DESCRIPTION
TITLE OF INVENTION: AIR LEAKAGE DETECTION SYSTEM FOR
PALLET CARRIAGE AND AIR LEAKAGE DETECTION METHOD FOR
PALLET CARRIAGE
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to an art
detecting air leakage of a pallet carriage used for
manufacture of a sintered ore being a blast furnace
material, and detecting a damage of the pallet
carriage.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] A manufacturing facility (hereinafter, called
as a sintering machine) 20 of a sintered ore being a
blast furnace material is described by using Fig. 11
and Fig. 12. As illustrated in Fig. 11, the
sintering machine 20 includes a number of pallet
carriages 6 continuously connected-in a moving
direction to be arranged, and moving on an oval orbit.
The pallet carriage 6 has a box-shape of which upside
opens, and takes on later-described materials of a
sintered ore. For example, a grid-state ventilation
- part -6a 4-s formed at a bottom surface of the pallet
carriage 6 as illustrated in Fig. 12, so that the
material does not pass through, but ventilation is
enabled. As illustrated in Fig. 11, a number of
window boxes 7 in pouched states are provided
adjacently in the moving direction of the pallet
carriage 6 at downward of the orbit of the pallet
carriage 6. An upper opening part of the window box
- 1 -
7 faces the ventilation part 6a of the pallet
carriage 6. In an example illustrated in the drawing,
bifurcated pouched window legs 8 are formed at
downward of the window boxes 7. Each window leg 8 is
connected to a main duct 9. The main duct 9 is
connected to an intake device 11 such as a blower,
When the intake device 11 is driven, air flows from
upward to downward of the pallet carriage 6. Note
that an air seal bar 10 which is in contact with an
upper end of the window box 7 is attached to a lower
end of the pallet carriage 6 to be movable in a
vertical direction so that air leakage between the
moving pallet carriage 6 and the window box 7 is
prevented, and heat-resistant grease is coated on a
contact part of the air seal bar 10 and the pallet
carriage 6.
[0003] Raw-materials of sintered ore each made up of
iron ore, cokes, limestone are stored in plural rawmaterial
tanks 1. A mixer 2 is a device mixing each
material supplied from the raw-material tank 1 while
adding moisture to granulate. The raw-material
granulated by the mixer 2 is input to a surge hopper
3, charged to the pallet carriage 6 by a drum feeder
4 provided at a lower end of the surge hopper 3, and
a raw-material layer 99 is formed as illustrated in
Fig. 12. An ignition furnace 5 having a number of
burners is provided at an adjacent downstream
position of the drum feeder 4, and the raw-material
charged into the pallet carriage 6 is ignited by the
- 2 -
ignition furnace 5. Cokes in the raw-material layer
99 burn when the air flows from upward to downward of
the raw-material layer 99, and the raw-material layer
99 is sequentially calcined from upward to downward
by the combustion heat. The calcination of the rawmaterial
layer 99 proceeds as the moving of the
pallet carriage 6, and sintered ore is continuously
generated while taking time for approximately 30
minutes to 50 minutes. Note that the number of
pallet carriages 6 is 100 to 160, and a time required
for the pallet carriage 6 to make a circuit of the
orbit is from one hour to one hour and a half.
[0004] Incidentally, an inner upper part 6d of an
end face liner 6c positioning at downward of a
sidewall 6b of the pallet carriage 6 is worn away by
friction with a raw-material dropped from the rawmaterial
layer at upward according-to the usage of
the pallet carriage 6. An air-flow resistance at a
part of the defected inner upper part 6d of the end
face liner 6c becomes thereby small, and the air
preferentially flows at a part where the raw-material
-layer- 99 is in contact with the sidewall 6b (air
leakage 1 illustrated in Fig. 12), and a flow amount
of the air to the raw-material layer 99 decreases.
Besides, the air seal bar 10 is damaged because it is
worn away by abrasion caused by grinding with the
upper end of the window box 7. T'he air intrudes from
the damaged part of the air seal bar 10 (air leakage
2 illustrated in Fig. 12), and the flow amount of the
- 3 -
air to the raw-material layer 99 decreases. When the
flow amount of the air to the raw-material layer 99
decreases, the calcination of the raw-material layer
99 becomes insufficient. Conventionally, an intake
amount at the intake device I1 is therefore increased
for a degree of the air leakage to compensate the
flow amount of the air to the raw-material layer 99.
Accordingly, power consumption to drive the intake
device 11 increases, and energy has been consumed
more than is necessary. In particular, when the
inner upper part 6d of the end face liner 6c is worn
away to be damaged, the air preferentially flows at
the damaged part, and therefore, there has been a
problem in which powdered raw-material 99 flows at
the damaged part, the inner upper part 6d of the end
face liner 6c is worn away caused by the abrasion,
and the damage proceeds with accelerating speed.
Conventionally, a degree of damage of the end face
liner 6c is therefore evaluated by a visual
observation of an operator before a regular
maintenance, and the pallet carriage 6 is exchanged
- to be repaired at the regular maintenance time when
the damage of the end face liner 6c is heavy.
