Imbedded bearing life and load monitor
First Claim
1. A system for sensing rolling element loads in a rolling element bearing having a plurality of rolling elements disposed between an inner race and an outer race, comprising:
- a plurality of sensors disposed about one of the inner race and the outer race of the bearing to output sensor data corresponding to detected loads caused by the rolling elements;
a plurality of connecting members respectively connected to each of said plurality of sensors to transmit the sensor data; and
a control unit to receive the sensor data from said plurality of connecting members, wherein said control unit calculates load components corresponding to each of the sensors in the rolling element bearing from the received sensor data and predicts bearing life from the calculated load components.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system senses real-time rolling element loads in a rolling element bearing having a plurality of rolling elements disposed between an inner race and an outer race. A plurality of sensors are disposed about one of the inner race and the outer race of the bearing to output sensor data corresponding to detected loads. A control unit predicts bearing life from the sensor data and determines a load zone of the bearing in real time from the sensor data. Before operation of the system in real-time, the sensors are calibrated to model a relationship of roller load and measured strain. The bearing is then rotated and sensor data is output from each the sensors. The sensor data is cyclical, and peaks and valleys are extracted from the sensor data to determine rolling element loads and measured bearing speed. Load components from a plurality of bearings are then summed to obtain total applied system load in real time.
120 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A system for sensing rolling element loads in a rolling element bearing having a plurality of rolling elements disposed between an inner race and an outer race, comprising:
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a plurality of sensors disposed about one of the inner race and the outer race of the bearing to output sensor data corresponding to detected loads caused by the rolling elements; a plurality of connecting members respectively connected to each of said plurality of sensors to transmit the sensor data; and a control unit to receive the sensor data from said plurality of connecting members, wherein said control unit calculates load components corresponding to each of the sensors in the rolling element bearing from the received sensor data and predicts bearing life from the calculated load components. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 29)
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13. A system for sensing individual rolling element loads in a rolling element bearing having a plurality of rolling elements disposed between an inner race and an outer race, comprising:
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a plurality of sensors disposed about one of the inner race and the outer race of the bearing to output sensor data corresponding to detected loads from the rolling elements; a plurality of connecting members respectively connected to each of said plurality of sensors to transmit the sensor data; and a control unit to receive the sensor data from said plurality of connecting members, wherein said control unit calculates load components corresponding to each of the sensors in the rolling element bearing from the received sensor data, and determine a load zone of the bearing from the calculated load components. - View Dependent Claims (14, 30)
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15. A system for sensing individual rolling element loads in a rolling element bearing having a plurality of rolling elements disposed between an inner race and an outer race, comprising:
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means for sensing individual loads corresponding to the plurality of rolling elements; means for calculating load components corresponding to each of the sensed individual loads in the rolling element bearing; means for measuring bearing speed during rotation of the bearing; and means for calculating bearing life from the individually calculated load components and the measured bearing speed in real time. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 31)
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22. A method of predicting bearing life in a rolling element bearing, comprising the steps of:
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sensing individual loads caused by a plurality of rolling elements in the rolling element bearing; calculating individual load components corresponding to each of the sensed individual loads in the rolling element bearing; measuring bearing speed during rotation of the bearing; and calculating bearing life from the calculated individual load components and the measured bearing speed. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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23. A method of determining a load zone in a rolling element bearing, comprising the steps of:
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sensing individual loads of a plurality of rolling elements in the rolling element bearing; calculating individual load components corresponding to each of the sensed individual loads in the rolling element bearing; and calculating a load zone from the calculated individual load components. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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24. A method of calculating load components in a rolling element bearing, comprising the steps of:
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calibrating a plurality of sensors disposed about one of an inner race and outer race of the bearing to establish a relationship between roller load and measured strain; measuring sensor data from the plurality of sensors during rotation of the bearing; and calculating load components corresponding to each of the sensors in the bearing, to thereby characterize a load zone of the bearing. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 34)
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28. A method of calculating total applied system load in a system including a plurality of rolling element bearings, comprising the steps of:
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calibrating a plurality of sensors disposed about each rolling element bearing to model a relationship of roller load and measured strain; measuring sensor data from the plurality of sensors for each of the rolling element bearings during rotation of the bearings; extracting peaks and valleys from the sensor data for each of the sensors corresponding to each of the rolling element bearings; calculating bearing speed for each of the rolling element bearings from the passage of rolling elements by the sensors; determining perpendicular force components for each of the bearings from the extracted peaks and valleys and calculated bearing speed; and summing each of the respective Cartesian force components for each of the bearings to obtain total applied system load.
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Specification