Belt conveyor equipment abnormality detection system and abnormality detection method

Abstract

To provide a belt conveyor facility abnormality detection system and abnormality detection method, capable of preventing an occurrence of an abnormality caused by a load spill in a belt conveyor facility.SOLUTION: A belt conveyor facility abnormality detection system according to the present invention includes: an imaging device for capturing images of a belt conveyor facility in a normal state and in an operating state; and a control device that determines whether or not a load spill has occurred due to loads falling off the belt conveyor facility by comparing images of the belt conveyor facility in the normal state and in the operating state captured by the imaging device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an abnormality detection system and an abnormality detection method for a belt conveyor facility. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a technology for detecting belt conveyor abnormalities by measuring the acceleration of the conveyor belt for at least one revolution and determining the abnormality and its position in the support rollers that support the conveyor belt from the measured acceleration data. Patent Document 2 describes a technology for detecting problems caused by small lumps of ironmaking raw materials falling onto the lower belt and stopping the belt conveyor to prevent equipment problems from occurring. Patent Document 3 describes a technology for determining an abnormal state of the belt conveyor by understanding the correlation between a defective belt shape and an abnormality in at least one of the electric motor, reducer, pulley, roller, or chute. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-060556 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-165612 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-169097 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The technologies described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 all detect the occurrence of a physical abnormality in a belt conveyor system, but are not intended to prevent the occurrence of an abnormality in the belt conveyor system. For this reason, there has been a demand for a technology that can prevent abnormalities in a belt conveyor system from occurring. In particular, if a spill occurs in which transported objects fall from the belt conveyor system, even if the system is operating normally during belt conveyor operation, the fallen transported objects may accumulate and increase in volume in the future, potentially damaging the system by coming into contact with the system. For this reason, there has been a demand for a technology that can detect the occurrence of a spill and automatically perform maintenance operations before an abnormality occurs in the belt conveyor system.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide an abnormality detection system and an abnormality detection method for belt conveyor equipment that can prevent abnormalities caused by cargo spillage from occurring in belt conveyor equipment. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The belt conveyor equipment abnormality detection system of the present invention includes an imaging device that takes images of the belt conveyor equipment in a steady state and in an operating state, and a control device that determines whether or not a load spill, in which transported goods fall from the belt conveyor equipment, is occurring by comparing the images of the belt conveyor equipment in the steady state and in the operating state taken by the imaging device.

[0007] It is preferable to provide a cleaning device that cleans the area where the spill occurred in accordance with a control signal from the control device when the control device determines that the spill has occurred.

[0008] The control device may detect the color of the transported object that has fallen from the belt conveyor equipment using the image captured by the imaging device, identify the type of the transported object based on the detected color, and control the start-up timing of the cleaning device in accordance with the identified type of the transported object.

[0009] The control device may set a threshold value for the pile height of the objects dropped from the belt conveyor system according to the type of the objects, and activate the cleaning device when the pile height exceeds the threshold value.

[0010] The control device may set the threshold value based on a ratio of the bulk density of the object to be treated to the bulk density of a reference object.

[0011] The method for detecting abnormalities in belt conveyor equipment according to the present invention includes an imaging step of taking images of the belt conveyor equipment in a steady state and in an operating state, and a determination step of determining whether or not a load spill, in which transported goods fall from the belt conveyor equipment, is occurring by comparing the images of the belt conveyor equipment in the steady state and in the operating state taken in the imaging step. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the belt conveyor equipment abnormality detection system and abnormality detection method of the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not a spillage of transported goods has occurred from the belt conveyor equipment, thereby preventing the occurrence of abnormalities in the belt conveyor equipment due to a spillage of goods. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an anomaly detection system for a belt conveyor facility according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of an anomaly detection system for a belt conveyor facility according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an anomaly detection system for a belt conveyor system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the anomaly detection system for a belt conveyor system according to one embodiment of the present invention is a system that prevents anomalies caused by spillage of cargo in a belt conveyor system 1 that transports an object M, and includes imaging devices 10a and 10b, a cleaning device 11, and a control device 12 as its main components. Examples of the object M transported by this belt conveyor system include crushed materials used in the steel industry, such as coal, iron ore, and limestone.

[0016] The imaging devices 10a and 10b are configured with known imaging devices such as CCD cameras and are installed near the belt conveyor equipment 1. In this embodiment, the imaging device 10a captures images of the belt conveyor equipment 1a in a steady state when no goods M are being transported, and inputs the captured image data to the control device 12. The imaging device 10b captures images of the belt conveyor equipment 1b in an operating state when goods M are being transported, and inputs the captured image data to the control device 12. The imaging devices 10a and 10b may be configured with a single imaging device or multiple imaging devices. When detecting spilled goods over a wide area using a single imaging device, correction markers may be installed in advance to indicate the distance to the spilled goods and the height of the spilled goods. To detect the height of the spilled goods using a single imaging device, the imaging device may be installed at an angle relative to the ground, and the installation angle is preferably in the range of 0 to 60 degrees relative to the ground.

