Consumption monitoring device

Abstract

To monitor a consumption degree of a sliding related component of a hydraulic device, and to perform inspection and replacement in accordance with a user at a suitable timing.SOLUTION: A consumption degree of a sliding related component which is a component used for a sliding portion of a hydraulic device and a consumption progression speed which is a progression speed thereof are calculated on the basis of an operation history of the hydraulic device, and an inspection and replacement recommendation timing which is a timing at which inspection and replacement of the sliding related component are recommended is calculated on the basis of the consumption degree and the consumption progression speed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wear monitoring device that monitors wear caused by the operation of components used in a hydraulic device.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in hydraulic devices such as hydraulic pumps, worn components are inspected and replaced before their functions are impaired to prevent the device itself from malfunctioning or breaking down.

[0003] Specifically, for example, the following is being done. (1) After the device is introduced, the user or supplier performs inspections and replacements at regular intervals. (2) An operation monitoring system is added to monitor the usage status of components based on the operation time, operation count, operation frequency, operation load, etc. of the device, and when the usage status exceeds a threshold value predetermined in the system, the user is notified of the inspection or replacement. An example of this is described in Patent Document 1.

[0004] However, the conventional methods described above have the following problems. For example, in the case of (1), if left to the user, the inspection and replacement times may become unclear on the user side, and there may be cases where inspections and replacements are not reliably performed. Even if the supplier performs inspections and replacements, in the case of heavy use, the components may reach the end of their life before the next inspection and replacement time, and the device may break down. Conversely, in the case of light use, the inspection and replacement cycle may be too short, resulting in unnecessary costs.

[0005] Also, in the case of (2), the user who has received the notice does not immediately stop the device. Instead, the user continues to use the device until it reaches a state where it can be stopped, such as when the arrangements for inspection and replacement are in place or the lot operation is completed. Therefore, the actual recommended notice for inspection and replacement is given with a certain time margin. However, similar to the case of (1), in the case of heavy use, there is a risk that the parts may be damaged between the notice and the inspection / replacement. Conversely, in the case of light use, the notice may be too early, resulting in the inspection and replacement of the parts being carried out much earlier than the actual necessary time, which may incur unnecessary costs.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to monitor the degree of wear of sliding-related parts of a hydraulic device and perform appropriate inspection and replacement according to the user at an appropriate time.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] That is, the wear monitoring device according to the present invention includes a wear degree calculation unit that calculates the wear degree of sliding-related parts, which are parts used in the sliding portion of the hydraulic device, and the wear progress speed, which is the progress speed of the wear, based on the operation history of the hydraulic device, and an inspection / replacement recommended time calculation unit that calculates the inspection / replacement recommended time, which is the time when the inspection and replacement of the sliding-related parts are recommended, based on the wear degree and the wear progress speed.

[0009] If it is something like this, the usage frequency, usage intensity, etc. of the hydraulic device can be estimated based on the consumption progress speed, and the recommended inspection and replacement times of the sliding-related parts are determined based on this consumption progress degree. Therefore, regardless of whether it is heavy use or light use, it is possible to recommend inspection and replacement at an appropriate time according to the user's usage situation. Also, as a result, it is possible to prevent the situation where inspection and replacement are not in time or conversely too early, and reliable and waste-free maintenance can be performed.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] For the hydraulic device, reliable and waste-free maintenance can be performed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] As shown in Fig. 1, the wear monitoring device 100 according to this embodiment is used for the maintenance of a hydraulic pump 1, which is a type of hydraulic device. Here, in particular, it calculates the recommended inspection and replacement timing for an oil seal 12, which is a sliding-related component of the hydraulic pump 1, to notify the user. Note that the oil seal 12 here is installed between the output shaft of the pump (hereinafter referred to as the shaft 11) and the casing to prevent the oil, which is the working fluid, from leaking from the casing or the like.

