DISTRIBUTED NETWORK VIBRATION ISOLATION SYSTEM AND VIBRATION ISOLATORS USEFUL THEREIN

• US 20090078847A1
• Filed: 09/24/2007
• Published: 03/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: McMickell, M. Brett, Bai, Haowei, Kreider, Thomas R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,002,233 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 248/550
• CPC Class Codes: F16F 15/02 Suppression of vibrations of non-rotating, e.g. reciprocating systems; Suppression of vibrations of rotating systems by use of members not moving with the rotating systems F16F15/005 takes precedence ; layered products B32B; suppression of vibration in ships B63; relieving load on bearings, using magnetic means F16C39/06

Abstract

A distributed network vibration isolation system includes several vibration isolation nodes distributed throughout a structure. The nodes wirelessly intercommunicate and include a passive structural isolation device and an active structural isolation device. The nodes work together via wireless communication to isolate a payload from a disturbance source.

Claims

1. An integral hybrid isolator for damping vibrations of a mass, the isolator comprising:

a housing;

a passive vibration isolator disposed within the housing and adapted to couple to, and passively damp structural vibrations in, the mass;

an active vibration isolator disposed within the housing and adapted to couple to, and actively damp structural vibrations in, the mass, the active vibration isolator system comprising;

an actuator coupled to receive actuation control signals and operable, in response to the actuation control signals, to move, and

a sensor configured to sense one or more parameters representative of structural vibrations in the mass and supply sensor signals representative thereof, and

a controller coupled to receive the sensor signals and operable, in response to the sensor signals, to supply the actuation control signals to the actuator.

2. The isolator of claim 1, wherein:

the passive vibration isolator is configured to passively damp mid-frequency to high-frequency structural vibrations; and

the active vibration isolator is configured to actively damp low-frequency structural vibrations.

3. The isolator of claim 1, further comprising:

a transmitter operable to wirelessly transmit vibration data representative of at least a portion of the structural vibrations in the mass.

4. The isolator of claim 3, wherein the transmitter is coupled to receive sensor data that are at least representative of the sensor signals, and is operable to transmit the vibration data based at least in part on the sensor data.

5. The isolator of claim 4, wherein the transmitter is further coupled to receive actuator command data that are at least representative of the actuator commands, and is further operable to transmit the vibration data based at least in part on the sensor data and the actuator command data.

6. The isolator of claim 1, further comprising:

a receiver operable to wirelessly receive vibration data transmitted from one or more other hybrid isolators.

7. The isolator of claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises a piezoelectric actuator.

8. The isolator of claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises a voice coil actuator.

9. An integral hybrid isolator for damping vibrations of a mass, the system comprising:

a housing;

a passive vibration isolator disposed within the housing and adapted to couple to, and passively damp structural vibrations in, in the mass;

an active vibration isolator disposed within the housing and adapted to couple to, and actively damp structural vibrations in, the mass, the active vibration isolator system comprising;

an actuator coupled to receive actuation control signals and operable, in response to the actuation control signals, to move, and

a sensor configured to sense one or more parameters representative of structural vibrations in the mass and supply sensor signals representative thereof, and

a controller coupled to receive the sensor signals and operable, in response to the sensor signals, to supply the actuation control signals to the actuator;

and

a transceiver in operable communication with at least the actuator controller, the transceiver operable to (i) transmit local isolator data representative of at least one or more operational states of the integral hybrid isolator and (ii) receive remote isolator data representative of at least one or more operational states of one or more other integral hybrid isolators.

10. A distributed vibration isolation system for damping vibrations in a mass, the system comprising:

a supervisor including a global model representative of the distributed vibration isolation system, the supervisor configured to (i) wirelessly receive isolator data transmitted from a plurality of vibration isolators, (ii) compare the received isolator data to the global plant model, and (iii) wirelessly transmit isolator commands to one or more of the plurality of hybrid vibration isolators; and

a plurality of hybrid vibration isolators, each vibration isolator adapted to be coupled to the mass at a connection point, and at least partially responsive to local commands to damp vibrations in the mass, each hybrid vibration isolator comprising;

an isolator controller configured to implement a control algorithm, the controller coupled to receive data representative of the isolator commands and, in response thereto, to update the control algorithm, the isolator controller further adapted to receive data representative of the mass at the connection point and, in response thereto, to generate the local commands, and

a wireless transceiver in operable communication with the supervisor and the isolator controller, the wireless transceiver configured to (i) at least selectively receive the isolator commands transmitted thereto from the supervisor and supply the data representative of the isolator commands to the isolator controller and (ii) at least selectively transmit isolator data to the supervisor, the isolator data representative of at least a state of the vibration isolator.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein each hybrid vibration isolator further comprises:

a housing;

a passive vibration isolator disposed within the housing and adapted to couple to, and passively damp structural vibrations in, the mass;

an active vibration isolator disposed within the housing and adapted to couple to, and actively damp structural vibrations in, the mass, the active vibration isolator system comprising;

an actuator coupled to receive the local commands from the isolator controller and operable, in response thereto, to move, and

a sensor configured to sense one or more parameters representative of structural vibrations in the mass and supply the data representative of the mass at the connection point to the isolator controller.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the passive vibration isolator is configured to passively damp mid-frequency to high-frequency structural vibrations; and

the active vibration isolator is configured to actively damp low-frequency structural vibrations.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the actuator comprises a piezoelectric actuator.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the actuator comprises a voice coil actuator.

15. A distributed vibration isolation system for damping vibrations in a mass, the system comprising:

a plurality of hybrid vibration isolators, each hybrid vibration isolator adapted to be coupled to the mass at a connection point, and at least partially responsive to local commands to damp vibrations in the mass, each vibration isolator in operable communication with at least one other of the plurality of vibration isolators, and each hybrid vibration isolator comprising;

an isolator controller configured to implement a control algorithm and including a global model representative of the distributed vibration isolation system, the isolator controller coupled to receive data representative of isolator data and operable, in response thereto, to update the control algorithm, the isolator controller further adapted to receive data representative of the structure at the connection point and, in response thereto, to generate the local commands, and

a wireless transceiver in operable communication with the isolator controller, the wireless transceiver configured to (i) at least selectively receive the isolator data transmitted thereto from the at least one other of the plurality of vibration isolators and supply the data representative of the isolator data to the isolator controller and (ii) at least selectively transmit isolator data to the at least one other of the plurality of vibration isolators, the isolator data representative of at least a state of the vibration isolator.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein each hybrid vibration isolator further comprises:

a housing;

a passive vibration isolator disposed within the housing and adapted to couple to, and passively damp structural vibrations in, the mass;

an active vibration isolator disposed within the housing and adapted to couple to, and actively damp structural vibrations in, the mass, the active vibration isolator system comprising;

an actuator coupled to receive the local commands from the isolator controller and operable, in response thereto, to move, and

a sensor configured to sense one or more parameters representative of structural vibrations in the mass and supply the data representative of the mass at the connection point to the isolator controller.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein:

the passive vibration isolator is configured to passively damp mid-frequency to high-frequency structural vibrations; and

the active vibration isolator is configured to actively damp low-frequency structural vibrations.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the actuator comprises a piezoelectric actuator.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the actuator comprises a voice coil actuator.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of hybrid vibration isolators are in operable communication with at least one other of the plurality of hybrid vibration isolators via an ad hoc wireless communication network.