Vibration-damping pump and method for its manufacture

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to pumps, in particular to wastewater lifting pumps.

[0002] Wastewater is often loaded with wipes or tissues, which cause blockages. We want a pump to stay clogged and avoid having to manually intervene to keep it in optimal working order.

[0003] EP3546760 describes a system that transmits a level of vibration to a user. This is not a stand-alone pump, but a simple control. The pump does not act on its own.

[0004] WO 2006 / 127939 describes a system for preventing excessive vibration of a pump. US 2014 / 086765, EP 3546760 and US 2020 / 049152 describe a system for controlling a pump.

[0005] The invention relates to a pump, provided with means for early detection of a danger of malfunction of the pump and for taking appropriate measures to remedy it.

[0006] The pump according to the invention comprises a body, enclosed by a removable cover, an impeller integral in rotation with a shaft driven by an electric motor and surrounded by a volute having a suction orifice and a discharge pipe between which the impeller is located, a motor control device with a frequency converter, a vibration sensor of the accelerometer type, mounted on a non-rotating part of the pump and giving vibration conformations, a computer device connected by wire on the one hand to the vibration sensor and on the other hand to the frequency converter, so as to analyze vibration conformations and to send a motor control signal to the frequency converter according to the vibration conformation received from the vibration sensor, characterized in that the computer device has a memory and has a communication terminal allowing, when the cover is removed,to communicate with an external information device used to initially inform the memory by sending messages from the external device to the computer device, the communication of the communication terminal with the external device being interrupted when the cover is replaced while the pump is in operation.

[0007] The computing device has a vibration conformation analysis part and a memory for storing the received vibration conformations, the analysis part being designed to, by comparing an instantaneous vibration conformation received from the vibration sensor to the vibration conformations already in memory, send to the frequency converter a motor control signal identical to that previously sent for the vibration conformation already in memory, which most closely resembles the instantaneous one received from the vibration sensor.

[0008] One signal may correspond to a pump stop signal. Another signal may correspond to a nominal operating signal, yet another signal to a signal to reverse the direction of rotation of the impeller for a given duration, corresponding to cleaning the pump. Another signal may correspond to a signal to slow down the rotation speed of the impeller, yet another signal to a signal to increase this speed.

[0009] When a wipe passes through the pump, which is operating normally, the accelerometer sends to the memory computing device an instantaneous vibration conformation analyzed by an analysis part of the computing device. If by comparison it is identical to a vibration conformation that it already has in memory, the computing device immediately sends to the control device an electrical signal for controlling the motor assigned to this vibration conformation already in memory. If the instantaneous vibration conformation received from the accelerometer does not exactly match a vibration conformation already in memory, the analysis part of the computing device compares it to the vibration conformations already in memory, and sends to the motor control device the electrical control signal corresponding to the signal assigned to the vibration conformation, which most closely resembles the instantaneous vibration conformation received from the vibration sensor.The motor control device receives the motor control signal without delay, without having to go through the intermediate determination of a load factor of an electric motor, which is time-consuming, as proposed in WO 2013 / 096726.

[0010] If the vibration conformation received from the vibration sensor is identical to a vibration conformation already in memory, the analysis part sends the motor control signal to the motor control device, but does not store this vibration conformation in memory. According to this variant, the analysis part neglects to process the vibration conformation immediately following a vibration conformation, when the two conformations are identical, in order not to load the memory unnecessarily, this applies in particular to a conformation to which a signal corresponding to a nominal operation of the pump is assigned.

[0011] The communication terminal is used to initially fill the memory by sending messages, for example time-stamped from the external device to the computer device.

[0012] A vibration conformation is representative of a variation or variation curve of vibrations as a function of time over a predefined duration. This duration may be between 10 ms and 500 ms, preferably between 20 ms and 250 ms, in particular between 30 and 200 ms.

[0013] Vibration amplitude can be used to characterize a vibration conformation. The analysis part can transform a vibration conformation into a signal suitable for processing or analysis, for example by root mean square (RMS), kurtosis, variance and for transformation into a data set.

[0014] According to one embodiment, the computing device is in the form of a card that is easy to replace or supplement.

[0015] The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a pump by creating its computer device, in which a pump is manufactured which comprises a body, enclosing by a removable cover,

[0016] - an impeller rotating with a shaft driven by an electric motor and surrounded by a volute having a suction orifice and a discharge pipe between which the impeller is located, a variable frequency drive motor control device, an accelerometer-type vibration sensor mounted on a non-rotating part of the pump and providing vibration patterns, characterized in that the pump is provided with a blank computer device connected by wire on the one hand to the vibration sensor and on the other hand to the variable frequency drive, so as to analyze vibration patterns and send a motor control signal to the variable frequency drive as a function of the vibration pattern received from the vibration sensor, the computer device has a memory and has a communication terminal allowing, when the cover is removed, communication with an external information device used to initially inform the memory by sending messages from the external device to the computer device,the communication of the communication terminal with the external device being interrupted when the cover is replaced while the pump is in operation, the pump is operated, while the cover is removed and the computer device communicates with the external device, according to a first operating mode, from a given instant, for a first given duration, the vibration conformations which follow are transmitted, from this instant immediately, by the communication terminal of the external device to the computer device, at the same time instructing it to store them in memory by assigning them a first motor control signal corresponding to the first operating mode, the duration elapsed, the pump is operated from a second instant, different from the first instant, for a duration equal to the first duration,while the cover is removed and the computer device communicates with the external device, according to a second mode of operation, different from the first mode of operation, the vibration conformations which follow are transmitted, from this second instant immediately, by the communication terminal of the external device to the computer device, instructing it to store them in memory by assigning them a second motor control signal, different from the first signal, corresponding to the second mode of operation, and the cover is replaced on the body, thus preventing any communication from the external device to the computer device.

