System for monitoring bearings and other rotating equipment

Claim 1

A system for monitoring rotating machinery at many locations and communicating a fault condition to a central station, said machinery inherently having a fundamental unbalance component of machine vibration, comprising: a self-powered monitor unit removably mounted on every piece of machinery on a stationary structure thereof at a position to sense structure-borne vibrations; each monitor unit including a tuned mechanical resonator for generating electrical power which operates at the rotational frequency of the machinery and is driven by the fundamental unbalance component of machine vibration; a power conditioner for converting the generated electrical power; a vibration sensor for sensing said structure-borne vibrations and continuously producing an electrical vibration signal; signal processing circuitry for continuously processing said vibration signal and producing a defect signal upon the occurrence of a fault condition; and radio transmitter circuitry triggered by said defect signal for transmitting to the central station a radio signal that uniquely identifies the piece of machinery with a fault condition; said tuned mechanical resonator comprising a cantilever beam and an attached piezoelectric element; said power conditioner being connected to said piezoelectric element and supplying electrical power to said signal processing circuitry continuously so long as said machinery is rotating and to said radio transmitter circuitry only upon triggering by said defect signal.

Claim 2

A system for monitoring rotating machinery at many locations and communicating a fault condition to a central station, said machinery inherently having a fundamental unbalance component of machine vibration, comprising: a self-powered monitor unit removably mounted on every piece of machinery on a stationary structure thereof at a position to sense structure-borne vibrations; each monitor unit including a tuned mechanical resonator for generating electrical power which operates at the rotational frequency of the machinery and is driven by the fundamental unbalance component of machine vibration; a power conditioner for converting the generated electrical power; a vibration sensor for sensing said structure-borne vibrations and continuously producing an electrical vibration signal; signal processing circuitry for continuously processing said vibration signal and producing a defect signal upon the occurrence of a fault condition; and radio transmitter circuitry triggered by said defect signal for transmitting to the central station a radio signal that uniquely identifies the piece of machinery with a fault condition; said tuned mechanical resonator comprising a cantilever beam and an attached piezoelectric element; said power conditioner being connected to said piezoelectric element and supplying electrical power to said signal processing circuitry continuously so long as said machinery is rotating and to said radio transmitter circuitry only upon triggering by said defect signal.

Claim 5

A system for monitoring roller element bearings in rotating machinery at many locations for fault conditions comprising: a self-powered monitor unit removably mounted on every piece of machinery on a stationary structure thereof at a position to sense structure-borne vibrations emanating from the bearing; each monitor unit including a tuned mechanical resonator for generating electrical power which operates at the rotational frequency of the machinery and is driven by the fundamental unbalance component of machine vibration; a power conditioner for converting the generated electrical power; a vibration sensor for sensing the bearing vibrations and generating an electrical vibration signal; a bearing monitor circuit for continuously processing said vibration signal and producing a defect signal upon the occurrence of a fault condition; radio transmitter circuitry triggered by said defect signal for transmitting to the central station a radio signal that uniquely identifies the piece of machinery with a fault condition; said power conditioner being connected to said mechanical resonator and supplying electrical power to said bearing monitor circuit continuously so long as said machinery is rotating and to said radio transmitter circuitry only upon triggering by said defect signal; and a receiver and fault locator apparatus at a central station for receiving the radio signals and displaying an identification of the faulty machinery.

Claim 6

A system for monitoring roller element bearings in rotating machinery at many locations for fault conditions comprising: a self-powered monitor unit removably mounted on every piece of machinery on a stationary structure thereof at a position to sense structure-borne vibrations emanating from the bearing; each monitor unit including a tuned mechanical resonator for generating electrical power which operates at the rotational frequency of the machinery and is driven by the fundamental unbalance component of machine vibration; a power conditioner for converting the generated electrical power; a vibration sensor for sensing the bearing vibrations and generating an electrical vibration signal; a bearing monitor circuit for continuously processing said vibration signal and producing a defect signal upon the occurrence of a fault condition; radio transmitter circuitry triggered by said defect signal for transmitting to the central station a radio signal that uniquely identifies the piece of machinery with a fault condition; said power conditioner being connected to said mechanical resonator and supplying electrical power to said bearing monitor circuit continuously so long as said machinery is rotating and to said radio transmitter circuitry only upon triggering by said defect signal; and a receiver and fault locator apparatus at a central station for receiving the radio signals and displaying an identification of the faulty machinery.