Methods and systems for detecting heavy machine wear

• US 10,655,306 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2018
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Joy Global Surface Mining Inc. (Mitsui & Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Joy Global Surface Mining Inc. (Mitsui & Company Limited)
• Inventors: Pomerenke, Keith, Nicoson, Richard, Popp, James R., Schlegel, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzuto, Robert E
• Application Number:
  US15/976,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20180258619A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• Field of Search: 37446, 37452-460, 172699, 1727011-7013
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 3/301 with more than two arms (boom included), e.g. two-part boom with additional dipper-arm
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/267 Diagnosing or detecting failure of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/268 with failure correction follow-up actions
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2808 Teeth
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/285 characterised by the material used
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/18 Status alarms G08B21/02 takes precedence

Abstract

Methods and systems for detecting heavy machine wear. One system includes a heavy machine tooth of an industrial machine having a working end and a mounting end opposite the working end. The system also includes a wear indicator included in the tooth. The wear indicator includes a conductive tip, a conductive outer body extending along at least a length of the tooth, a conductive inner core positioned within the outer body, and insulating material positioned between the outer body and the inner core. The conductive tip is positioned between the working end of the tooth and the outer body and electrically couples the outer body and the inner core to form an electric circuit. The system also includes a transmitter included in the tooth. The transmitter transmits a state of the electric circuit.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a heavy machine tooth of an industrial machine, the heavy machine tooth constructed of a rigid material; and

a first wear indicator embedded within the heavy machine tooth, the first wear indicator having a first distinguishing property that visually distinguishes the first wear indicator from the rigid material of the heavy machine tooth, the first distinguishing property including a first material different from the rigid material of the heavy machine tooth, and wherein the first wear indicator is configured to provide a visual indication associated with a wear level of the heavy machine tooth.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises:

a second wear indicator having a length different than the length of the first wear indicator.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the second wear indicator includes a second distinguishing property different than the first distinguishing property of the first wear indicator.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the second distinguishing property includes a second material.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the first wear indicator is associated with a first wear level and the second wear indicator is associated with a second wear level.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first wear level indicates an approaching need to replace the heavy machine tooth of the industrial machine and wherein the second wear level indicates a need to replace the heavy machine tooth of the industrial machine.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first wear indicator includes a first section associated with a first wear level of the heavy machine tooth and a second section associated with a second wear level of the heavy machine tooth.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first section has the first distinguishing property and the second section has a third distinguishing property different from the first distinguishing property.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the third distinguishing property includes a third material.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the first wear level indicates an approaching need to replace the heavy machine tooth of the industrial machine and wherein the second wear level indicates a need to replace the heavy machine tooth of the industrial machine.

11. A method of monitoring wear of a heavy machine tooth of an industrial machine, the method comprising:

embedding a first wear indicator into the heavy machine tooth constructed of a rigid material, the first wear indicator including a first section associated with a first wear level of the heavy machine tooth and a second section associated with a second wear level of the heavy machine tooth, wherein the first section includes a first distinguishing property and the second section includes a second distinguishing property that visually distinguishes the first section and the second section from the rigid material of the heavy machine tooth;

detecting, with visual detector included in a visual detection system, when the first distinguishing property or the second distinguishing property is exposed;

determining, with an electronic processor included in the visual detection system, a wear level of the heavy machine tooth based on the exposed first distinguishing property or the exposed second distinguishing property; and

automatically generating a warning based on the wear level of the heavy machine tooth.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

automatically controlling the industrial machine based on the wear level of the heavy machine tooth.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

embedding a second wear indicator into the heavy machine tooth, the second wear indicator having a length different than the length of the first wear indicator and a third distinguishing property different from the first distinguishing property; and

detecting when the third distinguishing property of the second wear indicator is exposed, wherein the second wear indicator is associated with a third wear level of the heavy machine tooth.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein automatically generating the warning includes automatically generating a first warning when the wear level of the heavy machine tooth is the first wear level and automatically generating a second warning when the wear level of the heavy machine tooth is the second wear level.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein automatically generating a first warning includes indicating an approaching need to replace the heavy machine tooth.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein automatically generating a second warning includes indicating a need to replace the heavy machine tooth.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein embedding the first wear indicator including the first section and the second section includes embedding the first wear indicator including the first section having a first distinguishing property and the second section having a second distinguishing property that is different from the first distinguishing property.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the wear level of the heavy machine tooth includes determining which section of the first wear indicator is exposed.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein embedding the first wear indicator including the first section and the second section includes embedding the first wear indicator including the first section having a first material different from the rigid material of the heavy machine tooth and the second section having a second material different from the rigid material of the heavy machine tooth and the first material.