阅读说明：本技术 用于设置高强度纤维绳的报废状态检测的装置及具有这种装置的起重机 (Device for detecting scrapped state of high-strength fiber rope and crane with same ) 是由 伊冯·伊拉卡·穆彭德 乌尔里希·哈梅 费利克斯·卢卡施 于 2019-06-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种用于识别高强度纤维绳(I)在各种使用条件下的报废状态的装置,其中,纤维绳的绳芯(II)被预期比绳芯磨损得更快的绳护套(2)包覆,所述装置包括用于检测绳表面的光学检测装置和/或用于检测纤维绳所承受的载荷循环的载荷集合计数器。本发明还涉及一种具有这种装置的诸如起重机等升降装置。根据本发明,提供了用于检测绳护套的光吸收系数和/或反射率的检测装置以及用于根据检测的光吸收系数和/或检测的反射率调整用于确定报废状态的算法的调整装置。(The invention relates to a device for identifying the state of failure of a high-strength fiber rope (I) under various conditions of use, wherein the core (II) of the fiber rope is covered by a rope jacket (2) which is expected to wear faster than the core, said device comprising optical detection means for detecting the rope surface and/or a load set counter for detecting the load cycles to which the fiber rope is subjected. The invention also relates to a lifting device such as a crane having such a device. According to the invention, a detection device for detecting the light absorption coefficient and/or the reflectivity of the rope jacket and an adjustment device for adjusting the algorithm for determining the state of scrap on the basis of the detected light absorption coefficient and/or the detected reflectivity are provided.)

1. A device for determining the state of discard of a high strength fiber rope (1) having a core (11) comprising high strength plastic fibers or strands (4) and a wear indicating rope jacket (2) surrounding the core (11), the device comprising optical detection means (12) for detecting a damage pattern of the rope jacket (2) and/or a load set counter for determining the load cycle to which the high strength fiber rope (1) is subjected,

characterized in that detection means for detecting the light absorption coefficient and/or the reflectivity of the rope sheath (2) and adjustment means for adjusting the algorithm for determining the state of disability in dependence on the detected light absorption coefficient and/or the detected reflectivity are provided.

2. Device according to the preceding claim, wherein the adjusting means are designed to vary the number of critical load cycles that should be reached when signaling the end-of-life condition in dependence on the detected light absorption coefficient and/or the detected reflectivity, such that the number of critical load cycles is set smaller at higher light absorption coefficients than at relatively lower light absorption coefficients.

3. Device according to either of the two preceding claims, wherein the detection means are designed to detect and/or determine the amount of black and/or white pigments and/or other light-absorbing pigments for dyeing the fibres and/or fibre bundles of the rope sheath (11) and to determine the light absorption coefficient and/or the reflectivity of the rope sheath (2) on the basis of the detected black and/or white pigments and/or other light-absorbing pigments and/or their detected amounts.

4. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adjustment device is designed to set a lower number of critical load cycles when determining a darker rope jacket (2) and to set a higher number of critical load cycles when determining a lighter rope jacket (2).

5. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adjusting device is designed to set the critical load cycle number to be less than 50% of the number of load cycles at which the fatigue strength range is reached when determining the light absorption coefficient a >0.6 or a >0.75 for a set of heavy loads, wherein the service life of the fibre rope (1) is less than 50% of the maximum service life that the fibre rope has when subjected to a set of loads resulting in the Woller fatigue strength range,

and setting the critical load cycle number to be at least 75% or more of the load cycle number at the time of reaching the fatigue strength range when the light absorption coefficient <0.4 or <0.3 in the case of a light load set in which the service life of the rope is at least 75% of the maximum service life is determined.

