Monitoring method of conveyor belt, control method of conveyor belt, and program

Abstract

[Summary] A monitoring method, etc. of a conveyor belt that can effectively evaluate errors during operation of the conveyor belt is provided. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a monitoring method of a conveyor belt is provided. The monitoring method includes an acquisition step and an evaluation step. The acquisition step acquires information on the length of the conveyor belt in a width direction. Here, the information on the length in the width direction is based on measurement data measured by an optical sensor during operation of the conveyor belt. The evaluation step evaluates presence or absence of an error during operation of the conveyor belt by comparing the information on the length in the width direction with a predetermined reference information.

Description

MONITORING METHOD OF CONVEYOR BELT, CONTROL METHOD OF CONVEYOR BELT, AND PROGRAM

[0001] CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-050990, filed March 27, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The present disclosure relates to a monitoring method of a conveyor belt, a control method of a conveyor belt, and a program.

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses an apparatus of detecting meandering of a conveyor belt.

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP2000-118663 A

[0004] The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 involves mounting a sensor in a conveyor belt itself. Thus, the mounting of the sensor itself involves a human or financial burden, which imposes limitations on the number of sensors that can be mounted. Against this background, there has conventionally been a need to efficiently evaluate errors during operation of a conveyor belt.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the present disclosure provides a monitoring method, etc. of a conveyor belt that can effectively evaluate errors during operation of the conveyor belt.

[0006] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a monitoring method of a conveyor belt is provided. This monitoring method includes an acquisition step and an evaluation step. The acquisition step acquires information on a length of the conveyor belt in a width direction. Here, the information on the length in the width direction is based on measurement data measured by an optical sensor during operation of the conveyor belt. The evaluation step evaluates presence or absence of an error during operation of the conveyor belt by comparing the information on the length in the width direction with a predetermined reference information.

[0007] According to the above-mentioned aspect, a monitoring method, etc. of a conveyor belt that can effectively evaluate errors during operation of the conveyor belt.

[0008] In addition, the present disclosure may be provided with each of the following aspects.

[0009] (1) A monitoring method of a conveyor belt, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring information on a length of the conveyor belt in a width direction, the information on the length in the width direction being based on measurement data measured by an optical sensor during operation of the conveyor belt, and an evaluation step of evaluating presence or absence of an error during operation of the conveyor belt by comparing the information on the length in the width direction with a predetermined reference information.

[0010] (2) The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to (1), wherein the error is related to one or more selected from a group including a breakage of a belt of the conveyor belt and a protrusion of a loaded object of the conveyor belt.

[0011] (3) The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to (1) or (2), wherein: the information on the length in the width direction corresponds to a length from a first end to a second end related to the conveyor belt, and the first end and the second end are defined by a belt of the conveyor belt and / or a loaded object of the conveyor belt, respectively.

[0012] (4) The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to (3), wherein: the measurement data is data obtained by continuously performing measurements by the optical sensor, and the information on the length in the width direction includes a change over time of the length from the first end to the second end.

[0013] (5) The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to (4), wherein: the evaluation step further evaluates magnitude of the error based on a change over time of the length from the first end to the second end.

[0014] (6) The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of (3) to (5), wherein: the first end and the second end are measured by different optical sensors, respectively.

[0015] (7) The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein: the optical sensor is a LiDAR sensor.

[0016] (8) The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of (1) to (7), further comprising: a warning step of issuing a warning in a case where the evaluation step has evaluated that the error is present.

[0017] (9) A control method of a conveyor belt, comprising: a conveyor belt control step of stopping the conveyor belt being in operation in a case where the evaluation step in the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of (1) to (8) has evaluated that the error is present.

[0018] (10) A program, configured to allow at least one computer to execute each step of the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of (1) to (8). Of course, the present disclosure is not limited to the above aspects.

[0019] FIG. 1 is a side view of an overall configuration of a process to which a monitoring system may be applied.FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus 2, etc.FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of an information processing apparatus 2.FIG. 4 is an activity diagram showing a flow of information processing using a monitoring system, etc.FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining errors to be evaluated in an evaluation step.FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining errors to be evaluated in an evaluation step.FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment related to an arrangement of an optical sensor.FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment related to an arrangement of an optical sensor.

[0020] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. It should be noted that various features described in the embodiment below can be combined with each other.