[0005] However, the damage of the end face liner 6c
is evaluated by the visual observation, and therefore,
an evaluation criteria of the damage is not constant
depending on the operators. Accordingly, there has
been problems in which a cost for repair of the
pallet carriage 6 increases more than is necessary
4
when the pallet carriage 6 which can be still used is
repaired, on the other hand, when the pallet carriage
6 of which damage of the end face liner 6c proceeds
is continued to be used, the power consumption amount
to drive the intake device 11 increases. Besides,
there is a problem in which the operator is engaged
in the evaluation of the damage of the end face liner
6c for a long time. Further, a carriage number is
recorded at each pallet carriage 6, but there has
been a problem in which the carriage number is
mistakenly checked when the damage of the end face
liner 6c is evaluated.
[0006] Accordingly, an art in which an oxygen sensor
is provided at the window box 7, and oxygen
concentration contained in gas flowing through the
window box 7 is measured to thereby measure the air
leakage is proposed as described in, Patent Literature
1 to Patent Literature 3. Note that it is described
in the Patent Literature 3 in which a position
measurement device is attached to each pallet
carriage 6 to measure a position of the pallet
- carriage--6, and the pallet carriage 6 in which the
air leakage occurs is specified from an oxygen
concentration measurement value obtained by the
oxygen sensor and positional information of the
pallet carriage 6. However, it is not disclosed in
the Patent Literature 3 as for a:concrete method to
measure the position of the pallet carriage 6 and to
specify the pallet carriage 6 where the air leakage
- 5 -
occurs.
CITATION LIST
PATENT LITERATURE
[0007] Patent Literature l: Japanese Laid-open
Patent Publication No. 61-195928
Patent Literature 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent
Publication No. 06-300459
Patent Literature 3: Japanese Laid-open Patent
Publication No. 2009-275239
Patent Literature 4: Japanese Laid-open Patent
Publication No. 2010-007904
Patent Literature 5: Japanese Laid-open Patent
Publication No. 61-195929
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
TECHNICAL PROBLEM
[0008] An object of the present invention is to
provide an art solving the above-stated problems and
capable of detecting a pallet carriage where air
leakage occurs caused by a damage.
SOLUTION TO PROBLEM
[0009] To solve the above-stated problems, the
present invention is an air leakage detection system
for a pallet carriage of a sintering machine made up
of:
plural pallet carriages continuously connected in
a moving direction of an orbit, a ventilation part is
formed at a bottom surface each thereof, and a raw
material of sintered ore is mounted each therein;
window boxes provided in plural at downward of
- 6 -
the orbit; and
an intake device sucking air in the window box,
and let,the air flow from upward to downward of the
pallet carriage, the air leakage detection system for
the pallet carriage includes:
an oxygen sensor measuring an oxygen
concentration in the window box;
a display member attached to a side surface of
the pallet carriage and displaying a two-dimensional
code in which patterned identification information of
the pallet carriage is recorded;
a reading device reading the identification
information recorded at the display member;
a storage part storing an oxygen concentration
value in the window box measured by the oxygen sensor
and the identification information of the pallet
carriage read by the reading device,, and
a display unit displaying the identification
information and the oxygen concentration value stored
at the storage part while making correspondence
between them.
[0010] A measurement time of the oxygen
concentration value by the oxygen sensor and a read
time of the identification information of the pallet
carriage by the reading device are further stored at
the storage part,
a carriage oxygen concentration corresponding
unit calculating a passing start time and a passing
end time of the pallet carriage on the oxygen sensor
- 7 -
from the read time stored at the storage part, and
making correspondence between the oxygen
concentration value and the identification
information of the pallet carriage stored at the
storage part between the passing start time and the
passing end time is further included,
wherein the display unit displays a history of
the corresponded oxygen concentration value of the
pallet carriage.
It is thereby possible to detect a degree of
damage of each pallet carriage and to determine a
deterioration cycle.
[0011] An alarm notification unit specifying the
pallet carriage and notifying an alarm when the
oxygen concentration value which is corresponded to
the pallet carriage becomes a predetermined threshold
value or more, is further included.,
[0012] A carriage repair priority determination unit
lining up the identification information of the
pallet carriages from the one of which number of
times in which the oxygen concentration value
corresponded to the pallet carriage stored at the
storage part becomes a predetermined value or more is
many, and determining the pallet carriages of the
identification information at a topside as the pallet
carriages to be repaired in priority, is further
included.
It is thereby possible to recognize the pallet
carriages which are to be repaired in priority.
_ g _
[0013] The two-dimensional code displayed on the
display member includes a complementary code, and the
identification information of the pallet carriage is
made to be redundant by the complementary code.
It is thereby possible to read the
"identification information" of the pallet carriage
even when a surface of the display member displaying
the two-dimensional code is stained by dust.
Therefore it is possible to surely detect the pallet
carriage where the air leakage occurs caused by the
damage.
