Pallet monitoring system and pallet monitoring method

Abstract

To provide a pallet monitoring system capable of identifying a grate bar liable to drop out before the grate bar drops out.SOLUTION: A pallet monitoring system that monitors a pallet of sintering machine a floor surface of which is composed of plural grate bars comprises: an image pickup section that picks up images of the plural grate bars to create image data; a calculation section that calculates from the image data respective inclination angles of the grate bars; and a determination section that determines whether the inclination angles respectively are higher than a predetermined threshold value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pallet monitoring system and a pallet monitoring method for monitoring pallets in a sintering machine used in the production of sintered ore. [Background technology]

[0002] The floor of the pallet of an endless moving sintering machine that produces sintered ore for steelmaking is composed of many grate bars on which the sintering materials are placed. In an endless moving sintering machine, air in the sintering materials is sucked downward through the gaps formed between adjacent grate bars, which causes the combustion molten zone in the sintering materials to move downward to produce sintered ore. The grate bars are supported by adjacent pallet frames and are configured so that they will not come off the pallet even if the pallet is turned over.

[0003] In the case of the pallet of such an endless mobile sinter machine, when the width of the pallet is 5m, 100 or more grate bars are installed in the width direction of the pallet. The grate bars fall off from the pallet frame due to the impact when the sinter raw materials are loaded into the pallet or the impact caused by the reversal at the ore feeding section and the ore discharge section.

[0004] When a grate bar falls off, the sintering material charged in that area falls into the wind box below, creating a hole. When this happens, air leaks out of the hole significantly, and the suction air does not flow around the hole, resulting in unsintered material that is not sintered, resulting in a significant drop in the yield of sintered ore. In addition, if the fallen grate bar is discharged together with the sintered ore, it may get caught in the chute used to transport the sintered ore, causing a blockage or damaging the transport conveyor. Thus, the falling off of a grate bar from a pallet has a significant negative impact on the operation of the sintering machine.

[0005] As a technology for detecting the falling off of a grate bar, Patent Document 1 discloses a sintering machine grate bar falling off detection device that uses a distance meter to measure the distance to the grate bar and determines that the grate bar has fallen off if this distance becomes infinity or increases significantly more than a set distance. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4-276030 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In Patent Document 1, the falling off of a great bar is detected early by measuring the distance from a fixed point with a range finder. However, this device detects the falling off of a great bar after the great bar has fallen off, and there is a problem that the falling off of the great bar cannot be prevented. The present invention has been made in consideration of such conventional technology, and its purpose is to provide a pallet monitoring system and a pallet monitoring method that can identify a great bar that is likely to fall off before the great bar falls off. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The means for solving the above problems are as follows. [1] A pallet monitoring system for monitoring the pallet of a sintering machine, the floor surface of which is made up of multiple grate bars, comprising: an imaging unit that images the multiple grate bars and generates image data; a calculation unit that calculates the inclination angle of each of the multiple grate bars from the image data; and a judgment unit that judges whether the inclination angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. [2] The pallet monitoring system described in [1], further comprising a distance measuring unit that detects identification information that identifies the pallet. [3] The pallet monitoring system described in [1] or [2], wherein the imaging unit images the multiple grate bars when the pallet passes a predetermined position. [4] A pallet monitoring system described in any of [1] to [3], wherein the calculation unit calculates an average value of the inclination angles of a predetermined number of the grate bars, which number is two or more, and the determination unit determines whether the average value is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value. [5] A pallet monitoring system described in any of [1] to [4], wherein the imaging unit is a digital camera having a lens and an image sensor, and the lens is coated with a surfactant. [6] A pallet monitoring method for monitoring a pallet of a sintering machine whose floor surface is made up of a plurality of grate bars, the pallet monitoring method comprising: an imaging step of imaging the plurality of grate bars to generate image data; a calculation step of calculating the inclination angle of each of the plurality of grate bars from the image data; and a determination step of determining whether the inclination angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. [7] The pallet monitoring method described in [6], wherein the threshold value is determined based on a correspondence between the inclination angle of the grate bar and the number of days until the grate bar falls off.

[0009] In the pallet monitoring system and pallet monitoring method according to the present invention, a great bar that is likely to fall off the pallet is identified by determining whether the inclination of the great bar is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. This allows measures to be taken only for the great bar that is likely to fall off before the great bar falls off, making it possible to prevent the great bar from falling off while suppressing increases in maintenance costs. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a sintered ore manufacturing facility. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a pallet. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an image processing device. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a pallet and a grate bar. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the inclination angle of the great bar and the number of days until the great bar falls off. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of the pallet monitoring method according to this embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a pallet management table. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, a pallet monitoring system and a pallet monitoring method according to the present invention will be described using embodiments in which the pallet monitoring system and the pallet monitoring method are applied to a sintering machine that produces sintered ore. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a sintered ore production facility 100. The sintered ore production facility 100 includes a pallet monitoring system 40 according to the present embodiment and a sintering machine 10 having a pallet 24 monitored by the pallet monitoring system 40. The sintering machine 10 is, for example, a Dwight Lloyd type sintering machine. In the sintering machine 10, sintered raw materials including iron ore and carbonaceous material are cut out by a roll feeder 14 from a surge hopper 12 provided in an ore supply section 34 of the sintering machine 10 and charged into an endless moving pallet 24, forming a charging layer of the sintered raw materials. The thickness of the charging layer is controlled by adjusting the opening degree of a plurality of split gates 16 installed in the width direction of the pallet 24.

[0013] The ignition furnace 18 installed downstream of the ore supply section 34 ignites the carbonaceous material on the upper surface of the sintering bed. Furthermore, air is introduced into the sintering bed by sucking air downward from the blower 22 through the wind box 20 installed below the pallet 24, and the carbonaceous material contained in the sintering raw materials is burned. By the suction of the blower 22, the air in the sintering bed passes through the gaps of the grate bar 26 that constitutes the floor surface of the pallet 24 and flows to the wind box 20. As a result, the combustion position of the carbonaceous material in the sintering bed gradually moves downward. The sintering raw materials that are baked and solidified by the combustion heat from the combustion of the carbonaceous material become sintered cakes, which are lumps of sintered ore, and are discharged from the ore discharge section 36. In the ore discharge section 36, the sintered cakes that fall from the pallet 24 are crushed, cooled by a cooler, and granulated to produce sintered ore. In this way, sintered ore is produced from the sintering raw materials using the sintering machine 10.

[0014] The sintering machine 10 is provided with 174 pallets 24. Fig. 2 is a schematic top view of the pallet 24. In Fig. 2, the pallet 24 is provided with side walls 28, grate bars 26, and end grates 30. The side walls 28 are provided on both sides of the pallet 24 to prevent the loaded sintering raw materials from falling. 150 grate bars 26 are provided in each of three rows, row A, row B, and row C, and the floor surface of the pallet 24 is formed by a total of 450 grate bars 26. The grate bars 26 are supported by engaging their upper and lower ends with the pallet frame (not shown).

[0015] An end grate 30 fixed to the side wall 28 is provided between the grate bar 26 and the side wall 28. The grate bar 26 is installed so as to be freely movable in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the pallet 24 relative to the pallet frame. Therefore, the grate bar 26 tilts due to impacts such as those when sintering raw materials are loaded onto the pallet 24 and those caused by the inversion of the pallet 24 at the ore supply section 34 and the ore discharge section 36. On the other hand, since the end grate 30 is attached to the side wall 28, the end grate 30 will not tilt even if the grate bar 26 tilts due to an impact.

[0016] Referring again to FIG. 1, the pallet monitoring system 40 according to this embodiment includes an imaging unit 42, a distance measuring unit 44, and an image processing device 46. The imaging unit 42 is provided upstream of the ore supply unit 34 in the direction of movement of the pallet 24, and images the pallet 24 from diagonally above before the sintering raw materials are charged. The imaging unit 42 images the pallet 24 and generates image data of the pallet 24 including the numerous grate bars 26 that form the floor surface and the end grate 30. The imaging unit 42 transmits the generated image data to the image processing device 46. The imaging unit 42 is, for example, a digital camera having a lens and an image sensor. The image sensor is a CCD sensor or a CMOS sensor.

[0017] The imaging unit 42 detects that the pallets 24 have passed a predetermined position and captures an image of each pallet 24. By detecting the passage of a predetermined position and capturing an image in this manner, the grate bar 26 and end grate 30 of each pallet 24 can be captured in the same manner even if the pallet speed of the pallet 24 changes.

[0018] The fact that the pallet 24 has passed the predetermined position is detected by installing a separate camera (not shown) that continuously captures images of the pallet 24 and monitoring the brightness value of image data generated by the camera. Since the brightness value of the image data drops significantly at the connection between pallets 24, the fact that the pallet 24 has passed the predetermined position can be detected by detecting this drop in brightness value.

[0019] A large amount of dust is generated when the sintering raw materials are charged or when the sinter cake is discharged. For this reason, it is preferable that a surfactant is applied to the surface of the lens of the imaging unit 42. By applying a surfactant to the surface of the lens, static electricity on the surface is suppressed, and adhesion of dust to the lens is suppressed. As a result, before the surfactant was applied, the lens had to be cleaned every month to remove dust attached to the lens, whereas after the surfactant was applied, dust did not adhere to the lens even after one year had passed. The surfactant applied to the surface of the lens may be any of a nonionic surfactant, an anionic surfactant, a cationic surfactant, and an amphoteric surfactant.

[0020] Identification information identifying each of the 174 pallets 24 is engraved on the outer surface of the sidewall 28 of the pallets 24, and a step is formed on the outer edge of the engraving. The distance measurement unit 44 measures the distance from the distance measurement unit 44 to an area including the identification information to create distance information. The distance measurement unit 44 detects the identification information that identifies the pallet 24 by binarizing the distance information of the area to create image data. The distance measurement unit 44 is, for example, a two-dimensional laser displacement meter, and the identification information is information made up of letters, numbers and / or symbols.

[0021] Alternatively, model image data for which identification information has been specified may be stored in advance in the distance measurement unit 44, and geometric pattern matching may be performed to determine the similarity between the image data created by the distance measurement unit 44 and the model image data, and the identification information may be detected by identifying a model image with a high similarity. The distance measurement unit 44 transmits the identified identification information to the image processing device 46.

[0022] The image processing device 46 calculates the inclination angle of each of the multiple grate bars 26 from the image data transmitted from the imaging unit 42, and judges whether the inclination angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. The multiple grate bars 26 constituting the floor surface of the pallet 24 are installed so that their longitudinal direction is along the side wall 28, but they are inclined due to the impact when the sintering raw materials are loaded into the pallet 24 and the impact caused by the reversal at the ore supply section 34 and the ore discharge section 36, and the inclination angle gradually increases. When the inclination angle of the grate bar 26 becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined inclination angle, the grate bar 26 comes off the pallet frame and falls off the pallet 24. Therefore, by calculating the inclination angle of the grate bar 26 with the image processing device 46 and judging whether the inclination angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is possible to identify the grate bar 26 that is likely to fall off the pallet 24 before it falls off.

[0023] Next, the image processing device 46 will be described. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the image processing device 46. The image processing device 46 is, for example, a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer. The image processing device 46 has a control unit 48, an input unit 50, an output unit 52, and a storage unit 54.

[0024] The control unit 48 is, for example, a CPU, and executes various programs stored in the storage unit 54 to cause the control unit 48 to function as a calculation unit 56 or a judgment unit 58. The input unit 50 is, for example, a keyboard, a touch panel integrally provided with a display, or the like. The output unit 52 is, for example, an LCD or CRT display. The storage unit 54 is, for example, an information recording medium such as an updatable flash memory, a built-in hard disk or a hard disk connected via a data communication terminal, or a memory card, and a read / write device for the same. The storage unit 54 stores programs and data used to calculate the inclination angle of the grate bar 26. The storage unit 54 also stores template image data for creating a palette management table, which will be described later, that has been created in advance.

[0025] Next, a description will be given of the processes executed by the calculation unit 56 and the determination unit 58. When the calculation unit 56 receives the image data generated by the imaging unit 42, it calculates the inclination angle of each grate bar 26 using the received image data.

[0026] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the pallet 24 and the grate bar 26. FIG. 4(a) is a top view of the pallet 24, and FIG. 4(b) is an enlarged view of the Y portion of FIG. 4(a). As shown in FIG. 4(b), the calculation unit 56, for example, specifies five points that are half the positions of both side surfaces in the longitudinal direction of the grate bar 26 for five different positions in the longitudinal direction of the grate bar 26 that are determined in advance, and calculates the inclination angle of the approximate straight line 32 of the five points. The inclination angle of the grate bar 26 is an angle based on the longitudinal direction of the end grate 30 (0°). After calculating the inclination angles of all the grate bars 26, the calculation unit 56 transmits the inclination angles to the determination unit 58.

[0027] When the determination unit 58 acquires the tilt angle from the calculation unit 56, the determination unit 58 determines whether the tilt angle is equal to or greater than a threshold value of 6°. The determination unit 58 reads out the threshold value from the storage unit 54 and compares the threshold value with the tilt angle to determine whether the tilt angle is equal to or greater than 6°. In the present embodiment, 6° is an example of a predetermined threshold value for the tilt angle, and the threshold value is predetermined and stored in the storage unit 54.

[0028] FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the inclination angle of the grate bar 26 and the number of days until the grate bar 26 falls off. In FIG. 5, the horizontal axis is the inclination angle (°) of the grate bar 26, and the vertical axis is the number of days (days) until the grate bar 26 falls off. As shown in FIG. 5, if the inclination angle of the grate bar 26 is 6° or less, the grate bar 26 will not fall off for at least 30 days. In the sintering machine 10 according to the present embodiment, the pallet 24 is repaired every month, and the grate bar 26 is reinstalled. Therefore, by determining whether the inclination angle of the grate bar 26 is 6° or more and identifying the grate bar with an inclination angle of 6° or more, it is possible to identify the grate bar 26 that is likely to fall off the pallet 24 before regular repair is performed.

[0029] In this way, it is preferable to determine the threshold value of the inclination angle based on the correspondence relationship between the inclination angle of the great bar 26 and the number of days until the great bar 26 falls off. Then, the threshold value is set to an inclination angle that makes the number of days until the great bar 26 falls off longer than the period during which regular maintenance is performed. This makes it possible to identify great bars 26 that are likely to fall off the pallet 24 before regular maintenance is performed.

[0030] When the identification information of the pallet 24 is acquired from the distance measurement unit 44, the determination unit 58 identifies the position of the great bar whose inclination angle is 6° or more in association with the identification information of the pallet 24. The determination unit 58 identifies the position of the great bar whose inclination angle is equal to or greater than the threshold value, for example, by columns A to C and numbers 150, with the left end of the column being numbered 1. The determination unit 58 causes the output unit 52 to display the identified position of the great bar whose inclination angle is equal to or greater than the threshold value together with the inclination angle of the great bar. This allows the operator of the sintering machine 10 to identify the great bar that is likely to fall off the pallet 24. As a result, the operator can take measures to prevent the great bar from falling off only for the great bar that is likely to fall off before regular maintenance, thereby preventing the great bar from falling off while suppressing an increase in maintenance costs.

[0031] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the flow of the pallet monitoring method according to this embodiment. The flow of the pallet monitoring method according to this embodiment will be explained using Fig. 6. The flow of the pallet monitoring method shown in Fig. 6 is started, for example, when the image processing device 46 is started and the input unit 50 receives an instruction from the operator to start pallet monitoring.

[0032] The imaging unit 42 captures an image of the pallet 24 and generates image data (step S101). The imaging unit 42 transmits the generated image data to the image processing device 46. This step is the imaging step.

[0033] The distance measurement unit 44 acquires the identification information of the pallet 24 (step S102). The distance measurement unit 44 transmits the acquired identification information to the image processing device 46. This step is the identification information detection step. Note that the identification information detection step (step S102) by the distance measurement unit 44 is not limited to this position, and may be performed before the imaging step (step S101) by the imaging unit 42, or after the calculation step (step S103) by the calculation unit 56, as long as it is performed before the determination step (step S104) by the determination unit 58, which will be described later.

[0034] When the calculation unit 56 receives the image data from the imaging unit 42, the calculation unit 56 uses the image data to calculate the inclination angles of all the grate bars 26 of the pallet 24 (step S103). The calculation unit 56 outputs the calculated inclination angles of the grate bars 26 to the determination unit. This step is the calculation step.

[0035] When the determination unit 58 acquires the inclination angle of the great bar 26 from the calculation unit 56, the determination unit 58 determines whether the inclination angle is equal to or greater than a threshold value (step S104). This step is the determination step. When the determination unit 58 receives the identification information of the pallet 24 captured by the imaging unit 42 from the distance measurement unit 44, the determination unit 58 identifies the position of the great bar whose inclination angle is equal to or greater than the threshold value in association with the identification information, and causes the output unit 52 to display the position.

[0036] The determination unit 58 determines whether or not an instruction to end pallet monitoring has been received from the operator (step S105). If the input unit 50 has not received an instruction to end pallet monitoring from the operator, the determination unit 58 determines that the instruction to end pallet monitoring has not been received (step S105: No), returns the process to step S101, and repeats the processes from step S101 to step S104 for the next pallet 24. By repeating the processes from step S101 to step S104 in this manner, it is possible to sequentially monitor the 174 pallets 24 provided in the sintering machine 10, and identify grate bars that are likely to fall off from these pallets 24.

[0037] On the other hand, if the input unit 50 has received an instruction from the operator to end pallet monitoring, the judgment unit 58 determines that an instruction to end pallet monitoring has been received (step S105: Yes), and ends the flow of the pallet monitoring method shown in Figure 6.

[0038] In this way, the pallet monitoring method according to the present embodiment monitors the pallet 24 of the sintering machine 10, and identifies the great bar that is likely to fall off the pallet 24. This allows measures to be taken only for the great bar that is likely to fall off before the great bar falls off, making it possible to prevent the great bar from falling off while suppressing an increase in maintenance costs.

[0039] The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and may be modified in various ways. In the above embodiment, the determination unit 58 determines whether the inclination angle of each great bar 26 is equal to or greater than a threshold value, but the present invention is not limited to this. The determination unit 58 may determine whether the average value of the inclination angles of 10 great bars is equal to or greater than a threshold value, for example. Note that 10 is an example of a predetermined number of 2 or more for calculating the average value of the inclination angles.

[0040] In this case, the calculation unit 56 calculates the inclination angles of the 450 great bars 26, and then calculates the average value of the inclination angles of every 10 great bars 26 to obtain the average value of the inclination angles of 45 great bars 26 per pallet. The calculation unit 56 outputs the average value of the inclination angles of the 45 great bars 26 to the determination unit 58.

[0041] Each of the multiple grate bars 26 is installed adjacent to one another. Therefore, when one grate bar tilts, the neighboring grate bars also tilt due to the influence of the tilt of the first grate bar. In this way, the tilt of one grate bar affects the surrounding grate bars, so the tilt angle of only one particular grate bar does not become large. Therefore, even if the tilt angle of the grate bar 26 is set to the average value of the tilt angles of the ten grate bars 26, the pallet 24 can be monitored with the same accuracy as the tilt angle of one grate bar 26.

[0042] When the determination unit 58 obtains the average value of the tilt angles from the calculation unit 56, the determination unit 58 determines whether the average value of the tilt angles is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The determination unit 58 reads the threshold value from the storage unit 54 and compares the threshold value with the average value of each tilt angle to determine whether the average value of each tilt angle is equal to or greater than the threshold value.

[0043] 7 is a table showing an example of a palette management table 60. When the determination unit 58 determines whether the average value of the inclination angles of all the grate bars 26 in columns A to C of the palette 24 is 6° or more, the determination unit 58 reads template image data from the storage unit 54, and creates image data for the palette management table 60 using the average value of the inclination angles, the determination result, the palette identification information, and the image data. The template image data used to create the palette management table 60 is created in advance and stored in the storage unit 54.

