Lubrication – Lubricators – Refilling device
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-08
2001-04-17
Fenstermacher, David (Department: 3682)
Lubrication
Lubricators
Refilling device
C184S006100, C184S026000, C222S390000, C222S327000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216822
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic lubricant dispenser. More particularly this invention concerns such a dispenser that is connected to a piece of machinery so as periodically to supply it with fresh lubricant.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As described in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/966,502 an automatic lubricant dispenser has a lower housing part formed with an outlet, a piston displaceable along an axis in the lower part and forming therein a compartment, a spindle extending along the axis, threaded into the piston, having an upper end above the piston provided with a lower coupling half, and a body of fluent lubricant filling the compartment and forming with the spindle, piston, and lower housing part a lower subassembly. An upper housing part securable to the lower part via a screwthread forms an upper subassembly. An insert mainly in the upper housing part forms a battery compartment and carries a motor unit having an output shaft projecting downward therefrom at the axis and provided with an upper coupling half axially engageable with the lower coupling half. The coupling halves are axially engageable to rotationally couple the motor output shaft to the spindle. A battery is provided in the battery compartment and a circuit board fixed to the insert is connected between the battery and the motor unit. An on-off switch mounted on the circuit board is actuatable to energize the motor unit from the battery. The insert, motor unit, battery, circuit board, and switch together forming a core subassembly normally held between the upper and lower subassemblies.
Thus with this system when the dispenser is empty the upper part of the housing forming the upper subassembly can be removed and then the core subassembly lifted out with the motor, control circuit, and batteries. This leaves the lower subassembly formed by the plastic lower housing part, plastic piston, and normally metallic spindle which are disconnected, discarded, and replaced with a full core assembly comprising a new lower housing part, lubricant body, piston, and spindle. When the insert is reinstalled the connection is made between the motor output shaft and spindle so resetting the upper housing part permanently puts the assembly back together. Since the lower subassembly forms a disposable refill, the piston will be perfectly positioned so that when the device is restarted lubricant will be emitted with the first cycle. In addition it is possible to standardize the dimensions of the core and upper subassemblies, providing longer or shorter lower subassemblies depending on how much lubricant is needed.
With such a system once the machine is turned on the controller periodically energizes the motor. A motion detector associated with the motor output shaft delivers normally one pulse per revolution of this shaft to the controller which deenergizes the motor after a predetermined number of revolutions which corresponds to expulsion of a predetermined dose of lubricant from the outlet. Thus periodically the motor is started and then, after a predetermined dose is expelled from the outlet, the motor is stopped. Actual displacement of the piston is monitored rather than simple motor-energization time since the viscosity of the lubricant will change with temperature and the back pressure can vary, making the amount of lubricant pumped out independent of the actual pumping time.
This type of dispenser is effective for machines which operate continuously. If, however, a thorough lubrication is not possible for some time there is the danger of misdosing since the signal to initiate lubrication will not come often enough. Thus when the machine being lubricated is not in continuous service, the lubrication offered by such dispensers is ineffective. More particularly if the machine is shut down just before it is due for an automatic lubrication cycle, when it is started up again the timer built into it goes through its entire cycle before lubricating again, so that in effect the time between succeeding lubrications will be excessive.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic lubricant dispenser.
Another object is the provision of such an improved automatic lubricant dispenser which overcomes the above-given disadvantages, that is which synchronizes the lubrication to the type of operation—intermittent or continuous—of the machine to which it is connected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An automatic lubricant dispenser has according to the invention a lower housing part formed with an outlet, a piston displaceable along an axis in the lower part and forming therein a compartment, a spindle extending along the axis, threaded into the piston, having an upper end above the piston provided with a lower coupling half, and a body of fluent lubricant filling the compartment and forming with the spindle, piston, and lower housing part a lower cartridge subassembly. An upper housing part removably securable to the lower part holds an electrical motor unit having an output shaft projecting downward at the axis and provided with an upper coupling half axially engageable with the lower coupling half. The coupling halves are axially engageable to rotationally couple the motor output shaft to the spindle so that electrical energization of the motor when the coupling halves are engaged displaces the piston and expresses lubricant from the outlet. A sensor connected to the shaft generates an output after a predetermined angular displacement of the shaft.
An erasable nonvolatile memory in the upper housing part is associated with a reset switch for clearing the nonvolatile memory and with electrically powered controller. This controller is also connected to the sensor means and nonvolatile memory for periodically energizing the motor, for storing in the nonvolatile memory information about elapsed time since last energization of the motor and the number of outputs emitted by the sensor means, and for reading the information stored in the memory.
Thus information about the elapsed time since the last lubrication cycle and about how much lubricant has been dispensed, which is proportional to the number of turns of the motor output shaft, is held in a nonvolatile memory. If the dispenser is shut off and turned back on later, it will pick up right where it left off, initiating the next lubrication cycle appropriately. Similarly it will be able to keep track of exactly how much of the lubricant remains.
According to the invention the reset switch is positioned for automatic actuation on removal and replacement of the cartridge subassembly. More particularly, the reset switch is operatively engageable with the piston so that when a full new cartridge is installed, the pulse register of the memory is reset to zero, although the register holding the time since last lubrication itself need not be reset. In order to accommodate somewhat different sizes of cartridge the reset switch includes an actuation rod operatively engageable with the cartridge subassembly and this actuation rod is axially compressible. In fact an automatic reader can be provided which works with conductive zones on the cartridge like a camera or with bumps on the cartridge to read the volume of the lubricant body in the cartridge and feeds this volume information to the microprocessor and therethrough to an appropriate register of the memory.
The automatic lubricant dispenser in accordance with the invention is further provided with input means connected to the microprocessor controller and therethrough to the nonvolatile memory for inputting a predetermined interval serving as the time between succeeding energizations of the motor by the microprocessor controller. Another input system is provided that is connected to the microprocessor controller and therethrough to the nonvolatile memory for inputting information corresponding to the volume of the lubricant body.
A signal or alarm is connected to the microprocessor controller and operable for signalling when the t
Albert Ralf
Bährend Susanne
Brand Stefan
Helbig Claus
May Anton
Dubno Herbert
Fenstermacher David
Perma-Tec GmbH & Co. KG
Wilford Andrew
LandOfFree
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