Device for monitoring operating data and/or determining the replacement state of wear of a cable during use on lifting apparatuses

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to lifting gear such as cranes which use ropes such as high-strength fiber ropes. The invention here in particular relates to an apparatus for monitoring operating data and/or for determining the replacement state of such a rope in use on such lifting equipment having a detection device for detecting at least one rope use parameter that influences the replacement state of wear and having a data store for storing the detected rope use parameter and/or an operating parameter derived therefrom that characterizes the residual service life and/or the replacement state of wear of the rope. Provision is made in accordance with the invention that the data store for storing the at least one detected rope use parameter and/or an operating parameter derived therefrom is integrated in the rope, with a reading and/or writing unit connected to the detection device for detecting said rope use parameter being provided to write to the data store in the rope installed at the lifting equipment.

Claims

1. An apparatus for monitoring operating data and/or for determining the replacement state of wear of a rope in use with lifting equipment comprising a crane, comprising: a detection device for detecting at least one rope use parameter influencing the replacement state of wear and having a data store for storing the rope use parameter and/or an operation parameter derived therefrom, wherein the data store is integrated in the rope; a first reading and/or writing unit connected to the detection device, wherein the reading and/or writing unit is provided to write to the data store; and the rope installed in the lifting equipment.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reading and/or writing unit is installed in the lifting equipment.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reading and/or writing unit and the data store are configured to communicate wirelessly with one another.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data store comprises an RFID element and the first reading and/or writing unit comprises a radio transmitter and/or a radio receiver.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reading and/or writing unit is installed at a hoist winch comprising a drum, and wherein the rope is wound about the drum of the hoist winch.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first reading and/or writing unit at or opposite of a guard plate of the drum in the region of a rope end fastening.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the data store is integrated in a rope end section of the rope that is fastened to a guard plate of the drum of the hoist winch.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reading and/or writing unit is installed at a structural part of the lifting equipment in the region of the fastening point of a fixed rope end of the rope, and wherein the data store is integrated in the fixedly installed rope end.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second reading and/or writing unit, and wherein the second reading and/or writing unit is installed at a structural part of the lifting equipment in the region of the fastening point of a fixed rope end of the rope, and wherein the data store is integrated in the fixedly installed rope end.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reading and/or writing unit is configured to write the at least one rope use parameter and/or the operation parameter derived therefrom to the data store and/or to read it from the data store for each event of putting the lifting equipment into operation and/or taking the lifting equipment out of operation.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reading and/or writing unit is configured to write the at least one rope use parameter and/or the operation parameter derived therefrom to the data store and/or to read from it cyclically at predefined time intervals.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reading and/or writing unit is configured to read out the at least one rope use parameter stored in the data store and/or the operation parameter stored in the data store for each event of putting the lifting equipment into operation and/or to read the at least one rope use parameter out cyclically at predefined time intervals and to transmit the at least one rope use parameter to a control and/or evaluation device of the lifting equipment.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detection device has at least one of the following detection means whose detection data can be evaluated by an evaluation device for determining the replacement state of wear: a detector for detecting weather data and/or climate data present at the lifting equipment; a UV radiation sensor comprising a radiation dosimeter, wherein the UV radiation sensor is for determining the UV radiation acting on the rope; a particle detector for detecting the dirt particles present in the environmental air, wherein the dirt particles comprise dust and/or sand and/or soot; a lubricant detector for detecting lubricants acting on the rope, wherein the lubricants comprise oils and grease; a smectite sensor for detecting smectite; a chemical sensor for detecting chemicals degrading the rope; a snow and/or ice sensor for detecting snow and/or ice; a precipitation and/or moisture sensor for determining a precipitation profile and/or moisture; and a salt content determiner for determining the salt content in the determined moisture.

14. The of claim 1, wherein the detection device comprises a plurality of differently configured detectors for determining a plurality of different rope use parameters that can be evaluated by an evaluation device for recognizing the replacement state of wear of the rope.

15. A lifting equipment comprising a revolving tower crane, a harbor crane or a telescopic crane, wherein the lifting equipment comprises a rope and the apparatus of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to a preferred embodiment and to associated drawings. There are shown in the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1: a schematic representation of the hoist winch of a piece of lifting equipment, in particular in the form of the hoist winch of a crane such as a revolving tower crane, with the rope wound around the hoisting drum having, in accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention, a rope end fastened to the guard plate of the hoisting drum in which a writable data store is integrated, with a reading and/or writing unit being provided that can communicate with said data store;

(3) FIG. 2: a schematic representation of an embodiment of the invention in which the data store is integrated in a fixed rope end and the reading and/or writing unit is installed at the structural part of the lifting equipment, in particular at a crane boom element, to which the fixed rope end is fastened; and

