CONVEYOR IDLER MONITORING APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS
Conveyor idler monitoring apparatus, systems and methods are provided. In some embodiments, one or more sensors (e.g., temperature sensors, load sensors, etc.) are supported by the shaft of a conveyor idler. In some embodiments, one or more sensors are in data communication with a wireless transmitter. In some embodiments, a power generator driven by rotation of the idler is in electrical communication with one or more sensors and/or a wireless transmitter. In some embodiments, idler monitoring systems are in data communication with a conveyor monitoring system and/or operational monitoring system.
1 . A conveyor monitoring system comprising:
a plurality of conveyor idlers, each conveyor idler including a shaft configured to be supported on a conveyor, a cylinder rollingly supported on the shaft and configured to at least partially support a conveyor belt, and a monitoring system at least partially supported on the shaft, the monitoring system including a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor mounted to the shaft, and a wireless transmitter in data communication with the temperature sensor and the vibration sensor, the monitoring system configured to generate idler-related measurements including temperature data from the temperature sensor and vibration data from the vibration sensor;
a communication gateway in wireless data communication with the wireless transmitters of the plurality of conveyor idlers; and
an application server in data communication with the communication gateway, the application server configured to receive the idler-related measurements from the plurality of conveyor idlers and to apply artificial intelligence to the idler-related measurements including the vibration data to identify which idler among the plurality of idlers will fail first based on the vibration data and on the AI-processed temperature data.
2 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the temperature sensor includes a bearing temperature sensor at least partially received in a cavity in a radially outer surface of the shaft adjacent to a bearing supporting the cylinder on the shaft.
3 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring system further includes a cylinder temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of an inner surface of the cylinder.
4 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 3 , wherein the cylinder temperature sensor comprises an infrared temperature sensor oriented toward the inner surface of the cylinder.
5 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the vibration sensor comprises a noise sensor in contact with a bearing supporting the cylinder on the shaft.
6 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring system further includes a rotation sensor configured to detect a rotational speed of the cylinder.
7 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 6 , wherein the application server is further configured to compare the rotational speed of the cylinder to a belt speed to estimate a current cylinder diameter and a cylinder wear percentage.
8 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring system further includes an energy generator configured to generate power from rotation of the cylinder about the shaft, the energy generator comprising an inner ring supported on the shaft and an outer ring supported in the cylinder, with a plurality of magnets in one of the inner ring or the outer ring and a plurality of electromagnetic coils in the other.
9 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the artificial intelligence comprises machine learning or a neural network.
10 . The conveyor monitoring system of claim 2 , wherein the vibration sensor comprises a noise sensor in contact with a bearing supporting the cylinder on the shaft.
11 . A method of monitoring and predicting failure in a conveyor system, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of conveyor idlers on the conveyor system, each conveyor idler including a shaft supported on the conveyor system, a cylinder rollingly supported on the shaft and at least partially supporting a conveyor belt, and a monitoring system at least partially supported on the shaft, the monitoring system including a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor mounted to the shaft, and a wireless transmitter;
generating, with the monitoring system of each conveyor idler, idler-related measurements including temperature data from the temperature sensor and vibration data from the vibration sensor;
transmitting the idler-related measurements wirelessly from the wireless transmitters to a communication gateway;
receiving the idler-related measurements at an application server in data communication with the communication gateway; and
applying, at the application server, artificial intelligence to the idler-related measurements including the vibration data to identify which idler among the plurality of idlers will fail first based on the temperature data and AI-processed vibration data.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising detecting, with a cylinder temperature sensor of the monitoring system, a temperature of an inner surface of the cylinder, wherein the idler-related measurements include the temperature of the inner surface of the cylinder.
13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising detecting, with a rotation sensor of the monitoring system, a rotational speed of the cylinder, wherein the idler-related measurements include the rotational speed of the cylinder.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising comparing, at the application server, the rotational speed of the cylinder to a belt speed to estimate a current cylinder diameter and a cylinder wear percentage.
15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the temperature sensor includes a bearing temperature sensor at least partially received in a cavity in a radially outer surface of the shaft adjacent to a bearing supporting the cylinder on the shaft.
16 . A method of predicting failure of conveyor idlers in a conveyor monitoring system, the method comprising:
receiving, at an application server, idler-related measurements from a plurality of conveyor idlers via a communication gateway, each conveyor idler including a shaft supported on a conveyor, a cylinder rollingly supported on the shaft and configured to at least partially support a conveyor belt, and a monitoring system at least partially supported on the shaft and including a temperature sensor, a vibration sensor mounted to the shaft, and a wireless transmitter configured to transmit the idler-related measurements including temperature data from the temperature sensor and vibration data from the vibration sensor;
processing the idler-related measurements at the application server; and
applying an artificial intelligence at the application server to the processed idler-related measurements including the vibration data to identify which idler among the plurality of idlers will fail first based on the temperature data AI-processed vibration data.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the idler-related measurements further include a rotational speed of the cylinder detected by a rotation sensor of the monitoring system.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising determining, using the artificial intelligence, an existing idler failure based on a comparison of the rotational speed of the cylinder to a belt speed.
19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the idler-related measurements further include a bearing temperature from a bearing temperature sensor at least partially received in a cavity in the shaft adjacent to a bearing.
20 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising displaying, on a user interface in data communication with the application server, an indication of which idler among the plurality of idlers will fail first.