Abstract:
An industrial timer unit for monitoring a service interval of an internal combustion engine including a timer measuring an accumulated time the engine has operated; a timer control module receiving the accumulated time from the timer, and selectively zeroing the accumulated time; an oil service indicator for alerting in response to a signal from the timer control module.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM  
       [0001]    Applicants hereby claim priority based upon U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/451,505, filed Mar. 3, 2003, entitled “INDUSTRIAL TIMER UNIT AND CONTROL UNIT,” the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a device for monitoring the engine run time between oil changes.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The deleterious affects of viscosity breakdown of engine lubricants are well understood. Sensors for directly measuring the viscosity of engine oil are relatively expensive. For this reason most cars are not equipped such sensors. In the absence of a direct measurement of the lubricant viscosity, automobile manufacturers specify service intervals in terms of the number of miles and/or an elapsed time since the last service. Typically, consumers are told to change the engine lubricant every 3000 miles or 3 months whichever occurs first.  
           [0004]    The advantage of such a heuristic is its relative ease of measurement and implementation. Unfortunately, the conventional one-size-fits-all heuristic does not account for the driving characteristics of different users. Users such as taxis frequently allow the engine to idle for prolonged periods which dramatically hastens the occurrence of viscosity breakdown. Other users drive long distances at highway speeds, and thus do not encounter viscosity breakdown at 3000 miles.  
           [0005]    Mileage alone is not a good indicator of viscosity breakdown. The conventional 3000 mile service interval used by many vehicle owners results in some drivers changing their lubricant too frequently, which wastes money and pollutes the environment. Correspondingly, the conventional 3000 mile service interval results in some drivers not changing their lubricant frequently enough, which reduces the life of the engine.  
           [0006]    What is needed is an inexpensive device which provides a better measure of viscosity breakdown.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    Disclosed is an industrial timer unit for monitoring a service interval of an internal combustion engine. The industrial timer unit (ITU) includes a timer measuring an accumulated time the engine has operated; a timer control module receiving the accumulated time from said timer, and selectively zeroing said accumulated time; and an oil service indicator for alerting in response to a signal from said timer control module.  
           [0008]    According to one aspect of the invention the timer control unit stores a predefined service interval.  
           [0009]    According to one aspect of the invention the predefined service interval is user selectable.  
           [0010]    According to one aspect of the invention the zeroing of the timer control unit is user selectable.  
           [0011]    According to one aspect of the invention the indicator includes at least one of a visual and an audible alert.  
           [0012]    According to one aspect of the invention the ITU includes a memory for storing the accumulated engine run time. Moreover, the ITU may include a battery for the memory. Still further the ITU may be equipped with a battery service indicator operatively connected to the battery, the battery service indicator alerting a user when the battery requires servicing.  
           [0013]    According to one aspect of the invention the oil service indicator provides a visual indication of the percentage of time remaining in the service interval. The percentage may be calculated as a quotient of the accumulated time and the service interval.  
           [0014]    The ITU of the present invention is used to measure the run-time of an internal combustion engine. The ITU comprises a main body including: a timer measuring an accumulated time the engine has operated; and a timer control module receiving the accumulated time from said timer, and selectively zeroing said accumulated time; and a remote body including an oil service indicator for alerting in response to a signal from said timer control module.  
           [0015]    According to one aspect of the invention the remote body is adapted to be positioned within a passenger compartment of an automobile within the visual sightline of driver.  
           [0016]    According to one aspect of the invention the main body is adapted to be mounted within the engine compartment of an automobile.  
           [0017]    According to one aspect of the invention the main body is adapted to be positioned within a passenger compartment of an automobile outside of the visual sightline of driver.  
           [0018]    According to one aspect of the invention the main body includes a transmitter, said remote body includes a receiver, and said control unit transmits wireless signals to said remote body.  
           [0019]    Also disclosed is a system for monitoring a service interval for an internal combustion engine, comprising: an industrial timer unit and a base unit communicating with said industrial timer unit. The industrial timer unit is adapted to be mounted to a vehicle having an internal combustion engine and includes a timer measuring an accumulated time the engine has operated; a timer control module receiving the accumulated time from said timer, and selectively zeroing the accumulated time; and an oil service indicator for alerting in response to a signal from the timer control module. The base unit receives the accumulated time from the industrial timer, and storing the accumulated time in a database.  
           [0020]    In the preceding system, the industrial timer unit may include an identifier uniquely identifying the industrial timer unit. The identifier (which may be burned into a ROM) may be included in transmissions between the base unit and the industrial timer unit.  
           [0021]    In a system according to present invention the industrial timer unit may include a transceiver and the base unit comprises a transceiver, and the base unit communicates with the industrial timer unit using wireless transmissions.  
           [0022]    In a system according to present invention the base unit may be used to zero the accumulated time in a given timer control module.  
           [0023]    In a system according to present invention the base unit may be used to monitor plurality of industrial timer units. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]    The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 1A is a table showing the engine run time, actual mileage, and viscosity break down for a particular user;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 1B is a graph showing the relationship between engine run time and mileage driven for a particular user;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 1C is a graph showing the relationship between engine run time and viscosity break down for a particular user;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIGS. 2A and 2B are functional blocks diagram of an industrial timer unit according to the present invention;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 3A is a functional block diagram of a base unit for communicating with the industrial timer unit of FIGS. 2A and 2B; and  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 3B is a functional block diagram of system including a base unit according to FIG. 3 and at least one industrial timer unit according to FIGS. 2A or  2 B. 
