Smart Roller - thyssenkrupp patents for intelligent slewing bearings

Engineering - that means tinkering, research, trial & error. Creativity and perseverance are essential for developing innovations. thyssenkrupp invests in this progress as a tradition. In the last fiscal year, thyssenkrupp filed 308 new patents to protect its solutions from imitators, 16% more than the previous year. Among them are technologies for the Smart Roller, a rolling element that increases the efficiency of slewing bearings from thyssenkrupp rothe erde.

Slewing bearings: Where motion and load meet

But where are slewing bearings used? Slewing bearings connect rotating and stationary components, for example, in machines, and transmit forces and moments. Slewing bearings ensure the function of the structure and transmit forces between rotating and stationary components or vice versa. In this respect, slewing bearings must be designed in such a way that this function is fulfilled and, at the same time, a robust and durable bearing unit is produced.

Slewing bearings are used in machines that have to withstand enormous forces. For example, in wind turbines, cranes, excavators, or tunnel boring machines. Since each area of application entails individual requirements, each slewing bearing is also designed and manufactured individually.

However, they usually have one thing in common: slewing bearings are subjected to extreme loads. This makes repair or replacement of the rolling bearing at the site of operation very complex and cost-intensive. For example, a defective tunnel boring machine cannot usually be salvaged as a whole but would have to be dismantled in the tunnel before repair.

It is therefore, all necessary that slewing bearings have a long service life and perform their tasks reliably and trouble-free between scheduled maintenance cycles Here the patents for the Smart Roller from thyssenkrupp rothe erde come into play.

Offshore wind turbines — Slewing bearings are often mounted in locations that are difficult to access, for example, in offshore wind turbines, and their replacement and repair are, therefore, often costly.

Our experts developed the patents specifically for slewing bearings with rolling elements used in wind turbines. Rolling elements are rollers that transmit movements and forces inside the slewing bearings. A Smart Roller is an intelligent development of these rolling elements. With the Smart Roller, thyssenkrupp rothe erde has developed a rolling element that can record measurement data during operation and transmit it to an external monitoring unit. thyssenkrupp rothe erde has obtained several European patents covering different aspects of the Smart Roller.

_{Intelligent measurement: Patents that make slewing bearings more reliable}

Rolling elements in slewing bearings are not visible when installed. Damage can often remain invisible until the slewing bearing suffers downtime.

How does the Smart Roller work? Together with a series of ordinary rolling elements, an additional rolling element with a sufficiently large bore is inserted into the slewing bearing. Under the load of the bearing, the hollowed-out measuring roller deforms, allowing the current load on the bearing to be determined. Measuring elements attached to the inner wall of the bore transmit the deformation of the measuring roller to a measuring gap, the size of which is measured utilizing an inductive sensor. Other sensors supplement additional relevant parameters. Together, these data enable an improved understanding of the application, resulting in optimized maintenance planning and a reduction of downtime of the slewing bearings.

_{Smart Roller: More than just a component of a slewing bearing}

Slewing bearings — thyssenkrupp rothe erde develops, designs and manufactures slewing bearings precisely to customer requirements. Each solution is unique regarding the design, material composition, and performance.

Another patent solves a problem that arose during the development of the Smart Roller: ensuring the power supply to the sensor system for many years. This ensures a permanent power supply to the measuring roller for an unlimited period as long as the slewing bearing is in use. The patented solution is superior to other methods of generating energy because it does not require any moving parts in the measuring roller and does not require any mechanical connection between the rotating roller and the stationary cage. The patented solution is thus particularly low-maintenance and fail-safe. Furthermore, it does not introduce any other parts into the raceway system of the rolling bearing that could cause the failing of the bearing in the event of a defect.

The Smart Roller is, therefore, not only a component of a slewing bearing but a new development in which various technologies come together. As it ensures more reliable functioning of large-diameter bearings, it also contributes to the company's goal of green transformation. Applications such as wind turbines can be designed more robustly and operated more reliably with the Smart Roller.

Intellectual Property: How Patents Ensure Fair Competition

The main innovations of the Smart Roller consist in the way the measuring roller generates energy and the specific use of an inductive sensor for load measurement.

Inventing such innovative solutions and technologies is no easy task. Often, time and money is behind these innovative ideas. One more reason why they have to be protected by patents.

Read more about our patent work at thyssenkrupp and other exciting innovations in our stories.