Vibratory separator comprising a monitoring device and method to operate said vibratory separator

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vibratory separator (100) for screening bulk material (10), said vibratory separator comprising at least one screen (11, 11a, 11b) arranged in a framework body (12), an exciter unit (13) for vibrating said at least one screen (11, 11a, 11b). According to the invention, a RADAR system (14) is arranged in conjunction with the vibratory separator (100), whereas the RADAR system (14) is performed to direct at least one RADAR beam (15, 20) towards the screen (11, 11a, 11b) for performing a material flow characterization. Moreover, the invention is directed to a method to operate a vibratory separator (100) for screening bulk material (10) by use of evaluating data provided by the RADAR system (14) for performing a material flow characterization.

Description

[0001]VIBRATORY SEPARATOR COMPRISING A MONITORINGDEVICE ANDMETHOD TOOPERATESAID VIBRATORY SEPARATOR DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a vibratory separator for screening bulk material, said vibratory separator comprising at least one screen arranged in a framework body, an exciter unit for vibrating said at least one screen, and whereas a monitoring device is arranged in conjunction with the screen. The invention is also directed to a method to operate a vibratory separator. PRIOR ART The European patent specification EP 2548659 B1 discloses a vibratory separator for screening bulk material, which comprises a screen which is arranged in a framework, an exciter unit for vibrating the screen, and the vibratory separator comprises a monitoring device which is arranged in conjunction with the screen. The monitoring device comprises a measuring sensor, which sensor can be represented by an ultrasonic, electrical, optical, electromagnetic, acoustic and a pulse-echo measuring device, whereas a plurality of measuring devices can be arranged along the screen. The vibratory separator is formed for screening solids laden drilling mud, comprising solid and liquid properties. The measuring device is arranged to measure a distance related to the position of the surface of the mud to assess the length of said beach, and the beach length is affected by variables such as fluid flow rates and drilling fluid properties including viscosity, density, temperature, and solids content. Said means for adjusting the angle of at least one screen comprises an actuator, the separator further comprises a control apparatus for processing said distance provided by said measuring device and commanding said actuator for adjusting the angle of said at least one screen in response thereto. In other words, the control of the screen includes the signals of the sensor. Usually, vibrator separators can be applied in mining circumstances, in order to separate different grain sizes of bulk material like coal, burden material, ore material, clay material or the like, and in particular when the bulk material is dry and dusty, monitoring devices basing on sensitive, weak systems, said monitoring devices are not reliable in use and feature an increased probability of failure. An embodiment of a robust sensor technology for rough environments can be seen in the international patent application WO 2017 / 101969 A1. The monitoring device is disclosed in conjunction with a conveyer system, and the monitoring device comprises a RADAR Sensor, monitoring the load of the conveyer belt. In particular for vibratory separators monitoring devices are necessary to control the mass flow on the screen as well as the grain size and in particular the transport height of the bulk material above the screen. Due to the rough environment the monitoring device must be chosen from a robust sensor technology which is able to not only provide a rough or raw measurement value, and the measurement accuracy must be significantly increased. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved vibratory separator comprising a monitoring device as well as an improved method to operate such a vibratory separator. The monitoring device should be improved in such a way that a reliable measurement of the bulk material which is transferred over the screen can be guaranteed with values having an increased reliability and accuracy. These objectives are achieved by a vibratory separator as taught by claim 1 and by a method to operate such a vibratory separator according to claim 11. Advantageous embodiments of the vibratory separator as well as the method to operate said vibrator separator are defined in the dedicated sub claims. The vibrator separator according to the present invention comprises at least a monitoring device which features a RADAR system which is arranged in conjunction with the vibratory separator, whereas the RADAR system is performed to direct at least one RADAR beam towards the screen for performing a material flow characterization. According to the invention the vibratory separator features a monitoring device comprising at least one RADAR system is which robust against a rough environment and the measuring principle basing on a RADAR technology can be applied independent of a rough and dusty operation of the vibratory separator. The RADAR system is performed to direct at least one or more than one RADAR beams towards the screen and thus towards the bulk material, and advantageously the RADAR system is mounted to the framework body of the vibratory separator, in such a way that the RADAR system does not perform a vibratory movement when resting on the framework body of the separator, but while the RADAR system measures the dynamically moved bulk material in conjunction with the dynamically moved screen of the vibratory separator. In this sense, the RADAR system is performed to determine a material flow characterisation. This material flow characterisation comprises in the sense of the invention the measurement of the height, the speed, the acceleration and / or the amplitude of the grains of the bulk material on the screen. It can be seen as the best case that all measurement items can be measured commonly, but it is also possible to measure only a part of the measurement category. As a result, the vibratory separator can be provided with a monitoring device for controlling the vibratory separator and for providing information about the overload of the screen by bulk material, also the underload of the screen, the bulk material throughput, which means the flow rating of the bulk material over the screen and so on. In particular and in the sense of the present invention the wording of the vibratory separator also includes vibratory conveyors, that means that the screen does not separate bulk material in different sized grains but separates bulk material by transferring the material from a loading end to an unloading end. Accordingly, the application of a RADAR system with the features as claimed are also to apply to an vibratory conveyors which is in the sense of the present invention a derivate of a vibratory separator. In particular, the vibratory separator according to the invention also includes lumpy jig feeders which are underbed pulsated BATAC jigs separating machines, e.g. performed for separating light low grade from the heavy high grade iron ore. According to a preferred embodiment, the RADAR system features a first RADAR head performed to emit a first RADAR beam which is directed towards the at least one screen nearly or exactly perpendicular to the planning level of the screen. The perpendicular direction of the RADAR beam towards the planning level means a rectangular direction or a tilted direction with a deviation range of e.g. + / - 20°. Advantageously, the first RADAR head features a scanner, whereas the first RADAR beam emitted by the first RADAR head is scanned across a scanning line along the width of the screen. The width of the screen is measured in a traverse direction relative to the material feeding direction of the bulk material moved on the screen. According to an alternative embodiment, more than one RADAR head can be arranged along the scanning line and thus in a traverse direction, e.g. along a common beam of the framework body in a position above the screen. According to yet another embodiment, the at least one or the number of RADAR heads can be applied within a hollow beam or a hollow tube with openings, and the RADAR beam is directed towards the openings. In this arrangement, the RADAR heads are protected against water, moisture and dust without the necessity of a protection glass through which the RADAR beam passes. The implementing of a RADAR system based automation and productivity control solution provides the increase throughput capacity from mine to ship and thus to market by the modification of equipment to remove bottle necks, and in the line of treating bulk material, vibratory separators are often forming bottle necks in the material flow. By means of a reliable control system by monitoring the bulk material treated by the vibratory separator this implementation leads to less times of none use, and the productivity of the entire mining system, in which the vibratory separator forms only one station between foregoing and succeeding stations, can be increased. Next to one or a number of first RADAR heads, the RADAR system may feature a second RADAR head performed to emit a second RADAR beam which is directed towards the at least one screen under an angle to the planning level of the screen. The angle between the second RADAR beam and the planning level of the screen may feature a value of 10° to 80°. When the RADAR beam is arranged under the angle of said value between 10° to 80°, the second RADAR beam can be qualified to measure the feeding velocity of the bulk material crossing over the screen of the vibratory separator. This enhanced embodiment of the inventive monitoring device of the vibratory separator features a first RADAR beam measuring the profile of the bulk material in a travers direction on the screen, and the second RADAR beam is qualified to measure the feeding velocity of the bulk material perpendicular to the traverse direction, forming the feeding direction. The first RADAR beam is suited to not only measure the material feeding velocity of the bulk material, but also the first RADAR beam is qualified to identify oversize grains in the bulk material, whereas the oversize grains can be evaluated before a statistic background, so as to qualify the monitoring device to give an information to the control system of the vibratory separator that parameters must be adjusted, in particular parameters of the foregoing treating station. The second RADAR beam is angled to the planning level of the screen and is evaluated by a doppler measuring system for measuring the feeding velocity of the bulk material on the screen, whereas the first and / or second laser beam can be CW-operated or pulse-operated. According to yet another embodiment, the RADAR system features a processor unit, whereas the processor unit is formed to evaluate the filling level of the bulk material on the screen basing on a runtime measurement of the RADAR beam. In particular, the RADAR system can feature a doppler processing unit, whereas the doppler-processing unit is formed to evaluate the feeding speed of the bulk material on the screen basing on said doppler measurement of the RADAR beam, in particular the second RADAR beam. According to yet another embodiment, and as an alternative to the first and second separated RADAR beams according to the description above, the RADAR beam can feature a single multifunctional RADAR head emitting a only one or a curtain of multiple RADAR beams slightly angled relative to the planning level of the screen. This enables the substitution of the first and the second RADAR beam as described above, and the slightly angled RADAR beam emitted by the multifunctional RADAR head can measure the volume flow and the speed of the bulk material on the screen. The multifunctional RADAR head emits the RADAR beam preferred by an angle of 65° to 88° relative to the plane level of the screen. Moreover, the RADAR system features a multifunctional processing unit to evaluate the filling level of the bulk material on the screen basing on a runtime measurement and simultaneously to evaluate the feeding speed of the bulk material on the screen basing on a doppler measurement. This forms an alternative which is characterized by only one RADAR head and a multifunctional RADAR beam in conjunction with said multifunctional processing unit, and this single RADAR head is formed to measure the filling height of the bulk material on the screen, to identify oversize grains in the bulk material and also to identify the feeding speed of the bulk material on the screen by the vibratory separator. The RADAR system with the at least one RADAR head is mounted to the framework body at a non-vibrating position and in relation to gravity arranged above the screen. As mentioned above, the RADAR system may comprise one or a number of RADAR heads emitting a number of RADAR beams towards the bulk material. According to yet another embodiment, the vibratory separator features a control unit, whereas the processor unit, the doppler processing unit and / or the multifunctional processing unit is interconnected to the control unit to form a control loop for the feed volume or the feed mass of the bulk material fed through the vibratory separator. So called lumpy jig feeders are underbed pulsated BATAC jigs separating the light low grade from the heavy high grade iron ore. Each batch of jigs is fed from a surge bin via a choke fed vibrating feeder. The vibrating pan feeders have unbalanced drives forming the exciter unit that are controlled by variable speed drives. The relevant parameters affecting the feed rate like particle density, size distribution, material moisture, choke plate integrity and setting are constantly changing, and thus it is necessary to constantly adjust these settings to achieve an even feed to all jigs of the same size range. Since there is no belt feeder with a belt scale in between the bin and the jigs, it is not possible to give a feedback to the PLC to realize a close loop. Accordingly, by means of the monitoring device the feed rate can be controlled. Normally, the control of the feed rate to the jigs is achieved by visually controlling the performance of the jigs and adjusting the set-point of the feeder’s frequency controller. The bucket lifter reaches regularly the point in which it cannot remove the heavy product from the bottom