Electrically operated measuring device

Abstract

Electrically operated measuring device (1) by which electrically conductive components (2), in particular screws, nuts, pins or the like, which are transported through an electrically non-conductive hollow body (3), can be detected, comprising: - a housing (4) made of an electrically non-conductive material, - a toroidal coil (5) arranged in the housing (4), which is formed from an electrically conductive wire winding (6) with a plurality of turns (7), - a circuit (9) connected to an electrical energy source (8), which is electrically connected to the toroidal coil (5) and generates an electric field (10) formed by the toroidal coil (5), monitors it and, if necessary, detects changes in the electric field (10) caused by the components (2) transported through the hollow body (3), and - an evaluation device (11) assigned to the electrical circuit (9), which generates an electrical control signal or measurement signal as a function of the detected changes in the electrical field (10) of the toroidal coil (5), characterized in that the housing (4) and the windings (7) of the toroidal coil (5) are each designed to be separable at at least one position (15) in a common plane (14), and in that the respective winding (7) of the wire winding (6) of the toroidal coil (5) has a plug-in coupling system (16, 17) at the at least one position (15), by means of which an electrical and mechanical connection between the windings (7) of the wire winding (6) can be established or released.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an electrically operated measuring device by which electrically conductive components, in particular screws, nuts, pins or the like, which are transported through an electrically non-conductive hollow body, are detected according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

[0002] The generic document DE 10 2014 016 217 A1 describes, by way of example, an inductively operated proximity switch and a control method for its operation. Such a proximity switch essentially comprises a toroidal coil having a wire winding forming a plurality of turns. The toroidal coil is connected to an electrical circuit and is set into a corresponding oscillation by the circuit. Accordingly, the toroidal coil initially generates an electric field. As soon as an electrically conductive component approaches the toroidal coil, the electric field generated by the toroidal coil changes depending on the distance between the electrically conductive component and the toroidal coil. This measuring principle is explained in detail in the aforementioned prior art and forms the basis of the invention as one of several possible modes of operation. Further reference is made to DE 198 30 584 C2, DE 10 2005 045 711 B4, and DE 10 2005 016 813 A1.

[0003] An evaluation device is provided in the electrical circuit by which the changes in the electric field can be detected and converted into an electrical signal.

[0004] These toroidal coils are often arranged in a housing made of an electrically non-conductive material to prevent electrical interference during the pressing process or to move through the housing. For certain applications, it is necessary for the housing, together with the toroidal coil, to be arranged around a hollow body, for example a hose or the like. The hollow body is also made of an electrically non-conductive material to avoid measurement errors or electrical interference as far as possible. A large number of electrically conductive components, in particular screws, nuts, pins or other small iron items, are transported through the hollow body. As soon as one or more of these components changes the electrical field generated by the toroidal coil, this field change can be detected by the evaluation device.Consequently, by changing the electric field, it can be determined when and how many of the components are transported through the hollow body in the area of ​​the toroidal coil.

[0005] The housing is attached to the hollow body in a positionally oriented manner. However, if the hollow body needs to be replaced due to wear or other requirements, or if the toroidal coil is damaged and therefore needs to be replaced, the housing and toroidal coil must be completely separated from the hollow body.

[0006] Such repair work or conversions are often extremely time-consuming and therefore costly.

[0007] It is therefore an object of the invention to further develop a measuring device of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that the toroidal coils and their housings, as components of the measuring device, can be removed from the hollow body or locked with it in the most time-saving and simple way possible.

[0008] This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of the characterizing part of patent claim 1.

[0009] Further advantageous developments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

[0010] The fact that the housing and the windings of the toroidal coil are each designed to be separable from one another in a common plane at at least one position, and that the respective winding of the wire winding of the toroidal coil has a plug-in coupling system at this position, by means of which the electrical and mechanical connection between the separated turns of the wire winding can be established or separated from one another, is intended to achieve assembly and disassembly of the housing with the toroidal coil on the hollow body in a time-saving and simple manner, without the entire transport system, of which the hollow body and the housing with the toroidal coil are components, being affected by the conversion measure. In particular, the hollow body can continue to be part of a transport system regardless of the operating state of the toroidal coil, since this is not affected by the replacement of the toroidal coil with its housing.

