NL8701240A - SYSTEM FOR DETECTING WEAR ON THE SHADES AND BOLTS OF CONVEYOR BELTS. - Google Patents

Description

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SYSTEM FOR DETECTING WEAR ON THE SHALTS AND BOLTS OF CONVEYOR BELTS

The invention relates, as described in the title, to a system for detecting wear of the links and bolts of conveyor belts.

Conveyor belts are widely used in assembly-05 lines for mass production, eg as is the case in car production, to achieve continuous movement for the displacement of the different components, these conveyor belts experience unavoidable wear. This wear must be observed in order to prevent synchronization problems from occurring as well as a loss in conveyance and eventual breakage of the belt causing the assembly line to stall.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems, according to the invention a system is proposed for the detection of wear on links and bolts of conveyor belts, by means of which a good observation of the wear of the belt can be obtained and when a certain degree of wear is observed the relevant links and bolts are removed.

A wear detection system according to the invention is based on the provision of a detection member which is fixedly connected to the frame for the suspension of the conveyor belt, in which, by means of counters, the total number of belt links, the number of worn links and the number of links must be removed before they have undergone a very high degree of wear.

The electronic detector receives the signals emitted by three optical fiber cells, which are orthogonally positioned with respect to one of the tape sections, the three cells coinciding in the same horizontal plane passing through the axis of symmetry of the section. The first 5701 2 -: - 0 + - 2 - optical fiber cell detects the passage of a link gap for which the relevant counter on the control panel counts the total number of links of the tape.

A second optical fiber cell is placed with respect to the former 05 at a predetermined distance, which corresponds to the size of the link gap measured at the tape axis but which is slightly greater by a predetermined value. In this arrangement and during conveyance of the belt, the non-worn links moving in front of the detector cells will have no effect on the detector since the cells will not coincide at the link gap. When a worn link reaches this position, the cells will simultaneously converge and transmit the appropriate signal to the "worn" link-15 counter, the number of which is detected in the control panel in this manner.

The third cell is slightly out of phase with respect to the second by a predetermined value according to a link and bolt wear size necessitating its replacement. In this case, the three cells coincide simultaneously at the link gap, so that the "replace" counter shows the number of links in such a state.

In order that the links which are in a condition that they need to be replaced can be removed when the wall status check cycle has ended, according to the invention an electro valve is proposed which controls a pneumatic cylinder which actuates the starter of a paint sprayer, which sprayer paints the paint at the passage of a link that is in the "replaced" state, with the link marked prior to the worn link. The purpose of dyeing the link prior to the worn link is that this does not interfere with the driving field of the optical fiber cell, which may occur when hindered by the paint.

The tire wear detection system should only be checked once during a cycle, ie p 7 ü '*

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-3- from the moment a link selected as a starting point enters the active field of the optical fiber cells until the moment this link re-enters this field. This is achieved according to the invention by the presence on one of the roll supports, by means of which the belt is suspended from the guide rail, of a cam which can promote the activation of a micro switch, thereby starting the cycle and ends when the relevant cam again passes the microswitch, after which the device is disconnected.

The control panel is provided with a "prepare" switch which, once pressed, switches on a "prepared" pilot and waits for the cam driving the microswitch to begin the check cycle.

At this particular time, the "operating" pilot is turned on and the * preparation "pilot is turned off. For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the drawings in which: Pig. 1 is a schematic view of a detection device according to the invention, which is anchored at a point of the conveyor belt guide rail and incorporates three fiber optic cells arranged in series in a horizontal plane passing through the axis of symmetry of one of the parts of the conveyor belt;

Pig. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1;

Pig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the link dyeing device prior to the worn link and which is defined by a paint sprayer whose starter is actuated by a pneumatic cylinder controlled by an electro- valve that receives the simultaneous signal from the three fiber optic cells.

The conveyor belt 1 is suspended by means of a number of roller supports 29 on a guide rail 30 with a double T-section.

As can be seen from the figures, the band 1 is formed at i! by a number of links 2. Each of the links is formed by parallel connecting members 3, the ends of which are connected by vertical pins and which are joined by central connecting members 5, through which the pins 4 also pass.

As appears in particular from Figure 2, the conveyor belt 1 is suspended from the rail 30 because the lower free ends of the wheels 6 of the supports 29 'are anchored to the connecting members 5 of the belt 1.

According to the invention, the detector 7 is located at a certain point on the rail 30. As appears from the figures, the optical fiber cells 8r 9 and 10 are fixed on the support 11 and arranged in one plane in an orthogonal direction with respect to the part of the conveyor belt 1 and on the symmetry axis 12 thereof.

When the detection device 7 is connected by the current tap 13, the "preparation" switch 14 is pressed, thereby driving the pilot 15, indicating that the device is "ready". Before starting the cycle one has to wait for the cam 16 which is attached to one of the roller supports 2, in order to drive the lever 17 of the micro-switch 18 and from that moment on the cell 8 starts counting the number links 2 forming part of the conveyor belt 1, which number is recorded in the counter 19 on the panel 20. When the micro-switch 18 is driven, the pilot 21, which indicates "operation", is turned on and the "ready" pilot 15 turned off.

In the cycle, coincident cells 30 and 9 on the link gap 22 are counted simultaneously by the counter 23 on the panel 20, indicating the number of "worn" links.

When the wear is greater and the cells 8, 9 and 10 simultaneously coincide in the gap 22, the number of links to be "replaced" due to excessive wear is detected on the control panel 20, which number is measured by the counter 24 .

At the same time when the control panel r 7 η 1? 40 W <* W ^ * -5- 20 denoting the link 2 which is in a "replacement" state, a signal is sent to an electro valve 25 (see figure 3) which is coupled to the branch 26 of the detector ( see Figure 1) and this in turn controls the 05 pneumatic cylinder 27 to send out the paint sprayer 28 which marks the link 2 prior to the worn link.

The cycle ends and the device is disengaged when the cam 16 of the roll support 29 again actuates the lever 17 of the microswitch 18.

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Claims (1)

-6- System for detecting wear on links and bolts of conveyor belts, which is of the type extending between horizontal gears, and which is driven by a corresponding motor and is suspended from a guide rail by means of a number of coil springs with which both parts of the belt are kept completely horizontal, characterized by an electronic detector receiving the signal emitted by three optical fiber cells arranged transversely of one of the belt parts and aligned with its axis of symmetry, two of which are at a distance slightly greater than the predetermined size of the link gap, while the third is more out of phase with respect to the first, making the total number of links in corresponding counters of the tire, the number of links worn and the number of links to be replaced is recorded depending on of whether the first cell detects the link crevices, the first two cells coincide on a link crevice or the third of them coincide on the crevice, thereby obtaining a control cycle for a single cycle of the belt whereby the cycle is started when the cam on one of the roll supports hits the lever to drive a microswitched microswitch and the cycle ends when that lever is pressed again by the cam, the panel containing the corresponding signaling pilots for preparation and operation as well as a preparation switch, also ensuring that when the three cells on the link gap coincide, indicating that the links and bolts need to be replaced due to excessive wear, a signal is sent to the electro valve which actuates a pneumatic cylinder, which is the starter of a paint spray 4 so that the link is painted prior to the worn link, the latter being outside the field of action of the cells. seven pounds '! * 1> Λ ύ