     
    
       [0031]    While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0032]    The present invention relates to a timer and control system for recommending engine service based on the actual running time of an engine. The present invention does not directly measure viscosity breakdown, but instead measures the engine run time which has a high degree of correlation with viscosity breakdown.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 2A is a functional block diagram of an industrial timer unit  100  according to the present invention. As shown the industrial timer unit  100  includes a timer control module  102  used to specify the service interval, a clock or timer  104  which counts up or down from the service interval specified by the timer control device  102 , and an indicator  106  for alerting the user of the need to service the engine.  
         [0034]    The timer control module  102  is provided with a memory  116  for storing the accumulated engine run-time since the last time the unit was reset. The memory  116  may be any of a variety of commercially available memory devices such as random access memory or an erasable read only memory or the like capable of storing the accumulated engine run time.  
         [0035]    In the most basic embodiment, the clock or timer  104  triggers the indicator  106  when the service interval has been reached. In this most basic embodiment the indicator  106  can be a visual indicator such as a light emitting diode and/or a visual indicator such as a buzzer or the like.  
         [0036]    In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 2A the maintenance interval set point is manually selected using a selector  122  (FIG. 2A). The invention is not limited to the use of any particular selector; however, a series of dip switches or a rotary switch are contemplated and fall within the scope of the invention. Still further, the set point can be stored in a programmable memory or burned into a ROM.  
         [0037]    According to a slightly more enhanced embodiment of the invention, the industrial timer unit  100  includes a multi-segment indicator  108  or a series of intermediate indicators  108 ′ (FIG. 2A) which alert the user as the run-time nears the service interval. The intermediate indicators  108  can be a visual indicator such as a light emitting diode or the like. In this embodiment, the timer control unit  100  triggers different segments of the multi-segment indicator  108  or different ones of the intermediate indicators  108 ′ a pre-determined amount of time before the engine requires servicing.  
         [0038]    Alternatively, the indicators  108 ,  108 ′ may be configured to provide more detailed information, such as the percentage of run time remaining before the engine requires servicing. For the sake of example, the industrial timer unit  100  may be provided with three indicators  108 ,  108 ′ with the first indicator signifying that 25% of the service interval has elapsed, the second indicator signifying that 50% of the service interval has elapsed, and the third indicator signifying that 75% of the service interval has elapsed.  
         [0039]    Further still, the intermediate indicator  108  may be an analog meter.  
         [0040]    Advantageously, the industrial timer  100  of the present invention may readily be added as an after-market option to an existing device such as an automobile or the like. The industrial timer  100  is much simpler to install than a car radio, and simply requires connection to a continuous power source and to the alternator or the like. The engine run time is correlated with the flow of current through the alternator since current flows through the alternator whenever the engine is running.  
         [0041]    According to a preferred embodiment, the industrial timer  100  is mounted within the passenger compartment of the automobile such that the indicator  106  and intermediate indicator(s)  108  are within the visual range of the user.  
         [0042]    The industrial timer unit  100  (FIG. 2A) may be broken into a main body portion  100 A and a remote indicator panel  100 B (the combination of  100 A and  100   b  will be referenced as  100 ′). See FIG. 2B. The main body portion  100 A may be mounted in a location outside the visual range of the user, e.g. below the dashboard or within the engine compartment. The remote indicator panel  100 B would then be provided within the visual range of the user. Communication between the remote indicator panel  100 B and the main body portion  100 A may be accomplished using a direct physical connection, or may be a wireless communication. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that there are a multitude of ways to accomplish a wireless connection between the remote indicator panel  100 B and the main body portion  100 A. For example, the main body portion  100 A may be equipped with a transmitter or transceiver  120  and the remote indicator panel  100 B may be equipped with a receiver or transceiver  120 .  
         [0043]    As noted above, the timer control unit  102  is provided with a memory  116  for storing the accumulate engine run time. A battery  110  may optionally be provided to ensure that the engine run time information is retained in the case of power interruption. Further, a battery sensor  112  may optionally be provided to monitor the condition of the battery  110  and trigger a warning indicator  114  such as a light emitting diode and or a buzzer in the event the battery  110  requires service.  
         [0044]    Alternatively, the memory  116  may be a non-volatile memory which retains memory even in the absence of power, thereby eliminating the need for the battery  110 , battery sensor  112 , and warning indicator  114 .  
         [0045]    The industrial timer  100  of the present invention is ideally suited for monitoring fleet operations. A control module  200  (FIGS. 3A, 3B) may communicate with one or more industrial timers  100  for reading and controlling the industrial timer  100 ,  100 ′.  
         [0046]    The control module  200  receives (retrieves) and stores engine run time information from the industrial timer unit  100 . Data is transferred between the control module  200  and the industrial timer unit  100  using known means. Notably data may be transferred over a cable or via a wireless connection. An optional pair of transceivers  208  may be provided to facilitate wireless communication between the control module  200  and the ITU  100 ,  100 ′. See FIG. 3B.  
         [0047]    The control module  200  (FIG. 3A) includes a central processing unit (CPU)  204  for communicating with the timer control unit  102 , and data storage  206 .  
         [0048]    The industrial timer  100  (FIG. 2A) may include an identifier  118  which may reside in a read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM) or the like for uniquely identifying the vehicle.  
         [0049]    The control module  200  reads the engine run time and (optionally) the unit identifier  116  from the industrial timer  100 , and stores the information in the memory  206 . Moreover, the control module  200  may be used to adjust the maintenance interval set point stored in the industrial timer  100 .  
         [0050]    The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention.