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Title:
AN EMERGENCY WORK SAFETY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MACHINERY
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2015/130248
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
The present invention is an emergency work safety system (10), and method thereof which is developed in order to avoid or mitigate work accidents as sensing an emergency that can arise during working on machinery having dangerous tools (20) that humans are worked close at hand and are especially run by operators. A processor (11) sends signals to the outputs so as to provide activating a related output (14.2) by getting energy to the machinery and the system (10), if values taken from a sensor (12) meet initial conditions; giving electrical signal letting to start said dangerous tool (20) for work to be carried out by machinery such as cutting, pressing etc; starting to measure instant capacitive value from the time of getting energy to the motor which drives the dangerous tool (20) on the machinery and said value being used in processing and activating an emergency stopping system urgently when the sensed value exceeding a predefined limit.

Inventors:
OZPINAR FERHAT (TR)
Application Number:
PCT/TR2015/000041
Publication Date:
September 03, 2015
Filing Date:
February 09, 2015
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
BERK TEKNOENERJI ARASTLRMA (TR)
International Classes:
F16P3/14
Foreign References:
US20110308365A12011-12-22
US8336432B12012-12-25
US20140083269A12014-03-27
US20140001888A12014-01-02
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
DEMIRKIRAN, Hasan (Barbaros Bulvari No:66 Huzur Apt. K:3 D:9, Besiktas - Istanbul, TR)
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Claims:
S

CLAIMS

1. The present invention is an emergency work safety method which is developed in order to avoid or mitigate work accidents as sensing an emergency that can arise during working on machinery having dangerous tools (20) that humans are worked close at hand and are especially run by operators, characterized in that; it comprises the steps of; activating a related output (14.2) by getting energy to the machinery and the system (10) if values taken from a sensor (12) meet initial conditions and giving electrical signal letting to start said dangerous tool (20) for work to be carried out by the machinery such as cutting, pressing etc. ; starting to measure instant capacitive values from the time of getting energy to the motor which drives the dangerous tool (20) on the machinery and said value being used in processing,

Subsequently altering a mean value which is very important for decision threshold by comparing that sensed capacitive values which is sent from the sensor (12) with a predefined limit value and which does not exceed over said limit value and varying said limit value according to said dynamically computed mean value, sending signals by said processor (11 ) to outputs in order to activate an emergency stooping system urgently when the sensed value exceeding a predefined limit comes during said instant measuring - that is an emergency situation is sensed - and stopping the dangerous tool (20) being in operation in a fastest way accordingly,

2. The present invention is an emergency work safety system (10) which is developed in order to avoid or mitigate work accidents as sensing an emergency that can arise during working on machinery having dangerous tools (20) that humans are worked close at hand and are especially run by operators characterized in that; it comprises dangerous machine part or tool (20) having metallic surface together with said sensor (12) functions as a capacitive sensor in the system (10) in which capacitive magnitude taken from said capacitive sensor being turned into an electrical signal by said sensor (12) and a processor (1 1 ) which evaluates parameters which are input signals determined by inputs interface (14.1 ) having analog electrical signals shown via a display (13) and carries out a command sequence in a regular basis and continues its workflow by interpreting sensing signals coming from said sensor ( 2) with said input parameters and data. An emergency work safety system (10) according to claim 2, wherein said electrical signal, which is turned from the capacitive signal by said sensor (12), is an analog signal in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

A emergency work safety system (10) according to claim 2 wherein said processor (11 ) is an industrial microcontroller in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Description:
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

AN EMERGENCY WORK SAFETY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MACHINERY Technical Field

The present invention is an emergency work safety system and method thereof which is developed in order to avoid or mitigate work accidents as sensing an emergency that can arise during working on machinery that humans are worked close at hand and are especially run by operators.

More specifically the present invention relates to an emergency work safety system and method for machinery and equipment having dangerous tools such as cutters, drillers or presses in order to stop the machinery and the dangerous equipment by sensing proximity to a dangerous zone where dangerous tools are placed on the machinery by the people such as operators, assistants and other possible human beings and to keep the machinery working in normal conditions by distinguishing normal working approaches of the operator to the machinery.

Prior Art

In the current applications there have been several solutions developed to date to provide work safety for machinery having various dangerous cutting and pressing tools such as presses, planers, large saws etc, However because none of these solutions could not show expected performance, they have been inactivated by operators. One of the main reasons is that these solutions cannot distinguish normal actions than the moments of emergency situations.

While an operator works on the machinery, for instance cutting a wood or shaping a sheet metal, the prior art solutions, which are not able to distinguish the normal works on the dangerous zone, could unnecessarily stop the machinery and this would cause the operator to deactivate the safety system and loss of workforce with the machinery.

In this regard, for operators who works near the dangerous elements on the machinery such as blades, presses etc , ability to distinguish between normal conditions and possible emergency situations has great importance for such machinery safety systems.