[0014] The present invention is an air leakage
detection method for a pallet carriage at a sintering
machine made up of:
plural pallet carriages continuously connected in
a moving direction of an orbit, a ventilation part is
formed at a bottom surface each thereof, and a raw
material of sintered ore is mounted each therein;
window boxes provided in plural at downward of
the orbit; and
an intake device sucking air in the window box,
and let -the air flow from upward to downward of the
pallet carriage, the air leakage detection method for
a pallet carriage includes:
measuring an oxygen concentration in the window
box;
reading identification information of the pallet
carriage recorded at a two-dimensional code displayed
on a display member attached at a side surface of the
- 9 -
pallet carriage; and
making correspondence and displaying the measured
oxygen concentration value in the window box and the
read identification information of the pallet
carriage.
ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION
[0015] According to the present invention,
identification information is read from a display
member displaying a two-dimensional code attached to
a side surface of each pallet carriage by a reading
device, and the read identification information and
an oxygen concentration value in a window box are
made correspondence and displayed, and therefore, it
becomes possible to detect the pallet carriage where
air leakage occurs caused by a damage of the pallet
carriage. It is thereby possible to set priority of
the pallet carriage which is necessary to be repaired,
and an effective carriage exchange becomes possible.
Besides, it is possible to grasp a history of the
oxygen concentration value of each pallet carriage,
to determine a deterioration cycle of each pallet
carriage and to prevent an increase of the air
leakage from occurring. As a result, the increase of
the air leakage is suppressed, and it becomes
possible to reduce power consumption to drive an
intake device.
Note that it is possible to reduce the power
consumption to drive the intake device for
approximate 5% when approximately ten percent of
- 10 -
carriages among 160 pieces of pallet carriages are
exchanged.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0016] [Fig. 1] Fig. 1 is a side view of pallet
carriages and window boxes;
[Fig. 2] Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the
pallet carriage and the window box;
[Fig. 3] Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a
processing part;
[Fig. 4] Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a reading
device;
[Fig. 5] Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a main
process;
[Fig. 6] Fig. 6 is a graphic chart representing
an oxygen concentration history of the window box;
[Fig. 7] Fig. 7 is a table representing an
oxygen concentration history of the, pallet carriage;
[Fig. 8] Fig. 8 is a graphic chart representing
the oxygen concentration history of a certain pallet
carriage;
[Fig. 9] Fig. 9 is a table representing carriage
numbers-and alarm frequencies;
[Fig. 10] Fig. 10 is an explanatory view of
another example in which an attachment position of
the reading device is disposed at downward of an
oxygen sensor;
[Fig. 11] Fig. 11 is a manufacturing process
chart of sintered ore; and
[Fig. 12] Fig. 12 is a sectional view of
- 11 -
conventional pallet carriages and window boxes.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0017] (Summary of the Invention)
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an air
leakage detection system for a pallet carriage
according to the present invention are represented
with reference to the drawings. A basic
configuration of the sintering machine 20 is as
described above, but it is supplementary explained
below. The window boxes 7 are provided closely in
plural along a travel direction of the pallet
carriages 6 (a direction indicated by an arrow in Fig.
1). In an embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1, a length
of the window box 7 is longer than a length in the
travel direction of the pallet carriage 6. An oxygen
sensor 15 measuring an oxygen concentration in the
window box 7 is provided at the window box 7. The
oxygen sensor 15 used in the present embodiment is a
laser type oxygen sensor made up of a light emitting
part 15a emitting laser light and a light receiving
part 15b receiving the laser. As illustrated in Fig.
2, the light emitting part 15a and the light
receiving part 15b are each attached to opposed wall
surfaces of one window box 7 in an orthogonal
direction to the travel direction of the pallet
carriage 6. It is preferable that the light emitting
part 15a and the light receiving part 15b are
provided at an intermediate position in a
longitudinal direction of the window box 7 to measure
- 12 -
the oxygen concentration in the window box 7
appropriately.
[0018] In the present embodiment, a display member
60 displaying a two-dimensional code is attached to
one side surface (including the sidewall 6b) opposed
in the orthogonal direction to the travel direction
of each pallet carriage 6. The two-dimensional code
is the one inwhich a binary code data is made into
cell, to be disposed in a pattern on a twodimensional
matrix, and "identification information"
of each pallet carriage 6 is patterned and recorded
in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment,
the "identification information" is a carriage number
of the pallet carriage 6. In the present embodiment,
the two-dimensional code is a QR code (trademark)
described in Japanese Patent No. 2938338. As stated
above, the QR code having complementary codes (an
error correcting code and an error detecting code) is
used as the two-dimensional code, and therefore, the
"identification information" is stored redundantly.
It is therefore possible to read the "identification
information" even when a surface of the display
member 60 displaying the two-dimensional code is
stained by dust and so on. In the present embodiment,
the display member 60 displaying the two-dimensional
code has a constitution in which the pattern is
recorded with a ceramic ink on a base material of a
heat-resistant resin sheet such as polyimide, and
therefore, it has heat resistance. The side surface
- 13 -
of the pallet carriage 6 is heated up to 200°C at the
maximum, but a heat-resistant temperature of the
display member 60 displaying the two-dimensional code
according to the present embodiment is at
approximately 300°C, and the display member 60
displaying the two-dimensional code is not melted by
the heat. Note that the base material may be
constituted by silicon or ceramics. Besides, in the
present embodiment, the ceramic ink is used, and
therefore, the pattern is not discolored resulting
from the heat.
