METHOD OF MAKING A REPLACEMENT PART

Abstract

A replacement part for replacing an original mechanical machine part having has an original mechanical configuration with original part descriptive data is made by first receiving performance data obtained by monitoring the machine during operation with the original machine part with one or more sensors and then sending the performance data to a modeling server. The modeling server then calculates multiple optimized mechanical configurations of the replacement part with one or more modeling algorithms based on different optimization criteria using at least the original part descriptive data and the received performance data. Then a selection of several performance options representing the multiple mechanical configurations of the replacement part are provided, one of which is selected by a user. Finally a replacement part is made with the final optimized configuration corresponding to the selected performance option or sending optimized part descriptive or construction data with the final optimized configuration.

Claims

1. A method of making a replacement part or of making descriptive or construction data for manufacturing a replacement part replacing an original mechanical machine part of a machine for conveying a medium where the original part has an original mechanical configuration with original part descriptive data, the method comprising the steps of: receiving performance data obtained by monitoring the machine during operation with the original machine part with one or more sensors; sending the performance data to a modeling server; calculating on the modeling server multiple optimized mechanical configurations of the replacement part with one or more modeling algorithms based on different optimization criteria using at least the original part descriptive data or construction data and the received performance data; providing a selection of several performance options representing the multiple mechanical configurations of the replacement part; receiving an input from a user selecting one of the performance options; and providing the replacement part with the final optimized configuration corresponding to the selected performance option or sending optimized part descriptive or construction data for manufacturing the replacement part with the final optimized configuration.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the optimization criteria include at least one of a lifetime or durability optimization, an operating costs or energy efficiency optimization, and/or a manufacturing costs optimization.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the machine for conveying a medium is a pump or a compressor.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the machine part is a mechanical machine part with mechanical properties with respect to form, material and/or material composition.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the machine part is a rotor, a stator, a joint, a bearing or a casing or casing part or insert.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the performance data includes a pressure signal, a temperature signal, a vibration signal, a power consumption signal or a flow rate signal.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the machine is part of an industrial plant and in addition to the performance data also process data of the industrial plant is sent to the modeling server and is used for calculating the multiple optimized mechanical configurations.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selection for selecting the performance option is provided by a graphical user interface via an interactive online or offline website.

9. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of: monitoring the machine during operation at an operating location with one or more sensors and providing or sending the performance data to the modeling server.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modeling server is a cloud server located outside the operation location, and the data preferably is transferred via internet.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modeling server is an edge server located at the operation location.

12. The method according to claim 1, the method further including the step of: manufacturing the replacement part based on the construction data provided for the selected performance option.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the replacement part is manufactured using a programmable production device doing subtractive or additive manufacturing.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modeling algorithm calculating multiple optimized configurations of the replacement part uses a prognostic model of predicted performance.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the original part descriptive data is provided as a digital object forming a digital twin of the original part.

16. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of: providing a digital object containing a specification of the replacement part and/or the descriptive or construction data of the replacement part, the digital object forming a digital twin of the final replacement part.

17. The method according to claim 15 whereas the digital object is provided as a DRM protected digital object.

18. The method according to claim 1, the method further including the step of: providing a sales quote for the replacement part based on the selected performance option.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selection for selecting the performance option, of making a sales quote and for ordering the replacement part are provided by a graphical user interface by an interactive website.

20. The method according to claim 19 using a portable device linked to the interactive website and/or displaying the interactive website.

21. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: providing an ID tag at a location on the machine for conveying a medium; reading the tag with a portable device and thereby reading the ID tag; displaying a selection of several performance options on the portable device.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the ID tag is a QR code, a radio tag, an NFC tag, or an RFID tag.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein the ID tag encodes a uniform resource identifier.

24. A system for making a replacement part or of making descriptive or construction data for manufacturing a replacement part, using a method as defined in claim 1, the system including a modeling server set up for receiving performance data obtained by monitoring the machine during operation with the original machine part and for calculating multiple optimized mechanical configurations of the replacement part with one or more modeling algorithms based on different optimization criteria using at least the original part descriptive data or construction data and the received performance data and of making a selection of several performance options representing the multiple optimized mechanical configurations of the replacement part according to different optimization criteria.

25. The system according to claim 24, the system further including a machine for conveying a medium containing the mechanical machine part to be replaced and with one or more sensors of making performance data of the machine during operation.

26. The system according to claim 24, further including a portable device which is linkable to an interactive website and/or displaying an interactive website, the interactive website providing the selection for selecting the performance options.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0045] The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

[0046] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system and a method according to the invention,

[0047] FIG. 2 shows a detail of a modified embodiment according to FIG. 1 and

[0048] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the invention.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0049] The drawing shows different embodiments of a system and a method of making a replacement part 1 of a machine 3 or of making descriptive or construction data 15 for manufacturing the replacement part 1.

[0050] FIG. 1 schematically shows the machine 3 for conveying a medium which could be a pump for example, including several mechanical machine parts and in particular at least one mechanical machine part 2 to be replaced by a replacement part 1. The original machine part 2 to be replaced is a mechanical part with mechanical properties which means form, geometry, material and/or material composition. The original mechanical configuration of this machine part 2 is represented by so called original part descriptive data 4 which is a set of data appropriate and adapted for manufacturing the part, for example a drawing or drawing data including all necessary information for manufacturing the part.