of the jigs, so plant process has to be stopped. The performance of the jigs is relatively stable even with fluctuating feed rates until the certain choke point is reached. The separation efficiency is impacted with the feed, but measurements are not available on its impact. Such choke conditions should be prevented by an automated feed rate control system according to the invention. The vibratory separator can feature a first screen and at least a second screen, whereas the screens are arranged one upon the other, and / or whereas the framework body features strut elements between the screens, whereas at least one RADAR head is arranged in conjunction with the strut element. In particular, the strut element features a profile element with an inner area, whereas the at least one RADAR head is arranged in the inner area of the strut element. Moreover, the vibratory separator features a watering system, whereas the at least one RADAR head is arranged in conjunction with the watering system. A watering system can water the bulk material in particular in the rearward area of the screen. The at least one RADAR head can feature an acceleration sensor for detecting or measuring the vibratory acceleration in the framework body. In conjunction with the processor unit the control of the vibratory separator, in particular the control of the exciter unit, can -next to the RADAR measurement and bulk material control- also be based on the vibratory acceleration information provided by the acceleration sensor in the RADAR head. The present invention is also directed to a method to operate such a vibratory separator for screening bulk material in conjunction with a monitoring device, said vibratory separator comprising at least one screen arranged in a framework body and an exciter unit for vibrating said at least one screen, whereas the method features at least the following steps: arranging a RADAR system as a part of the monitoring device in conjunction with the vibratory separator; emitting at least one RADAR beam towards the screen by means of the RADAR system and determining the feed volume or the feed mass of the bulk material fed through the vibratory separator by evaluating data provided by the RADAR system. In particular, the vibratory separator features a control unit and the RADAR system features a processor unit, a doppler processing unit and / or the multifunctional processing unit, whereas the control unit communicates with the processor unit, the doppler processing unit and / or the multifunctional processing unit to control feed volume or the feed mass of the bulk material fed through the vibratory separator. The measured of the feed rate value provides a feedback control to optimize ROM stockpiling. A known Feedback provides valuable information to metallurgists for determining an optimum feed rate to minimize discard percentage. An optimized feed eliminates trip events from blocked chutes, inconsistent feeds and / or optimized feed rates enable efficient and effective processing in general. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The aforementioned features of the vibratory separator and the method steps as well as the claimed steps and the components to be used in accordance with the invention in the described embodiments, are not subject to any special exceptions with respect to their succession of steps, the size, shape, the material selection and / or the technical concepts such that the selection criteria known in the pertinent field can be applied without limitations. Additional details, characteristics, and advantages of the object of the invention are disclosed in the sub claims and the following description of the respective figures shown in the embodiments of the system and the method according to the invention. It is shown in: Fig.1 a schematic side view of a vibratory separator with a monitoring device according to a first embodiment, Fig.2 another schematic side view of the vibratory separator according to figure 1 showing a second embodiment, Fig.3 a depiction of a vibratory separator with two screens, Fig.4 the mounting of a RADAR system in the vibratory separator framework body in a front view, Fig.5 a more detailed view of single RADAR heads of a radar system, whereas the radar heads are directed perpendicular to the surface of the screen, Fig.6 a view of a single RADAR head, whereas the RADAR head is arranged on the moving part of a scanner unit for travelling along the width direction of the screen, Fig.7 a view of single RADAR heads forming the RADAR system, whereas the RADAR heads are angled relative to the surface of the screen to form an SAR arrangement, Fig.8 an embodiment of single RADAR heads in an SAR arrangement forming the RADAR system, whereas the RADAR heads are arranged on the moving part of a scanner unit for travelling along the width direction of the screen, Fig.9 