[0014] This wear monitoring device 100 is a so-called computer equipped with a CPU, a memory, an I / O port, an A / D converter, etc. By the CPU and its peripheral devices operating in accordance with a predetermined program stored in the memory, (1) a history recording unit 31 that stores the operation history of the oil seal 12 in an operation history storage unit D1 set in a predetermined area of the memory, (2) a wear degree calculation unit 32 that calculates the current wear degree of the oil seal 12 and its wear progress speed based on the operation history, and (3) an inspection and replacement recommended timing calculation unit 33 that calculates based on the wear degree and the wear progress speed, etc., function as such.

[0015] Note that the computers constituting this wear monitoring device 100 do not necessarily have to be physically integrated and may be composed of a plurality of computers connected to be communicable with each other via a LAN, a WAN, or the like.

[0016] Also, as a premise, the hydraulic pump 1 is provided with a temperature sensor 21 that measures the temperature of the oil (here, for example, the oil temperature near the discharge port) and a rotational speed sensor 22 that measures the rotational speed of the shaft 11. Note that these temperature sensor 21 and rotational speed sensor 22 may be pre-installed as accessories of the hydraulic pump 1, or may be retrofitted to the hydraulic pump 1 as accessories of this wear monitoring device 100. Next, the operation of the wear monitoring device 100 will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 2, also serving as a detailed explanation of each part above.

[0017] When a predetermined sampling time arrives (step S1), the history recording unit 31 of the consumption monitoring device 100 receives oil temperature data indicating the measured value of the oil temperature from the oil temperature sensor 21, and receives rotation speed data indicating the measured value of the rotation speed of the shaft 11 from the rotation speed sensor 22 (step S2). Next, the history recording unit 31 estimates and calculates the temperature of the oil seal 12 (the sliding portion thereof) based on the values of the oil temperature data and the rotation speed data.

[0018] Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a rotation speed - temperature rise table D2, which is a data table showing an example of the relationship between each shaft rotation speed (rpm) and the temperature rise (°C), is stored in a predetermined area of the memory. Note that this rotation speed - temperature rise table D2 is obtained in advance through experiments, simulations, etc.

[0019] Then, the history recording unit 31 refers to the rotation speed - temperature rise table D2, obtains the temperature rise corresponding to the value of the rotation speed data (shaft rotation speed), and uses the value obtained by adding this temperature rise to the oil temperature as the temperature of the oil seal 12 (more precisely, the temperature of the lip, which is the sliding portion of the oil seal 12). At the same time, the operation history data obtained by associating this oil seal 12 temperature with the sampling time is stored in the operation history storage unit D1 set in a predetermined area of the memory in association with the sampling time (step S3).

[0020] As a supplement, as shown in FIG. 6, since the temperature rise is in principle related to the sliding speed, in reality, not only the rotation speed of the shaft 11 but also the diameter of the shaft 11 must be taken into consideration. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the temperature rise with respect to the sliding speed may vary depending on the type of oil (working fluid) and the material of the oil seal 12. Therefore, for different hydraulic pumps 1 with different shaft 11 diameters, oil types, and oil seal materials, another corresponding rotation speed - temperature rise table D2 is used.

[0021] Next, the wear degree calculation unit 32 refers to the operation history storage unit D1, acquires the operation history data from the start of operation to the current time, and calculates the operation time at each temperature of the oil seal 12 (step S4).

[0022] On the other hand, the operable time until the life at each temperature, that is, the life time, has been obtained in advance through experiments, simulations, etc., and this is stored in a predetermined area of the memory as a temperature-life time table D3 which is a data table as shown in FIG. 4.

[0023] The wear degree calculation unit 32 refers to the temperature-life time table D3 to acquire the life time at each temperature, divides the operation time at each temperature by the life time at each temperature, calculates the life consumption rate at each temperature, and by integrating these, calculates the current life consumption rate of the oil seal 12, that is, the wear degree of the oil seal 12. An example thereof will be described below. As a result of referring to the operation history data, the hydraulic pump 1 operates for 24 hours at an oil seal 12 temperature of 80°C (65°C (oil temperature) + 15°C (temperature rise due to shaft rotation)), and is assumed to operate for 48 hours at an oil seal 12 temperature of 60°C (60°C (oil temperature) + 0 (temperature rise due to shaft rotation)). The wear degree in this case is as follows. Wear degree = (24 / 3600) + (48 / 9600) = 0.0117 = 1.17 (%)

[0024] Note that the life time varies depending on the type of oil, the material of the oil seal 12, etc. Therefore, for a hydraulic pump 1 with different oil types, oil seal materials, etc., another corresponding temperature-life time table D3 is used.