[0021] That is, the monitoring method of a conveyor belt according to the present embodiment is as follows. A monitoring method of a conveyor belt, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring information on a length of the conveyor belt in a width direction, the information on the length in the width direction being based on measurement data measured by an optical sensor during operation of the conveyor belt, and an evaluation step of evaluating presence or absence of an error during operation of the conveyor belt by comparing the information on the length in the width direction with a predetermined reference information.

[0022] A program for realizing a software described in the present embodiment may be provided as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, may be provided to be downloaded via an external server, or may be provided so that the program is activated on an external computer and the program's function is realized on a client terminal (that is, the function is provided by so-called cloud computing).

[0023] In addition, in various information processing according to an embodiment, an input and an output in response to the input can be realized. Here, as long as an output is obtained as a result of an input, the aspect of information referenced in such information processing (hereinafter, referred to as reference information) is not limited. The reference information may be, for example, rule-based information such as a database, a lookup table, a predefined function (including a determination formula such as a regression formula constructed by statistical methods), may be a learned model in which the correlation between an input and an output has been learned in advance, or may be a large-scale language model that can output a desired result by inputting a prompt.

[0024] The term "unit" in an embodiment may include, for example, a combination of hardware resources implemented as circuits in a broad sense and information processing of software that can be concretely realized by these hardware resources. Further, various information is handled in an embodiment, and the information can be represented by, for instance, physical values of signal values representing voltage and current, high and low signal values as a set of binary bits consisting of 0 or 1, or quantum superposition (so-called qubits), and communication / calculation can be executed on a circuit in a broad sense.

[0025] Furthermore, the circuit in a broad sense is a circuit realized by combining at least an appropriate number of a circuit, a circuitry, a processor, a memory, or the like. The processor may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated circuit. In other words, a circuit includes an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (e.g., simple programmable logic device (SPLD), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), field programmable gate array (FPGA)), and the like.

[0026] 1. Hardware configuration The monitoring method according to the present embodiment is typically implemented using a predetermined monitoring system. This section describes a hardware configuration of a monitoring system or the like according to the present embodiment.

[0027] A monitoring method of a conveyor belt according to the present embodiment can be applied to a process of conveying various kinds of articles by the conveyor belt and can be typically executed by a monitoring system shown below. First, a process of conveying the articles and the configuration related to the hardware that can configure this process will be described.

[0028] FIG. 1 is a side view of an overall configuration of a process to which a monitoring system may be applied. The process illustrated by this figure is a process in which a loaded object 4 is conveyed by a conveyor belt 1 in a flow direction D1. Note that, in the present embodiment, the loaded object 4 conveyed on the conveyor belt 1 may be any of a variety of articles that may be conveyed on the conveyor belt. Furthermore, such an article may be powder. As an example, the powder may be coal, coke breeze, cement, biomass fuel, sediment, ore, slag, dust, etc.

[0029] First, the details of the conveyor belt 1 to which the monitoring method in the present embodiment applies will be described. The conveyor belt 1 includes a head pulley 13a and a tail pulley 13b, and may be configured by winding a belt around these pulleys. In this specification, in the belt wound around the pulleys, the belt positioned at the upper part is referred to as an upper belt 11a and the belt positioned at the lower part is referred to as a lower belt 11b. Typically, the loaded object 4 is loaded on the upper belt 11a and conveyed from the tail pulley 13b side to the head pulley 13a side.

[0030] The conveyor belt 1 according to the present embodiment may have one or more rollers 12 between the head pulley 13a and the tail pulley 13b. This roller 12 can support the upper belt 11a, and the conveying process can be performed stably.

[0031] The conveyor belt 1 may be driven by, for example, the rotation of the head pulley 13a and the tail pulley 13b. That is, the head pulley 13a and the tail pulley 13b may be connected to a motor or the like, which is not shown in the figure. This allows the belt of the conveyor belt 1 to move in the flow direction D1. Note that, the drive of the conveyor belt 1 does not have to be based on the rotation of the head pulley 13a and the tail pulley 13b. For example, the conveyor belt 1 may include a drive pulley (not shown) that drives the conveyor belt 1. In addition, the conveyor belt 1 may include various pulleys not shown in FIG. 1, such as a snub pulley, a tension pulley, a bend pulley, etc.