[0017] The cleaning device 11 cleans and removes the transported object M that has fallen from the belt conveyor equipment 1 in accordance with a control signal transmitted from the control device 12. Specifically, the cleaning device 11 starts up in response to receiving an activation signal transmitted from the control device 12, and moves to a position corresponding to the coordinate information of the location where the spill occurred transmitted from the control device 12. The cleaning device 11 then cleans and removes the transported object M that has fallen to the position to which it has moved.

[0018] The control device 12 is configured with an information processing device such as a computer. The control device 12 detects the occurrence and location of a spill of transported objects M falling from the belt conveyor equipment 1 by comparing images of the belt conveyor equipment 1 in a steady state and in an operating state input from the imaging devices 10a and 10b. When the control device 12 detects the occurrence of a spill, the control device 12 controls the cleaning device 11 to clean and remove the dropped transported objects M by transmitting a start signal and coordinate information of the location of the spill to the cleaning device 11 when the height of the transported objects M that have fallen from the belt conveyor equipment 1 reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold height.

[0019] In this embodiment, the control device 12 detects the color of the dropped object M using an image of the belt conveyor equipment 1, and identifies the type of the dropped object M based on the detected color. For example, if the color of the object M is white, the control device 12 determines that the object M is limestone by referring to pre-stored table data indicating the correspondence between the color and type of the object M. The control device 12 then controls the timing of transmitting an activation signal to the cleaning device 11 according to the identified type of the object M. Specifically, the control device 12 sets a threshold height H of the object M dropped from the belt conveyor equipment 1 according to the type of the object M, and transmits an activation signal to the cleaning device 11 when the pile height becomes equal to or greater than the threshold height H.

[0020] At this time, the control device 12 sets the threshold height H of the transported material M to be treated based on the ratio of the bulk density of the transported material M to the bulk density of the reference transported material M, as shown in Table 1 below. In the example shown in Table 1, if the reference transported material M is coal, the control device 12 sets the threshold height H to 0.300 (= (0.60 / 2.00) × 1.00) m when transporting fine ore, and sets the threshold height H to 0.375 (= (0.60 / 1.60) / 1.00) m when transporting limestone. By performing such processing, the fallen transported material M can be cleaned and removed at an appropriate time, taking into account the rate at which the accumulation of spilled material increases.

[0021] [Table 1]

[0022] As is clear from the above explanation, in the belt conveyor equipment abnormality detection system which is one embodiment of the present invention, the imaging devices 10a, 10b take images of the belt conveyor equipment 1 in a steady state and in an operating state, and the control device 12 compares the images of the belt conveyor equipment 1 in the steady state and in the operating state taken by the imaging devices 10a, 10b to determine whether or not a load spill, in which the transported goods M fall from the belt conveyor equipment 1, has occurred, thereby making it possible to prevent an abnormality caused by a load spill from occurring in the belt conveyor equipment 1.

[0023] The above describes an embodiment of the invention developed by the inventors, but the present invention is not limited to the description and drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention according to this embodiment. For example, when a spill is detected, in addition to cleaning and removing the transported goods M, information about the unevenness of the transported goods M on the belt conveyor may be fed forward to an upstream process, and the upstream process may adjust the portion of the belt conveyor where the transported goods M are placed to reduce the amount of spilled goods. In this way, all other embodiments, examples, operational techniques, etc. made by those skilled in the art based on this embodiment are included in the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0024] 1, 1a, 1b Belt conveyor equipment 10a, 10b Imaging device 11 Cleaning equipment 12 Control device M Transported item H threshold height

Claims

1. an imaging device that captures images of the belt conveyor facility in a steady state and in operation; a control device that determines whether or not a load spill, i.e., an article falling from the belt conveyor equipment, is occurring by comparing the images of the belt conveyor equipment in a steady state and in an operating state taken by the imaging device; and a cleaning device that cleans the area where the spill occurred in accordance with a control signal from the control device when the control device determines that the spill has occurred; Equipped with the control device detects the color of the transported object that has fallen from the belt conveyor system using the image captured by the imaging device, identifies the type of the transported object based on the detected color, and controls the activation timing of the cleaning device in accordance with the identified type of the transported object. Anomaly detection system for belt conveyor equipment.

2. 2. The belt conveyor equipment abnormality detection system according to claim 1, wherein the control device sets a threshold value for a pile height of the transported objects that have fallen from the belt conveyor equipment according to a type of the transported objects, and activates the cleaning device when the pile height becomes equal to or greater than the threshold value.

3. 3. The belt conveyor system according to claim 2, wherein the control device sets the threshold value based on a ratio of a bulk density of the object to be processed to a bulk density of a reference object.

4. An imaging step in which an imaging device captures images of the belt conveyor equipment in a steady state and an operating state; a determination step in which the control device determines whether or not a load spill, i.e., an article falling from the belt conveyor equipment, has occurred by comparing the images of the belt conveyor equipment in the steady state and the operating state taken in the imaging step; a cleaning step in which, when the control device determines that the spill has occurred, the cleaning device cleans the area where the spill has occurred in accordance with a control signal from the control device; Including, the control device detects the color of the transported object that has fallen from the belt conveyor system using the image captured by the imaging device, identifies the type of the transported object based on the detected color, and controls the activation timing of the cleaning device in accordance with the identified type of the transported object. A method for detecting abnormalities in belt conveyor equipment.

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