[0019] As illustrated in Fig. 2, a reading device 50
is provided at upward of the oxygen sensor 15. The
reading device 50 is provided at a position facing a
trace of the moving display member 60 displaying the
two-dimensional code. A separation distance between
the reading device 50 and the display member 60
displaying the two-dimensional code is approximately
one meter. The reading device 50 is a device reading
the "identification information" of each pallet
carriage 6 recoded at each two-dimensional code. A
configuration of the reading device 50 is described
later in detail. The "identification information" of
each pallet carriage 6 read by each reading device 50
is transmitted to a processing part 30, it is
corresponded to the "oxygen concentration value" in
the window box 7 measured by the oxygen sensor 15,
and stored at a nonvolatile memory device 34 of the
processing part 30 (illustrated in Fig. 3).
- 14 -
Accordingly, it becomes possible to monitor
consumption of the air seal bar 10 and the end face
liner 6c of each pallet carriage 6 by checking a
history of the "oxygen concentration value" which is
corresponded to each pallet carriage 6. Hereinafter,
a concrete configuration enabling an air leakage
detection system for a pallet carriage according to
the present embodiment is described.
[0020] .(Block Diagram of Processing Part)
A block diagram of the processing part 30 is
described by using Fig. 3. The processing part 30
includes a CPU 31, a RAM 32, a ROM 33, the
nonvolatile memory device 34, an interface 35, a
communication interface 36 and a display part drive
circuit 37. These components are connected with each
other by a bus 39. A display part 42 made up of an
LCD and so on is connected to the display part drive
circuit 37. The light emitting part 15a and the
light receiving part 15b of the oxygen sensor 15 and
an input device 41 are connected to the interface 35.
The reading device 50 is connected to the
communication interface 36.
[0021] The CPU 31 executes various calculations,
processes together with the RAM 32, the ROM 33. The
RAM 32 temporarily stores programs processed by the
CPU 31 and data processed by the CPU 31 at address
spaces thereof. Various kinds of programs and
parameters controlling the processing part 30 are
stored at the ROM 33. The various kinds of programs
- 15 -
are processed at the CPU 31, and thereby, various
functions are enabled. A carriage oxygen
concentration corresponding program 33a, an
information display program 33b, an alarm
notification program 33c and a carriage repair
priority determination program 33d are stored at the
ROM 33. Note that these programs and data may be
stored at the nonvolatile memory device 34.
[0022] The carriage oxygen concentration
corresponding program 33a is a program in which the
"identification information" and the "oxygen
concentration value" in the window box 7 received by
the interface 35 are corresponded to be sequentially
stored at a carriage oxygen concentration history
storage area 34c when the "identification
information" of the pallet carriage 6 is received
from the communication interface 36.. The carriage
oxygen concentration corresponding program 33a and
the CPU 31 processing the carriage oxygen
concentration corresponding program 33a function as a
carriage oxygen concentration corresponding unit.
The information display program 33b is a program
displaying information stored at storage areas on the
display part 42 by referring to an oxygen
concentration history storage area 34a, an
identification information storage area 34b and the
carriage oxygen concentration history storage area
34c. The information display program 33b, the CPU 31
processing the information display program 33b and
- 16 -
the display part 42 function as a display unit.
The alarm notification program 33c is a program
notifying a carriage number of the pallet carriage 6
when there is the pallet carriage 6 of which oxygen
concentration is a predetermined value or more by
referring to the carriage oxygen concentration
history storage area 34c. The alarm notification
program 33c and the CPU 31 processing the alarm
notification program 33c function as an alarm
notification unit.
The carriage repair priority determination
program 33d is a program lining up the carriage
numbers of the pallet carriages 6 from the one of
which alarm frequency is high and determining a
priority of the pallet carriage 6 to be repaired in
priority by referring to an alarm frequency storage
area 34d. The carriage repair priority determination
program 33d and the CPU 31 processing the carriage
repair priority determination program 33d function as
a carriage repair priority determination unit.
Note that the carriage oxygen concentration
corresponding program 33a, the information display
program 33b, the alarm notification program 33c and
the carriage repair priority determination program
33d may be constituted as an ASIC (Application
Specific Integrated Circuit).
[0023] The nonvolatile memory device 34 is, for
example, a nonvolatile memory and a hard disk. The
nonvolatile memory device 34 has the oxygen
- 17 -
concentration history storage area 34a, the
identification information storage area 34b, the
carriage oxygen concentration history storage area
34c and the alarm frequency storage area 34d. Note
that the ROM 33 may be used as the storage areas.
The nonvolatile memory device 34 functions as a
storage part.