6. Lifting device, in particular a crane, having a high-strength fiber rope (1) with a rope core (11) comprising high-strength plastic fibers or strands (4) and a wear-indicating rope jacket (2) surrounding the rope core (11), and a device for determining the state of abandonment of the high-strength fiber rope (1) designed according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. Lifting device according to the preceding claim, designed as a crane, in particular in the form of a tower crane or a telescopic boom crane, wherein at least one hoisting rope of the crane is formed by the high-strength fiber rope (1), on which hoisting rope a load-carrying means, such as a load hook, is mounted.

8. A lifting device according to any of the two preceding claims, wherein a high-strength fibre rope set is provided, comprising a plurality of high-strength fibre ropes (1) for different use conditions of the lifting device, wherein the fibre ropes (1) each have a rope core (11) and a rope jacket (2) intended to wear faster than the rope core (11), wherein the fibre ropes (1) also have the same rope diameter, the same rope core diameter, the same jacket thickness, the same fibre bundle arrangement, the same fibre material and the same rope tensile strength, wherein the rope jackets (2) of the fibre ropes (1) have different solar absorption coefficients, wherein a fibre rope intended for high wear use conditions has a rope jacket with a higher solar absorption coefficient than a fibre rope (1) intended for low wear use conditions, and wherein the adjusting device is designed to set a critical load cycle number on the basis of the respectively built-in fiber ropes in the fiber rope set and the respectively detected solar absorption coefficient.

9. Use of at least one high strength fibre rope (1) of a group of fibre ropes comprising a plurality of high strength fibre ropes (1) for different use conditions in a hoisting device, in particular a crane such as a mobile crane or a tower crane, wherein in a hoisting device with high wear use conditions, in particular a mobile telescopic crane, use is made of a fibre rope (1) with a rope sheath having a relatively high solar absorption coefficient, and/or in a hoisting device with low wear use conditions, in particular a tower crane, use is made of a fibre rope (1) with a rope sheath having a relatively low solar absorption coefficient.

Technical Field

The present invention generally relates to the identification of the state of abandonment of high strength fiber ropes. The invention relates to a device for detecting the state of failure of a high-strength fiber rope for various service conditions, wherein the rope core of the fiber rope is covered by a rope jacket (Seilmantel) which is expected to wear faster than the rope core, the device having an optical detection device for detecting the rope surface and/or a load set (Lastkollektiv) counter for detecting the load cycle (lastspread) to which the fiber rope is subjected, and to a crane, in particular in the form of a tower crane or a telescopic boom crane, having such a state of failure detection device.

Background

For some time, in hoisting technology, in particular in cranes, attempts are being made to replace the usual heavy steel wire ropes with high-strength fiber ropes made of or at least having high-strength synthetic fibers such as aramid fibers, aramid/carbon fiber mixtures, highly modular polyethylene fibers (HMPE), Liquid Crystal Polymers (LCP) or poly (p-phenylene-2, 6-benzobisoxazole) fibers (PBO). Since the weight is reduced by 80% compared to the steel cable with almost the same tensile strength, an increased load capacity or an allowable hoisting load can be achieved, since the dead weight of the cable to be taken into account for the load capacity is significantly reduced. In particular in cranes with a large hoisting height or in boom or mast adjustment mechanisms with sheave blocks with a high number of ropes, there is a considerable rope length and therefore also a corresponding rope weight, so that the use of high-strength fiber ropes can be very advantageous for weight saving. In addition to the weight advantages of the fiber rope itself, the use of fiber ropes can also reduce the weight of other components. For example, the load hook can be designed to be lighter since less load hook weight is required for rope tensioning of the fiber rope. On the other hand, the good flexibility of the synthetic fiber rope allows for a smaller bending radius and thus a smaller sheave or pulley on the crane, which leads to a further weight reduction, in particular in the region of the crane jib, so that a significant increase in the load torque can be achieved in the case of a large crane spread.

In addition to the stated weight advantages, the rope drive in the case of synthetic fiber ropes is distinguished by a significantly longer service life, ease of handling, good flexibility and the fact that no rope lubrication is required anymore. Overall, a higher availability of the device can be achieved thereby.

However, such high strength fiber ropes present a difficulty in accurately and reliably predicting or determining their failure status (ablegeife). High strength fibre ropes, like steel ropes, are wear parts which must be replaced when their condition deteriorates to such an extent that the required safety is no longer provided in further operations. This condition is commonly referred to as a scrap condition.

In the case of ordinary steel wire ropes, the state of scrap can be determined in a very simple manner by visual inspection of the rope state, wherein the inspection procedure and the inspection range are specified in standard ISO 4309. In this case, the number of thread breaks over a certain measured length of the rope, the reduction in the rope diameter and the strand breaks are essential. However, this measuring method cannot be used to identify the state of abandonment of a high-strength fibre rope, because the synthetic fibres used behave differently from steel cords.

Document DE 202009014031U 1 discloses a high-strength fiber rope made of synthetic fibers, wherein the core is provided with a jacket dyed differently from the core, and the jacket itself also has different jacket layers of different colors. When, due to wear of the outer layer, a differently colored lower layer or even a core appears, this can be more easily recognized by means of this differently colored dyeing. In practice, however, this intrinsically meaningful color indicator function is affected by the fact that the sheath tends to suddenly fail due to the characteristics of the high-strength synthetic fibers, and therefore it is conversely difficult to determine or predict the state of failure of the rope in a timely manner.

Furthermore, EP 3180472B 1 discloses monitoring a high-strength fiber rope with a camera and comparing the image of the fiber rope with a reference image stored in a memory and showing characteristic damage, in order to determine the current degree of damage and degree of wear of the jacket from the image comparison and subsequently determine the state of scrapping therefrom.

Since the state of scrap is affected differently by different operating conditions and various application parameters, and the rope jacket and the rope core are not always affected identically, even if it is reasonable and reliably feasible to detect rope jacket wear itself, there is still in practice the problem that a certain rope jacket wear in synthetic fiber ropes does not always correspond to the actual degree of scrap to the same extent.

In this respect, it has been considered to adapt the rope jacket to different use conditions by means of different wear-resistant fibers, different jacket structures or jacket thicknesses, rather than relying solely on optical inspection of the rope jacket, but using other criteria for the end-of-life status identification (see for example EP 3392404 a). However, neither is easy to implement or presents considerable difficulties and encumbrances.

On the one hand, the rope jacket is usually not a purely freely designable wear indicator which can be adapted to different wear conditions to a certain extent, but rather is an integrated component of the rope which supports and protects the rope core in terms of load capacity.

The sheathless cords, in particular those of braided construction, have in principle a low stability, which has an adverse effect on the multi-layer winding on the drum.

The wear of the rope and its jacket is caused by the rope drive, i.e. by the bending cycles (biegowechsel) caused by the rope pulleys in the rope run and by the friction of the rope on the drum during winding, in particular during multilayer winding. Referred to herein as system-related wear.

The wear of the sheath is affected by different parameters, such as:

-the thickness of the sheath,

number of jacket layers (Mantelschichten) from 1 to n,

-different fibre materials between the sheath layers,

a mixture of different fiber materials in each jacket layer, but not freely designed for other purposes of the jacket,

different constructive configurations of the sheath layer when using the same fibrous material.

In this regard, attempts have been made to use other criteria for the state of disability or for its determination than the visual impairment pattern of the cord sheath. For example, devices are proposed which monitor the reduction in the rope diameter, determine the rope elongation in sections or in whole, detect the bulge formation and compare it with corresponding limit values. Above all, it has also been proposed to detect the allowable load cycles from the operating temperature and to provide a load set counter for this purpose. Here, the number of bending cycles experienced by the fiber rope is calculated, wherein an algorithm is developed which can calculate the bending cycles from the operating data and the construction data. However, even such load cycle monitoring presents difficulties, for example, the load cycle counter cannot monitor all the practically relevant factors affecting the service life, such as the amount of sand and dust, the chemical effect of the exhaust cloud on the rope, etc., or even very practical, immeasurable factors, such as the uncounted additional load cycles due to the use of the rope on another winch.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for adjusting the optical detectability of the state of abandonment of a high-strength fiber rope, an improved device for identifying the state of abandonment of a high-strength fiber rope, and an improved high-strength fiber rope with better recognition of the state of abandonment.

