The present invention relates generally to the field of mechanical power transmission components and to systems for maintaining data relating to installed equipment of such systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a radio frequency tagging and identification system for use in conjunction with metallic power transmission components.
The field of power transmission systems is well-established and developed. In general, such systems include a wide range of rotating and non-rotating equipment, typically including motors and other prime movers that drive loads, such as pumps, conveyers, gearing, and so forth. A wide range of applications in industry exist for such power transmission systems. Highly integrated components and systems of this type are typically found in all modern factories, production facilities, materials handling facilities, and power plants, to mention but a few settings.
A continuing difficulty in power transmission system management and servicing stems from a lack of knowledge of exactly what components are installed, and a lack of information regarding models, sizes, manufacturing histories, maintenance histories, and so forth for each component. When power transmission systems are installed, for example, “as built” drawings and documentation may be produced and delivered with the original equipment. However, over time changes are made to equipment, additional equipment is added, equipment is removed, and components are replaced typically making such “as built” documentation of little or no use.
While more sophisticated equipment that includes embedded memory, micro-processors, and the like can be made “intelligent” so as to recall their identification, or even to store their manufacturing and service data, many components simply are not equipped for this type of intelligence. For example, electric motors, bearings, pumps, pulleys, gear reducers, and so forth do not typically include electronics which are capable of storing this type of information. Accordingly, these components are essentially untraced in current installations, except perhaps by name plates that must be manually read, if present and accessible.
The field of asset management has developed in the direction of tagging certain components, such as with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. Several standards exist for RFID tags in current technology, particularly relating to the storage and access to information, frequencies of response of tags and readers, and so forth. In general, RFID tags may be divided into two primary classifications, active and passive. Active tags may require a power source, but may store certain information that can be accessed directly by a reader. Passive tags generally are unpowered, but can respond to fields or signals from a reader to return a minimum amount of information stored in the tag. While active tags generally provide more information, they are substantially more expensive at present than passive tags, and as such are cost prohibitive for many applications. Moreover, all RFID tags suffer from the need to transmit and receive signals by means of an attached antenna. The metallic housings and structures of power transmission components attenuate both received and transmitted signals such that this technology has heretofore been virtually unusable in such systems and with such components.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved technique that would allow tagging and tracking of information for mechanical power transmission components. There is a particular need for a simple, cost effective solution that would allow conventional RF tags to be associated with metallic power transmission components so as to employ more powerful database and data storage capabilities of external computer systems.
The invention provides a novel RFID tagging approach designed to respond to such needs. The system may be used with a wide range of mechanical components, but is particularly designed for use with metallic components to which RFID tags cannot otherwise be attached due to the attenuation of signals to or from their antennae. Such power transmission components may include, for example, bearings, motors, gear reducers, pulleys, mechanical mounts, pumps, and so forth. More generally, however, the tagging system may be used with other mechanical components that would attenuate RFID signals, such as valves, manifolds, actuators, and so forth.
In accordance with aspects of the invention, radio frequency tagging device is provided for metallic mechanical components. The tagging device includes a non-metallic support that has an aperture formed therethrough. The aperture serves to receive a fastener to secure the tag to the mechanical component. The device also includes an RF tag that is supported on the support. The RF tag encodes at least identification information for the mechanical component to which the device is secured. Various types of fasteners may be used to secure the support and tag to the mechanical component. These might include bolts, screws, rivets, as well as other fastening devices, such as grease fittings, piping, and so forth.
In accordance with a particular aspect of the invention, the support has a toroidal configuration. The support is made of a synthetic plastic material and the toroid surrounds an aperture designed to receive a fastener that is used to secure the tag to the mechanical component. An adhesively-backed RF tag is wrapped around the plastic toroidal support and encodes at least identification information for the mechanical component.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
Turning now to the drawings, and referring first to
The RFID tagging device 10 is designed to be secured to the metallic mechanical component by means of a fastener or other device that extends through the support 14 as described in greater detail below. It should be noted that any range of fastening devices may be employed for this purpose. For example, in the illustration of
Referring to
As also illustrated in
The RFID tag itself is preferably a passive tag due to the substantial cost savings of such tags as opposed to active tags. The tag may be mounted to the support in any suitable manner, and in a present embodiment the tag is mounted by means of an adhesive backing 36 illustrated generally in
The support is dimensioned and configured not only to hold and protect the tag during use, but to maintain the tag a sufficient distance from surrounding metal, such that the metal does not interfere with signals to and from the tag (i.e., does not cause attenuation of the signal that interferes with reading of the tag). In a present embodiment, the support has a height of ½ inch and a diameter of approximately 1¼ inches. The adhesive tags have dimensions of approximately ⅜ inch by 4 inches. When applied to the non-metallic support, then, the tag is spaced from any surrounding metallic surface such that signals can be received by the antenna and returned from the antenna by excitation by an RFID reader. In a present embodiment, the tag, and particularly its antenna, is spaced at least ⅛ inch from any surrounding metal that might attenuate the RF signals. Moreover, it should be noted that any suitable tag may be employed, such as tags operating at conventional frequencies, such as 13.56 MHz, 915 MHz, or 2.4 GHz. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the surface on which the tag is mounted may be otherwise configured, such as be elongating the surface to permit the use of tags having more extensive antennae (i.e., tags that are spirally wrapped around the support or physically larger tags).
Certain of the mechanical components of the system 44 may be of sufficient importance to make storing and accessing detailed information regarding the components of particular interest. That is, components such as motors, bearings, pulleys, pumps, valving, and so forth, may be expensive, difficult to access, and may require servicing from time to time. Such metallic mechanical components are associated with the RFID tagging device of the present invention, as illustrated generally at reference numeral 58 in
In practice, service personnel or technicians gathering information for the tagged mechanical components will transmit a signal from the reader to the components, which each return their unique identifying code. The information may then be communicated to a remote data system 62 which may be local to the reader 60, or completely remote from the reader. The data may be transmitted to the system 62 by any suitable network connection, wirelessly or wired, and in accordance with any suitable protocol.
The remote data 62 will typically include a communication circuit 64 which is capable of transmitting and receiving signals with the reader 60. The signals are decoded in accordance with the protocol and information is sent to a processor 66 which parses this data for the identification of one or more components of the machine system of interest. In the illustrated embodiment, the processor 66 is associated with a database 68 which stores cross-referenced information for the components. Such information may include, for example, the identification of the component, its location in the field, its manufacturing history, its service history, and so forth. As also illustrated in
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the RFID tagging devices of the present invention, and particularly in association with sophisticated reading and data storage systems greatly aids in the maintenance and support functions of factory personnel. They, in general, permit data to be readily accessed for mechanical components that was simply inaccessible before the invention. It is presently contemplated that components may be either retrofitted with the tagging devices, such as by using an available fastener aperture, such as a threaded hole, or dedicated tags may be shipped with mechanical components upon their original purchase and installation. In the latter case, databases can be established for entire machine systems at the time of its assembly and installation. Thereafter, data can be accessed by service personnel without the need to store the information on the individual components themselves.
While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.