Method and apparatus for automatically feeding lubricating oil using microcomputer

Abstract: A method and apparatus for automatically feeding lubricating oil to bearing portions of machine parts using a microcomputer (10). According to the method and apparatus, each discharge time of lubricating oil for each discharge mode is set and the operation of an electrochemical reactor (20) is controlled in accordance with the set discharge mode under the control of the microcomputer (10). At the completion of the set discharge mode, a discharge mode for a minimum discharge time, for example, for one month, is set to completely discharge the remaining lubricating oil. The set lubricating oil discharge mode and the determined discharge time are displayed on a liquid crystal display (11) for a user's convenience in use.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically feeding lubricating oil to bearing portions of various machine parts (US 5 381 874). In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically feeding lubricating oil using a microcomputer whereby when a predetermined time for discharging lubricating oil terminates, a discharge mode for a minimum time, for example, for one month, is set to completely discharge the remaining lubricating oil, and the predetermined discharge time is displayed by a display device. 2. Description of the Prior Art Conventionally, an automatic lubricating oil feeding apparatus using gas pressure has been proposed to automatically feed lubricating oil such as grease to bearing portions of the machine parts of various industrial equipments. Such an automatic lubricating oil feeding apparatus has advantages in that it can continuously feed lubricating oil to places which need the lubricating oil such as bearings without the necessity of a manual feeding operation. According to the conventional lubricating oil feeding apparatus, the lubricating oil is automatically discharged by a piston which moves downward by a diaphragm. This diaphragm is extended to move the piston by gas pressure provided by an electrochemical reactor. The gas reaction time and the gas pressure of the electrochemical reactor are adjusted by a control circuit, and thus the discharge of lubricating oil can be automatically performed extending from several months to several tens of months. FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of a conventional lubricating oil feeding apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, between an electrochemical reactor 20 and a driving power supply B + , a plurality of resistors R1 to R5 and a plurality of switches S1 to S5 are connected in series to adjust the current flowing to the electrochemical reactor 20. A display section for visually indicating the operation of the electrochemical reactor 20 is composed of a light-emitting diode LED, driving transistors Q1 to Q3, and resistors. According to the conventional lubricating oil feeding apparatus as constructed above, the amount of current applied to the electrochemical reactor 20 is varied in accordance with a specific resistance determined by the on/off state of the switches S1 to S5 to adjust the reaction time of the electrochemical reactor (e.g., gas chamber) 20. The reaction time corresponds to the lubricating oil discharge time, and is extended from one month to several months. During the reaction time, the light-emitting diode is turned on to display the operating state of the electrochemical reactor. The electrochemical reaction time is adjusted by controlling the current consumption of the electrochemical reactor and the current consumption is controlled according to the resistance selected by the switches S1 to S5. Accordingly, the conventional apparatus has drawbacks in that the environmental conditions such as the condition inside the bearing portion, the temperature change, etc., cannot be reflected in controlling the lubricating oil discharge time. Further, as time goes by, the internal resistance of the electrochemical reactor (e.g., gas chamber) may vary, causing the current consumption of the reactor also to vary. This causes the proper and accurate discharge of lubricating oil in time and in amount not to be achieved. Also, according to the conventional apparatus, the predetermined discharge time can be recognized only by checking the on/off state of the switches to cause inconvenience in use. Further, in the event that a portion of the lubricating oil still remains due to the external or internal factors when the predetermined discharge time elapses, a user cannot identify whether or not the amount of the remaining lubricating oil is sufficient for setting of the discharge time again, and thus he can but discard the remaining oil. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems involved in the prior art, and to provide a method and apparatus for automatically feeding lubricating oil whereby a desired discharge time of lubricating oil can be easily determined using a microcomputer. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for automatically feeding lubricating oil which can display the determined discharge time of lubricating oil by means of a liquid crystal display to provide convenience in use. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for automatically feeding lubricating oil which can guide an accurate lubricating oil discharge operation with respect to a predetermined discharge time by compensating for the change of the internal resistance of the electrochemical reactor during the discharge time. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for automatically feeding lubricating oil which can completely discharge the remaining lubricating oil by automatically setting a discharge mode for a minimum time when the determined discharge time elapses. In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic lubricating oil feeding apparatus using an electrochemical reactor, the apparatus comprising: mode selection means for selecting a discharge mode of lubricating oil; a microcomputer for computing a discharge time according to the selected mode and providing to the electrochemical reactor a control signal corresponding to the computed discharge time; and a liquid crystal display for displaying the selected mode and/or the computed discharge time under the control of the microcomputer. In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of automatically feeding lubricating oil using an electrochemical reactor, the method comprising the steps of: determining a discharge time of lubricating oil for each discharge mode to be set; controlling the operation of the electrochemical reactor in accordance with the determined discharge time; detecting completion of the set discharge mode; and setting a discharge mode for a minimum discharge time when the set discharge mode is completed, to rapidly discharge the remaining lubricating oil. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above objects, other features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of a conventional lubricating oil feeding apparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the lubricating oil feeding apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an algorithm diagram explaining the lubricating oil feeding method according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram explaining the output control timing according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 2, the automatic lubricating oil feeding apparatus according to the present invention includes a microcomputer 10 capable of storing and computing input data and performing an input/output control, a mode switch MS for determining and inputting discharge time data of lubricating oil to the microcomputer 10, a liquid crystal display (LCD) 11 which is driven by an LCD driver 8 provided in the microcomputer 10, a purge driver 12 which is driven by the maximum output of a power driver 6 provided in the microcomputer 10, a driver 13 which is driven by an output of the power driver 6 corresponding to a selected mode, and an electrochemical reactor 20 receiving its operating power supply B + through the purge driver 12 and the driver 13. The operation of the lubricating oil feeding apparatus according to the present invention as constructed above will be explained with reference to FIGs. 2 to 4. The lubricating oil feeding apparatus according to the present invention is properly installed in a required machine parts. If a user manipulates the mode switch MS to select a discharge mode, the microcomputer 10 performs an operating month input mode (step S1 in FIG. 3), for example, for selecting one of 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12-month modes. If it is determined that the selected mode is a purge mode (step S2 in FIG, 3), the microcomputer 10 turns on its output port (step S3 in FIG. 3) to operate the electrochemical reactor 20 with its maximum electrochemical reaction level. Here, the term "on-state of the output port" means a 'LOW' logic level. As the output port is turned on, the output of the power driver 6 is applied to the purge driver 12, and the power supply B + flows to the driver 12 through the electrochemical reactor 20, causing the lubricating oil to be discharged. Meanwhile, if the operating month is inputted instead of determining the purge mode, the microcomputer 10 performs its control operation in accordance with the corresponding input mode. Specifically, if the operating time reaches (step S5 in FIG. 3) as a real time counting is performed (step S4 in FIG. 3), a tick clock is generated in the microcomputer 10 and the microcomputer 10 performs the determined mode (step S6 in FIG. 3), turning on its output port (step S7 in FIG. 3). Thereafter, the microcomputer 10 detects whether or not the output time per unit time of each mode is zero (i.e., K time=0) (step S8 in FIG. 3), and if it is detected that the K time is zero, the microcomputer 10 turns off its output port (step S9 in FIG. 3) to limit the output of the driver 12 or 13. Here, the term "off-state of the output port" means a 'HIGH' logic level. Accordingly, the reaction time of the electrochemical reactor 20 is controlled in such a manner that, in order to control the discharge amount of the lubricating oil, the operating time for each selected mode, i.e., the K time, is determined by the amount of the current consumption of the electrochemical reactor 20, which is obtained by computing an expression I×TM÷TC, where I is the amount of current, TC is a unit time, and TM is the output time according to the selected mode. If it is assumed that the K time for the 1-month mode is Xt, the K times for other modes can be obtained as the following table, respectively. MODE K TIME DETERMINED DAYS 1 MONTH K = Xt 30 DAYS 2 MONTHS K = Xt * 1/2 * EFFICIENCY 60 DAYS 3 MONTHS K = Xt * 1/3 * EFFICIENCY 90 DAYS 6 MONTHS K = Xt * 1/6 * EFFICIENCY 180 DAYS 12 MONTHS K = Xt * 1/12 * EFFICIENCY 360 DAYS In the table, the K time for each mode is calculated by multiplying Xt by the efficiency of the gas chamber which is converted from the specific resistance value of the gas chamber in accordance with the passed time. Thereafter, if it is determined that the counted days become equal to the predetermined days (step S15 in FIG. 3), the set discharge mode is cleared, and the discharge mode for the minimum time, i.e., for one month, is set under the control of the microcomputer 10 (step.S16 in FIG. 3), so that the remaining lubricating oil is completely discharged during the minimum time. At this time, the power driver 6 and the driver 13 operate for the one-month mode until the power supply B + being supplied thereto is expired. While the discharge operation is performed, the set mode is displayed on the LCD as the number of discharge months, and thus a user can easily recognize the discharge months of the present mode. While the present invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims: An automatic lubricating oil feeding method using an electrochemical reactor, the method comprising the steps of: determining a discharge time of lubricating oil for each discharge mode to be set; controlling the operation of the electrochemical reactor in accordance with the determined discharge time; detecting completion of the set discharge mode; and setting a discharge mode for a minimum discharge time when the set discharge mode is completed, to rapidly discharge the remaining lubricating oil. An automatic lubricating oil feeding apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a mode selection switch for selecting a discharge mode of lubricating oil; a microcomputer for computing a discharge time according to the selected mode and providing to the electrochemical reactor a control signal corresponding to the computed discharge time; and a display for displaying the selected mode and/or the computed discharge time under the control of the microcomputer, caracterized in that the display is a liquid crystal display and in that the apparatus uses an electrochemical reactor. An automatic lubricating oil feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 2, further comprising: an liquid crystal display driver for driving the liquid crystal display under the control of the microcomputer; a purge driver for driving the electrochemical reactor with a maximum output under the control of the microcomputer; and a driver for driving the electrochemical reactor in accordance with the selected mode under the control of the micro computer.

Inventors: YNAG YUN JONG, YNAG, YUN JONG
Applicants: KOREA LUBE TECH CO LTD, KOREA LUBE-TECH CO., LTD.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: F16N11
IPC codes: F16N11, F16N7