According to the invention, said object is achieved by a device according to claim 1 and a crane according to claim 6. Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

It is therefore proposed to design the rope jacket differently with respect to the absorption and/or reflection of sunlight or sunlight in order to adjust the wear resistance and wear speed of the rope jacket and adapt it to different use conditions and to adapt the operating mode to an automatic means of determining the state of disability based on the detected rate of sunlight absorption and/or reflectance of sunlight. In particular, the corresponding device for determining the state of disability comprises an optical detection means, in particular a camera sensor system, for example comprising a camera, by means of which an image of the high-strength fiber rope can be taken and compared with a reference image which can be stored in a reference memory.

Advantageously, such a device is designed to operate in an adaptive manner so as to take account of the setting of the rope sheath in terms of its light absorption and/or its reflectivity. In particular, the device may comprise a detection member for detecting and/or determining the light absorption coefficient and/or the reflectivity of the rope sheath, wherein a preset device may be provided which is designed to automatically adjust or change an evaluation algorithm for determining the state of disability based on a specific light absorption coefficient and/or a specific reflectivity, depending on the detected rope parameter (e.g. damage pattern), depending on the image comparison and/or the detected load set and/or the detected number of load cycles.

Such an adjustment device makes use of the fact that: when the rope is determined to be used in a high wear condition, the rope sheath of the rope is arranged to have a higher solar absorption coefficient and/or a lower reflectivity than when the rope is determined to be used in a low wear use condition. The behavior of the rope jacket when exposed to sunlight is designed differently according to the intended working set in order to change the ratio of the wear rate of the rope jacket to the fatigue rate of the rope core and adapt it to the intended working set. Due to the high light absorption coefficient (e.g. due to more light absorbing particles in the cord jacket) and/or due to the low reflectivity of the cord jacket (e.g. due to less or no light reflecting particles on the cord jacket), the cord jacket is heated relatively strongly under daylight illumination, and therefore the cord jacket wears more quickly due to the higher operating temperature. Conversely, when the solar absorption coefficient and/or the reflectivity of the rope sheath is low, an increase in the operating temperature of the rope sheath, and thus an increase in the wear rate of the rope sheath, can be avoided.

The wear rate of the rope jacket is adjusted by changing the light absorption capacity of the rope jacket, so that the rope can be configured for different use conditions and load sets without having to change or adjust the basic constructional features of the rope structure for this purpose. In particular, a rope set comprising a plurality of high strength fiber ropes may be provided, which correspond to each other in terms of rope diameter, maximum rope load and rope tensile strength, for example in terms of rope breaking load or maximum strand tensile load, core diameter and jacket thickness, fiber material, number of fiber bundles and number of strands and fiber bundle structure (e.g. weave pattern), and thus have comparable mechanical properties. However, the rope sheaths are differently arranged in terms of light absorption coefficient, so that, despite otherwise having the same construction, the rope sheaths wear at different rates.

Thus, not only can the manufacturing costs and processes be reduced and simplified, but the rope sheath itself can also be optimally designed for its other tasks (e.g., support and protection of the rope core, improvement of rope strength, etc.). Above all, however, since the wear rate can be adapted to the respective load set and the respective use conditions and the wear of the rope jacket is actually related to the state of scrap, it is possible to rely on the optical detection of the damage occurring on the rope jacket and the determination of the state of scrap resulting therefrom.

Here, the solar absorption coefficient can be variably adjusted in various ways. In principle, a surface coating of the rope jacket can be provided, which is designed such that its reflectivity and/or its transmissivity is variable or different depending on the wear rate of the rope jacket required for the respective working set or the respective working condition. Depending on the amount of sunlight that can penetrate the actual rope sheath by means of such a surface coating, the wear rate of the rope sheath is increased or decreased.

However, in order to avoid a strong mechanical wear of such a surface coating or to make it undamaged, in an advantageous modified example of the invention the absorption coefficient of the rope sheath can be adjusted by dyeing the fibers and/or fiber bundles of the rope sheath with black and/or white and/or differently colored or differently grey pigments. Permanent adjustment of the absorption coefficient can be achieved by pigments of different colors or brightnesses embedded in and/or between the fibres or bundles, so that daylight illumination permanently has the same desired effect on the wear rate of the rope jacket.

In particular, the rope sheath may be designed to be dark for high wear service conditions and/or accelerated wear load sets, and may be designed to be relatively light colored for low wear service conditions and/or weaker accelerated wear load sets. Due to the dark jacket design, the rope jacket is heated more strongly in daylight and therefore wears more quickly, while the light rope jacket is heated less and therefore ages or wears more slowly.

Instead of or in addition to the incorporation of light-absorbing particles or color pigments which change the light absorption coefficient, uv protection agents can also be added to the fibers and/or fiber bundles of the rope jacket in different proportions or with different strengths in order to increase the uv resistance of the rope jacket or to shorten it by less or no mixing, in order in this way to be able to adapt the wear rate of the rope jacket to different load sets. It is possible to provide greater uv protection for heavier load sets and lower uv protection for lighter load sets, or conversely, it is possible to provide lower uv protection for heavier load sets and greater uv protection for lighter load sets, wherein such uv protection can be achieved, for example, by impregnating the fibers and/or fiber bundles of the rope jacket with a corresponding uv protection agent.

The solar absorption coefficients of the cord sheaths of the cord sets may be substantially spaced apart from each other by different distances, wherein the light absorption coefficient may substantially vary between 0 and 1, i.e. between completely non-absorbing light and maximum light absorption. For ropes intended for heavy load sets (in which case the expected service life of the rope is below 50% of the maximum service life in the case of light load sets), it may be advantageous to set the solar absorption coefficient to be greater than 0.6, or even greater than 0.75, for example by embedding a corresponding amount of black particles or pigments or other light absorbing pigments in the rope jacket and/or its fibres and/or fibre bundles. However, if the rope is configured for light load aggregation, the rope jacket may be designed to have an optical absorption coefficient of 0.4 or less or 0.3 or less. For a medium load set (in the case of which the expected lifetime is 40% to 80% or 50% to 70% of the maximum lifetime), the light absorption coefficient can advantageously be set to a value between 0.4 and 0.6.

The maximum service life mentioned here can be determined empirically and/or can represent the service life achieved under very favorable external conditions and with a low light load set (no or only little access to the maximum load-bearing capacity of the rope). For example, this may be the service life that the rope achieves when subjected to a load set at walerThe fatigue strength test allows achieving the waller fatigue strength.

In principle, the wear rate of the rope jacket is adjusted by changing the light sensitivity of the rope jacket, and the state of disability can be checked and monitored by visual inspection, for example by a machine operator or a suitably trained control person.

However, an automated machine monitoring and determination of the end-of-life state can also be advantageously carried out, wherein the respective device for determining the end-of-life state as described above can in particular comprise an optical detection means, in particular a camera sensor system, for example comprising a camera, by means of which an image of the high-strength fiber rope can be taken and compared with a reference image which can be stored in a reference memory. However, alternatively or additionally, the device may also comprise a load set counter which counts the load cycles to which the high strength fibre rope is subjected and optionally detects other relevant load cycle parameters such as rope speed, rope load and deflection radius and determines the corresponding load set.