[0032] In the monitoring method according to the present embodiment, optical sensors 3a, 3b are provided in the process. The optical sensor 3a is configured to measure the upper belt 11a side of the conveyor belt 1. The optical sensor 3b is configured to measure the lower belt 11b side of the conveyor belt 1. In FIG. 1, an example in which two optical sensors are mounted in the process. However, the number of optical sensors provided in the process is not limited to thereto. In other words, one optical sensor may be provided in the process, or three or more optical sensors may be provided in the process. The mounting position of the optical sensor is not limited to the illustrated position, and the optical sensor may be mounted at any position where the present monitoring process can be realized. In addition, the position of the optical sensor 3 is not limited to a position where the measurement can be performed perpendicularly to the surface of the belt of the conveyor belt 1. The optical sensor 3 may be positioned so as to have an inclination (for example, 30 to 60 degrees). Hereinafter, the optical sensors used in the monitoring method according to present embodiment may be collectively referred to as an "optical sensor 3".

[0033] The optical sensor 3 may be appropriately selected from among known optical sensors. For example, the optical sensor 3 may be a LiDAR sensor, an infrared camera, or the like. Preferably, the optical sensor 3 is a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) sensor. The LiDAR sensor is a sensor that irradiates a laser beam onto an object, measures the distance to the object by detecting the reflected light, and generates measurement data of a measuring object. Based on this principle, the measurement data described above may include point cloud data obtained via the optical sensor 3. The LiDAR sensor here may be either a so-called two-dimensional LiDAR or three-dimensional LiDAR. The optical sensor 3 may include an unshown laser light source, a light receiving unit, a microcomputer, and a communication unit. That is, a laser beam is irradiated from the laser light source, the light receiving unit receives reflected light reflected by the object, the microcomputer generates point cloud data, and the point cloud data can be output externally via the communication unit.

[0034] The monitoring system according to the present embodiment includes the optical sensor 3. Note that, the "monitoring system" may include any configuration other than the optical sensor 3. Specifically, the monitoring system according to the present embodiment can be called a monitoring system that includes a configuration for appropriately analyzing the data acquired by the optical sensor 3. In other words, the monitoring system according to the present embodiment may include an information processing apparatus 2 described later in addition to the optical sensor 3.

[0035] Although the details are not shown in FIG. 1, the optical sensor 3 may be configured to communicate with a predetermined information processing apparatus 2, and predetermined calculations and the like may be executed by the information processing apparatus 2.

[0036] FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 2, etc. As shown in FIG. 2, the optical sensor 3 is connected to the information processing apparatus 2 via the communication path 31. The communication path 31 is selected from among means that can communicate between the optical sensor 3 and the information processing apparatus 2, and the means may be either wired or wireless. Hereinafter, the details of the information processing apparatus 2 will be described.

[0037] <Information processing apparatus 2> The information processing apparatus 2 comprises a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, a controller 23, a display unit 24, and an input unit 25, and is configured by electrically connecting each of these units via a communication bus 20.

[0038] (Communication unit 21) The communication unit 21 is configured to transmit various electric signals from the information processing apparatus 2 to an external component. In addition, the communication unit 21 is configured to receive various electric signals from the external component to the information processing apparatus 2. The communication unit 21 has a network communication function, thereby various information can be communicated between the information processing apparatus 2 and an external device via a communication line.

[0039] (Storage unit 22) The storage unit 22 stores various information defined by the description above. This may be implemented as, for example, a storage device such as a solid state drive (SSD) that stores various programs and the like related to the information processing apparatus 2 executed by the controller 23, or a memory such as a random access memory (RAM) that stores temporarily necessary information (argument, array, or the like) related to program operations. The storage unit 22 stores various programs or variables related to the information processing apparatus 2 which are executed by the controller 23.

[0040] (Controller 23) The controller 23 is, for example, an unshown central processing unit (CPU). The controller 23 is configured to realize various functions related to the information processing apparatus 2 by reading and executing a predetermined program stored in the storage unit 22. In other words, information processing by software stored in the storage unit 22 is specifically realized by the controller 23 that is an example of hardware, thereby may be executed as each functional unit included in the controller 23. Further details on these will be described in the next section. It should be noted that the controller 23 is not limited to being singular, and may be implemented with two or more controllers 23 for each function. Additionally, a combination thereof may be applied.