two RADAR heads at each of the outer sides of the screen and Fig.10 a schematic view of a vibratory separator and a monitoring device in a diagram and Fig.11 a schematic view of a second embodiment of a monitoring device with a multifunctional RADAR beam. In figure 1 is depicted a first embodiment of a vibratory separator 100 comprising a monitoring device with the features of the present invention. The vibratory separator 100 is performed for screening and thus separating bulk material 10, and the vibratory separator features a framework body, on which a screen 11 is arranged in such a way, that the screen 11 can perform an oscillating movement against the framework body 12. The oscillating movement is caused by an exciter unit 13, whereas said components are shown only schematically. By means of a hopper 27 bulk material 10 is given up onto the screen 11, whereas a scroll bar 28 is arranged in conjunction with the screen 11 or the framework body 12 to control the feeding of the bulk material 10 across the screen 11 with a feeding speed s, and the arrow of the feeding speed s analogue represents the feeding direction. The screen 11 enables the bulk material 10 to be separated into a fine fraction 10a collected in a lower bowl below the screen 11 and into a coarse fraction 10b, which is collected in a second bowl at the releasing end of the screen. The framework body 12 features a beam 29 which overdraws the screen 11. The vibratory separator 100 features a monitoring device 1 comprising a RADAR system 14 which is mounted to the beam 29 of the framework body 12. The RADAR system 14 is performed to direct at least one RADAR beam 15, 20 towards the screen 11 and accordingly towards the bulk material 10. In this embodiment the RADAR system 14 features a first RADAR head 16 performed to emit a RADAR beam 15 which is directed towards the screen 11 perpendicular to the planning level A of the screen 11. The perpendicular alignment of the first RADAR beam 15 towards the planning level A comprises an angle of 90° with a deviation of e.g. + / -10° and / or + / - 20° against the mathematical vertical direction. By means of the RADAR beam 15 directed towards the bulk material 10, the RADAR beam 15 enables to measure the filling level h of the bulk material 10 arranged on the screen 11. The RADAR beam 15 can be expanded by a scanner 17 to generate a RADAR curtain across the entire width of the screen 11, or alternatively a number of several RADAR heads 16 are attached to the beam 29. In a not shown manner, the RADAR heads 16 can be arranged in a measurement tube to receive and protect the RADAR heads 16 and the measurement tube may feature opening windows through which the radar beams 15, 20 can pass through. The RADAR head 16 features an acceleration sensor 33 for detecting or measuring the vibratory acceleration in the framework body 12. According to another embodiment, shown in the same depiction in figure 1, the RADAR system 14 features a second RADAR head 19 performed to emit a second RADAR beam 20 which is directed towards the screen 11 under an angle α to the planning level A of the screen 11. The angle ^ between the second RADAR beam 20 of the second RADAR head 19 and the planning level A of the screen 11 features of value of 10° to 80°. The RADAR system 14 moreover features a processor unit, which is described in conjunction with figure 4a in detail, whereas the processor unit 21 is formed to evaluate the filling level height h of the bulk material on the screen 11 basing on a runtime measurement of the RADAR beam 15. Moreover, the monitoring device 1 comprises a RADAR system 14 and a processor unit, which is performed to determine a material flow characterisation. This material flow characterisation comprises in the sense of the invention the measurement of the height h, the speed s, the acceleration a and / or the amplitude i of the grains 10’ of the bulk material 10 on the screen 11. The depiction shows exemplarily three different sized of grains 10’ of the bulk material 10 which can be analysed separately in their behaviour on the screen 11. With this measurement principle the control of the exciter unit 13 can be optimized. Moreover, the RADAR system 14 features a doppler processing unit, which is explained in detail in conjunction with figure 4a, whereas the doppler processing unit is formed to evaluate the feeding speed s on the bulk material 10 on the screen 11 basing on said doppler measurement of the RADAR beam 20. In other words, the RADAR system 14 enables the measurement of the material mass flow of the bulk material 10 on the screen 11 with multiplication the filling level h across the width of the screen 11 times the feeding speed s, whereas the filling level h can be a function of the cross position, what means that the filling level h can vary across the width of the screen 11 due to different filling levels. The processor units are programmed and performed in such a way that an exact value of the volume flow of bulk material 10 across the screen 11 in the feeding direction can be calculated. According to the embodiment shown in fig.1, the first RADAR head 16 and the second RADAR head 19 can be applied in one common system or can be applied separated to each other as single RADAR systems. Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment of the vibratory separator 100 comprising a monitoring device 1 with a RADAR system 14. The RADAR system 14 comprises only one RADAR head, the multifunctional RADAR head 23 emitting a RADAR beam 24 which is slightly angled relative to the planning level A of the screen 11. The angle ^ can be measured with a value between 65° to 88°, for example only, whereas the RADAR beam 14 features a multifunctional processing unit to evaluate the filling level h of the bulk material 10 on the screen 11 basing on a runtime measurement and simultaneously to evaluate the feeding speed s of the bulk material on the screen 11 basing on a doppler measurement. The architecture of the multifunctional processing unit 25 is described in figure 4b in detail. All reference numbers in figure 2 are identical to the reference numbers in figure 1 and are not repeated here, in particular according to the bulk material 10, the screen 11, the framework body 12, the hopper 27 and in particular the exciter unit 13. Figure 3 shows a depiction of the vibratory separator 100 in a variant with two screens 11a and 11b arranged one upon the other. The framework body 12 features strut elements 30 between the screens 11a and 11b, whereas at least one RADAR head 16 is arranged in conjunction with the strut element 30. The RADAR head 16 represents also a RADAR head 19 or 23. The strut element 30 is depicted in a magnification, where the RADAR beam 15, also known as the RADAR beam 20, can pass an opening 31 in the strut element 30. The strut element 30 can feature so many openings as RADAR heads 16 are arranged in the strut element 30. Figure 4 shows a RADAR system 14 in a vibratory separator 100 with a number of RADAR heads (not shown) in a strut element 30 which extends above the screen 11, and the RADAR heads form a RADAR beam 15 with a width according to the width of the screen 11. The result is a scanning line 18. The RADAR system 14 is qualified to detect the height of the bulk material 10 on the screen 11, e.g. to control the scroll bar 28 depicted in figure 1 or 2 with different control heights across the width of the screen 11. As a result, the mass of the bulk material across the width of the screen 11 is evenly distributed. Figure 5 shows a more detailed view of a RADAR system 14 having a number of RADAR heads 16 arranged in a common row for providing an elongated RADAR beam 15, which consists of a number of single radar beams 15 positioned one next to each other along the width of the screen 11. The RADAR beams 15 are directed perpendicular onto the surface of the screen 11. The RADAR system 14 comprising the number of single RADAR heads 16 is controlled by the processor unit 21. This arrangement enables the scan of the surface of the bulk material 10 on the screen 11. The RADAR system 14 forms a monitoring device 1 and can for example be attached to the framework body of the vibratory separator. As an example only, each RADAR head 16 can generate a RADAR beam 15 having a diameter of about 50mm, and e.g.20 RADAR heads 16 are arranged on the length of 1m extension along the width. Figure 6 depicts another embodiment of the RADAR system 14, which RADAR system 14 features only one single RADAR head 16. This single RADAR head 16 is mounted to a movable part of a scanner unit 32, so that the RADAR beam 15 of the single RADAR head 16 can travel above the surface of the screen 11 along the scanning line 18. The control of the RADAR system 14 and the scanner unit 32 is performed by the processor unit 21. The scanner unit 32 can displace the RADAR head 16 step by step or continuously. The more data are collected the better is the data quality to control the screen 11. In figure 7 is shown an arrangement of a certain number of single RADAR heads 16 that are aligned under an angle ^ relative to a direction perpendicular to the surface of the screen 11, and thus the angle ^ is measured between the main axis of the radar beam 15 and the perpendicular direction onto the surface of the screen 11 and thus perpendicular to the width direction. As an example only, the angle ^ amounts about 15° to 85°. In this arrangement of the number of single RADAR heads 16 the so-called SAR imaging setup is realized. The SAR RADAR measurement describes a so called synthetic aperture RADAR, and such a SAR is a form of a RADAR system that is used to create two- dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstruction images of objects on a surface, so that the crushing elements can be imaged as well as the surface itself or a autogenous layer. SAR RADARs use the motion of the RADAR antenna over a target region to provide finer spatial resolution than conventional stationary beam-scanning radars. The RADAR system 14 comprising the number of single RADAR heads 16 is controlled by the processor unit 21. The single RADAR heads 16 can also be arranged in an array featuring more than one row, and the RADAR frequency can e.g. amount about 120GHz to 140GHz. This arrangement needs less single RADAR heads 16, for example not 20 per meter according to the arrangement shown in figure 5 but a number of not more than 5 to 6 single RADAR heads 16 per meter. Figure 8 shows an embodiment with three RADAR heads 16 forming the RADAR system 14 in an exemplary fashion, which are received by a scanner unit 32 to travel the RADAR heads 16 along the surface of the screen 11 in the width direction. These RADAR heads 16 form a multistatic array, by which a high radar bandwidth is required. The central vertical RADAR head 16 is taught for a simple distance measurement, detecting the screen distance, and the two inclined RADAR heads 16 represent the SAR radars. In such a way both sides of the screen 11 entirely can be measured, and the array is moved along the scanning line 18, controlled by the processor unit 21. Figure 9 shows an embodiment in which at each side of the screen 11 are arranged two RADAR heads 16 each forming one RADAR system 14. This arrangement forms a fixed, interferometric high resolution SAR Imaging RADAR system 14. When only one RADAR system 14 would be arranged at one side of the screen 11, the required radial distance of the RADAR system 14 to the screen 11 might be quite large to allow the purple line to fit to the surface of the screen 11. But when at both sides of the screen 11 are arranged RADAR system 14 with the RADAR heads 16, the radial distance can be decreased. Figure 10 schematically shows the vibratory separator 100 comprising the monitoring device 1, and the schematic view comprises the first RADAR head 16 in conjunction with the scanner 17 and the processor unit 21, which is in data exchange with the first RADAR head 16 and / or the scanner 17. The second RADAR head 19 is combined with the doppler processing unit 22, and the processor unit 21 and the doppler processing unit 22 are combined with the control unit 26, which control unit 26 forms the control unit to control the vibratory separator 100, and in particular the exciter unit 13 and / or the scroll bar 28. By means of this control architecture the monitoring device 1 basing on a RADAR system 14 can control the operation of the vibratory separator 100 and thus the operation of the screen 11 in conjunction with the exciter unit 13 and / or the scroll bar 28. Figure 11 shows a diagram of the monitoring device 1 comprising the RADAR system 14 with the multifunctional RADAR head 23 providing the RADAR beam 24. The multifunctional RADAR head 23 is combined with the multifunctional processing unit 25, and the system comprising the multifunctional RADAR head 23 and the multifunctional processing unit 25 combines the measurement of the filling level h and the feeding speed s with a slightly angled RADAR beam 24, and the multifunctional processing unit 25 is combined with a control unit 26 to control the screen 11, the exciter unit 13 and / or the scroll bar 28 similar to the system according to figure 4a, but the multifunctional character of the RADAR system according to figure 4b does only need one RADAR head 23 providing only one RADAR beam 24 to control filling level h and feeding speed s and by means of the multifunctional processing unit 25 also the feeding mass per time can be defined in real time and this information can be provided to the control unit 26 and / or to a supervisor of the vibratory separator 100 or to a supervisor of an entire mining or material handling plant. The present invention is not limited by the embodiment described above, which is represented as examples only and can be modified in various ways within the scope of protection defined by the appending patent claims. Reference Numbers: 1 monitoring device 10 bulk material 10a fine fraction 10b coarse fraction 10’ grain of the bulk material 11 screen 11a first screen 11b additional screen 12 framework body 13 exciter unit 14 RADAR system 15 RADAR beam 16 first RADAR head 17 scanner 18 scanning line 19 second RADAR head 20 RADAR beam 21 processor unit 22 doppler processing unit 23 multifunctional RADAR head 24 RADAR beam 25 multifunctional processing unit 26 control unit 27 hopper 28 scroll bar 29 beam 30 strut element 31 opening 32 scanner unit 33 acceleration sensor 100 vibratory separator ^ angle ^ angle ^ angle h filling level height s feeding speed i amplitude a acceleration A planning level