[0017] These manufacturing operations are repeated by operation, transmission and storage until at least one vibration conformation, corresponding to each operating mode envisaged, has been respectively stored in the memory.

[0018] By carrying out these operations in the factory, once and for all, for the pump, a pump is manufactured according to the invention, which, in operation, will act by itself by analyzing itself, by means of the vibrations that they cause, the events or operations with which it is confronted and by immediately taking the necessary decisions while carrying out a learning process.

[0019] In the attached drawing, given solely by way of example, the single figure is a sectional view of a pump according to the invention which, in operation, will act itself by analyzing the events or operating modes with which it is confronted and by making the right decisions, while carrying out learning.

[0020] The pump shown in the figure comprises, closed by a cover, a body having a volute 1 having a suction orifice 5 and a pipe 6 for discharging the waste water, as symbolized by the arrows. The volute surrounds an impeller 2 integral in rotation with a shaft 3 driven by an electric motor 4, itself connected to a frequency variator 7. An accelerometer 8 is mounted in the upper part of the pump forming a compartment for the motor control device and is connected to a computer device 9 having a terminal 10 for communication with an external device not shown. The accelerometer is connected to the computer device by a wire 11. The speed variator 7 is connected to the computer device by a wire 12. The motor 4 is supplied with electrical energy by a power cable 13 via the frequency variator 7 and a wire 14.

[0021] In the factory, the cover of the upper part is removed to access the information terminal 10 and the memory of the computer device 9 is filled in such a way that, when the pump is put into operation at the user's premises, the computer device has, in the memory, sufficient information, that is to say vibration conformations, to be able to compare them with a vibration conformation newly received from the accelerometer 8. The pump is thus intelligent and is capable of learning itself.

Claims

1. Pump comprising a body enclosing within a cover: - An impeller (2) rotating with a shaft (3) driven by an electric motor (4) and surrounded by a casing (1) with an inlet orifice (5) and an outlet tube (6) between which lies the impeller (2), - A motor control device with a frequency converter (7), - An accelerometer type vibration sensor (8), mounted on a non-rotating part of the pump that produces vibration forms, - A computing device (9) connected by cable firstly to the vibration sensor (8) and secondly to the frequency converter (7), in such a manner as to analyse the vibration forms and send a control signal for the motor (4) to the frequency converter (7) that is a function of the vibration form received from the vibration sensor (8), the computing device (9) has a memory characterised in that the cover is removable and the computing device has a communication terminal enabling it, when the cover is removed, to communicate with an external information device used to initialise the memory by sending messages from the external device to the computing device, communication from the communication terminal with the external device being interrupted when the cover is replaced while the pump is running.

2. Pump according to claim 1, characterised in that the computing device (9) has a vibration form analysis section and the memory to save the vibration forms received, the analysis section being designed so that, by comparing an instantaneous vibration form received from the vibration sensor (8) with vibration forms saved in the memory, it sends to the frequency converter (2) a motor (4) control signal identical to that sent previously for the vibration form saved in the memory that most closely resembles the instantaneous value received from the vibration sensor (8).

3. Pump according to claim 2, characterised in that a signal may correspond to a pump stop signal, a normal operation signal, a signal for reversal of the direction of rotation of the impeller for a given period, a signal to reduce the speed of rotation of the impeller or a signal to increase the speed of rotation of the impeller.

4. Pump according to claim 1, characterised in that the computing device is in the form of a card.

5. Pump according to claim 1, characterised in that the body is subdivided into a compartment for the motor control device, a compartment for the motor and a compartment for the impeller and the computing device is housed in the motor control compartment.

6. Pump according to claim 1, characterised in that it is a wastewater pump.

7. Method for producing a pump according to one of the preceding claims by building its computing device (9), in which a pump is produced that comprises a body, enclosing by a removable cover: - An impeller (2) rotating with a shaft (3) driven by an electric motor (4) and surrounded by a casing (1) with an inlet orifice (5) and an outlet tube (6) between which lies the impeller (2), - A motor control device with a frequency converter (7), - An accelerometer type vibration sensor (8), mounted on a non-rotating part of the pump that generates vibration forms, characterised in that the pump is fitted with a pristine computing device (9) connected by cable firstly to the vibration sensor (8) and secondly to the frequency converter (7), in such a manner as to analyse the vibration forms and send a control signal for the motor (4) to the frequency converter (7) that is a function of the vibration form received from the vibration sensor (8) in which the computing device (9) has a memory and a communication terminal (10) which permits, when the cover is removed, to communicate with an external information device, for initially informing the memory by sending messages from the external to the computing device, in which the communication of the communication terminal with the external device is interrupted when the cover is replaced, while the pump is operating, in which the pump is operating while the cover is removed and the computing device (9) is communicating with the external device, according to a first mode of operation, starting from a first moment, for a first given period, immediately after this first moment, subsequent vibration forms are sent by the communication terminal (10) from the external device to the computing device (9), at the same time giving it instructions to save them in memory, assigning to them a first motor (4) control signal corresponding to the first mode of operation, after the first period has elapsed, the pump is then started at a second moment, different from the first moment, for a second period equal to the first period, while the cover is removed and the computing device (9) is communicating with the external device according to a second mode of operation, different from the first mode of operation, immediately after this second moment, subsequents vibration forms are sent by the communication terminal (10) from the external device to the computing device (9), instructing it to save them to the memory, assigning to them a second motor (4) control signal, different from the first signal and corresponding to the second mode of operation, the cover is then replaced on the body thus preventing any communication of the computing device (9) with the external device.