[0041] (Display unit 24) The display unit 24 may be, for example, included in a housing of the information processing apparatus 2 or may be externally attached. The display unit 24 is configured to display a screen of graphical user interface (GUI) that is operable by a user. For instance, this is preferable to be implemented by using different display devices such as a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and a plasma display, depending on the type of the information processing apparatus 2.

[0042] (Input unit 25) The input unit 25 may be included in a housing of the information processing apparatus 2 or may be externally attached. For example, the input unit 25 may be implemented as a touch panel integrated with the display unit 24. With the touch panel, a user may input through tapping, swiping, or other operation. Of course, a switch button, a mouse, a QWERTY keyboard, etc. may be employed instead of the touch panel. In other words, the input unit 25 receives operation input performed by the user. This input, treated as a command signal, is transferred to the controller 23 via the communication bus 20, and the controller 23 may execute predetermined control or calculation as necessary.

[0043] 2. Functional configuration This section describes a functional configuration according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the information processing apparatus 2. As mentioned above, information processing by software (stored in the storage unit 22) is concretely realized by hardware (the controller 23), thereby may be executed as each functional unit included in the controller 23.

[0044] Specifically, the information processing apparatus 2 (the controller 23) may include an acquisition unit 231, an evaluation unit 232, a calculation unit 233, a conveyor belt controller 234, a warning unit 235, a storage management unit 236, and a display controller 237 as each functional unit. It should be noted that each functional unit may be increased or omitted as appropriate depending on application to which the information processing apparatus 2 is applied.

[0045] (Acquisition unit 231) The acquisition unit 231 is configured to execute an acquisition step. In the acquisition step, the acquisition unit 231 acquires various information and data. In the present embodiment, the acquisition unit 231 acquires information on a length of the conveyor belt 1 in a width direction. Here, the information on the length in the width direction is based on the measurement data measured by the optical sensor 3 during operation of the conveyor belt 1. The specific processing will be explained later.

[0046] (Evaluation unit 232) The evaluation unit 232 is configured to execute an evaluation step. In the evaluation step, the evaluation unit 232 evaluates presence or absence of an error during operation of the conveyor belt 1 by comparing the information on the length in the width direction with the predetermined reference information. The specific processing will be explained later.

[0047] (Calculation unit 233) The calculation unit 233 is configured to execute a calculation step. In the calculation step, the calculation unit 233 executes various calculations based on the acquired values, etc. As an example, the calculation unit 233 executes calculations related to the distance between coordinates based on multiple pieces of coordinate information. The specific processing will be explained later.

[0048] (Conveyor belt controller 234) The conveyor belt controller 234 is configured to execute a conveyor belt control step. In the conveyor belt control step, the conveyor belt controller 234 issues various signals and controls the operation and stop of the conveyor belt 1.

[0049] (Warning unit 235) The warning unit 235 is configured to execute a warning step. In the warning step, the warning unit 235 issues a warning in the case where the evaluation step has evaluated that an error is present. The contents of this warning will be explained later.

[0050] (Storage management unit 236) The storage management unit 236 is configured to execute a storage management step. In the storage management step, the storage management unit 236 is configured to manage various information to be stored that is associated with the process or the like of the present embodiment. Typically, the storage management unit 236 is configured to allow information, etc. handled by the information processing apparatus 2 to be stored in a storage area. Examples of the storage area include the storage unit 22 of the information processing apparatus 2 or storage units of various devices or terminals, but the storage area does not necessarily have to be within the process shown in FIG. 1, and the storage management unit 236 may also manage various information so as to be stored in an external storage unit or the like.

[0051] (Display controller 237) The display controller 237 is configured to execute a display control step. In the display control step, the display controller 237 creates various display information and controls the information so that it can be visible to the user or the like. Note that, the display information may be visual information itself such as a screen, an image, an icon, a text, etc. generated in a form that is visible to the user, or the display information may be rendering information for displaying visual information such as a screen, an image, an icon, a text, etc. on various devices or terminals.

[0052] 3. Details of monitoring method of conveyor belt In Section 3, the details of the monitoring method of the conveyor belt will be described with reference to the activity diagram, etc., as appropriate.

[0053] As mentioned above, the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to the present embodiment acquires information on the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction and evaluates the presence or absence of an error based on the acquired information. That is, the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to the present embodiment is effective in that the measuring object is specified to a predetermined length in the conveyor belt 1 during operation.