[0044] The palette management table 60 includes palette identification information and the average value of the inclination angle corresponding to the position of the grate bar 26 for each of columns A to C. It is preferable to display the average value of the inclination angle threshold value of 6° or more in a different manner from the other average values. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the display area of ​​the average value of the inclination angle of 6° or more is displayed in a different color. The determination unit 58 causes the output unit 52 to display the created palette management table 60.

[0045] In this manner, the pallet monitoring system 40 according to this embodiment may monitor the inclination angle of the grate bar 26 using the average value of the inclination angles of a predetermined number of grate bars 26, which is equal to or greater than two. This reduces the amount of data to be monitored, making it possible to efficiently monitor the pallets 24 of the sintering machine 10 and identify grate bars that are likely to fall off the pallets 24.

[0046] In the above embodiment, the average value of the inclination angle of the great bars 26 is calculated for every 10 great bars 26, but this is not limiting. The calculation unit 56 may calculate the maximum value of the inclination angle of every 10 great bars 26. In this case, the calculation unit 56 outputs the maximum value of the inclination angle of the 45 great bars 26 to the determination unit 58, and the determination unit 58 determines whether the maximum value of the inclination angle is equal to or greater than the threshold value. By making such a determination, even if the inclination angle of a specific great bar 26 suddenly increases, it is possible to identify the great bar that is likely to fall off the pallet 24 and to efficiently monitor the pallet 24. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10 Sintering machine 12 Surge Hopper 14 Roll Feeder 16 Split Gate 18 Ignition furnace 20 Wind Box 22 Blower 24 Palettes 26 Great Bar 28 Side wall 30 End Great 32 Approximate straight line 34 Ore supply department 36 Mine Discharge Section 40 Pallet Monitoring System 42 Imaging unit 44 Distance measurement unit 46 Image Processing Device 48 Control Unit 50 Input section 52 Output section 54 Storage area 56 Calculation section 58 Judgment section 60 Pallet Management Table 100 Sintered ore manufacturing facility

Claims

1. A pallet monitoring system for monitoring a pallet of a sintering machine having a floor surface formed of a plurality of grate bars, an imaging unit that captures images of the plurality of grate bars and generates image data; A calculation unit that calculates an inclination angle of each of the plurality of grate bars from the image data; a determination unit that determines whether the tilt angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold; A pallet monitoring system comprising:

2. The pallet monitoring system according to claim 1 , further comprising a distance measuring unit for detecting identification information for identifying the pallet.

3. 3. The pallet monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit images the plurality of grate bars when the pallet passes a predetermined position.

4. The calculation unit calculates an average value of the inclination angles of a predetermined number of the grate bars, the number being two or more; 3. The pallet monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines whether the average value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

5. The calculation unit calculates an average value of the inclination angles of a predetermined number of the grate bars, the number being two or more; The pallet monitoring system according to claim 3 , wherein the determining unit determines whether the average value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

6. the imaging unit is a digital camera having a lens and an image sensor, 3. A pallet monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lens is coated with a surfactant.

7. the imaging unit is a digital camera having a lens and an image sensor, 4. A pallet monitoring system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said lens is coated with a surfactant.

8. the imaging unit is a digital camera having a lens and an image sensor, 5. A pallet monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the lens is coated with a surfactant.

9. the imaging unit is a digital camera having a lens and an image sensor, 6. A pallet monitoring system as claimed in claim 5, wherein said lens is coated with a surfactant.

10. A pallet monitoring method for monitoring a pallet of a sintering machine having a floor surface formed of a plurality of grate bars, comprising: an imaging step of imaging the plurality of grate bars to generate image data; a calculation step of calculating an inclination angle of each of the plurality of grate bars from the image data; a determination step of determining whether the tilt angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold; The pallet monitoring method comprises:

11. 11. The pallet monitoring method according to claim 10, wherein the threshold value is determined based on a correspondence relationship between an inclination angle of the grate bar and the number of days until the grate bar falls off.

Images