Brush wear and vibration monitoring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10348047-B2
Application number	US-201615168607-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2016
Priority date	Jun 1, 2015
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A brush holder assembly for use in an electrical generator having a moving conductive surface may include a brush holder, such as a brush box, that is configured to be removably mounted to a mounting element on the electrical generator. A carbon brush may be slidingly disposed with the brush holder and may be biased into sliding contact with the moving conductive surface. The brush holder assembly includes a handle that is moveable between an unlocked position in which the brush holder is removable from the mounting element and a locked position in which the brush holder is secured relative to the mounting element. A circuit board is disposed within the handle and includes a sensor that provides an indication of an occurrence of an anomalous and/or threshold condition of the carbon brush.

First claim

We claim:

1. A brush holder assembly for use in an electrical generator including a moving conductive surface, the brush holder assembly comprising:
a brush holder configured to be removably mounted to a mounting element on the electrical generator;
a carbon brush slidingly disposed with the brush holder, the carbon brush configured to be positioned in contact with the moving conductive surface;
a handle moveable between an unlocked position in which the brush holder is removable from the mounting element and a locked position in which the brush holder is secured relative to the mounting element; and
a sensor disposed in the handle that is configured to detect an anomalous or threshold condition of the brush holder assembly.

2. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor that is configured to detect an anomalous or threshold condition of the brush holder assembly comprises a photo cell that is disposed within a lower surface of the handle, such that the photo cell configured to be aimed at a location on the moving conductive surface adjacent the carbon brush in order to detect arcing between the carbon brush and the moving conductive surface.

3. The brush holder assembly of claim 2 , wherein the photo cell is tuned to a light spectrum that is indicative of arcing.

4. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a microphone, and the handle includes a circuit board including a controller that is configured to receive an electrical signal from the microphone and listen for sounds indicating arcing between the carbon brush and the moving conductive surface.

5. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a laser beam source and a light-sensitive receiver positioned to receive light from the laser beam source that is reflected from a component of the brush holder assembly movable relative to the brush holder.

6. The brush holder assembly of claim 5 , wherein the handle includes a circuit board including a controller that is configured to calculate an elapsed time from when the laser beam source provides a light to when the light-sensitive receiver receives the light, and thus determine a distance traveled by the light to provide a measurement of wear of the carbon brush.

7. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises an ultrasonic transducer and an ultrasonic receiver positioned to receive sound from the ultrasonic transducer that is reflected from a component of the brush holder assembly movable relative to the brush holder.

8. The brush holder assembly of claim 7 , wherein the handle includes a circuit board including a controller that is configured to calculate an elapsed time from when the ultrasonic transducer provides a sound to when the ultrasonic receiver receives the sound, and thus determine a distance traveled by the sound to provide a measurement of wear of the carbon brush.

9. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a magnetic sensor, and a permanent magnet is secured relative to the carbon brush to follow movement of the carbon brush, the magnetic sensor outputting a signal that is indicative of detected magnetic field strength.

10. The brush holder assembly of claim 9 , wherein the handle includes a circuit board including a controller that is configured to determine a distance to the carbon brush, as indicated by the relative position of the permanent magnet to the magnetic sensor, from the outputted signal indicative of detected magnetic field strength.

11. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a current meter configured to output a signal indicative of electrical current passing through one or more electrical leads extending from the carbon brush.

12. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor configured to output a signal indicative of temperature of one or more electrical leads extending from the carbon brush, the outputted signal indicative of a level of electrical current being collected by the carbon brush and output through the one or more electrical leads extending from the carbon brush.

13. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a visual and/or audible indicator disposed on the brush holder assembly and operably coupled to the sensor.

14. The brush holder assembly of claim 13 , wherein the visual and/or audible indicator has a first state indicating that no problems have been detected and a second state indicating that a problem has been detected.

15. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a circuit board, with the sensor operably coupled to the circuit board.

16. The brush holder assembly of claim 15 , further comprising a battery operably coupled to the circuit board in order to power the circuit board.

17. The brush holder assembly of claim 15 , further comprising an energy harvesting mechanism configured to draw energy from electricity collected by the carbon brush in order to power the circuit board.

18. The brush holder assembly of claim 17 , wherein the energy harvesting mechanism comprises a Hall Effect sensor.

19. The brush holder assembly of claim 15 , further comprising a wireless communications module disposed on the circuit board and operably coupled to the sensor.

20. The brush holder assembly of claim 1 , wherein the handle comprises a lower portion, an upper portion transverse to the planar lower portion, and an intervening finger ring configured to facilitate movement of the handle.

Assignees

• Cutsforth Inc

Inventors

• Cutsforth Robert S
• Cutsforth Dustin L

Classifications

• H01R39/38

  Brush holders · CPC title

• H01R39/58 Primary

  Means structurally associated with the current collector for indicating condition thereof, e.g. for indicating brush wear · CPC title