[0024] The interface 35 converts physical and
logical formats of a signal. A signal of the "oxygen
concentration value" output from the light receiving
part 15b of the oxygen sensor 15 is output to the bus
39 via the interface 35. The input device 41 is to
change a setting of the processing part 30, and to
operate the processing part 30, and pointing devices
such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a touch panel are
included therein.
[0025] The communication interface 36 is a wired or
wireless interface to communicate with the reading
device 50. When the communication interface 36 is
the wired interface, LAN, USE, IEEE1394, RS232 and
RS422 are included. Besides, when the communication
interfac-e 36 is the wireless interface, so-called
wireless LAN, Bluetooth (trademark) defined in
IEEE802, other interfaces such as an infrared ray
wireless are included.
[0026] The display part drive circuit 37 includes a
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and a VRAM. The GPU
generates an image data displayed on the display part
42 in response to a draw command from the information
- 18 -
display program 33b, the alarm notification program
33c or the carriage repair priority determination
program 33d, and stores the image data to the VRAM.
The image data stored at the VRAM is output and
displayed on the display part 42 as an image signal.
[0027] (Block Diagram of Reading Device)
A block diagram of the reading device 50 is
described by using Fig. 4. The reading device 50
includes a CPU 51, a RAM 52, a ROM 53, an imaging
part interface 54 and a communication interface 56.
These components are connected with each other by a
bus 59. An imaging part 55 is connected to the
imaging part interface 54.
[0028] The CPU 51 performs various calculations,
processing together with the RAM 52 and the ROM 53.
The RAM 52 temporarily stores programs processed by
the CPU 51 and data processed by the CPU 51 at
address spaces thereof. Various kinds of programs
and parameters controlling the reading device 50 are
stored at the ROM 53. The various kinds of programs
are processed at the CPU 51, and thereby, various
function-s- are enabled. An imaging program 53a and an
identification information recognition program 53b
are stored at the ROM 53.
[00291 The imaging program 53a is a program
outputting a command to make the imaging part 55
capture images with a predetermined interval (from
several hundred milliseconds to several seconds) to
the imaging part interface 54.
- 19 -
The identification information recognition
program 53b is a program to determine whether or not
the two-dimensional code displayed at the display
member 60 is included in a "captured image data" by
analyzing the "captured image data" captured and
generated at the imaging part 55. It is the program
to read (in other words, Ito recognize) the
"identification information" of the pallet carriage 6
from the two-dimensional code when it is determined
that the two-dimensional code is included in the
"captured image data". Note that it may be
constituted such that the identification information
recognition program is stored at the processing part
30 side, and the "identification information" of the
pallet carriage 6 may be read at the processing part
30 side.
[0030] The imaging part 55 includes an image sensor,
an image-forming optical system and an image
generation circuit. The image sensor includes twodimensionally
aligned photodiodes such as CCD, CMOS.
Each photodiode converts intensity of incident light
into an-electric charge, and outputs the electric
charge as a "signal voltage". The image-forming
optical system is made up of a single or plural
lens(es), and it is to form an incident image on the
image sensor. A focus of the image-forming optical
system meets on the display member 60 displaying the
two-dimensional code. The image generation circuit
includes an A/D converter and a DSP (Digital Signal
- 20 -
Processor). The A/D converter converts the "signal
voltage" output by the image sensor into a "digital
signal". The DSP generates the "captured image data"
being a two-dimensional pixel data from the "digital
signal" generated by the A/D converter.
The imaging part interface 54 converts physical
and logical formats of a signal of the "captured
image data" to pass to the bus 59.
[0031] The communication interface 56 is an
interface corresponding to the communication
interface 36 at the processing part 30. When the
identification information recognition program 53b
reads the "identification information" of the pallet
carriage 6, the "identification information" is
transmitted from the communication interface 56 to
the communication interface 36 of the processing part
30.
[0032] (Explanation of Main Process)
Hereinafter, a main process of the processing
part 30 are described. When the processing part 30
is powered on, it goes to processes of S10 or later.
In a process of S10 of "start of oxygen
concentration history storage", a process is started
in which the "oxygen concentration values" input to
the interface 35 with a predetermined time interval
from the oxygen sensor 15 are stored at the oxygen
concentration history storage area 34a together with
"measurement times" when the "oxygen concentration
values" are measured. When the process of S10
- 21 -
finishes, it goes to a determination process of Sll.
[0033] In the determination process of S11 of
"identification information is received?", the
carriage oxygen concentration corresponding program
33a determines whether or not the "identification
information" of the pallet carriage 6 is received.
When the carriage oxygen concentration corresponding
program 33a determines that the "identification
information" of the pallet carriage 6 is received, it
goes to a process of 512.
[0034] In the process of S12 of "storage of
identification information", the carriage oxygen
concentration corresponding program 33a stores the
"identification information" (carriage number) to the
identification information storage area 34b together
with a "read time" when the "identification
information" is read. When the process of S12
finishes, it goes to a process of 513.
