Brush holder assembly monitoring apparatus, assembly, system and method
Methods and systems for monitoring a brush holder assembly and/or detecting wear of a brush in a brush holder assembly are disclosed. One method includes sending data from a plurality of remote monitoring locations to a central control unit, where the data may be evaluated in order to monitor states of brushes at a plurality of remote electrical facilities. For example, multiple images of a marker tracking longitudinal movement of the brush may be acquired. A comparison of the images, for example, a comparative imaging technique, such as pixel-by-pixel comparison, may then be performed in order to evaluate a condition of the brush, such as the wear rate, wear state, or life expectancy of the brush.
1. A method of monitoring a brush holder assembly of an electrical device including a carbon brush, the carbon brush of the brush holder assembly being in contact with a rotating conductive surface, the brush holder assembly permitting linear movement of the carbon brush toward the rotating conductive surface as the carbon brush wears, the method comprising:
acquiring data indicative of linear displacement of the carbon brush relative to the brush holder assembly; and
evaluating the data to estimate a remaining life expectancy of the carbon brush.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
receiving the data at a central control unit off-site from the brush holder assembly.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of evaluating the data is performed at the central control unit.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
scheduling maintenance of the brush holder assembly.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
routing personnel to inspect the brush holder assembly.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
scheduling distribution or delivery of a replacement brush for the brush holder assembly.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of evaluating the data includes comparing actual acquired data with modeled data.
8. A method of monitoring a brush holder assembly of an electrical device including a carbon brush, the carbon brush of the brush holder assembly being in contact with a rotating conductive surface, the brush holder assembly permitting linear movement of the carbon brush toward the rotating conductive surface as the carbon brush wears, the method comprising:
acquiring data indicative of linear displacement of the carbon brush relative to the brush holder assembly; and
evaluating the data to estimate a current wear rate of the carbon brush.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of evaluating the data includes comparing actual acquired data with modeled data.
10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of:
receiving the data at a central control unit off-site from the brush holder assembly.
11. A method of monitoring a brush holder assembly of an electrical device at a plurality of remote monitoring locations, the brush holder assembly at each of the plurality of remote monitoring locations including a carbon brush in contact with a rotating conductive surface, the brush holder assembly permitting linear movement of the carbon brush toward the rotating conductive surface as the carbon brush wears, the method comprising:
acquiring data indicative of linear displacement of each of the carbon brushes relative to the respective brush holder assembly at each of the plurality of remote monitoring locations;
evaluating the data to estimate a remaining life expectancy of each of the carbon brushes being monitored; and
receiving the data at a central control unit in communication with the plurality of remote monitoring locations.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of evaluating the data is performed with a processing unit at each of the plurality of remote monitoring locations.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of evaluating the data is performed with a processing unit at the central control unit.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of:
alerting personnel of an anomalous or threshold condition at one of the plurality of remote monitoring locations.
15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of scheduling maintenance at one of the plurality of remote monitoring locations.
16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of routing personnel to one of the plurality of remote monitoring locations.
17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of scheduling distribution or delivery of a replacement brush to one of the plurality of remote monitoring locations.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of remote monitoring locations are networked with the central control unit.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of evaluating the data includes comparing actual acquired data with modeled data.