[0051] In order to provide a modified and in particular optimized replacement part 1 the invention is based on the idea of monitoring the machine 3 during operation with the original machine part 2 with one or more sensors 6 schematically shown in FIG. 1. The sensors 6 provide performance data 5 obtained by monitoring the machine 3 during operation, and the performance data 5 may include a pressure signal, a temperature signal, a vibration signal, a power consumption signal or a flow rate signal achieved during operation of the machine 3. This performance data 5 is sent to a modeling server 7 which is configured for calculating an optimized configuration of the replacement part 1 with a modeling algorithm 10. The method according to the invention therefore does not provide an identical replacement part that is identical to the original machine part but an optimized replacement part 1 for a machine 3. The optimization of the part is realized on the basis of performance data 5 obtained by monitoring the machine 3 during operation with the original machine part 2. However, this basic idea is developed further within the invention in that not only one optimized mechanical configuration of the replacement part 1 is calculated but multiple optimized mechanical configurations 9 are calculated on the modeling server 7 with one more modeling algorithms 10 based on different optimization criteria. These different optimization criteria are for example a lifetime or durability optimization and an operating costs or energy efficiency optimization and a manufacturing costs optimization. The system, for example the modeling server 7, provides a selection 11 of several performance options which means a set of several performance options, representing the multiple optimized mechanical configurations 9 of the replacement part 1 according to the described optimization criteria.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 1, the selection/set 11 of the multiple optimized configurations 9 is for example provided by a graphical user interface 12, for example by a portable device 17 presenting/displaying the selection/set 11 of the different performance options or different optimized configurations 9. A user 14, for example a customer who uses the machine, may now select one of these options in order to achieve a replacement part 1 optimized under these specific conditions. This input/selection 13 of the specific performance option is sent to a server, which may be the modeling server or another server providing the selected final optimized configurations, and the server provides the final optimized descriptive data or final optimized construction data 15 for manufacturing the replacement part 1 with the final optimized configuration 9′. This data is for example sent to a programmable production device 18 which is for example a device for additive manufacturing or alternatively for subtractive manufacturing. The device 18 produces the specific replacement part 1 which is not identical to the original replacement part 2 but which is specifically optimized on the basis of the monitoring data 5 and in particular optimized on the basis of a specific optimization criteria selected by the user/client 14.

[0053] The new and modified replacement part 1 is sent to the customer installing this replacement part 1 to the machine 3 in order to replace the original part 2. As an alternative, the optimized part descriptive or construction data 15 can be sent to the customer directly who is able to produce the replacement part on his own or an external facility using a programmable production device.

[0054] As described with regard to FIG. 1 the modeling server 7 calculates the optimized mechanical configuration of the replacement part on the basis of the performance data 5 obtained by monitoring the machine with the monitoring devices 6. FIG. 2 shows a modified embodiment of the invention whereas the machine 3 is part of an industrial plant 16 creating and providing additionally process data 8 of the industrial plant 16. According to FIG. 2 this process data 8 is also sent to the modeling server 7 so that a modeling server 7 not only receives the performance data 5 of the machine 3 but also the process data 8 of the industrial plant 16 including the machine 3. The modeling server 7 calculates the multiple optimized mechanical configurations 9 of the replacement part 1 not only on the basis of the performance data 5 but also on the basis of the process data 8 received from the industrial plant 16.

[0055] FIG. 3 shows a modified embodiment of the invention using a machine 3 which is equipped with an ID tag 19 located on the machine, for example on the casing of the machine whereas this ID tag can be read by a portable device 17, for example a smart phone. Upon reading the ID tag 19, the portable device directly provides the selection 11 described above which means that the portable device 17 provides the possibility to select a specified optimization criterion. The ID tag 19 preferably is an optical code, for example a QR code. As an alternative, the ID tag can be a radio tag, for example an NFC tag or a RFID tag. Preferably the ID tag 19 encodes a uniform resource identifier (URI), in particular an uniform resource locator (URL).

[0056] All figures show embodiments with a modeling server 7 which receives the data, calculates the different configurations and sends these configurations to the portable device 17. This modeling server 7 can be an edge server which is for example located at the industrial plant or at the industrial site near the machine. As an alternative the modeling server 7 can be a cloud server which is a nonlocal server located far away from the machine. Moreover, it is possible to use several servers whereas one or more servers can be edge servers and one or more servers can be cloud servers, in particular, servers located at a data center and/or virtual servers running in a cloud computing environment.

[0057] As shown in the figures, the modeling server 7 uses not only the performance data 5 receiving from the machine but also the original part descriptive data 4 or original part construction data characterizing the detailed construction of the original part which is to be replaced by an optimized part. The figures show the possibility that this original part construction or descriptive data 4 is stored in the modeling server 7 which means that the modeling server 7 has all necessary information about the original part. Alternatively, it is also possible that the modeling server 7 receives the necessary information about the original part 2 from another source, for example from another server or directly from the machine. In any case it is an advantage, if the original part description 4 or construction data 15 is provided as a digital object forming a digital twin of the original part 2. Moreover, it is an advantage if the descriptive data 4 or construction data 15 of the replacement part 1 is provided as a digital object, forming a digital twin of the final replacement part 1. Preferably these digital objects are provided as DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected digital objects. These details are not shown in the figures.

[0058] As already described, the invention not only covers the system and the analyzing process and calculation process and the production process of the replacement part 1 but also the corresponding business transactions and business communication, for example the process step of offering the replacement part 1 with optimized configuration and the process step of payment. These optional process steps are not shown in the figures.