[0035] In the process of S13 of "correspondence. of
carriage oxygen concentration", the carriage oxygen
concentration corresponding program 33a calculates a
"passing start time" and a "passing end time" of the
pallet carriage 6 on the oxygen sensor 15 from the
"read time" of the "identification information", a
length of the pallet carriage 6 in the moving
direction and a speed of the pallet carriage 6 by
referring to the oxygen concentration history storage
area 34a and the identification information storage
area 34b. Next, the carriage oxygen concentration
- 22 -
corresponding program 33a performs an averaging
process of the "oxygen concentration values" stored
at the oxygen concentration storage area 34a between
the calculated passing start time and passing end
time. The carriage oxygen concentration
corresponding program 33a makes correspondence
between the average processed "oxygen concentration
value" and the "identification information", and
stores at the carriage oxygen concentration history
storage area 34c. Note that the passing start time
is a time when a front end of the pallet carriage 6
is on the oxygen sensor 15, and the passing end time
is a time when a rear end of the pallet carriage 6 is
on the oxygen sensor 15. The pallet carriage 6
passing on the oxygen sensor 15 and the "oxygen
concentration value" in the window box 7 when the
pallet carriage 6 passes are thereby corresponded.
The oxygen concentration of the window box 7 at this
time is associated with degrees of damages of the air
seal bar 10 and the end face liner 6c of the pallet
carriage 6 passing on the oxygen sensor 15. The
historyof the "oxygen concentration value" which is
corresponded to the identification information of the
pallet carriage 6 (hereinafter, it is abbreviated
just as the "oxygen concentration value" of the
pallet carriage 6) is stored at the carriage oxygen
concentration history storage area 34c as for each
pallet carriage 6 passing on the oxygen sensor 15 by
the process of S13. When the process of S13 finishes,
- 23 -
it goes to a process of S14.
[0036] In the process of S14 of "update and display
of information", the information display program 33b
creates a graphic chart in which the history of the
"oxygen concentration value" of the window box 7 and
the carriage number of the pallet carriage 6 passing
on the oxygen sensor 15 are overlapped on the history
are represented (represented in Fig. 6) by referring
to the oxygen concentration history storage area 34a
and the identification information storage area 34b,
and displays the graphic chart on the display part 42.
Besides, the information display program 33b
creates a table in which the history of the "oxygen
concentration value" of each pallet carriage 6 is
represented (represented in Fig. 7) by referring to
the carriage oxygen concentration history storage
area 34c, and displays the table on, the display part
42.
An operator checks the graphic chart in Fiq, 6
and the table in Fig. 7 to thereby verify the degrees
of damages of the air seal bar 10 and the end face
liner- 6cof each pallet carriage 6. Namely, in case
when the oxygen concentration in the window box 7 is
high when the pallet carriage 6 passes on the oxygen
sensor 15, it is conceivable that the air leakage of
the pallet carriage 6 is large, and the damages of
the air seal bar 10 and the end face liner 6c proceed.
For example, a display mode of the oxygen
concentration value at a predetermined value
- 24 -
(threshold value) or more is changed from that of the
other oxygen concentration values, and thereby, the
progress of the damage becomes easy to be grasped as
represented in Fig. 7.
Further, the information display program 33b
creates a graphic chart representing the history of
the "oxygen concentration value" of a certain pallet
carriage 6 (represented in Fig. 8) by referring to
the carriage oxygen concentration history storage
area 34c, and displays the graphic chart on the
display part 42. The operator checks the graphic
chart represented in Fig. 8, and thereby, it becomes
possible to predict an appropriate time to repair the
certain pallet carriage 6 in advance. Namely, when
the oxygen concentration of the certain pallet
carriage 6 starts increasing, it is conceivable that
the air seal bar 10 and the end face liner 6c are
damaged, and the damages are start proceeding.
Besides, the operator checks the graphic chart
represented in Fig. 8, and thereby, a deterioration
cycle of the pallet carriage 6 can be known to be
utilized for a repair schedule of the pallet carriage
6.
When the process of S14 finishes, it goes to a
determination process of 515.
[0037] In the determination process of S15 of
"oxygen concentration is predetermined value or
more?", the alarm notification program 33c determines
whether or not there is the pallet carriage 6 of
- 25 -
which "oxygen concentration value" is a predetermined
value or more (for example, 7,1% or more) by
referring to the carriage oxygen concentration
history storage area 34c. When the alarm
notification program 33c determines that there is the
pallet carriage 6 of which "oxygen concentration
value" is the predetermined value or more, it goes to
a process of 516. On the other hand, when the alarm
notification program 33c determines that there isn't
the pallet carriage 6 of which "oxygen concentration
value" is the predetermined value or more, it goes to
a process of 517.
[0038] In the process of S16 of "alarm notification"
the alarm notification program 33c specifies the
carriage number of the pallet carriage 6 of which
"oxygen concentration value" is the predetermined
value or more to notify as the alarm, and stores the
carriage number to the alarm frequency storage area
34d. In other words, the alarm notification program
33c stores the number of times of the alarm
notification, namely the number of times when the
"oxygen-concentration value" becomes the
predetermined value or more as for each pallet
carriage 6 to the alarm frequency storage area 34d.