[0025] The consumption degree calculation unit 32 further calculates the average consumption progress speed (% / day) until now by dividing the consumption degree by the time from the start of operation to the present (step S6). In the above example, since the consumption degree is 1.17% after 3 days (72 hours) of operation, the consumption progress speed (% / day) = 1.17 / 3 = 0.39.

[0026] Next, the inspection and replacement recommended time calculation unit 33 calculates the life time, which is the time when the oil seal 12 reaches the end of its life when the consumption progresses at the consumption progress speed (step S7). In the above example, since the consumption progress speed is 0.39% / day and the operation has been carried out for 3 days, the life time = 100 / 0.39 - 3 = 253.41 days later.

[0027] Then, the inspection and replacement recommended time calculation unit 33 calculates the inspection and replacement recommended time of the oil seal 12 by subtracting the margin period preset by the user, supplier, etc. from this life time, and notifies the user by outputting this to a display, other mobile devices, etc. via the communication line T (step S8). Then, it returns to step S1 again, and when the next sampling time arrives, the above-described operations are repeated.

[0028] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The hydraulic device may use a fluid other than oil as the working fluid, and is not limited to a pump, and may be a motor, a cylinder, a valve, etc. The sliding-related components are not limited to seal members such as the oil seal 12, and may be, for example, a piston, a cylinder bore, a valve body, etc. An arithmetic formula may be used instead of the data table.

[0029] In the above-described embodiment, when calculating the temperature of the sliding part (the lip of the oil seal 12), the oil temperature was used as a reference, and the rising temperature estimated from the sliding speed was added thereto. However, the temperature of the casing surface or inside, the shaft temperature, or other ambient temperatures that affect the temperature of the sliding part may be used as a reference.

[0030] Also, if a temperature sensor is attached to a part where the temperature of the sliding part can be directly measured, the procedure of measuring the sliding speed and calculating the temperature rise therefrom becomes unnecessary.

[0031] In the above-described embodiment, the recommended inspection and replacement timing was calculated by subtracting a margin period from the end-of-life timing. However, the time when the degree of wear reaches a predetermined threshold value (for example, 80%) may be used as the recommended inspection and replacement timing. In this case, it is preferable that the threshold value varies according to the wear progress speed. That is, the threshold value may be lowered when the wear progress speed is large, and raised when the wear progress speed is small. By doing so, the period from the recommended inspection and replacement timing to the end-of-life timing can be made as equal as possible regardless of the wear progress speed. As the wear progress speed, the wear progress speed at a predetermined institution such as a recent fixed period may be used instead of the average from the start of operation to the current time.

[0032] Rather than outputting the recommended inspection and replacement timing to the user, there may be no special notification until the recommended inspection and replacement timing is reached, and from immediately after the recommended inspection and replacement timing is reached, a message prompting inspection and replacement or the end-of-life timing may be notified. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated examples and descriptions described above, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit thereof. The features of the present wear degree monitoring device described above can be summarized as follows.

[0033] (1) The consumption monitoring device 100 includes a consumption degree calculation unit that calculates the consumption degree of sliding-related parts, which are parts used for the sliding part of the hydraulic device, and the consumption progress speed, which is the progress speed thereof, based on the operation history of the hydraulic device, and an inspection / exchange recommended timing calculation unit that calculates the inspection / exchange recommended timing, which is the timing when inspection and replacement of the sliding-related parts are recommended, based on the consumption degree and the consumption progress speed.