(4) FIG. 3: a schematic representation of a piece of lifting gear in accordance with the invention in the form of a revolving tower crane in accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention whose hoist rope and/or whose guy rope for the luffable boom can be configured as a fiber rope.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) FIG. 3 shows by way of example for a piece of lifting equipment in accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the invention a crane in the form of a top slewing revolving tower crane 20 whose tower 21 is supported on a carriage or on a stationary base. A boom 23 is pivotably connected in a luffable manner about a horizontal axis in a manner known per se and is guyed via a guying rope arrangement 24. Said guying rope arrangement 24 can be varied in its length via a guying rope winch 25 so that the raised angle of the boom 23 can be changed. For this purpose, a guy rope 26 runs onto said guy rope winch 25. The guy rope 26 or the guying rope arrangement 24 can be guided at a pivot point at the boom 23 close to the tip of the boom 23 via, for example, deflection pulleys 27 at the shown guy brace 50 or a tower tip.

(6) Alternatively, the revolving tower crane 20 can naturally also be provided with a trolley boom. A trolley can be movably supported at the boom 23 and can be moved by means of a trolley rope, for example, which can be guided at the boom tip via deflection pulleys.

(7) The revolving tower crane furthermore comprises a hoist rope 28 which in the drawn embodiment in accordance with FIG. 3 can be let down from the tip of the boom via deflection pulleys and is there connected to a crane hook 29 or can run off via said movable trolley 55 and the deflection pulleys provided there and can be connected to the crane hook 29. Said hoist rope 28 in both cases runs onto a hoist winch 30 which, like the guy rope winch 25 of the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 3, is arranged in the region of the ballast frame or at another support part at the counter-boom 53.

(8) Said hoist rope 28 and/or the guy rope 26 can in this respect be configured as a fiber rope which can comprise synthetic fibers such as aramid fibers or an aramid/carbon fiber mixture or can also be formed as a steel strand part or as a mixed form.

(9) Only a rope 1 will be spoken of in the following, with any one of the aforesaid guying ropes or hoist ropes being able to be meant thereby.

(10) To be able to monitor or detect parameters of said fiber rope relevant to the replacement state of wear, a detection device 2 is provided which can be arranged at the crane and which, together with an evaluation device 3 which evaluates the detected parameters, can be connected to or integrated in the electronic crane control unit 31.

(11) The detection device 2 here comprises, as FIG. 3 indicates, various detection means to monitor the rope 1 itself, on the one hand, and to provide rope data and rope features to the evaluation unit 3. The detection means can in particular provide mechanical parameters of the rope 1, for example the make and material of the rope, the minimum rope tension with an empty lifting hook, the maximum permitted rope tension, and the minimum break force of the rope. Said detection means can furthermore provide the lateral stiffness of the rope and/or the bending resistance of the rope and/or the rotational stiffness of the rope, with here the values of said value being able to be provided in the new state of the rope as stored values, on the one hand, and with a continuous monitoring being able to take place. Said rope characteristics such as the lateral stiffness, bending resistance, and rotational stiffness can be monitored and determined by measurement and/or detection means such as is explained in document WO 2012/100938.

(12) The detection means can, for example, also provide visual damage features that can, for example, be detected by a camera and/or can provide operationally induced features that can be determined by data detection at the crane. Said detection means can in particular provide mechanical damage for example in the form of scrub marks at the rope jacket in signal form or also similar damage, for example when the rope jacket has torn and/or has released from the rope. Alternatively or additionally, cut surfaces and/or crushing phenomena of the rope or similar damaged points of the rope jacket and/or of the rope strands due to external influences can be displayed and provided. Alternatively or additionally, a bunch formation can be detected and can be provided by signal technology, for example by a large displacement of the rope strands. Alternatively or additionally, a high rotation of the rope jacket and/or rotations per length unit can also be determined and provided.

(13) Depending on the degree of defectiveness with respect to said features, the evaluation unit 3 can provide a replacement state signal and/or a residual service life signal.

(14) The detection means can furthermore determine operationally-induced features by corresponding measurement devices and can provide them to the evaluation device, for instance changes of the rope diameter and/or a rope stretch, for example. A rope efficiency can furthermore be determined, that is, changes due to the aging and to the operating time. Alternatively or additionally, the rope temperature can be detected that occurs due to the crane operation and to the environmental temperature during crane operation. If, for example, a maximum permitted rope temperature is exceeded, a switch to adapted part load operation can be made to maintain the rope safety. Alternatively or additionally, the aging of the rope can in particular be determined in the form of a seated time reached, with a maximum permitted seated time being able to be evaluated in dependence on different factors of influence.

