Vibration control with operating state measurement

• US 20060276949A1
• Filed: 05/11/2006
• Published: 12/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deere & Company
• Original Assignee: Deere & Company
• Inventors: Bischoff, Lutz, Beck, Folker
• Granted Patent: US 8,600,627 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/50
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 41/127 Control or measuring arrangements specially adapted for combines
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 75/18 Safety devices for parts of the machines
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

The invention relates to a monitoring device and to a method for monitoring the function of the components of an agricultural implement, with a vibration sensor for providing signal values containing information on mechanical vibrations generated by moving components of the implement, an operating state detecting device for providing a signal containing information on the operating state of components of the implement, and a calculating device for generating state information on the basis of the state of the components of the implement. The calculating device can be operated to divide the signal values of the vibration sensor on the basis of the corresponding signals of the operating state detecting device into different classes, which correspond to different combinations of the operating states of the components in the detection of the signal values, and to compare the signal values divided into classes or data derived from these signal values with comparison values for generating state information.

Claims

1. A monitoring device for monitoring the function of components of an agricultural implement, with:

a vibration sensor for providing signal values containing information on mechanical vibrations generated by moving components of the implement;

an operating state detecting device for providing a signal containing information on the operating state of components of the implement; and

a calculating device for generating state information on the basis of the state of the components of the implement, which is based on the signal values of the operating state detecting device and the vibration sensor;

wherein the calculating device can be operated to divide the signal values of the vibration sensor, on the basis of the corresponding signals of the operating state detecting device, into various classes, which correspond to different combinations of the operating states of the components when signal values are detected, and to compare the signal values divided into the classes or data derived from these values with comparison values for generating the state information.

2. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the calculating device can be operated to compare the signal values divided into classes with comparison values for generating the state information class-by-class or over all classes.

3. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the operating state detecting device is designed to identify whether a component of the implement is in an operating state, and that the calculating device can be operated to generate state information only for components, for which the operating state detecting device signals an operating state.

4. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the operating state detecting device can be operated to derive the operating state of a component from the signal of the vibration sensor and/or to determine the operating state on the basis of a sensor allocated to the components and/or an input element allocated to the components.

5. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the calculating device can be operated to store signal values only when the signals of the operating state detecting device indicate that the operating conditions fall into a class that can be analyzed.

6. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein information on the rotational speed or the movement frequency of at least one moving component of the implement, for example, an internal combustion engine and/or a crop processing device, is fed to the calculating device and in that it can be operated to reference signal values of the vibration sensors detected over a measurement period only when the rotational speed was within a tolerance range during the entire measurement period.

7. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the calculating device can be operated to reference signal values of the vibration sensor detected over a measurement period for analysis only when the length of a continuous measurement period was above a certain threshold.

8. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the calculating device can be operated to bring components into a defined operating state and/or to give instructions to an operator for bringing components into a defined operating state.

9. Method for monitoring the function of the components of an agricultural implement, with the following steps:

providing signal values of a vibration sensor containing information on mechanical vibrations generated by moving components of the implement;

providing a signal to an operating state detecting device, which contains information on the operating state of components of the implement; and

generating state information on the basis of the state of the components of the implement with a calculating device, with this information being based on the signal values of the operating state detecting device and the vibration sensor;

wherein the calculating device divides the signal values of the vibration sensors on the basis of the corresponding signals of the operating state detecting device into different classes, which correspond to different combinations of the operating states of the components in the detection of the signal values, and compares the signal values divided into classes or data derived from these values with comparison values for generating state information.