COMMINUTING MACHINE WITH RADAR-ASSISTED WEAR MEASUREMENT FUNCTION

Abstract

The invention relates to a comminuting machine such as a crusher, a mill, or the like, wherein the material to be comminuted is guided through a gap which is formed between at least one wear layer attached to a component of the comminuting machine and a counter surface and the extension of which varies as the wear of the at least one wear layer progresses. The invention is characterized in that in order to determine the wear occurring on the wear layer and/or in order to determine the effective extension of the gap between the wear layer and the counter surface, a radar antenna is provided which is oriented towards the corresponding counter surface. The radar antenna comprises an antenna region and a wear part which is paired at least with the wear layer region provided for a permissible wear and which shortens as the wear layer wears down.

Claims

1-17. (canceled)

18. A comminuting machine/rotary crusher for comminuting raw materials/minerals, comprising: a housing with an inner side lined with at least one wear layer; a crusher head having a wear layer, a counter surface defined by an outer side of the wear layer of the crusher head; a gap defined between the at least one wear layer of the housing and the counter surface of the crusher head, the comminuting machine operable to guide materials/minerals to be comminuted through the gap, the gap varying as the at least one wear layer of the housing erodes during operation of the comminuting machine; a radar antenna for determining a wear occurring at the at least one wear layer of the housing due to erosion of the at least one wear layer of the housing during operation of the comminuting machine, the radar antenna operable to determine the gap between the at least one wear layer of the housing and the counter surface of the crusher head, the radar antenna being oriented toward the counter surface of the crusher head, wherein the radar antenna is associated with the at least one wear layer of the housing, the radar antenna comprising an antenna region and a wear part, the wear part of the radar antenna reducing due to erosion as the wear of the at least one wear layer of the housing increases.

19. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, wherein the antenna region of the radar antenna has a conical design, the wear part of the radar antenna having a conicity that expands slightly in a direction toward the counter surface in comparison with the conical design of the antenna region to maintain directivity of the radar antenna and to prevent higher modes on the passage of the radar waves through the wear part.

20. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, wherein the wear part of the radar antenna is formed from a wear-resistant material having dielectric properties suitable for the radar antenna.

21. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, wherein the antenna region of the radar antenna is configured as a horn antenna.

22. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 21, wherein the horn antenna is filled with a material having dielectric properties.

23. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, wherein the antenna region and the wear part of the radar antenna each having individual components, and the individual components of the antenna region and/or of the wear part of the radar antenna are adhesively bonded, soldered, and/or cemented to one another.

24. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, wherein the antenna region and the wear part of the radar antenna each have individual components, and the individual components of the antenna region and/or of the wear part of the radar antenna are movable with respect to one another.

25. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, further comprising a protective pipe embedded in the at least one wear layer of the housing, wherein the radar antenna is accommodated in the protective pipe and the protective pipe abrades with the wear of the at least one wear layer of the housing due to erosion.

26. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, further comprising a wave guide and a radar sensor, wherein the radar antenna is connected to the radar sensor by the wave guide.

27. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 26, wherein the radar sensor is arranged outside a comminuting space of the comminuting machine.

28. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 26, further comprising a wave guide extension interposed between a flange formed at the radar antenna and the radar sensor.

29. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 26, wherein a transition region comprising a transition material and used for anti-reflection is arranged to provide a soft transition of the radar waves between two different materials from the wave guide to the antenna region of the radar antenna.

30. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, wherein the radar antenna is completely embedded in the at least one wear layer of the housing.

31. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 18, further comprising channel-like cut-outs arranged in the at least one wear layer of the housing and/or in a housing part for receiving the radar antenna.

32. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 26, further comprising channel-like cut-outs arranged in the radar sensor.

33. The comminuting machine in accordance with claim 28, further comprising channel-like cut-outs arranged in the wave guide extension.

34. A method of operating a comminuting machine, comprising: providing a comminuting machine of claim 18; determining a transit time difference of the radar waves fed into the radar antenna between their entry into the antenna region and their exit from the wear part of the radar antenna in an evaluation unit; putting the transit time difference into relation with a length of the antenna region and the wear part of the radar antenna; and determining the wear of the at least one wear layer of the housing.

35. The method in accordance with claim 34, further comprising the steps of: determining a transit time of the radar waves between their exit from the wear part of the radar antenna up to the incidence on the counter surface defined by the outer side of the wear layer of the crusher head; and defining the extent of the gap present between the at least one wear layer of the housing and the counter surface defined by the outer side of the wear layer of the crusher head based on the transit time.

36. The method in accordance with claim 35, further comprising the steps of: putting the wear of the at least one wear layer of the housing and the extent of the gap into relation with dimensions for the at least one wear layer of the housing and the gap; and determining a wear at the wear layer of the crusher head.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing and will be described in the following. There are shown:

[0028] FIG. 1 a comminution machine configured as a rotary crusher in a perspective representation;

[0029] FIG. 2 a detail of a housing region of the rotary crusher with a radar antenna integrated therein in an enlarged representation;

[0030] FIG. 3 the article of FIG. 2 in a modified embodiment; and

[0031] FIG. 4 the radar antenna in accordance with FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 in an enlarged single representation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032] To the extent that the invention is explained in more detail in the following with reference to a comminution machine configured as a rotary crusher, FIG. 1 corresponds to the corresponding representation in said DE 198 53 900 A1. The rotary crusher 10 comprises a housing 11 whose inner side is lined with a wear layer 12 called crusher jaws. A crusher head 13 that forms a counter surface 35 to the wear layer 12, that rests on a lower housing part 14, and that is driven by a drive 15 is arranged in the inner space of the housing 11. The crusher head 13 is provided at its outer side with a wear layer 20 whose outer side forms the counter surface 35. To the extent that the wear layer 12 and crusher head 13 respectively configured with opposite conicity form a crusher gap at their narrowest point with the wear layer, this crusher gap is at the level of a flange region 16 that is formed by an upper flange part 17 to be attributed to an upper housing part and by a lower flange part 18 to be attributed to the lower housing part 14.

[0033] To the extent that FIG. 2 shows a detail in an enlarged representation, this detail relates to the plane of the flange region 16 and the upper flange part 17 and the lower flange part 18 can thus be recognized in FIG. 2. It can further be recognized that the wear layer 12 attached to the inner side of the housing 11 is applied to the hosing 11 with an interposition of a partial casting compound 21; the same applies to the attachment of the wear layer 20 to the crusher head 13. A gap 22 is defined as a crusher gap at the narrowest point between the wear layer 20 of the crusher head 13 and the wear layer 12 of the housing 11.

[0034] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a radar antenna 23 whose setup still has to be described in the following is arranged directly below the wear layer 12, with a bore 24 through which the radar antenna 23 can be pushed forward up to and into the position shown being introduced in the lower flange part 18 and the adjoining part of the housing 11. Provision can be made for this purpose that channel-like cut-outs are already prepared in the wear layer and/or in the corresponding housing and serve the reception of the radar antenna and/or of a connection pipe. To the extent that the radar antenna 23 is connected to a wave guide, in particular to a hollow wave guide, not shown in further detail and known from radar technology, the wave guide runs through the bore 24 up to and outside the housing 11 and is here connected to a radar sensor attached to a suitable point and indicated by 36.

[0035] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the corresponding bore 24 is configured for receiving or leading through the radar antenna 23 in the upper flange part 17, which means that the radar antenna 23 is now arranged within the wear layer 12 and is completely embedded therein. Due to the greater extent of the associated housing region or of the upper flange part 17, provision is made in this respect that an additional wave guide extension 31 is used between the end of the radar antenna 23 and the wave guide not shown in any more detail here, with one end, a front end, of said wave guide extension being coupled to the radar antenna 23 and with a wave guide connected to a radar sensor being connected to the rear end of said wave guide extension in a coupling not shown in any further detail.

[0036] The setup of the radar antenna 23 is shown in detail in FIG. 4. The radar antenna 23 accordingly comprises an antenna region 25 forming the middle part of the antenna representation and a wear part 26 placed thereon in the representation at the left. A connector part 30 for the wave guide not shown in any further detail and having a round cross-section is arranged in the form of a hollow wave guide at the outer right end of the antenna part 25. A further transition region 33 is arranged between the antenna region 25 and the connector part 30. The antenna region 25 of the radar antenna 32 comprises a horn antenna which is known in radar technology, which is filled with a material having suitable dielectric properties, and which has a cross-section of the propagation region 27 for the radar waves expanding conically in the direction of the wear part 26. The wear part 26 only has a slight conicity at its wall 28 with respect to the conicity of the propagation region 27 of the antenna part 25 and is likewise filled with a wear-resistant material 29 having suitable dielectric properties. A suitable ceramic material can be used for this purpose. It should inter alia be ensured by this that the radar waves propagating from the antenna region 25 do not undergo any influence or reflections that falsify, damp, or delete the measurement result on the passage through the wear part 26. The transition region 33 includes an antireflection coating known in radar technology that provides a soft transition of the wave propagation from the connector part 30 into the antenna region 25. The setup of the radar antenna 23 is surrounded by an outer protective pipe 32 that can be designed as a metal pipe. This protective pipe, just like the wear part 26 of the radar antenna 23, is subject to a corresponding abrasion as the wear of the wear layer 12 progresses.

[0037] Depending on the setup or arrangement of the radar antenna 23, a transit time of the radar waves up to a reflection respectively occurring at a border layer that can be associated results for a radar sensor that is configured as a pulse radar, for example. The transmit time of the radar waves from the radar sensor via the air-filled hollow wave guide up to the entry into the antenna region 25 can equally be determined with a direct connection of the hollow wave guide to the antenna region 25 of the radar antenna 23 as its transit time up to the exit from the radar antenna at its front end surface of the wear part 26 into the medium of air. This transit time difference, that is directly measurable with a pulse radar, represents a measure for the length of the radar antenna 23 or of the wear part 26 remaining at this point in time and the respective present current material thickness of the wear layer 12 can be determined and the wear that has occurred in the meantime can be determined by a comparison with the length of the antenna region 25 and of the wear part 26 also remaining unchanged under wear, with said length being specified in the new state of the comminuting machine.

[0038] To the extent that the radar waves exiting the radar antenna 23 are incident on and reflected by the wear layer 20 located on the crusher head 13 as a counter surface after passing through the gap 22 present at the measurement point in time, the transmit time difference between the transit time of the radar waves up to the exit from the radar antenna 23 and the transit time up to the incidence onto the counter surface 35 on the crusher head 13 can likewise be determined and the extent of the gap 22, that is likewise desired as a monitoring parameter, can be directly derived from this transit time difference.

[0039] In addition, the invention thereby also enables a determination of the thickness of the wear layer 20 applied to the outer side of the crusher head 13 or of the wear that has occurred thereat beyond the wear measurement at the wear layer 12 preferably applied to the inner wall of a comminuting machine. Due to the knowledge of the wear that has occurred at the wear layer 12 and due to the extent of the gap 22 present at this measuring point in time, a back calculation is possible with respect to the wear that has occurred at the wear layer 21 to the extent that the dimensions applicable to the new state of the comminuting machine of the wear layer 12 and of the gap 22 are present and due to the changes that have occurred at the measurement point in time of the thickness of the wear layer 12 or of the extent of the gap 22, a calculation of the change that has occurred at the wear layer 20 of the crusher head 13 is likewise possible.

[0040] To the extent that a frequency-modulated radar is used, the correspondingly detectable frequency differences that permit a corresponding evaluation apply analogously to the transit time differences in pulse radar.

[0041] The features of the subject matter of these documents disclosed in the above description, in the claims, in the abstract, and in the drawing can be material, individually and also in any desired combination with one another, to the implementation of the invention in its various embodiments.