Claims

Claims:

1. Vibratory separator (100) for screening bulk material (10), said vibratory separator comprising at least one screen (11, 11a, 11b) arranged in a framework body (12), an exciter unit (13) for vibrating said at least one screen (11, 11a, 11b), and whereas a monitoring device (1) is arranged in conjunction with the screen (11, 11a, 11b), c h a r a c t e r I z e d i n that the monitoring device (1) features a RADAR system (14) which is arranged in conjunction with the vibratory separator (100), whereas the RADAR system (14) is performed to direct at least one RADAR beam (15, 20, 24) towards the screen (11, 11a, 11b) for performing a material flow characterization.

2. Vibratory separator (100) according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the RADAR system (14) features a first RADAR head (16) performed to emit a RADAR beam (15) which is directed towards the at least one screen (11, 11a, 11b) perpendicular to the planning level (A) of the screen (11, 11a, 11b).

3. Vibratory separator (100) according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the first RADAR head (16) features a scanner (17) or a scanner unit (32) for moving the RADAR head (16) across the width of the screen (11, 11a, 11b), whereas the first RADAR beam (15) emitted by the first RADAR head (16) is scanned across a scanning line (18) over the width of the screen (11, 11a, 11b).

4. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the claims 1 to 3,c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that that the RADAR system (14) features a second RADAR head (19) performed to emit a second RADAR beam (20) which is directed towards the at least one screen (11, 11a, 11b) under an angle ( ^) to the planning level (A) of the screen (11, 11a, 11b).

5. Vibratory separator (100) according to claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the angle ( ^) between the second RADAR beam (20) and the planning level (A) of the screen (11, 11a, 11b) features a value of 10° to 80°.

6. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the RADAR system (14) features a processor unit (21), whereas the processor unit (21) is formed to evaluate the filling level (h) of the bulk material (10) on the screen (11, 11a, 11b) basing on a runtime measurement of the RADAR beam (15).

7. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the RADAR system (14) features a doppler processing unit (22), whereas the doppler processing unit (22) is formed to evaluate the feeding speed (s) of the bulk material (10) on the screen (11) basing on a doppler measurement of the RADAR beam (20).

8. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the RADAR system (14) features a multifunctional RADAR head (23) emitting a RADAR beam (24) slightly angled relative to theplanning level (A) of the screen (11, 11a, 11b), preferably by an angle of 65° to 88°, and whereas the RADAR system (14) features a multifunctional processing unit (25) to evaluate the filling level (h) of the bulk material (10) on the screen (11, 11a, 11b) basing on a runtime measurement and simultaneously to evaluate the feeding speed (s) of the bulk material (10) on the screen (11, 11a, 11b) basing on a doppler measurement.

9. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the vibratory separator (100) features a first screen (11a) and at least one additional screen (11b), whereas the screens (11a, 11b) are arranged one upon the other, and / or whereas the framework body (12) features strut elements (30) between the screens (11a, 11b), whereas at least one RADAR head (16, 19, 23) is arranged in conjunction with the strut element (30), in particular the strut element (30) features a profile element with an inner area, whereas the at least one RADAR head (16, 19, 23) is arranged in the inner area of the strut element (30).

10. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the at least one RADAR head (16, 19, 23) features an acceleration sensor (33) for detecting or measuring the vibratory acceleration in the framework body (12).

11. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i nthat the vibratory separator (100) features a watering system, whereas the at least one RADAR head (16, 19, 23) is arranged in conjunction with the watering system.

12. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the at least one RADAR head (16, 19, 23) features a monostatic, bistatic or a multistatic antenna layout and / or is operated in a FMCW modulation or a pulse modulation and / or the at least one radar unit (14) features a standard signal processing and / or a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and / or an interferometric SAR.

13. Vibratory separator (100) according to one of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the vibratory separator (100) features a control unit (26), whereas the processor unit (21), the doppler processing unit (22) and / or the multifunctional processing unit (25) is interconnected to the control unit (26) to form a control loop for the feed volume or the feed mass of the bulk material (10) fed through the vibratory separator (100).

14. Method to operate a vibratory separator (100) for screening bulk material (10) in conjunction with a monitoring device (1) according to the previous claims, said vibratory separator (100) comprising at least one screen (11, 11a, 11b) arranged in a framework body (12) and an exciter unit (13) for vibrating said at least one screen (11, 11a, 11b), whereas the method features at least the following steps: - arranging a RADAR system (12) as a part of the monitoring device (1) in conjunction with the vibratory separator (100), - emitting at least one RADAR beam (15, 20) towards the screen (11, 11a, 11b) by means of the RADAR system (12) and- determining the feed volume or the feed mass of the bulk material (10) fed through the vibratory separator (100) by evaluating data provided by the RADAR system (12) for performing a material flow characterization.

15. Method to operate a vibratory separator (100) for screening bulk material (10) according to claim 14, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the vibratory separator (100) features a control unit (26) and the RADAR system (12) features a processor unit (21), a doppler processing unit (22) and / or the multifunctional processing unit (25), whereas the control unit (25) communicates with the a processor unit (21), the doppler processing unit (22) and / or the multifunctional processing unit (25) to control feed volume, the feed mass of the bulk material (10) fed through the vibratory separator (100) and / or to control the water flow rate of a watering system to water the bulk material (10).

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