MONITORING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MONITORING THE WEAR CONDITION OF AN ELECTRICAL LINE

1 . A monitoring device ( 11 ) for monitoring the wear condition of an electrical line ( 13 ) which is guided through a movable line-guiding apparatus, in particular through an energy guiding chain ( 1 ), the monitoring device comprising:

a signal unit ( 32 ) which is configured for transmitting, processing and/or evaluating signals which are transmitted by an electrical line to be monitored;

an evaluation unit ( 30 ) which interacts with the signal unit and is configured to ascertain at least one item of information relating to the wear condition of the line to be monitored, in particular on the basis of transmission, processing and/or evaluation by the signal unit;

at least one interface ( 24 A, 24 B) by means of which the signal unit is connectable to the line to be monitored;

characterized

in that the monitoring device is of modular design, wherein at least the evaluation unit ( 30 ), the signal unit ( 32 ) and the interface ( 24 A, 24 B) are arranged in a module housing ( 21 ); and

in that the module housing ( 21 ) has a display ( 20 ) for graphically and/or alphanumerically displaying information, said display being arranged on or in the module housing ( 21 ) for the purposes of displaying information relating to the wear condition.

2 . The monitoring device as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that

the display ( 20 ) is designed to display information in a pixel-based format, in particular is designed as a TFT display, LC display and/or OLED display; and/or

the display ( 20 ) is controlled by the evaluation unit ( 30 ), in particular for the purposes of displaying image data in a pixel-based format and/or via a preferably serial IC interface.

3 . The monitoring device as claimed in claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that

the evaluation unit ( 30 ) comprises a programmable integrated circuit, in particular a microcontroller or microprocessor; and/or

the signal unit ( 32 ) comprises a data transmission transceiver, in particular an Ethernet transceiver, preferably having a TDR-based line diagnostic function.

4 . The monitoring device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims , in particular as claimed in claim 3 , characterized in that the evaluation unit ( 30 ) is configured to:

identify a defect in the monitored line ( 13 ), ascertain a distance to the identified defect and display the ascertained distance by means of the display ( 20 );

and/or

ascertain a transmission quality on the basis of transmission, processing and/or evaluation by the signal unit ( 32 ) and display the ascertained transmission quality by means of the display ( 20 );

and/or

ascertain a failure cause on the basis of transmission, processing and/or evaluation by the signal unit ( 32 ) and display the failure cause by means of the display ( 20 ).

5 . The monitoring device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims , characterized in that the monitoring device, in particular the evaluation unit ( 30 ), comprises a web server ( 35 ) and preferably a wireless interface, in particular radio interface ( 36 ), for communication with the web server, wherein the evaluation unit ( 30 ) is preferably configured for the purposes of parameterization and/or for the purposes of data exchange via the web server.

6 . The monitoring device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims , characterized in that the monitoring device has at least two physical line connections, in particular two control line and/or data line connections ( 24 A, 24 B), wherein the signal unit is connected via interfaces, in particular Ethernet interfaces, to the connections for the purposes of signal transmission, in particular data transmission.

7 . The monitoring device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims , characterized in that the monitoring device ( 11 ) has not only the display ( 20 ) but also a number of signal lamps ( 23 A, 23 B, 23 C) for indicating a condition and/or status, said signal lamps being arranged on or in the module housing ( 21 ) adjacently to the display.

8 . The monitoring device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims , characterized in that the module housing ( 21 ) has a front side, in particular a front side which is formed on a narrow side and on which the display ( 20 ) is arranged, and a rear side having a fastening device ( 22 ), wherein the display preferably has a width: height ratio≥2:1.

9 . The monitoring device as claimed in claim 8 , characterized in that

the fastening device ( 22 ) on the rear side of the module housing ( 21 ) has a latching fastening for mounting on a DIN/top-hat rail; and/or

the module housing ( 21 ) is substantially cuboidal and is dimensioned in particular for installation in a switchgear cabinet, wherein the front side preferably has dimensions of H×W≤180 mm×60 mm.

10 . A system, in particular system having an industrial robot ( 40 ), comprising an electrical line ( 13 ) to be monitored, a movable line-guiding apparatus, in particular energy guiding chain ( 1 ; 41 ), for guiding the line between a first connection point and a second connection point which is movable relative to the first connection point, in particular on an industrial robot, and a monitoring device ( 11 ) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 to 9 which is connectable to the electrical line to be monitored, wherein the electrical line ( 13 ) to be monitored preferably provides a feed to a device on the end effector ( 42 ) or on the robot hand of the industrial robot.

11 . A method for monitoring the wear condition of an electrical line which is guided through a movable line-guiding apparatus, in particular through an energy guiding chain, wherein a modular monitoring device is connected to the line to be monitored and has at least an evaluation unit and a signal unit, characterized in that

the modular monitoring unit has a display and, by means of the display, displays information relating to the wear condition of the line to be monitored.

12 . The method as claimed in claim 11 , characterized in that the monitoring of the wear condition is performed as real-time monitoring during the ongoing operation of the line to be monitored, in particular through continuous monitoring of at least one data transmission property of the line to be monitored, wherein an item of information relating to the wear condition of the line to be monitored is preferably firstly displayed by means of the display and secondly transmitted, in particular by the evaluation unit, via an interface to a superordinate system, in particular for the purposes of initiating predictive maintenance.

13 . The method as claimed in claim 11 or 12 , characterized in that the monitoring of the wear condition is performed on the basis of

an information-based quality feature of the data transmission, preferably using at least one protocol-inherent function; and/or

a TDR line diagnosis of the line to be monitored.

14 . The method as claimed in any one of claims 11, 12 and 13 , characterized in that a distance to an ascertained defect is determined, in particular by the signal unit by means of a TDR line diagnostic function, and the ascertained distance is displayed by means of the display.

15 . The method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 14 , characterized in that the modular monitoring unit performs an initialization in which at least one reference value associated with nominal data transmission properties of the line to be monitored are stored, and the at least one reference value is subsequently used for the monitoring of the wear condition, in particular during ongoing operation, for the purposes of early identification of possible defects.