System and method for developing fault diagnostics and failure prognosis of spline wear in a drive system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9354036-B2
Application number	US-201113576127-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2011
Priority date	Mar 22, 2010
Publication date	May 31, 2016
Grant date	May 31, 2016

Abstract

A diagnosis system and method to detect wear between a first set of teeth of a first gear and a second set of teeth of a second intermeshing gear, the diagnosis system having a first target associated with the first set of teeth, a second target associated with the second set of teeth, a first sensor adapted to detect the location of the first target, a second sensor adapted to detect the location of the second target, and a processing system in data communication with the first sensor and the second sensor, the processing system being adapted to process a spatial relationship between the first target relative to the second target after a time lapse of rotation between the first set of teeth and the second set of teeth.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A diagnosis system adapted to determine teeth wear between a first set of teeth of a first gear and a second set of teeth of a second intermeshing gear, the diagnosis system comprising:
a first target positioned on the first gear;
a second target positioned on the first gear;
a first sensor configured to detect a first rotational position of the first target as the first gear rotates;
a second sensor configured to detect a second rotational position of the second target as the second gear rotates; and
a processing system in data communication with the first sensor and the second sensor, the processing system being configured to process a rotational spatial relationship between the first rotational position and the second rotational position;
wherein the first set of teeth intermesh with the second set of teeth; and wherein after a time lapse of rotation between the first set of teeth and the second set of teeth, the spatial relationship between the first target and the second target changes, thus indicating wear between the first set of teeth and the second set of teeth.

2. The diagnosis system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first member attached to and extending from the first gear; and
a second member attached to and extending from the second gear;
wherein the first target is carried by the first member and the second target is carried by the second member; and
wherein the spatial relationship is a circumferential distance of the first target relative to the second target.

3. The diagnosis system of claim 2 , wherein the first target is a surface treatment on a surface of the first member.

4. The diagnosis system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a display subsystem in data communication with the processing system, the display subsystem having:
a display adapted to display the spatial relationship of the first target relative to the second target.

5. The diagnosis system of claim 1 , wherein the first target is a tooth of the first set of teeth.

6. The diagnosis system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor emits a magnetic field, which in turn is disturbed by the first target; and
wherein the first sensor detects the disturbance of the first target.

7. The diagnosis system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor emits a beam of light, which in turn is disturbed by the first target; and
wherein the first sensor detects the disturbance of the first target.

8. A diagnosis system adapted to determine wear between a male attachment portion of a first member of a spline system, the male portion being adapted to engage with a female attachment portion of a second member of the spline system, the diagnosis system comprising:
a first target positioned on the first member;
a second target positioned on the second member;
a first sensor configured to detect a location of the first target;
a second sensor configured to detect a location of the second target; and
a processing system in data communication with the first sensor and the second sensor, the processing system being configured to process a spatial relationship between the first target relative to the second target;
wherein the male portion fits within the female attachment portion; and
wherein after a time lapse of rotation between the male attachment portion and the female attachment portion, the spatial relationship between the first target and the second target changes, thus indicating wear between the male attachment portion and the female attachment portion.

9. The diagnosis system of claim 8 , wherein the male attachment portion has a set of teeth adapted to intermesh with a set of teeth of the female attachment portion.

10. The diagnosis system of claim 8 , wherein the male attachment portion has a key adapted to fit within a key slot of the female attachment portion.

11. The diagnosis system of claim 8 , further comprising:
a first member attached to and extending from the male attachment portion; and
a second member attached to and extending from the female attachment portion;
wherein the first target is carried by the first member and the second target is carried by the second member; and
wherein the spatial relationship is a circumferential distance of the first target relative to the second target.

12. The diagnosis system of claim 11 , wherein the first target is a surface treatment on a surface of first member.

13. The diagnosis system of claim 8 , further comprising:
a display subsystem in data communication with the processing system, the display subsystem having:
a display adapted to display the spatial relationship of the first target relative to the second target.

14. The diagnosis system of claim 8 , wherein the first sensor emits a magnetic field, which in turn is disturbed by the first target; and
wherein the first sensor detects the disturbance of the first target.

15. The diagnosis system of claim 8 , wherein the first sensor emits a beam of light, which in turn is disturbed by the first target; and
wherein the first sensor detects the disturbance of the first target.

16. A diagnosis method to determine teeth wear between a first set of teeth of a first gear and a second set of teeth of a second intermeshing gear, the diagnosis method comprising:
intermeshing the first set of teeth with the second set of teeth;
sensing a location of a first target positioned on the first set of teeth with a first sensor;
sensing a location of a second target positioned on the second set of teeth with a second sensor; and
determining the spatial relationship between the location of the first target relative to the location of the second target with a processing system of a computer in data communication with the first sensor and the second sensor;
wherein after a time lapse of rotation between the first set of teeth and the second set of intermeshing teeth, the spatial relationship between the first target and the second target changes, thus indicating wear between the first set of teeth and the second set of teeth.

17. The diagnosis method of claim 16 , further comprising:
displaying the spatial relationship of the first target relative to the second target with a display subsystem in data communication with the processing system.

18. The diagnosis method of claim 16 , further comprising: emitting a magnetic field with the first sensor; and detecting a disturbance of the magnetic field by the first target with the first sensor.

Assignees

• Riley Walter
• Hale Keith
• Covington Charles Eric
• Textron Innovations Inc

Inventors

• Riley Walter
• Hale Keith
• Covington Charles Eric

Classifications

• G01B7/146 Primary

  Measuring on gear teeth · CPC title

• G01M13/021

  Gearings · CPC title

• G01B21/16

  for measuring distance of clearance between spaced objects · CPC title