Horizontal and vertical displacement detector of wire rope

• US 5,581,180 A
• Filed: 11/03/1994
• Issued: 12/03/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cosmo System Corporation, Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Cosmo System Corporation, Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Wako, Sumitaka, Matsuzawa, Mitsuho, Shimoda, Tatsuya, Ito, Norio, Okeya, Makoto, Ishibashi, Toshiyuki, Ueki, Yasunori
• Primary Examiner(s): Arana, Louis M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATIDAR, JAY M
• Application Number:
  US08/244,270
• Time in Patent Office: 761 Days
• Field of Search: 324/207.11, 324/207.13-207.16, 324/207.2, 324/207.21, 324/207.24, 324/207.25, 324/228, 324/262, 324/175, 324/234, 324/236, 338/32 H
• US Class Current: 324/207.11
• CPC Class Codes: B61B 12/02 Suspension of the load; Guiding means, e.g. wheels; Attaching traction cables
• CPC Class Codes: B61B 12/06 Safety devices or measures against cable fracture

Abstract

A displacement detector detects a relative position between a wire rope and a pulley of a transfer apparatus. The detector includes a magnet disposed to face the wire rope, two magnetoelectric conversion units disposed relative to a pitch of lays of the wire rope to produce two output voltages having ripple components caused by the pitch of lays and being opposite to each other in terms of phase, and a circuit unit connected to the magnetoelectric conversion units for detecting displacement degrees of the wire rope from the pulley according to the output voltages and adding the output voltages so that said ripple components of opposite phases offset each other thereby removing effects of said pitch of lays.

Claims

1. A displacement detector for detecting a relative position between a wire rope and a pulley of a transfer apparatus, comprising:

a magnet disposed to face the wire rope forming a magnetic circuit together with the wire rope,

two magnetoelectric conversion means disposed with a predetermined interval relative to a pitch of lays of the wire rope in an axial direction of the wire rope to produce two output voltages having ripple components caused by said pitch of lays and being opposite to each other in terms of phase, and

circuit means connected to the magnetoelectric conversion means for detecting displacement degrees of the wire rope from the pulley according to the output voltages and adding the output voltages so that said ripple components of opposite phases offset each other thereby removing effects of said pitch of lays.

2. A displacement detector according to claim 1, wherein the magnet is a permanent magnet or electromagnet.

3. A displacement detector according to claim 1, wherein the magnetoelectric conversion means is a hall element, magnetic resistor, magnetic diode, or coil.

4. A displacement detector according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined interval is one half of the pitch of lays in the axial direction of the wire rope.

5. A transfer apparatus comprising:

a displacement detector according to claim 1 and

supporting means for supporting the displacement detector at a constant distance from the pulley.

6. A transfer apparatus comprising:

a wire rope,

a pulley relatively movable with respect to the wire rope,

a displacement detector according to claim 1 for detecting a relative position between the wire rope and the pulley, and

control means for controlling a driving speed of the wire rope or the pulley according to a relative position output from the displacement detector.

7. A displacement detector for detecting a relative position between a wire rope and a pulley of a transfer apparatus, comprising:

magnet means disposed to face the wire rope for forming a magnetic circuit together with the wire rope,

two coils disposed in the magnetic circuit with a predetermined interval relative to a pitch of lays in an axial direction of the wire rope to provide two electromotive forces having ripple components of opposite phases induced by said pitch of lays, and

circuit means for detecting displacement degrees of the wire rope from the pulley according to the induced electromotive forces and adding the output voltages so that the ripple components of the opposite phases are offset to remove effects of said pitch of lays.

8. A displacement detector according to claim 7, which further comprises a core of a ferromagnetic substance inserted in each of the coils.

9. A apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined interval is one half of the pitch of lays in the axial direction of the wire rope.

10. A displacement detector for detecting a relative position between a wire rope and a pulley of a transfer apparatus, comprising:

magnet means disposed to face the wire rope for forming a magnetic circuit together with the wire rope,

a coil disposed in the magnetic circuit,

a fixed resistor connected in series to said coil,

a constant-frequency signal source connected across said series connection of the coil and the fixed resistor to generate AC voltages across the coil, and

circuit means for detecting displacement degrees of the wire rope from the pulley according to the AC voltages.

11. A displacement detector for detecting a relative position between a wire rope and a pulley of a transfer apparatus, comprising:

a coil disposed in proximity of pulley'"'"'s groove,

a capacitor connected in parallel to said coil to form a resonance circuit,

an oscillator connected in parallel to the resonance circuit to apply a high-frequency signal to the resonance circuit to provide an oscillation output signal having a certain oscillation characteristic, and

circuit means for rectifying the oscillation output signal into a DC voltage signal which indicates a degree of displacement of said rope from said pulley.

12. A displacement detector for detecting a relative position between a wire rope and a pulley of a transfer apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of detecting coils disposed on a side face of the pulley at an equal interval in a peripheral direction and connected in series to each other,

a movable coil disposed on the pulley and connected to an end of a series connection of the detecting coils,

a stationary coil opposed to the movable coil forming a transformer to which an AC voltage is applied, and

circuit means connected to both ends of the stationary coil for detecting impedance changes of the detecting coils.

13. A displacement detector according to claim 12, which further comprises a plurality of magnets each opposed to each of the detecting coils.

14. A displacement detector for detecting a relative position between a wire rope and a pulley of a transfer apparatus, the displacement detector comprising:

magnetic means disposed in the vicinity of said wire rope for forming a magnetic field such that a magnetic flux runs from an N pole thereof to an S pole thereof through the wire rope,

first and second magnetoelectric conversion means disposed in said magnetic field between the N pole and the wire rope, and the S pole and the wire rope, respectively, so as to produce first and second output voltages, and

circuit means for providing a difference between the first output voltage and the second output voltage to determine a displacement degree between the wire rope and the pulley in a horizontal direction and a sum of the first and second output voltages to determine a displacement degree between the wire rope and the pulley in a vertical direction.

15. A displacement detector according to claim 14, wherein said magnetoelectric conversion means are coils.

16. A displacement detector according to claim 14, wherein said magnetoelectric conversion means are Hall elements.