposes: bearing stress and protecting the color-changing components. It is understood that the transparent outer shell 11 should be made of a material with a certain deformation capacity and compressive strength to ensure it will not break under stress. In this embodiment, the transparent outer shell 11 is preferably made of any one of PA, PE, PER, and PC. Furthermore, the purpose of designing the outer shell as a transparent structure in this embodiment is to allow for a direct view of the color change, thereby predicting the stress on the chain at the corresponding position based on the color change. The color-developing material 12 is filled inside the transparent outer shell 11, and the color-developing agent 14 is fused into a tube 13 to achieve physical isolation from the color-developing material 12. In this embodiment, the tube 13 is preferably thin-walled. The thin-walled glass tube will structurally break under a certain intensity of external dynamic stress. Understandably, the dynamic stress should include any one of tensile stress, bending stress, or impact stress. In this embodiment, tensile stress is used as an example for specific explanation. When the transparent outer shell 11 is subjected to stress and deforms to a certain extent, it will synchronously transfer the stress to the thin-walled glass tube. As the stress further increases, it will squeeze the thin-walled glass tube, causing it to structurally break, thereby allowing the color developer 14 to come into contact with the color developer 12 to carry out a color change reaction. In this embodiment, the color development principle of the color developer 12 and the color developer 14 can adopt any one of oxidation-reduction color development, humidity-sensitive color development, or acid-base color development, which is selected according to the actual use. This embodiment does not make detailed limitations here.
[0032] As a preferred embodiment, the tube 13 is arranged longitudinally inside the transparent outer shell 11, with both ends abutting against the inner wall of the transparent outer shell 11. This facilitates the transmission of dynamic stress and timely sensing of external stress, improving sensing accuracy. Of course, it is understandable that in actual use, the greater the buffering force between the tube 13 and the inner wall of the transparent outer shell 11, the greater the external dynamic stress intensity required to break the tube 13. Therefore, a suitable installation method can be selected according to the magnitude of the dynamic stress to be sensed, such as longitudinal arrangement or non-fixed installation (the tube 13 is only placed in the cavity of the transparent outer shell 11 and is not fixed).
[0033] To improve the versatility of the sensor and ensure its ability to detect external dynamic stresses of different sizes or levels, a buffer pad 15 is provided at the position where the tube body 13 abuts against the inner wall of the transparent outer shell 11. The buffer pad 15 includes multiple critical buffer thresholds. A buffer pad 15 with a critical buffer threshold and the tube body 13 constitute a buffer tube body 13 of a corresponding level. When the external dynamic stress reaches the critical buffer threshold, the corresponding buffer pad 15 fails, and the buffer tube body 13 structurally breaks, releasing the color developer 14.
[0034] Specifically, in this embodiment, the buffer tube 13 includes multiple levels, which represent the ability to resist external stress. It can be understood that the smaller the critical buffer threshold, the lower the ability of the corresponding buffer tube 13 to resist external dynamic stress, and a small stress can crush it. Conversely, the larger the critical buffer threshold, the stronger the ability of the corresponding buffer tube 13 to resist external dynamic stress, and a larger stress is required to break the tube 13. This embodiment designs the multiple levels of buffer tube 13 to achieve wide compatibility with the sensor and flexibility in use.
[0035] The color-changing stress sensor 10 is applicable to a variety of fields and equipment with strict requirements for stress intensity. In this embodiment, it is preferably applied to chain drive equipment to sense changes in the stress on the chain and thus detect the overload of the chain.
[0036] When applied to chain drive equipment, in this embodiment, the size of the transparent outer shell 11 should be less than or equal to the thickness of the outer chain plate 22 to facilitate installation.
[0037] In this embodiment, the transparent outer shell 11 is elongated or dumbbell-shaped, which facilitates the installation of color-changing components inside. Of course, it can also be designed as a circle or polygon if necessary.
[0038] In summary, the stress sensor in this embodiment reflects the magnitude of stress in a timely manner through color change. Compared with traditional resistance strain gauges, it has a simple structure, does not rely on other auxiliary conditions, reduces the cost of use, and provides visual detection results, thus improving stress detection efficiency.
[0039] Example 2:
[0040] This embodiment provides an overload-indicating safety chain, such as Figure 3-4 As shown, the chain is composed of multiple links 21, each link 21 including a pin, an inner chain plate, and an outer chain plate 22. The color-changing stress sensor 10 described in Embodiment 1 is mechanically coupled to the outer side of each connected outer chain plate 22. The color-changing stress sensor 10 deforms synchronously with the outer chain plate 22.