[0054] In the present embodiment, further analysis, calculation, etc. may be performed using the measurement data measured by the optical sensor 3 as described above. This analysis, calculation or the like is typically executed by the information processing apparatus 2. Hereinafter, the monitoring method in which the analysis, calculation, etc. are performed by the information processing apparatus 2 will now be described.

[0055] FIG. 4 is an activity diagram showing a flow of information processing using the monitoring system, etc. In the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to the present embodiment, first, the optical sensor 3 measures the conveyor belt 1 during operation (Activity A101). Specifically, the optical sensor 3 continuously irradiates a laser beam toward the conveyor belt 1, and then the optical sensor 3 detects the reflected light reflected from the conveyor belt 1, etc.

[0056] As shown in FIG. 1, the direction in which the optical sensor 3 irradiates the laser beam does not necessarily have to be downward. That is, as shown in the optical sensor 3b in FIG. 1, even when the optical sensor 3b irradiates the laser beam upward, it is possible to measure the lower belt 11b. This makes it possible to realize the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to the present embodiment.

[0057] Then, the information processing apparatus 2 acquires measurement data from the optical sensor 3 (Activity A102). Specifically, the acquisition unit 231 of the information processing apparatus 2 receives the measurement data output from the optical sensor 3 via the transmission path through the communication unit 21 and stores the data in the storage unit 22 as appropriate. In the present specification, the acquisition of measurement data by the optical sensor 3 indicated as Activity A101, and the acquisition of measurement data by the information processing apparatus 2 indicated as Activity A102 may be collectively referred to as an "acquisition step". Note that the measurement data output here may be so-called point cloud data.

[0058] Then, a predetermined analysis is performed based on the measurement data acquired in Activity A102 (Activity A103). In the Activity A103, typically, the evaluation unit 232 of the information processing apparatus 2 evaluates the presence or absence of an error during operation of the conveyor belt 1 by performing the predetermined analysis (the step of evaluating the presence or absence of an error is referred to as the "evaluation step").

[0059] The details of this evaluation will be discussed below. That is, the evaluation unit 232 of the information processing apparatus 2 evaluates presence or absence of an error during operation of the conveyor belt 1 based on the information on the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction which is acquired by the acquisition unit 231 and the predetermined reference information. This error may be various kinds of errors related to the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction. Typically, the error may be related to one or more selected from a group including a breakage of the belt of the conveyor belt 1 and a protrusion of a loaded object of the conveyor belt 1. Note that, the belt with respect to the error in this case may be either the upper belt 11a or the lower belt 11b.

[0060] The error according to the present embodiment and the evaluation of the presence or absence of the error will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining errors to be evaluated in the evaluation step. FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B show how the optical sensor 3a, which is positioned above the upper belt 11a and in a substantially vertical direction relative to the surface of the upper belt 11a, measures the conveyor belt 1. Note that, the optical sensor 3a here is fixed in a predetermined position and continuously irradiates a laser beam downward.

[0061] In FIG. 5A, the optical sensor 3a is arranged on the inside of the belt position when the conveyor belt 1 is operating normally. FIG. 5A shows an aspect in which an area close to the head pulley 13a is measured by the optical sensor 3a, although the area does not overlap with the head pulley 13a. That is, in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the measurement area of the optical sensor 3a includes an area between the pulley placed at the end of the conveyor belt 1 and the roller 12 adjacent to the pulley. The belt of the conveyor belt 1 is less likely to be deflected in the vicinity of the pulley, thereby enabling the presence or absence of an error to be highly accurately evaluated.

[0062] The optical sensor 3a mounted at the above-mentioned points continuously measures the belt (upper belt 11a) of the conveyor belt 1, and in the case where a breakage of the belt occurs as shown in FIG. 5A, a signal different from that in normal operation can be detected. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5A, the information on the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction is information that indicates how far the belt extends in the width direction. The predetermined reference information is information that indicates the position of the belt in the width direction in normal operation. The evaluation unit 232 can evaluate an error that a breakage of the belt is present in the conveyor belt 1 by detecting an extending state of the belt that differs from the reference information.

