Conveyor carriage position monitoring
View Patent ↗A conveyor system including a conveyor belt; a conveyor rail including a track having a proximal end and a distal end, and a conveyor take-up for collecting excess conveyor belt; a conveyor carriage configured to move along the track between the proximal end and the distal end, the conveyor carriage including a base rotatably supporting the conveyor belt, and a target; a winch positioned proximate the proximal end of the track, the winch including a carriage cable coupling the conveyor carriage to the winch, a motor, and a motor sensor configured to sense a motor characteristic; a position sensor configured to sense a position of the target; and a controller having a memory and processor. The controller is configured to receive the motor characteristic and the position of the target, calculate a characteristic of the conveyor system, and output the characteristic.
1. A conveyor system comprising:
a conveyor belt;
a conveyor rail including
a track having a proximal end and a distal end, and
a conveyor take-up for collecting excess conveyor belt;
a conveyor carriage configured to move along the track between the proximal end and the distal end, the conveyor carriage including
a base rotatably supporting the conveyor belt, and
a target;
a winch positioned proximate the proximal end of the track, the winch including
a carriage cable coupling the conveyor carriage to the winch,
a motor, and
a motor sensor configured to sense a motor characteristic;
a position sensor configured to sense a position of the target; and
a controller having a memory and a processor, the controller configured to
receive the motor characteristic and the position of the target,
calculate a characteristic of the conveyor system, and
output the characteristic.
2. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the motor sensor is one of a magnetic sensor, a current sensor, and an optical sensor.
3. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the position sensor is an ultrasonic sensor.
4. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the motor characteristic includes one of a rotational speed and a rotational direction.
5. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the position is a distance between the target and the position sensor.
6. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic is output to one of a user-interface and a network.
7. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic is a capacity of the conveyor take-up.
8. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic is a velocity of the conveyor carriage.
9. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic is a length of the conveyor belt in the conveyor take-up.
10. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic is a distance the conveyor carriage will travel before the conveyor take-up is full.
11. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the controller further determines if the conveyor belt is broken based on a rotational direction of the motor and a direction of movement of the conveyor carriage being equal.
12. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the controller further determines if the carriage cable is broken based on a rotational direction of the motor and a direction of movement of the conveyor carriage being opposite.
13. The conveyor system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine if an issue is present and shut down the conveyor system if an issue is present.
14. A method of monitoring a conveyor system including a conveyor belt, a conveyor rail having a proximal end and a distal end, a conveyor carriage configured to move along the conveyor rail between the proximal end and the distal end, a winch having a motor, and a position sensor, the method comprising:
receiving a position of the conveyor carriage on the conveyor rail;
receiving a rotational speed and a rotational direction of the motor;
calculate a characteristic of the conveyor system, the characteristic based on
the position of the conveyor carriage,
the rotational speed of the motor, and
the rotational direction of the motor; and
output the characteristic of the conveyor system.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein characteristic is a capacity of the conveyor take-up.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the characteristic is a velocity of the conveyor carriage.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the characteristic is a length of the conveyor belt in the conveyor take-up.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the characteristic is a distance the conveyor carriage will travel before the conveyor take-up is full.
19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining if the conveyor belt is broken based on the rotational direction of the motor and a direction of movement of the conveyor carriage being equal.
20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining if the carriage cable is broken based on the rotational direction of the motor and a direction of movement of the conveyor carriage being opposite.