Note that a method notifying the carriage number as
the alarm may be a method by means of a sound in
addition to the method displaying the carriage number
on the display part 42. Note that when the operator
monitors the "oxygen concentration value" of the
- 26 -
window box 7 at a management office away from the
processing part 30, the alarm notification program
33c may transmit the carriage number of the pallet
carriage 6 of which "oxygen concentration value" is
the predetermined value or more to the management
office via the communication interface 36, to thereby
notify the carriage number. When the process of S16
finishes, it goes to a determination process of 517.
[0039] In the determination process of 517 of
"carriage repair priority determination command is
input?", the carriage repair priority determination
program 33d determines whether or not the carriage
repair priority determination command is input to the
bus 39. Note that the carriage repair priority
determination command is input to the bus 39 by the
operator's operation of the input device 41. When
the carriage repair priority determination program
33d determines that the carriage repair priority
determination command is input to the bus 39, it goes
to a process of 518. On the other hand, when the
carriage repair priority determination program 33d
determines that the carriage repair priority
determination command is not input to the bus 39, it
returns to the determination process of 511.
[0040] In the process of S18 of "determination of
carriage repair priority", the carriage repair
priority determination program 33d lines up the
carriage numbers of the pallet carriages 6 in the
order of high alarm frequency by referring to the
- 27 -
alarm frequency storage area 34d, creates a table in
which the carriage numbers and the alarm frequencies
are represented (represented in Fig. 9), and displays
on the display part 42. Here, the carriage repair
priority determination program 33d determines the
predetermined number of topside pallet carriages of
which alarm frequencies are high as the pallet
carriages to be repaired in priority. The table
displayed on the display part 42 has a constitution
in which the operator is able to recognize the
carriage number of the pallet carriage which is to be
repaired in priority. For example, as represented in
Fig. 9, a constitution can be applied in which a
background color of the carriage numbers of the
pallet carriages which are determined to be repaired
in priority is made different from a background color
of the other pallet carriages. The, operator is able
to recognize the order of the pallet carriage 6 which
is to be repaired in priority by checking the table
represented in Fig. 9. The number of pallet
carriages 6 capable of being repaired at a time by a
regular- maintenance is limited caused by a constraint
in a repair time and a storage site of the pallet
carriages 6, and so on. Therefore, it is meaningful
that the operator is able to recognize the order.
When the process of S18 finishes, it returns to the
determination process of Sll.
[0041] (Conclusion)
In the present embodiment, it is possible to know
- 28 -
the air leakage and damage of the pallet carriage 6
in multiphase and accurately from the information
represented in Fig. 6 to Fig. 9, and the effective
repair of the pallet carriage 6 is enabled.
Accordingly, the useless power consumption caused by
the air leakage of the pallet carriage 6 can be
prevented without increasing the repair cost of the
pallet carriage 6 more than is necessary.
[0042] Note that in the process of S13 illustrated
in Fig. 5, the "oxygen concentration values" which
are corresponded to the pallet carriages 6 are stored
at the carriage oxygen concentration history storage
area 34c, but it may be stored at the ROM 33.
[0043] In the above-described embodiment, the
reading device 50 is provided at upward of the oxygen
sensor 15, but an embodiment in which the reading
device 50 is provided at downward of. the oxygen
sensor 15, namely, at a lower side of an orbit of the
pallet carriage 6 may be acceptable as illustrated in
Fig. 10. In this case, the passing start time and
the passing end time of the pallet carriage 6 on the
oxygen sensor 15 are calculated by calculating back
from the time when the "identification information"
is read and the speed of the pallet carriage 6, and
the "identification information" and the "oxygen
concentration value" are corresponded. According to
this embodiment, the reading device 50 is not exposed
to high temperature, and therefore, a breakage of the
reading device 50 is prevented.
- 29 -
[0044] Note that if a display part is held and a
portable reading device is used, the operator makes
the reading device read the two-dimensional code of
the display member 60 attached to each pallet
carriage 6, and thereby the reading device
communicates with the processing part 30 and a screen
to input damaged portion information of each pallet
carriage 6 is displayed. The damaged portion
information is input as electronic data into the
display screen to be transmitted to the processing
part 30, and thereby, a repair history of the pallet
carriage 6 is able to be made into the electronic
data. Besides, the operator is able to check the
repair history (the damaged portion information in
the past) of each pallet carriage 6 and the history
of the oxygen concentration, and the pallet carriage
can be used longer by grasping a portion easy to be
damaged of each pallet carriage 6 and enhancing the
repair of the damaged portion.
[0045] Hereinabove, the present invention is
described in relation to the most practical and
preferable embodiments at present, but the present
invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed
in the description, and may be embodied by modifying
components thereof within a range not departing from
the outline and the spirit of the invention read out
from the claims and the whole of the description.
The air leakage detection system for the pallet
carriage with the modification as stated above is to
- 30 -
be understood as would fall within the scope and
spirit of the invention.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0046] According to the present invention, the
identification information is read by the reading
device from the display member displaying the twodimensional
code attached to the side surface of each
pallet carriage. The read identification information
and the oxygen concentration value in the window box
are corresponded and displayed, and therefore, it
becomes possible to detect the pallet carriage where
the air leakage occurs caused by the damage of the
pallet carriage. It is thereby possible to set
priorities of the pallet carriages requiring repair,
and to perform effective exchange of carriage.