[0063] On the other hand, in FIG. 5B, the optical sensor 3a is arranged on the outside of the belt position when the conveyor belt 1 is operating normally. The optical sensor 3a arranged at such a point continuously measures the outer area of the belt (upper belt 11a) of the conveyor belt 1. However, in the case where the loaded object 4 of the conveyor belt 1 protrudes outside as shown in FIG. 5B, a signal different from that in normal operation can be detected. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5B, the information on the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction is information that indicates how far the loaded object of the conveyor belt 1 extends in the width direction. The predetermined reference information is information that indicates the positions of the belt and the loaded object in the width direction in normal operation. The evaluation unit 232 can evaluates an error that a protrusion of the loaded object 4 is present on the conveyor belt 1 by detecting a state of the outside of the belt which differs from the reference information.

[0064] In FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the aspect has been shown in which only one end of the upper belt 11a is measured by the optical sensor 3. However, both ends of the upper belt 11a may be measured by the optical sensor 3. The measuring object when evaluating the breakage of the belt as an error is not limited to the upper belt 11a, and the measuring object may also be the lower belt 11b. In the case where the lower belt 11b is measured in this way, the belt (lower belt 11b) of the conveyor belt 1 may be measured by an optical sensor (such as the optical sensor 3b, etc. of FIG. 1) placed below the lower belt 11b and in a substantially vertical direction relative to the surface of the lower belt 11b.

[0065] Another example of the error in the present embodiment and the evaluation of the presence or absence of the error will be described below. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining errors to be evaluated in the evaluation step.

[0066] The optical sensor 3a shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B is located above substantially the center in the width direction of the upper belt 11a of the conveyor belt 1. The optical sensor 3a is configured to measure a first end and a second end of the conveyor belt 1. That is, in the examples shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the information on the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction corresponds to the length from the first end to the second end related to the conveyor belt 1. Here, the first end and the second end are defined by the belt of the conveyor belt 1 and / or the loaded object 4 of the conveyor belt 1, respectively.

[0067] Specifically, FIG. 6A shows a state in which a part of the upper belt 11a has broken. I this case, the first end is defined by a broken end (point P1) of the upper belt 11a, whereas the second end is defined by the opposite end (point P2) of the upper belt 11a (the first end may be referred to as one end and the second end may be referred to as the other end). In this case, the distance (length) between the point P1 and the point P2 is smaller than the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction in normal operation. Thus, the evaluation unit 232 of the information processing apparatus 2 can evaluate that the belt of the conveyor belt 1 has broken.

[0068] On the other hand, FIG. 6B shows a state in which the loaded object 4 on the upper belt 11a protrudes from the belt. In this case, the first end is defined by the outermost end (point P1) of the loaded object 4, whereas the second end is defined by the opposite end (point P2) of the upper belt 11a. In this case, the distance (length) between the point P1 and the point P2 is longer than the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction in normal operation. Accordingly, the evaluation unit 232 of the information processing apparatus 2 can evaluate that a protrusion is present in the loaded object 4 of the conveyor belt 1.

[0069] Such measurement by the optical sensor 3 may be performed continuously. In other words, the measurement data may be data obtained by continuously performing measurements by the optical sensor 3. In this case, the information on the length in the width direction may include a change over time of the length from the first end to the second end.

[0070] That is, the length from the first end to the second end of the conveyor belt 1 may change slightly during the operation process of the conveyor belt 1. However, errors that should be controlled in actual operation are often those that occur unexpectedly. In such cases, the accuracy of error evaluation can be improved by including a change over time of the length from the first end to the second end in the information on the length in the width direction (in other words, by tracking the change in length from the first end to the second end).

[0071] This change over time may typically be the degree of change in length in a unit time. That is, in the case where a breakage of the belt is present as shown in FIG. 6A, the breakage can be detected as a sudden contraction of the length from the first end to the second end. The reference information described above may include in advance a threshold value related to the degree of change in the length from the first end to the second end. Furthermore, the evaluation unit 232 may be configured to evaluate that the error is present in the conveyor belt 1 when the acquisition unit 231 acquires a state in which the degree of change in length deviates from the threshold value.

[0072] In this regard, the evaluation unit 232 may be further configured to evaluate the magnitude of the error based on a change over time of the length from the first end to the second end. That is, as mentioned above, when tracking the change in length from the first end to the second end, if the deviation from the length in the reference information is continuously present for a long time, it can be evaluated that the error is large. In a typical example, since the length between the first end and the second end is shorter than the length in the reference information, it can be evaluated that a breakage is present in the belt, and if this condition continues for a long time, it can be evaluated that the breakage is significantly spreading in the flow direction of the conveyor belt 1.