[0041] As a preferred embodiment, an opening 23 is made at the center of the surface of the outer chain plate 22, and the color-changing stress sensor 10 is fixed in the opening 23. In this embodiment, the opening 23 is preferably a through hole provided on the outer chain plate 22, and its size is adapted to the color-changing stress sensor 10. The color-changing stress sensor 10 is nested in the through hole and fixed by adhesive, thereby improving the stability of the installation.
[0042] In this embodiment, the periodically alternating load will generate stress on the chain, including tensile stress, bending stress, or impact stress. If the tensile stress exceeds the chain's load-bearing threshold due to overload, the outer chain plate 22 at the corresponding position of the chain will deform. Since a color-changing stress sensor 10 is fixed on the outer chain plate 22, the color-changing stress sensor 10 will deform synchronously with the outer chain plate 22. When the stress exceeds the critical threshold of the tube 13 inside the color-changing stress sensor 10, the tube 13 will break. The colorant 14 is released to contact the color-developing material 12, thereby initiating a color development reaction, which is visually reflected through the transparent outer shell 11; or, when the chain is subjected to a sudden and violent impact due to a sudden overload, the violent impact stress will be synchronously transmitted to the tube body 13 because the color-changing stress sensor 10 is fixed on the outer chain plate 22. When the impact stress is greater than the critical threshold of the tube body 13, the structure of the tube body 13 breaks, releasing the colorant 14 to contact the color-developing material 12, thereby initiating a color development reaction, which is visually reflected through the transparent outer shell 11.
[0043] In summary, the improved chain of this solution not only achieves multi-link 21 coverage of the color-changing stress sensor 10, but also reflects the overload conditions of different positions of the chain plate in real time and intuitively through the color-changing stress sensor 10. This is conducive to timely detection and local replacement or repair by the staff, avoiding chain breakage during use after multiple overloads, and improving the safety and lifespan of the chain.
[0044] The above descriptions are merely embodiments of this utility model, and common knowledge regarding specific structures and characteristics is not elaborated upon here. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various improvements without departing from this utility model, and these improvements should also be considered within the scope of protection of this utility model. These improvements will not affect the effectiveness of the implementation of this utility model or the practicality of the patent. The scope of protection claimed in this application should be determined by the content of the claims, and the specific embodiments described in the specification can be used to interpret the content of the claims.
Claims
1. A color-changing stress sensor, characterized in that: It includes a transparent outer shell, inside which a color-changing component is encapsulated. The color-changing component contains a color-developing material and a color-developing agent. The color-developing agent is fused into a tube made of a fragile material. When the tube is subjected to a certain intensity of external dynamic stress, it will structurally break, thereby releasing the colorant and allowing it to come into contact with the color-developing material.
2. The color-changing stress sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tube is arranged longitudinally inside the transparent outer shell, and its two ends abut against the inner wall of the transparent outer shell.
3. The color-changing stress sensor according to claim 2, characterized in that: A buffer pad is provided at the position where the tube body abuts against the inner wall of the transparent outer shell. The buffer pad includes multiple critical buffer thresholds. A buffer pad with a critical buffer threshold and the tube body constitute a corresponding level of buffer tube body. When the external stress reaches the critical buffer threshold, the corresponding buffer pad fails, and then the buffer tube body structurally breaks, releasing the color developer.
4. The color-changing stress sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tube is a thin-walled glass tube.
5. The color-changing stress sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The color-developing principle of the color-developing material and color-developing agent adopts any one of the following: redox color development, humidity-sensitive color development, and acid-base color development.
6. The color-changing stress sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transparent outer shell is elongated or dumbbell-shaped, and its size is less than or equal to the thickness of the outer chain plate.
7. The color-changing stress sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transparent outer shell is made of any one of PA, PE, PER and PC.
8. An overload indicator safety chain, comprising an outer chain plate, characterized in that: The outer side of the outer chain plate is mechanically coupled with a color-changing stress sensor as described in any one of claims 1-7, which deforms synchronously with the outer chain plate.
9. The overload indicator safety chain according to claim 8, characterized in that: An opening is made at the center of the surface of the outer chain plate, and the color-changing stress sensor is fixed inside the opening.