[0034] With such a configuration, the usage frequency, usage intensity, etc. of the hydraulic device can be estimated by the consumption progress speed, and based on this consumption progress degree, the inspection / exchange recommended timing of the sliding-related parts is determined. Therefore, regardless of whether it is heavy use or light use, it is possible to recommend inspection and replacement at an appropriate timing according to the user's usage situation. As a result, it is possible to prevent the situation where inspection and replacement are not in time or conversely too early, and reliable and waste-free maintenance can be performed.

[0035] (2) In order to obtain the consumption degree and the consumption progress speed simply and accurately, it is preferable that the consumption degree calculation unit calculates the consumption degree and the consumption progress speed based on the operation time for each temperature of the sliding part.

[0036] (3) In order to measure the temperature of the sliding part without using a complicated structure or sensor, the consumption degree calculation unit may calculate the temperature of the sliding part based on its ambient temperature and the sliding speed of the sliding part.

[0037] (4) As a specific example of the sliding-related parts where the effect of the present invention is particularly remarkable, an oil seal 12 can be cited.

[0038] (5) A consumption monitoring method is also included in the present invention, which calculates the consumption degree of sliding-related parts, which are parts used for the sliding part of the hydraulic device, and the consumption progress speed, which is the progress speed thereof, based on the operation history of the hydraulic device, and calculates the inspection / exchange recommended timing, which is the timing when inspection and replacement of the sliding-related parts are recommended, based on the consumption degree and the consumption progress speed.

[0039] (6) Based on the operation history of the hydraulic device, a wear degree calculation unit that calculates the wear degree of sliding-related components, which are components used in the sliding parts of the hydraulic device, and the wear progress speed, which is the progress speed thereof, and a inspection / exchange recommended timing calculation unit that calculates the inspection / exchange recommended timing, which is the timing when inspection and replacement of the sliding-related components are recommended, based on the wear degree and the wear progress speed. A wear monitoring program characterized by causing a computer to exhibit the functions as the above may also be acceptable.

Explanation of Signs

[0040] 100 ··· Hydraulic device 12 ··· Oil seal (sliding-related component) 32 ··· Wear degree calculation unit 33 ··· Inspection / exchange recommended timing calculation unit

Claims

1. Based on the operation history of the hydraulic device, calculate the degree of wear of sliding-related parts, which are parts used for the sliding parts of the hydraulic device, and further calculate the wear progress speed, which is the average progress speed of the degree of wear during a predetermined operation period based on the degree of wear. A wear degree calculation unit; A inspection and replacement recommended time calculation unit that calculates the inspection and replacement recommended time, which is the time when inspection and replacement of the sliding-related parts are recommended when the wear of the sliding-related parts changes according to the wear progress speed. A wear monitoring device, wherein the wear degree calculation unit calculates the wear degree and the wear progress speed based on the operation time for each temperature of the sliding part.

2. The wear monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the wear degree calculation unit calculates the temperature of the sliding part based on its ambient temperature and the sliding speed of the sliding part.

3. The wear monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sliding-related part is an oil seal.

4. Based on the operation time for each temperature of the sliding part of the hydraulic device, calculate the wear degree of the sliding-related parts, which are parts used for the sliding part, and further calculate the wear progress speed, which is the average progress speed of the wear degree during a predetermined operation period based on the wear degree. A wear monitoring method characterized by calculating the inspection and replacement recommended time, which is the time when inspection and replacement of the sliding-related parts are recommended when the wear of the sliding-related parts changes according to the wear progress speed.

5. Based on the operation history of the hydraulic device, calculate the wear degree of the sliding-related parts, which are parts used for the sliding part of the hydraulic device, and further calculate the wear progress speed, which is the average progress speed of the wear degree during a predetermined operation period based on the wear degree. A wear degree calculation unit; A wear monitoring program characterized by causing a computer to exhibit functions as a inspection and replacement recommended time calculation unit that calculates the inspection and replacement recommended time, which is the time when inspection and replacement of the sliding-related parts are recommended when the wear of the sliding-related parts changes according to the wear progress speed. A wear monitoring program, wherein the wear degree calculation unit calculates the wear degree and the wear progress speed based on the operation time for each temperature of the sliding part.

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