Besides, it becomes possible to grasp the history of
the oxygen concentration value of each pallet
carriage, to determine the deterioration cycle of
each pallet carriage, and to prevent the increase of
the air leakage before it happens. As a result, the
increase of the air leakage is suppressed, and the
reduce of the power consumption to drive the intake
device is enabled.
Note that the power consumption to drive the
intake device is reduced for approximately 5% when
approximately ten percent among 160 pallet carriages
are exchanged.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0047] 1 raw-material tank
- 31 -
2 mixer
3 surge hopper
4 drum feeder
5 ignition furnace
6 pallet carriage
6a ventilation part
6b sidewall
6c end :Face liner
6d inner upper part of end face liner
7 window box
8 window leg
9 main duct
10 air seal bar
11 intake device
15 oxygen sensor
15a light emitting part
15b light receiving part
20 sintering machine
30 processing part
31 CPU
32 RAM
33 ROM
33a carriage oxygen concentration corresponding
program
33b information display program
33c alarm notification program
33d carriage repair priority determination
program
34 nonvolatile memory device
- 32 -
34a oxygen concentration history storage area
34b identification information storage area
34c carriage oxygen concentration history
storage area
34d alarm frequency storage area
35 interface
36 communication interface
37 display part drive circuit
41 input device
42 display part
50 reading device
51 CPU
52 RAM
53 ROM
53a imaging program
53b identification information recognition
program
54 imaging part interface
55 imaging part
56 communication interface
60 display member
99 - raw-material layer
CLAIMS
[Claim 1] An air leakage detection system for a
pallet carriage of a sintering machine made up of:
plural pallet carriages continuously connected in
a moving direction of an orbit, a ventilation part is
formed at a bottom surface each thereof, and a raw
material of sintered ore is mounted each therein;
window boxes provided in plural at downward of
the orbit; and
an intake device sucking air in the window box,
and let the air flow from upward to downward of the
pallet carriage, the air leakage detection system for
the pallet carriage comprising:
an oxygen sensor measuring an oxygen
concentration in the window box;
a display member attached to a side surface of
the pallet carriage and displaying a two-dimensional
code in which identification information of the
pallet carriage is patterned and recorded;
a reading device reading the identification
information recorded at the display member;
a storage part storing an oxygen concentration
value in the window box measured by the oxygen sensor
and the identification information of the pallet
carriage read by the reading device; and
a display unit displaying the identification
information and the oxygen concentration value stored
at the storage part while making correspondence
between them.
- 34 -
[Claim 2] The air leakage detection system for the
pallet carriage according to claim 1,
wherein a measurement time of the oxygen
concentration value by the oxygen sensor and a read
time of the identification information of the pallet
carriage by the reading device are further stored at
the storage part,
the air leakage detection system further
comprising:
a carriage oxygen concentration corresponding
unit calculating a passing start time and a passing
end time of the pallet carriage on the oxygen sensor
from the read time stored at the storage part, and
making correspondence between the oxygen
concentration value and the identification
information of the pallet carriage stored at the
storage part between the passing start time and the
passing end time,
wherein the display unit displays a history of
the corresponded oxygen concentration value of the
pallet carriage.
[Claim 3-] The air leakage detection system for the
pallet carriage according to claim 2, further
comprising:
an alarm notification unit specifying the pallet
carriage and notifying an alarm when the oxygen
concentration value which is corresponded to the
pallet carriage becomes a predetermined threshold
value or more.
- 35 -
[Claim 4] The air leakage detection system for the
pallet carriage according to claim 2, further
comprising:
a carriage repair priority determination unit
lining up the identification information of the
pallet carriages from the one of which number of
times in which the oxygen concentration value
corresponded to the pallet carriage stored at the
storage part becomes a predetermined value or more is
many, and determining the pallet carriages of the
identification information at a topside as the pallet
carriages to be repaired in priority.
[Claim 5] The air leakage detection system for the
pallet carriage according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
wherein the two-dimensional code displayed on the
display member includes a complementary code, and the
identification information of the pallet carriage is
made to be redundant by the complementary code.
[Claim 6] An air leakage detection method for a
pallet carriage at a sintering machine made up of:
plural pallet carriages continuously connected in
a moving direction of an orbit, a ventilation part is
formed at a bottom surface each thereof, and a raw
material of sintered ore is mounted each therein;
window boxes provided in plural at downward of
the orbit; and
an intake device sucking air in the window box,
and let the air flow from upward to downward of the
pallet carriage, the air leakage detection method for
- 36 -
the pallet carriage comprising:
measuring an oxygen concentration in the window
box;
reading identification information of the pallet
carriage recorded at a two-dimensional code displayed
on a display member attached at a side surface of the
pallet carriage; and
making correspondence and displaying the measured
oxygen concentration value in the window box and the
read identification information of the pallet
carriage.