[0073] Note that FIG. 6 shows an aspect in which a single optical sensor (optical sensor 3a) is used to measure the first end and the second end. However, in an exemplary embodiment, the first end and the second end may be measured by different optical sensors respectively. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment related to an arrangement of the optical sensor. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a cross section of the conveyor belt 1 of FIG. 1 taken along line A-A', viewed from the upstream of the upper belt 11a.

[0074] That is, as shown in FIG. 7, it may be difficult for the optical sensor (optical sensor 3a) located above the belt of the conveyor belt 1 to measure the first end and the second end, depending on the shape of the loaded object 4. In this case, the first end and the second end can be measured by a first optical sensor (optical sensor 3c) located closer to the first end than the center of the belt (upper belt 11a) and a second optical sensor (optical sensor 3d) located closer to the second end than the center of the belt (upper belt 11a), respectively.

[0075] In the case where the first end and the second end are measured by different optical sensors in this way, the calculation unit 233 of the information processing apparatus 2 may be configured to calculate the length between the first end and the second end. In an exemplary aspect, based on the coordinate information of the point P1 acquired by the first optical sensor (optical sensor 3c) and the coordinate information of the point P2 acquired by the second optical sensor (optical sensor 3d), the calculation unit 233 can perform a calculation related to the distance between these coordinates. In the present embodiment, the distance obtained in this way can be used as the basis for the information on the length in the width direction described above. The first optical sensor and the second optical sensor do not necessarily have to be disposed in a positional relationship orthogonal to the flow direction D1 of the conveyor belt 1 as shown in FIG. 7. That is, even if each sensor is not in a positional relationship orthogonal to the flow direction D1, the calculation unit 233 can handle the coordinate information of the point that is to be a measuring object. Thus, the calculation unit 233 performs correction processing as appropriate, thereby enabling the information on the length of the conveyor belt 1 in the width direction at a predetermined point to be obtained.

[0076] The optical sensor 3 may be arranged at a position as shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment related to the arrangement of the optical sensor. Similar to FIG. 7, FIG. 8 is also a schematic diagram showing a cross section of the conveyor belt 1 of FIG. 1 taken along line A-A', viewed from the upstream of the upper belt 11a.

[0077] In other words, an optical sensor (optical sensor 3e) in the present embodiment may be disposed between the upper belt 11a and the lower belt 11b of the conveyor belt 1. In such a case, even when the loaded object 4 is present on the upper belt 11a, it becomes easier to properly measure the first end and the second end. As described above, the presence or absence of an error can be evaluated based on the first end and the second end measured by the optical sensor 3e.

[0078] The information (analysis results) evaluated in this way may be displayed to the user who operates the information processing apparatus 2 (Activity A104). In other words, various information evaluated in the evaluation step may be displayed on the display unit 24, etc. of the information processing apparatus 2. Such processing can be realized by the function of the display controller 237.

[0079] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the warning unit 235 may issue a warning in response to the state specified in the evaluation step. That is, in the present embodiment, the warning unit 235 may be configured to issue a warning in the case where the evaluation step has evaluated that an error is present. According to such an aspect, the monitoring status of the conveyor belt 1 can be made easier for workers and others to understand. Specifically, such a warning may be issued based on the following processing.

[0080] That is, prior to issuing a warning, an evaluation result in the evaluation step is matched with a predefined warning condition (Activity A105). In other words, in the case where the evaluation step has evaluated that an error is present, it is determined that the warning condition is satisfied. In the case where the matching satisfies the warning condition, a warning is presented to the worker (an example of a user) who performs a conveyance operation (Activity A106). In the case where the warning condition is not satisfied, the processing of Activity A106 is skipped. For example, when a breakage of the belt or a protrusion of the loaded object is quantitatively (numerically) specified, a warning may be controlled to be presented to the workers or the like in the case where the specified value exceeds a predetermined threshold value. Examples of this warning include displaying a predetermined warning message on a display, generating a warning sound from a predetermined device, turning on a patrol lamp placed in a conspicuous position, and combinations of these, but are not limited to these. An aspect related to various warnings may be applied. In other words, the warnings in the present embodiment are not limited to visual information but may be for other five sense information such as auditory information, tactile information, or a combination of two or more of these.