[0011] Due to the divisibility of the housing and the respective turns of the wire winding, the measuring device according to the invention can advantageously be attached to existing transport systems as a modular and retrofittable kit without requiring significant conversion measures. Rather, the existing circuit and its calibration for the operation of the respective toroidal coil can be retained.

[0012] If the plug-in coupling system of the respective turn of the wire winding of the toroidal coil consists of a thin-walled electrically non-conductive coupler in which a plug-in location is provided and a plug corresponding to the respective plug-in location can be connected, and if the mechanically interconnected plugs and couplers are locked together in an electrically conductive manner, then each of the turns can be separated from one another or connected to one another in a time-saving manner, for example to replace the hollow body due to wear.

[0013] In order to be able to separate the connections between the housing and the respective turns of the wire winding from each other, these must be arranged in a common separation position, the axes of which run parallel and spaced from the longitudinal axis of the chuck body, because this ensures that the mechanical separation or coupling of the respective components is achieved at a predetermined position.

[0014] The respective housings of the toroidal coil can be designed as half-shells, or the housing can have a swivel joint arranged opposite the separation position. In the area of ​​the housing's swivel joint, the turns of the wire winding must be designed to be elastically deformable. This can be achieved, for example, by providing an electrically deformable, electrically conductive circuit board in this area of ​​the swivel joint as a connection for the individual turns of the wire winding. Such elastic connections of the respective turns can also be implemented using contact pads, conductive rubber, conductive fluid with or without curing, or as direct contact in circuit board coils.

[0015] The drawing shows an embodiment of a measuring device according to the invention, which is explained in more detail below. In detail: Fig. 1a shows a schematic structure of a transport system through which electrically conductive components, for example screws or nuts, are transported in a hollow body made of an electrically non-conductive material and a measuring device by which the number of components transported through the hollow body is measured, Fig. 1b a section through the measuring device according to Fig. 1a, which is formed from a toroidal coil with a plurality of turns as a wire winding of constant diameter and which is arranged in a divisible housing which is attached to the hollow body, Fig. 2 a first embodiment of the separation of the housing according to Fig. 1b, which consists of two half-shells that can be coupled together, in plan view, Fig. 3 a second embodiment of a separation of the housing according to Fig. 1b, which has a swivel joint and diametrically opposite thereto a division position, Fig. 4 an enlarged side view of the housing and the toroidal coil arranged therein with a plug coupling system for the electrical and mechanical connection of the respective turns of the wire winding and Fig. 5 a section through the measuring device according to Fig. 1, which is formed from a toroidal coil with a plurality of turns as a wire winding with spiral diameters and which is arranged in a divisible housing which is fastened to the hollow body and which, in a third embodiment, is divisible in a separation position which passes through the center of the hollow body.

[0016] In the Fig. 1a and Fig. 1b shows a measuring device 1 through which electrically conductive components 2, in particular screws, nuts, pins, small iron items of all kinds or the like, are moved through an electrically non-conductive hollow body in a schematically illustrated transport device. The hollow body 3 consists of an elastically deformable material, so that the transport direction 22 of the components 2 can be arbitrary. Since the casing of the hollow body 3 is made of an electrically non-conductive material, an electric field 10 can be formed in the interior of the hollow body 3 by the measuring device 1. As soon as one of the electrically conductive components 2 passes through the electric field 10, this field changes. Such measuring setups and the measuring method can be found, for example, in DE 10 2011 016 217 A1, on whose technical principles the described measuring device is based.

[0017] The measuring device 1 consists of Fig. 1a consists of a housing 4 in which a toroidal coil 5 is arranged. The toroidal coil 5 comprises a wire winding 6 made of a plurality of turns 7. In the exemplary embodiment shown, six turns 7 are provided. The electric field 10 is therefore formed or generated by the wire winding 6 of the toroidal coil 5, since the toroidal coil 5 is connected, on the one hand, to an electrical energy source 8 and, on the other hand, to a circuit 9. The circuit 9 periodically causes the toroidal coil 5 to oscillate. For example, the electrical structure and functioning of such a circuit 9 can be taken from DE 10 2014 016 217 A1.

[0018] As soon as a change in the electric field 10 occurs, it is detected by an evaluation device 11. Depending on the measured measurement signals, the evaluation device 11 can generate a switching signal or another electrical signal in order to indicate, for example, the time and / or the number of components 2 transported through the toroidal coil 5.

[0019] In order to ensure a time-saving and structurally simple but reliable assembly and disassembly of the measuring device 1 on the hollow body 3, the housing 4 is designed according to Fig. 2 is constructed from two half-shells 21, which can be separated from each other both mechanically and electrically in a separation position 15. The toroidal coil 5 with the wire winding 6 is provided inside the housing 4, so that when the housing 4 is separated into the two half-shells 21, the respective turns 7 of the wire winding 6 can also be separated from each other.

[0020] In order to be able to carry out such a separation of the windings 7, a plug 16 and a corresponding coupler 17 are provided in the region of the separation position, which is identified by the reference numeral 15 as the separation position. Each of the windings 7 is accordingly electrically connected to a plug 16 and a coupler 17. The plug 16 can be inserted into a slot 18 enclosed by the coupler 17 and locked there. The two half-shells 21 of the housing 4 can be fixed to one another by means of undercuts or other snap-in connections, thus achieving both a mechanical connection between the half-shells 21 and an electrical and mechanical operative connection between the separated windings 7 of the wire winding 6.

[0021] In Fig. 3, the housing 4 is designed such that the separation position 15 is arranged diametrically opposite a rotary joint 19. The rotary joint 19 forms a type of hinge, allowing the housing 4 to be folded about the axis of rotation of the hinge 19. Since the respective winding 7 must exhibit elastic deformation in the area of ​​the rotary joint 19 in order to be able to simulate the rotational movements of the housing 4, the respective winding 7 is connected to an elastically deformable printed circuit board 20 in the area of ​​the rotary joint 19. Another type of coupling or connection for the winding 7 can also be achieved by means of a contact pad, conductive rubber, conductive fluid with or without curing, or as direct contact in the case of printed circuit board coils. The coupling of the windings 7 takes place diametrically opposite to the rotary joint 19 and by means of the plugs 16 and the couplers 17, whereby the electrical and mechanical detachable connections are created.

[0022] In Fig. Figure 4 shows the arrangement of the respective winding 7 with the connector 16 or the coupler 17. Each winding 7 runs in a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the transport direction 22 or the central axis of the toroidal coil 5. Thus, the connectors 16 and the couplers 17 are each arranged in a common plane that runs parallel to and spaced from the central axis of the toroidal coil 5.

[0023] Out of Fig. 5 shows a third embodiment of the division or separation of the housing 4 and the toroidal coil 5. Position 15 for separating the housing 4 and the toroidal coil 5 extends in a common plane, which is arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 12 of the hollow body 3. The toroidal coil 5 has a wire winding 6, the diameter of which is designed to be different for each individual turn 7. This means that each turn 7 has a different distance from the longitudinal axis 12 of the hollow body 3 and thus follows a spiral contour.

[0024] The toroidal coil 5 or its winding 7 is mounted on the printed circuit board 20, which is essentially formed from two disks that can be coupled to one another. As explained above, each winding 7 of the wire winding 6 has a connector 16 and a corresponding coupler 17 in the region of position 15 of the separation plane, which form the common plug-in location 18. Consequently, each separate winding 7 can be electrically and mechanically connected to or separated from one another using the connector 16 and the coupler 17.

[0025] The housing 4 is divided into the two half-shells 21, which, as explained above, can be fixed to one another or separated from one another.

[0026] Due to this structural design of the toroidal coil 5 with a spiral winding 7, the separation of the windings 7 and the housing 4 can be carried out in a common plane, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 12 of the hollow body 3. The separation position 15 of the windings 7 and the housing 4 can therefore be in a different plane than in the embodiments of the Fig. 3 and Fig. 4.

[0027] The winding 7 of the toroidal coil 5 has a schematically shown connection, which can be connected to the circuit 9 or the energy source 8 via corresponding electrical lines. The electric field 10 of the toroidal coil 5 according to Fig. 5 runs essentially along position 15 to separate turn 7.

Claims

[1] Electrically operated measuring device (1) by which electrically conductive components (2), in particular screws, nuts, pins or the like, which are transported through an electrically non-conductive hollow body (3), can be detected, consisting of: - a housing (4) made of an electrically non-conductive material, - a toroidal coil (5) arranged in the housing (4), which is formed from an electrically conductive wire winding (6) with a plurality of turns (7), - a circuit (9) connected to an electrical energy source (8), which is electrically connected to the toroidal coil (5) and generates an electric field (10) formed by the toroidal coil (5), monitors it and, if necessary, detects changes in the electric field (10) caused by the components (2) transported through the hollow body (3), and - an evaluation device (11) associated with the electrical circuit (9) which generates an electrical control signal or measurement signal depending on the detected changes in the electric field (10) of the toroidal coil (5), characterized by that the housing (4) and the windings (7) of the toroidal coil (5) are designed to be separable in a common plane (14) at at least one position (15) and that the respective winding (7) of the wire winding (6) of the toroidal coil (5) has a plug-in coupling system (16, 17) at the at least one position (15) by means of which an electrical and mechanical connection between the windings (7) of the wire winding (6) can be established or released. [2] Measuring device according to claim 1, characterized bythat the plug-in coupling system (16, 17) of the respective turn (7) of the wire winding (6) of the toroidal coil (5) consists of a thin-walled, electrically non-conductive coupler (17) in which a plug-in location (18) is provided and a plug (16) corresponding to the respective plug-in location (18), and that the mechanically connected plugs (16) and plug-in locations (18) are locked together in an electrically conductive manner. [3] Measuring device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by that the separation plane (14) of the housing (4) and the respective turn (7) of the wire winding (6) encompasses the longitudinal axis (12) of the hollow body (3). [4] Measuring device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized bythat the toroidal coil (5) is formed from a spirally arranged wire winding (6) which runs around the longitudinal axis (12) of the hollow body (3), that the separation position (15) of the housing (4) and the respective turn (7) of the wire winding (6) is arranged in an axis which runs parallel to and at a distance from the longitudinal axis (12) of the hollow body (3), and that the separation position (15) and the longitudinal axis (12) lie in the common plane (14). [5] Measuring device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that a rotary joint (19) is provided on the housing (4), which is arranged diametrically opposite the separation position (15) of the housing (4), that the turns (7) of the wire winding (6) running in the region of the rotary joint (19) have an elastically deformable printed circuit board (20) to which each of the turns (7) is individually electrically coupled. [6] Measuring device according to claim 5, characterized bythat a deformation of the respective winding (7) is accomplished by means of elastically deformable printed circuit boards (20). [7] Measuring device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the housing (4) is formed from two or more half-shells (21) which can be coupled to one another, and that each winding (7) can be detached from one another and alternately coupled in the region of the separation plane (14) of the half-shells (21). [8] Measuring device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the connections of the respective windings (7) are made by means of contact pads, conductive rubber, conductive fluid with or without curing or by means of direct contact in the case of printed circuit board coils.

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