(15) Furthermore, various crane data can be supplied to the evaluation device 3, for example construction data and crane settings such as the diameter of hoisting drums and rope pulleys, rope lengths, and rope diameters, the number of reevings, drum measurements in the form of the drum diameter and the jacket length, the number of maximum rope layers on the drum and the number of windings and/or the maximum rope speeds provided for the respective rope.

(16) Furthermore, operation data can also be provided as crane data that can be detected by means of corresponding detection means during crane operation, for example the load range occurring in operation and the time of the load, a load measurement with respect to a rope strand that can, for example, take place by a load sensor, and/or the hoisting height or the rope path length in dependence on the load cycle, with a measurement here, for example, being able to take place by a revolution sensor of the hoisting drum. Alternatively or additionally, the actually run rope speed can be measured, for example by a corresponding revolution speed sensor at the hoisting drum.

(17) Said detection device 2 can in particular also comprise detection means for detecting the load spectrum acting on the respective fiber rope 1, with here at least the tensile load acting on the rope and the number of bending cycles, but advantageously also other parameters influencing the long-term strength such as multilayer coiling, environmental influences, temperature, transverse strains and others, advantageously being able to be detected here.

(18) To determine said parameters, said detection means comprise corresponding sensors whose signals are supplied to said evaluation unit 3. A load measurement sensor can in particular detect the current load over the operating time of the rope. Furthermore, a rotary encoder on the respective winch drum can advantageously measure the rope length which is strained. In sum, a load spectrum can be determined from this, for example in the form of a Wohler curve, which can be compared with a predefined maximum load spectrum for the fiber rope 1. If the number of the maximum permitted load spectra, that is, a specific number of bending cycles under the influence of a specific load and/or specific load peaks, is reached, a warning and/or a specification of time in which the rope change has to take place is/are carried out.

(19) The detection device 2 furthermore has detection means for detecting environmental influences that act on the ropes 1 provided at the respective crane. Said detection means can advantageously likewise be provided at the respective crane.

(20) Alternatively or additionally to the aforesaid environmental influence detection means, the detection device 2 can furthermore also comprise weather data detection means by means of which possible climatic situations can be detected that can influence the service life of the rope. Said detection means can be arranged, for example, in the form of a weather station at the respective crane or in direct proximity hereto and can provide corresponding weather data to the evaluation device 3.

(21) The rope use parameters detected by the detection device 2 and/or the operation parameters derived therefrom by the evaluation device 3 such as the residual service life or the replacement state of wear are advantageously written by means of a reading and/or writing unit to a data store 5 that is integrated in the rope 1, in particular in a rope end section of the rope 1. Said data store 5 can here have different embodiments in the initially explained manner and can in particular be configured in the form of an RFID chip.

(22) Said data store 5 can here in particular be arranged in the interior of the rope 1 or can be embedded in the rope to protect the data store from damage due to external influences. To the extent that the data store 5 can be provided at the rope end, it is, however, also possible to attach the data store 5 at the outer side or at the exterior of the rope 1 since the rope end typically does not run through rope guide means or over deflection pulleys.

(23) If the data store is an RFID chip in the named manner, the reading and/or writing unit 4 can have a radio receiver and transmitter that can communicate with said RFID chip.

(24) As FIG. 1 shows, said data store 5 can advantageously be integrated in the rope end of the rope that is fastened to the hoisting drum 6 of a hoist winch 7. As FIG. 1 shows, it can be advantageous here if said rope end is fastened to the guard plate 8 of the hoisting drum 6, for example to its outer side, and if the data store 5 is integrated in a rope section that is fastened to said guard plate 8.

(25) With an arrangement of the data store 5 disposed at the outer side of the guard plate 8, a communication link to the reading and/or writing unit 4 can be set up in a simple manner, in particular when the latter is likewise arranged in the region of the hoist winch 7, in particular in direct proximity to said guard plate 8, for example directly opposite said guard plate 8 and/or at a drive unit for driving the drum. The reading and/or writing unit 4 itself can here also be attached or installed at the guard plate 8.

(26) Alternatively or additionally to the arrangement of the data store 5 shown in FIG. 1 at a rope end fastened to the winch side with an arrangement of the reading and/or writing unit 4 associated with the hoist winch, the data store 5 can also, as FIG. 2 shows, be arranged at a fixed rope end of the rope 1. As FIG. 2 shows, a rope end of the rope 1 can be firmly lashed to a structural part of the lifting equipment, in particular of the crane, such as a crane boom, with the data store being able to be integrated in the rope end section that is firmly lashed to the structural part in the manner shown in FIG. 2.

(27) The reading and/or writing unit 4 can advantageously be installed at said structural part of the lifting equipment, in particular in proximity to the firmly lashed rope end, in particular to the boom part of the crane, as shown in FIG. 2.