[0081] Such information processing related to Activities A101 to A106 is continuously performed at each frame rate of the optical sensor 3 or each control rate of the controller 23, thereby executing the monitoring method of monitoring the conveyor belt.

[0082] In addition, in the present embodiment, a control method of a conveyor belt based on the results of the monitoring method described above may be provided. That is, the control method of the conveyor belt according to the present embodiment is shown below. A control method of a conveyor belt, comprising: a conveyor belt control step of stopping the conveyor belt being in operation in a case where the evaluation step in the monitoring method of the conveyor belt described above has evaluated that the error is present.

[0083] In the control method of the conveyor belt according to the present embodiment, in the case where it is evaluated that an error is present in the conveyor belt 1 in the monitoring method of the conveyor belt, the conveyor belt controller 234 of the information processing apparatus 2 stops the conveyor belt 1 being in operation. As a typical example, devices provided in the conveyor belt 1, etc. is controlled to stop the conveyor belt 1 based on one or more elements including a breakage of the belt or a protrusion of a loaded object, which are specified by the evaluation unit 232 of the information processing apparatus 2. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and various controls may be performed to ensure safety of the work.

[0084] 4. Others Section 4 describes a modified example of the above-mentioned monitoring method of the conveyor belt.

[0085] The embodiment related to the above-mentioned information processing has been described as a configuration of the monitoring system (information processing apparatus 2). However, a program configured to allow at least one computer to execute each step of the monitoring method may be provided. Similarly, a program configured to allow at least one computer to execute each step of the control method of the conveyor belt described above may be provided.

[0086] In the above-mentioned embodiment, an aspect in which the information processing apparatus 2 performs various analyses and calculations is shown. However, the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to the present embodiment may be realized by monitoring by human action the measurement data measured by the optical sensor 3 as it is.

[0087] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the information processing apparatus 2 performs various storage and control operations. However, a plurality of external devices may be used in place of the information processing apparatus 2. In other words, the behavior, etc. related to the conveyor belt 1 may be distributed and stored in a plurality of external devices by using blockchain technology or the like.

[0088] Finally, various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, but these are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the abstract of the invention. The embodiments and its modifications are included in the scope and abstract of the invention and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

[0089] 1 Conveyor belt 2 Information processing apparatus 3, 3a to3e, Optical sensor 4 Loaded object 11a Upper belt 11b Lower belt 12 Roller 13a Head pulley 13b Tail pulley 20 Communication bus 21 Communication unit 22 Storage unit 23 Controller 24 Display unit 25 Input unit 31 Communication path 100 Monitoring system 231 Acquisition unit 232 Evaluation unit 233 Calculation unit 234 Conveyor belt controller 235 Warning unit 236 Storage management unit 237 Display controller

Claims

1. A monitoring method of a conveyor belt, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring information on a length of the conveyor belt in a width direction, the information on the length in the width direction being based on measurement data measured by an optical sensor during operation of the conveyor belt, and an evaluation step of evaluating presence or absence of an error during operation of the conveyor belt by comparing the information on the length in the width direction with a predetermined reference information.

2. The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein the error is related to one or more selected from a group including a breakage of a belt of the conveyor belt and a protrusion of a loaded object of the conveyor belt.

3. The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: the information on the length in the width direction corresponds to a length from a first end to a second end related to the conveyor belt, and the first end and the second end are defined by a belt of the conveyor belt and / or a loaded object of the conveyor belt, respectively.

4. The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to claim 3, wherein: the measurement data is data obtained by continuously performing measurements by the optical sensor, and the information on the length in the width direction includes a change over time of the length from the first end to the second end.

5. The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to claim 4, wherein: the evaluation step further evaluates magnitude of the error based on a change over time of the length from the first end to the second end.

6. The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein: the first end and the second end are measured by different optical sensors, respectively.

7. The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: the optical sensor is a LiDAR sensor.

8. The monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: a warning step of issuing a warning in a case where the evaluation step has evaluated that the error is present.

9. A control method of a conveyor belt, comprising: a conveyor belt control step of stopping the conveyor belt being in operation in a case where the evaluation step in the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 8 has evaluated that the error is present.

10. A program, configured to allow at least one computer to execute each step of the monitoring method of the conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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