For that purpose the present invention is put forward by the inventor who has a utility model TR 2014 02423, which establishes priority rights for the invention, in order to eliminate all disadvantages described here. in US201 083269, a safety mechanism for dangerous tools driven by motors is disclosed. A safety mechanism for preventing proionged user contact with the active portion of a power tool is provided. The safety mechanism is configured to actuate upon receipt of a signal from the sensing mechanism. According to a first aspect, the safety mechanism is arranged to rapidly displace the active portion away from a user extremity. Alternatively, according to a second aspect, the safety mechanism is arranged to rapidiy urge an extremity of the user away from the active portion of the power tool.

US2014001868 discloses a method for operating a sensor system. The method for operating a sensor system, having at least one capacitive sensor element, which is attachable to the surface of machines or machine parts, electrical field lines on the sensor element changing in the event of an approach and/or a contact of a body or object, and the at least one sensor element being connected to a control unit, which, based on the detected change of the field lines of the at least one sensor element, triggers a safety function on the machine or the machine part. The at least one sensor element has, in addition to fulfilling the safety function, an operating function, which is concluded from the iocation of the at least one sensor element and the time curve of the change of the field lines, and the safety function has priority over the operating function in a base state of the sensor system.

Although some different solutions have been suggested to provide work safety on machinery bearing dangerous tools such as blade, press, cylinder, saw, sharp pin etc., insufficiency of these in practice, because especially they could not distinguish normal working conditions from emergency or dangerous situations, the present invention is introduced.

Objectives and Short Description of t e Invention

An objective of the present invention is to present an emergency work safety system and method to avoid machine operators from negative experiences by mistake or accident or to reduce the risks and therefore minimize the work accidents on machinery having dangerous tools,

Another object of the present invention is to put forward an emergency work safety system and method thereof which is developed in order to avoid or mitigate work accidents as sensing an emergency that can arise during working on machinery that humans are worked close at hand and are especially run by operators, Another object of the present invention is to put forward an emergency work safety method comprising the steps of activating a related output by getting energy to the machinery and the system if values taken from a sensor meet initial conditions and giving electrical signal letting to start said dangerous tool for work to be carried out by the machinery such as cutting, pressing etc.; starting to measure instant capacitive values from the time of getting energy to the motor which drives the dangerous tool on the machinery and said value being used in processing, subsequently altering a mean value which is very important for decision threshold by comparing that sensed capacitive values which is sent from the sensor with a predefined limit value and which does not exceed over said limit value and varying said limit value according to said dynamicaliy computed mean value, sending signals by said processor to outputs in order to activate an emergency stopping system urgently when the sensed value exceeding a predefined limit comes during said instant measuring - that is an emergency situation is sensed - and stopping the dangerous tool being in operation in a fastest way accordingly.

Description of the Figures

Figure 1 shows a principle depiction for elements of the emergency work safety system of the present invention and interaction between these elements. Figure 2 shows an algorithm depicting working principle for the method of the present invention.

Reference Numerals

10. System

11. Processor

12. Sensor

13. Display

14. inputs and outputs

14.1 Inputs

14.2 Outputs

15. ADC

20. Tool

30. Digital input value (D1)

31. Input control

32. Start timer

33. Start timer

34. Get learning data (D2)

35. Adjust limit value (L1 =D2+Korr)

36. Compare with limit value 37. Start counter

38. Control the counter value

39. Adjust the threshold value

Detailed Description of the Invention The majority of work accidents which may go through cut, amputation, bodily injury and even to death caused by reasons such as lack of attention, incautiousness or accident arise from machinery bearing dangerous tools such as blade, saw, press etc. Thanks to the present invention it can be possible to avoid machine operators from negative experiences by mistake or accident or to reduce the risks. Therefore it is aimed that work accidents will be minimized on the machinery having dangerous tools.

The present invention, which provides work safety on various machinery and devices, particularly carpenter saw machines and others that can cut, press and pierce such as presses for bending, flattening or drawing, can save the lives of the operators working on that machinery and can relieve the owners of jobs requiring dangerous process with such machinery. The most important advantage of the present invention is to constitute an emergency work safety effectively during a proximity to a working part or a tool (20) on the machinery that can cause danger. Namely it can distinguish normal working movements from dangerous approach of the operator working on the machinery. Therefore working on a targe saw no matter how a craftsman approaches to the blade of the large saw, the present invention can sense the dangerous ones from other normal proximities. By this means the machinery can get rid of unnecessary stops and the operator can continue to work safeiy.

The most important tool and method of the present invention is capacitive sensing. The system (10) of the present invention uses dangerous tools (20) such as saws, press strike surfaces, shears as a complementary of the capacitive sensor (12). Therefore said dangerous machine part or tool (20) having metallic surface together with said sensor (12) functions as a capacitive sensor in the system (10) of the present invention. The capacitive magnitude taken from said capacitive sensor is turned into an electrical signal by said sensor (12). This electrical signal is an analog signal in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Parameters which are input signals determined by inputs interface (14.1) having analog electrical signals shown via a display (13) are evaluated by a processor (11 ). Said processor (11) is an industrial microcontroller in a preferred embodiment of the invention. Said processor (1 ) carries out a command sequence in a regular basis and continues its workflow by interpreting sensing signals coming from said sensor (12) with said input parameters and data. When signals obtained by the sensor (12) exceed a predefined threshold which can vary dynamically dunng the operation of the machine, the processor ( 1 ) generates electrical signals from its outputs (14.2) convenient to 5 commands in a memory unit it proceeded accordingly in order to carry out emergency procedures in a dangerous condition. Therefore said processor (1 1) has at least one memory unit which it comprises and/or connected to it from outside.