Advantageously, such a device is designed to operate in an adaptive manner so as to take account of the setting of the rope sheath in terms of its light absorption and/or reflectance. In particular, the device may comprise detection means for detecting and/or determining the light absorption coefficient and/or the reflectivity of the rope sheath, wherein the preset device may automatically adjust or change the evaluation algorithm for determining the state of disability based on a specific light absorption coefficient and/or a specific reflectivity according to a detected rope parameter (e.g. a damage pattern), according to an image comparison and/or a detected load set and/or a detected number of load cycles. For example, the crippled state determination means may determine the crippled state based on an algorithm modified by the preset means in the above-described manner according to the detected bending cycle of the rope and the determined damage pattern.

For example, if the detection means for detecting light absorption rate determines that a high strength fiber rope with a dark rope jacket (e.g. the darkest category of rope jacket) is being used and/or that the detected light absorption coefficient exceeds a predetermined threshold, the preset means and/or the adjusting means may adjust the algorithm such that a fail status signal is output when fewer damage patterns are detected and/or when fewer load cycles are reached.

In general, the adjustment device may be designed for setting a lower number of critical load cycles when determining a rope jacket (2) of a darker design and a higher number of critical load cycles when determining a rope jacket (2) of a lighter design.

Conversely, if the detection device determines a smaller light absorption coefficient and/or a higher reflectivity on the cord used, the algorithm for determining the discard status may be reconfigured or adjusted so that the discard status signal is only provided when a greater number of load cycles is reached and/or when a damage pattern with greater damage is determined.

Advantageously, the adjusting device is designed to change the number of critical load cycles to be reached at the output end-of-life status signal as a function of the detected light absorption coefficient and/or the detected reflectivity, such that the number of critical load cycles is set lower at higher light absorption than at a relatively lower light absorption coefficient.

Irrespective of the specific design of the adjustment means, the detection means can be designed to detect and/or determine the amount of black and/or white pigment and/or other light-absorbing pigment used for dyeing the fibres and/or fibre bundles of the rope sheath and to determine the light absorption coefficient and/or the reflectivity of the rope sheath from the detected black and/or white pigment and/or other light-absorbing pigment and/or their detected amount.

In particular, the adjusting device may be designed to set the critical load cycle number to be less than 50% of the number of load cycles when the light absorption coefficient a >0.6 or a >0.75 is determined for a heavy load set (in the case of which the service life of the fibre rope is less than 50% of the maximum service life that the fibre rope has when carrying a set of loads resulting in a woler fatigue strength range), and to set the critical load cycle number to be more than 75% of the number of load cycles when reaching said fatigue strength range when the light absorption coefficient <0.4 or <0.3 is determined for a light load set (in the case of which the service life of the rope is at least 75% of the maximum service life).

In particular, the lifting device in which the device may be used may be in the form of a crane, for example a tower crane or a mobile crane (e.g. a telescopic boom crane), wherein at least one hoisting cord of the crane may be formed of a high strength fibre cord on which a load carrying mechanism, such as a load hook, is mounted. The lifting device can also be designed in the form of other cranes, such as a harbour crane or a ship crane, or in the form of a cargo lift or people lift or other people conveyor or cargo conveyor, such as a cable car or a lift chair.

Advantageously, the lifting device can have a high-strength fibre rope set comprising a plurality of high-strength fibre ropes for different use conditions of the lifting device, wherein the fibre ropes each have a rope core and a rope jacket which is expected to wear faster than the rope core, wherein the fibre ropes also have the same rope diameter, the same rope core diameter, the same jacket thickness, the same fibre bundle arrangement, the same fibre material and the same rope tensile strength, wherein the rope jackets of the fibre ropes have different solar absorption coefficients, wherein the fibre ropes which are expected for high-wear use conditions have a rope jacket with a higher solar absorption coefficient than the fibre ropes which are expected for low-wear use conditions, wherein the adjusting device is designed to set the critical load cycle number depending on the respectively built-in fibre ropes in the fibre rope set and the respectively detected solar absorption coefficient.

Drawings

The invention will be explained in more detail below on the basis of preferred exemplary embodiments and the associated figures.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a rope set comprising three high strength fiber ropes with different solar absorption coefficients and light/darkness and, consequently, different wear rates.

Fig. 2 and 3 show side views of a high strength fiber rope with a braided jacket, respectively, wherein the rope jacket is shown without wear damage in fig. 2 and with damage in fig. 3.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic view of a device for determining the state of discard and its components, which enables optical inspection of the rope jacket and load cycle counting to determine the state of discard.

Detailed Description

For example, as shown in fig. 3, the high strength fiber rope comprises a core 11 which may be braided or laid from strands 4 made of or at least comprising high strength synthetic fibers, such as aramid fibers or HPMA fibers, HMPE fibers or other fiber types mentioned at the beginning, wherein said core 11 may consist of fibers of one fiber type or fibers of different fiber types.

The jacket 2 surrounds the core 11 and may be located directly on the core or may optionally be spaced from the core by an intermediate layer. In particular, the jacket 2 may form an outer jacket of the rope 1. The core 11 can assume the overall specified load-bearing capacity of the rope 1. Furthermore, the sheath 2 serves only a supportive function, in particular as a protection for the core 11 and as a wear indicator.

The sheath 2 may consist of a single sheath layer or may also comprise a plurality of sheath layers arranged one above the other.

As shown, the jacket 2 may comprise strands 3 which are braided with each other to form the jacket 2, and each strand may consist of or at least may comprise high strength synthetic fibers.

In particular, said strands 3 of the sheath 2 may be formed of different synthetic fibers having different wear resistance and/or tensile strength and/or different materials.

Fig. 3 shows the wear of the jacket 2, which can be caused, for example, by rope drives, in particular the deflection of the rope around the pulleys, the bending cycles in the course of the rope, the friction of the rope on the drum during winding and the stresses on the drum during the winding of several layers, in which the rope portions of the upper layer can cut into between the rope portions of the lower layer.

Fig. 1 shows a rope 1 with a jacket 2 and sheathed strands 3 in different colors.

Fig. 2 shows the rope 1 with the jacket 2, the individual strands 3 of which have not yet been visibly worn. The damage level shown was < 5%.

Fig. 3 shows a rope 1 whose jacket is worn out over a partial section of approximately 90 °, and the strands 4 carrying the rope are visible. The degree of damage shown is about 50%.

As shown in fig. 1, the rope sheaths 2 of different high-strength fiber ropes are dyed or designed with different brightnesses in order to achieve different light absorption coefficients of the rope sheaths. The partial view (a) of fig. 1 shows a rope sheath dyed dark for a heavy load set, having a light absorption coefficient of more than 0.8 and which can be designed dark grey to black, for example, by embedding a correspondingly large amount of black pigment in the fiber bundles or fibers themselves. Since the cable jacket is heated correspondingly strongly when the sun shines and the cable jacket correspondingly rises in temperature, it can be designed, for example, to wear out after 3 years to indicate a state of failure.

The partial view (b) of fig. 1 shows a medium-dark or medium-light colored rope jacket 2 of a high strength fiber rope, which has a light absorption coefficient of 0.4 to 0.7 and/or is medium gray. For example, a high strength fiber rope with such a medium light/medium dark rope cover can be used for normal load aggregation, and its rope sheath wears out after about 5 years.

Finally, partial view (c) of fig. 1 shows a fiber rope with a light-colored rope jacket, the light absorption coefficient of which may be less than 0.4, for example. With such light-colored rope sheaths, the sheath will not wear out until 8 to 9 years have elapsed, or to the extent that it indicates a state of disability. Typically, such ropes can be used for light load collections.

Fig. 4 shows the device for determining the end-of-life condition in more detail. In particular, an actual image of the rope can be detected by means of the optical detection means 12 (for example the camera 13) and then optically compared with a reference representation stored in the reference image memory 15 by means of automatic or semi-automatic evaluation means comprising the image evaluation means 14 in order to detect and classify the damage seen in the actual image.

The evaluation device can then sum up the individual damages in the manner described above and output a discard status signal if necessary. As shown in fig. 4, the device for detecting the state of exhaustion can be integrated into a lifting device, in particular into the crane 21 and its crane control.

As shown in fig. 4, the image evaluation device 14 may comprise a profile evaluation member 14a which may determine rope thickening due to splicing of the wear sheath and/or thinning in the worn and/or defect area of the rope sheath 2 and/or other profile changes (e.g. undulations) occurring compared to the nominal state of the rope profile.

The image evaluation device 14 may further comprise a color pattern evaluation means 14b, which color pattern evaluation means 14b may determine, from the image comparison, a change in the color pattern exhibited by the rope in the acquired image and thereby determine the crippled status.

Further, the image evaluation device 14 may further include a color area ratio evaluation means 14c, and the color area ratio evaluation means 14c may determine the area ratio of each color to the total area of the string 1 in the captured image of the string 1. For example, if the wear sheath 2 of the rope 1 is striped black, white and grey, wherein the stripe width is the same size, such that each colour occupies one third of the total area, the colour area proportion evaluation means 14c may determine the wear of the white fibres or strands and the associated damage of the rope 1 in case the area proportion of the white fibres or strands is reduced from a target value of 33%, for example to less than 25% or less than 15%.

The color area ratio evaluation means 14c may also determine the appearance of a new color and its area ratio. For example, if the cores 11 of different colors are exposed due to wear of the wear jacket 2, red spots may appear in the above-described black-white-gray color pattern, and therefore the color area ratio evaluation member 14c may determine damage when the area ratio of the red spots exceeds a predetermined ratio.

In an advantageous refinement of the invention, the image evaluation device 14 can also comprise an elongation evaluation means 14d, which elongation evaluation means 14d can determine the elongation Δ l of the high-strength fiber rope l and/or its wear sheath 2 from a comparison of the current rope image with a stored reference image. In particular, the elongation evaluation means 14d can identify and determine the spacing l (see fig. 4) of the predetermined color pattern positions and/or pixel pattern positions from each other in the longitudinal direction of the fiber rope 1 and/or in the transverse direction of the fiber rope and compare them with a nominal value and/or a known curve that can be determined from the images of the fiber rope in the original state or in the nominal state, in order to be able to determine the elongation of the rope in the longitudinal direction and/or in the transverse direction.

For example, if the rope 1, in particular its wear sheath 2, is provided with red or other colored strands 3 that can be helically incorporated into the sheath 2, these red fibers or strands have a predetermined distance i from each other in the image of the fiber rope 1. If the rope is overstretched due to ageing and/or damage, this appears as an increase in the distance Δ l of the corresponding red stripe, from which the state of failure or damage can be identified (see fig. 4).

Instead of or in addition to the optical detection of the state of the wear jacket 2, the detection device 12 for detecting the actual state of the high-strength fibre rope 1 may also comprise a sensor system 16 for sensing the actual state of the rope core 11 and/or the rope jacket 2, so that optionally the actual state of the rope core 11 and/or the rope jacket 2 can be detected in other ways. Advantageously, the sensor system 16 may comprise a load set counter and/or determine a plurality of parameters of the rope core 11 and/or the rope jacket 2 in order to infer damage upon a predetermined change in one or more rope core parameters and/or rope jacket parameters.

Advantageously, the device itself is adapted to the rope used and its light absorption coefficient in terms of its determination of the state of exhaustion. To this end, the detection device 12 may comprise detection means for detecting the light absorption coefficient of the rope sheath, for example contrast determination means, which compare the captured image of the rope sheath with a reference image in terms of the brightness of the rope sheath and determine the brightness/darkness of the rope sheath.

Depending on the determined rope brightness/darkness, the adaptation module of the determination device may for example change the critical load cycle number at which the load set counter indicates the end of life status signal.