BEARING ABNORMALITY SENSING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY VEHICLE

• US 20170176287A1
• Filed: 03/08/2017
• Published: 06/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTN Corporation
• Original Assignee: NTN Corporation
• Inventors: ITO, Hiroyoshi, SUZUKI, Katsuyoshi
• Granted Patent: US 10,352,821 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B61F 15/12 with roller, needle, or ball bearings
• CPC Class Codes: B61K 9/04 Detectors for indicating the overheating of axle bearings and the like, e.g. associated with the brake system for applying the brakes in case of a fault
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 19/52 with devices affected by abnormal or undesired conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 17/00 Measuring mechanical vibrations or ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves, not provided for in the preceding groups see provisionally also G01H1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 13/04 Bearings
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 13/045 Acoustic or vibration analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/08 Railway vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/10 Suspensions, axles or wheels

Abstract

Provided is a railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system that can accurately perform abnormality determination for railway vehicle bearings. The system (100) senses an abnormality in a plurality of rolling bearings (17) housed in an axle box (3) provided to a bogie (2). The system (100) includes: vibration detection devices (15) each detecting vibration of a rolling bearing; an analysis device (6) determining an abnormality in the bearings (17) on the basis of detection data detected by the device (15); and reception response detection start module (13) receiving a detection start signal and cause the device (15) to detect vibration of the rolling bearing. The system (100) further includes a measurement start command transmitting device (4), installed apart from a railway vehicle, transmitting the detection start signal to the module (13).

Claims

1. A railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system for sensing an abnormality in a plurality of rolling bearings housed in at least one axle box when the railway vehicle runs on travelling rails, the railway vehicle including at least one bogie, the at least one bogie including the at least one axle box, one or more of the plurality of rolling bearings being associated with one of the at least one axle box, the railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system comprising:

a plurality of vibration detection devices each configured to detect vibration of an associated one of the plurality of rolling bearings;

an analysis device configured to determine an abnormality in the rolling bearings on the basis of pieces of detection data, each piece indicating the vibration of the rolling bearing detected by the associated vibration detection device;

a plurality of reception response detection start modules connected to the vibration detection devices, respectively, each reception response detection start module causing the connected vibration detection device to detect vibration of the associated rolling bearing when receiving a detection start signal; and

at least one measurement start command transmitting device installed apart from the railway vehicle and configured to transmit the detection start signal to the reception response detection start modules.

2. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the measurement start command transmitting device is installed at such a location that, when a rolling bearing of the rolling bearings passes over a rail joint or a switch point of the travelling rails, the reception response detection start module connected to the vibration detection device corresponding to the rolling bearing receives no detection start signal.

3. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the measurement start command transmitting device is installed at a position apart from a rail joint or a switch point of the travelling rails in a rail longitudinal direction by a predetermined distance.

4. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein

a plurality of the reception response detection start module are provided at each of the axle boxes in which the rolling bearings are housed, the rolling bearings being vibration detection targets, and

when each reception response detection start module receives the detection start signal, each reception response detection start module transmits the detection start signal to the reception response detection start module associated with the rolling bearing that is a subsequent vibration detection target.

5. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the at least one measurement start command transmitting device includes a plurality of measurement start command transmitting devices,

the rail joint or the switch point includes a plurality of rail joints or switch points provided at the travelling rails, and

the measurement start command transmitting devices are installed apart from the rail joints or the switch points, respectively, in the rail longitudinal direction by a predetermined distance.

6. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the travelling rails and the measurement start command transmitting device are installed in a railway yard where the railway vehicle is caused to run so as to be inspected.

7. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a condition for each of the plurality of vibration detection devices detecting vibration of the associated rolling bearing is that a drive motor configured to drive the railway vehicle to run is in a non-energized state and a speed of the railway vehicle falls into the range between 25 km/h and 35 km/h.

8. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of detection data transmitting devices connected to the plurality of vibration detection devices, respectively, each detection data transmitting device configured to transmit detection data indicating the vibration of the rolling bearing detected by the associated vibration detection device; and

a data collection device installed apart from the railway vehicle and configured to receive and collect the detection data transmitted from the detection data transmitting devices, wherein

the analysis device determines an abnormality in the plurality of rolling bearings on the basis of the detection data collected by the data collection device.

9. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the measurement start command transmitting device and the data collection device are installed within a predetermined distance from the travelling rails in a direction orthogonal to the travelling rails.

12. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the data collection device receives and collects the detection data together with an ID associated with each vibration detection device.

13. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a data storage server configured to store the detection data and the ID transmitted from the data collection device via a telephone network, wherein

the analysis device determines an abnormality in each rolling bearing on the basis of the detection data and the ID transmitted from the data storage server.

15. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the analysis result obtained from the diagnosis by the diagnosis unit is transmitted to the data storage server together with the ID.

16. The railway vehicle hearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 15, further comprising electronic equipment configured to cause the analysis result recorded in the data storage server to be viewed for each ID.

17. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a storage device configured to store:

the ID;

a bearing model number, an axle box number, and a vehicle number, the numbers being related to the rolling bearing associated with the ID; and

a date at which the detection data is obtained, in connection with the detection data.

10. A railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system for sensing an abnormality in a plurality of rolling bearings housed in at least one axle box when the railway vehicle runs on travelling rails, the railway vehicle including at least one bogie, the at least one bogie including the at least one axle box, one or more of the plurality of rolling bearing being associated with one of the at least one axle box, the railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system comprising:

a plurality of vibration detection devices each configured to detect vibration of an associated one of the plurality of rolling bearings and disturbance vibration;

a plurality of vibration measurement start module connected to the vibration detection devices, respectively, each vibration measurement start module causing the connected vibration detection device to start vibration measurement of the associated rolling bearing when the vibration detection device detects disturbance vibration; and

an analysis device configured to determine an abnormality in the rolling bearings on the basis of vibration data obtained from the started vibration measurement.

11. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 10, further comprising:

a plurality of detection data transmitting devices connected to the plurality of vibration detection devices, respectively, each detection data transmitting device configured to transmit detection data indicating the vibration of the rolling bearing detected by the associated vibration detection devices; and

a data collection device installed within a predetermined distance from the travelling rails in a direction orthogonal to the travelling rails and configured to receive and collect the detection data transmitted from the detection data transmitting devices.

14. The railway vehicle bearing abnormality sensing system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the analysis device includes:

a diagnosis unit configured to diagnose a rolling bearing as being abnormal when an analysis value obtained by performing frequency analysis of the detection data with respect to the rolling bearing is equal to or greater than a set vibration threshold, and diagnose a rolling bearing as being normal when the analysis value is less than the set vibration threshold;

a storage unit configured to store an analysis result obtained from the diagnosis by the diagnosis unit; and

a display unit configured to display the analysis result obtained from the diagnosis by the diagnosis unit.