DEVICE FOR MEASURING A PARAMETER INDICATIVE OF THE ROTATIONAL SPEED OF A COMPONENT

Abstract

A device for measuring a parameter indicative of a rotational speed of a component includes a wired or wireless input configured to receive a vibration signal from a vibration sensor, a boost filter configured to filter the vibration signal, based on a predetermined frequency range, into a sinusoidal signal and, a comparator configured to generate a pulse waveform signal from the sinusoidal signal in order to read the value of the parameter. Also a motor or pump controller including the device.

Claims

1. A method of measuring a parameter indicative of a rotational speed of a component, comprising: acquiring a vibration signal from a vibration sensor mounted on the component, filtering the vibration signal, based on a predetermined frequency range, into a sinusoidal signal and, generating a pulse waveform signal indicative of the parameter from the sinusoidal signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined frequency range includes an expected frequency of the component and a variation frequency range around the expected frequency range.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the component is a drive shaft.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the parameter is a rotational frequency of the drive shaft.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the parameter is a speed of the drive shaft.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the component is a centrifugal pump.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the parameter is a blade passage frequency of the centrifugal pump.

8. A device for measuring a parameter indicative of a rotational speed of a component, comprising: acquisition means configured to receive a vibration signal from a vibration sensor mounted on the component; a boost filter configured to filter the vibration signal, based on a predetermined frequency range, into a sinusoidal signal and, a comparator configured to generate a pulse waveform signal from the sinusoidal signal in order to read the value of the parameter.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined frequency range includes an expected frequency of the component and a variation frequency range around the expected frequency range.

10. An integrated circuit comprising a device for measuring a parameter indicative of a rotational speed of a component according to claim 9.

11. The device according to claim 8, wherein the acquisition means comprises an input circuit connected to the boost filter.

12. The device according to claim 8, wherein the acquisition means comprises a wireless receiver.

13. A device comprising: a motor and a motor controller, wherein the motor controller includes the device according to claim 8, wherein the sensor is connected to the motor, and wherein the motor controller is configured to control a speed of the motor based on an output of the comparator.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the output of the comparator is indicative of a magnitude of the pulse waveform signal.

15. A device comprising: a pump and a pump controller, wherein the pump controller includes the device according to claim 8, wherein the sensor is connected to the pump, and wherein the pump controller is configured to control a speed of the pump based on an output of the comparator.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein the output of the comparator is indicative of a magnitude of the pulse waveform signal.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The Present Invention and its Advantages Will be Better Understood by Studying the Detailed Description of a Specific Embodiment Given by Way of a Non-Limiting Example and Illustrated by the Appended Drawings on which:

[0028] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a device configured to measure a parameter indicative of the rotational speed of a component according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 2A is a first graph G1 that illustrates a vibration amplitude according to time.

[0030] FIG. 2B is a second graph G2 that shows the amplitude in a function of time having a sinusoidal form signal.

[0031] FIG. 2C is a third graph G3 representing a pulse waveform signal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a device 1 configured to measure a parameter indicative of a rotational speed of a component such as a centrifugal pump or a drive shaft. For example, if the component is a centrifugal pump, the parameter may be the blade passage frequency of the centrifugal pump. When the component is the drive shaft of an engine, the parameter may be in this case the rotational frequency of the drive shaft or its speed. Such a device 1 can be embedded in an integrated circuit.

[0033] To determine the value of the parameter, the device 1 comprises acquisition means (input connector or a receiver) 2 configured to receive a vibration signal sent by a vibration sensor 3 external to the device and mounted on the component. The vibration signal represents the vibration amplitude (G) as a function of time (T) as illustrated in FIG. 2A. Of course, the vibration sensor 3 can be replaced by any other apparatus adapted to trace the vibration signal.

[0034] The vibration sensor 3 can be wired to the acquisition means 2, e.g., when the acquisition means is an input connector, or wirelessly coupled to the acquisition means 2, e.g., when the acquisition means is a receiver.

[0035] However, because the vibration signal may be difficult to read, the device 1 further comprises a boost filter 4 coupled to acquisition means 2 and configured to receive as input the vibration signal and to transform the vibration signal into a sinusoidal signal defined by its amplitude (A) progressing over time (T) as illustrated in FIG. 2B.

[0036] For this purpose, the boost filter 4 is built according to at least three filter parameters which are the central frequency, a bandwidth and a gain.

[0037] The boost filter 4 is further built based on the variation range of the parameter. Thus, the boost filter 4 is configured to extract a predetermined frequency range comprising a range of variation of the parameter.

[0038] For example, it is known that generally the meshing frequency of a gear is 775.21 Hz at a speed of 40 km/hour in optimal conditions. Based on this information, the central frequency may be set to 775 Hz, the bandwidth to 200 Hz to allow the speed variation, and the gain to 100.

[0039] To read the parameter value on the sinusoidal signal outputted from the boost filter 4, the device 1 also comprises a comparator 5 coupled to the boost filter 4 and configured to generate as an output a pulse waveform signal from the sinusoidal signal. In particular, the pulse waveform signal represents the evolution of the amplitude (A) over time (T) as shown in FIG. 2C. If the evolution of the amplitude over time indicates that the rotational speed of the motor shaft has exceeded a predetermined range, the device 1 can output a signal to switch off or otherwise regulate a motor power supply.

[0040] The pulse waveform signal is here used to represent a duty cycle which helps to read the value of the parameter such as the rotation speed of the component without using a speed sensor.

[0041] The disclosure is not limited to these embodiments but comprises all the variants. For example, the device 1 can be implemented on the component and wirelessly transfer the parameter. The device can also be located outside the component and thus be configured to remotely receive the vibration signal.

[0042] Representative, non-limiting examples of the present invention were described above in detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide improved device for measuring a parameter indicative of a rotational speed of a component.

[0043] Moreover, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the above detailed description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the invention. Furthermore, various features of the above-described representative examples, as well as the various independent and dependent claims below, may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings.

[0044] All features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter, independent of the compositions of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. In addition, all value ranges or indications of groups of entities are intended to disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter.