Granted Patent B2

US 12,638,328 · App. 18/069,776 · Granted May 26, 2026

Inventor: Lars-Olov Hedin (Hallstahammar, SE)

Assignee: S.P.M. Instrument AB

G01H1/003G01M13/045

Abstract

Claims (37)

1 . A method of detecting a mechanical operating condition of a bearing assembly including a rotating component of a machine, the method comprising:

monitoring the rotating component with a vibration sensor for a plurality of revolutions to generate an analog vibration signal;

generating, with an analog-to-digital converter, a digital vibration signal based on said analog vibration signal;

determining a plurality of peak values from the digital vibration signal;

sorting the plurality of peak values determined from the monitoring according to amplitude of said plurality of peak values;

counting a number of revolutions during which the plurality of peak values were determined;

filtering out one or more noise peak values after the sorting, wherein a certain number of highest values of the sorted plurality of peak values are rejected before filtering, wherein said certain number is based on the counted number of revolutions;

identifying, with one or more hardware processors, a representative peak value that has an occurrence frequency of less than once per revolution after the filtering; and

determining the mechanical operating condition of the bearing assembly based on the identified representative peak value, wherein the representative peak value indicates the mechanical operating condition of the bearing assembly.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a position of the representative peak value is predetermined.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said certain number of rejected values being fewer than counted number of revolutions.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of revolutions includes at least eight revolutions.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said sorting includes sorting the plurality of peak values determined from the monitoring according to amplitude of said plurality of peak values into a histogram having a number of amplitude bins, wherein an amplitude bin has an occurrence variable, and

increasing a relevant amplitude bin occurrence variable when a peak value is sorted into the relevant amplitude bin.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the rotating component has a rotational speed of 50 revolutions per minute or less.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the plurality of peak values includes:

detecting a plurality of peak values from a signal responsive to the monitoring with the vibration sensor; and

filtering out one or more noise peak values from the detected plurality of peak values from the monitoring before the sorting.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining a speed of rotation of the rotating component;

wherein the filtering before the sorting includes limiting a number of detected peak values dependent on the speed of rotation.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising

the filtering before the sorting includes limiting a number of detected peak values so that less than a predetermined number of peak values are determined per revolution of the rotating component.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the filtering before the sorting includes establishing an echo suppression period and limiting the number of determined peak values to one per echo suppression period.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the filtering before the sorting includes establishing a highest detected peak value from among a number of detected peak values during the echo suppression period, and wherein said one determined peak value per echo suppression period reflects said highest detected peak value.

12 . A system of detecting a mechanical operating condition of a bearing assembly surface including a rotating component of a machine, the system comprising one or more hardware processors configured to:

receive a digital vibration signal from an analog-to-digital converter, wherein said analog-to-digital converted is configured to receive an analog vibration signal responsive to monitoring the rotating component during a plurality of revolutions;

determine a plurality of peak values from the vibration signal;

sort the plurality of peak values according to amplitude of said plurality of peak values;

count a number of revolutions during which the plurality of peak values were determined;

filter out one or more noise peak values after the sorting, wherein a certain number of highest values of the sorted plurality of peak values are rejected before filtering, wherein said certain number is based on the counted number of revolutions;

identify, after the filtering, a representative peak value that has an occurrence frequency of less than once per revolution; and

determine the mechanical operating condition of the bearing assembly based on the identified representative peak value.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein a position of the representative peak value is predetermined.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the representative peak value occurs between a mean value and a highest value of the sorted plurality of peak values after the filtering.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein said plurality of revolutions includes at least eight revolutions.

16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein said sorting includes sorting the plurality of peak values determined from the monitoring according to amplitude of said plurality of peak values into a histogram having a number of amplitude bins, wherein an amplitude bin has an occurrence variable, and increasing a relevant amplitude bin occurrence variable when a peak value is sorted into the relevant amplitude bin.

Priority Claims (2)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (314)