The sensor (12) should be isolated from body of the machinery and other possible electrical devices. The system (10) of the present invention neither apply any electrical energy to the tools or l() devices (20) on the machinery, which is an outer connection of the sensor (12), nor get such an electrical energy from them. The relationship here is totally capacitive sense such that when a body part of a human approaches or touches to the dangerous tool (20) in such a dangerous or ha2ardous manner, the sensor (12) collects and interprets the capacitive variations which occurred on the tool (20). Therefore capacitive variations, that can be occurred by approaching or touching of

15 a body or an organ of a human to the dangerous tool (20) on the machinery, are collected by the sensor (12) on the system (10), which is connected to the tool (20), and converts into an electrical magnitude (a signal that can be interpreted by the processor (1 1 )).

One of the important matters here is how to be interpreted such capacitive variations by the system (10). By means of program codes, which are run in the memory unit according to the algorithm 0 given in Figure 2, the processor (1 1 ) decides whether a dynamic emergency threshold would be exceeded or not in accordance with sensed signals collected from the sensor (12) and parameter data collected from inputs (14.1). User parameters can be monitored via a display (13) on the system ( 0) with the values collected by the sensor (12). Therefore a user can teach the system (10) the emergency threshold and support the system (10) by assisting it to distinguish the normal 5 working conditions from emergency situations For learning here, neural networks, fuzzy logic or their combinations from computational intelligence techniques from its known applications can be applied and by this way the system (10) can become teaching itself the decision by using various algorithms and methods.

According to the algorithm given in Figure 2, an emergency work safety method for machinery of 30 the present invention could be comprehended more clearly. When values collected by the sensor (12) meet the initial conditions right after giving energy to the machinery and to the system (10) of the present invention, a related output (14.2) is activated and electrical signal that enables to start the machinery up and therefore the dangerous tool (20) which carries out the work such as cutting, pressing etc. By giving energy to the motor which drives the dangerous tool (20) used for processing on the machine, collecting instant capacitive values are initiated. In one hand said instant values could be interpreted as sampled signals in a predefined period, it can also be understood that they are values independent from sampling and period according to the type and 5 speed of the processor (11 ). The preferred collection of values for the present invention is sensing the capacitive variations on the tool (20) by the sensor (12) independent from any period or time interval and sending these signals directly to the processor. Subsequently capacitive values, which is sent from the sensor (12) and does not exceed over a predefined limit value, alters a mean value which is very important for decision threshold by comparing that sensed values with the limit value, I 0 Said limit value varies according to this dynamically computed mean value. In the event of a sensed value comes that exceeds beyond the predefined limit during instant measurements - it means when an emergency situation is sensed - the processor (11 ) sends signals to the outputs in order to enable the emergency stop system snappily and therefore the dangerous tool (20) is stopped in the fastest way.

1 5 Via a display (13) which is comprised by the system (10) of the present invention, abilities to change parameters and therefore to determine decision threshold which is peculiar to structure of the machinery and the dangerous tool (20) are provided to a user. Thereby as it can be used on a large saw that is used for cutting woods, it can also be used on metal presses without making any change on the system. If the system (10) is not activated, namely if the machinery is not under

20 protection , it is not allowed to start the machinery by a ready output included by the system (10). By means of the sensor (12) and the inputs (14.1 ), the system (l Oi is not activated white the machinery and the dangerous tool (20) are not working. Thus the operator can change the apparatus such as blade, saw, piercing pins etc where the tool (20) is located. One of the important features of the present invention (10) is that a value (D2) in which the tool (20) is

25 precisely activated can be automatically created based on a correction value that can be entered by a user. Because the system will not be affected from capacitive variations between passive or active states of the tool (20). which works and establishes danger, normal movements of the operator and situations, which constitute danger and emergency, can be distinguished. Therefore the operator will not experience unnecessary machine stop during normal operator working

„ * conditions.

As can be seen from Figure 2, dunng normal operation of the dangerous tool (20), except from touch or dangerous approach of a human body, capacitive vanations, that do not exceed beyond the limit value resulted from environment, are transferred a learning value (D2). Thus unnecessary stops would be avoided by automatic updating of the limit value according to operation conditions without needing further intervention, An effective value (D1 ) is continually evaluated during operation flow (processor program loop) as reading from the sensor (12). Therefore the output is activated without delay and instant emergency stop is carried out. Data transfer is provided instantly and snappily as the sensor (12) transforms the capacitive magnitude into an analog signal 5 (a continuous electncal value) and transfers them to the processor ( 1 )

1 0

I S

0