Patent ID: 8739757

Claim:
A lubrication system of an internal combustion engine comprising: a generator configured to generate electricity by making use of the power generated by the internal combustion engine; a heating mechanism configured to heat lubricating oil of the internal combustion engine by making use of the energy generated when said generator carries out a power generation operation; a first detection unit configured to detect the temperature of the lubricating oil before the lubricating oil passes through said heating mechanism; a first calculation unit configured to calculate an amount of decrease of an engine load at a time of assuming that said heating mechanism has heated the lubricating oil by the use of a detected value of said first detection unit as a parameter before operation of said heating mechanism; a second calculation unit configured to calculate an amount of increase of the engine load at a time of assuming that said heating mechanism has heated the lubricating oil and that the power generation operation of said generator has been carried out in order to supply the energy to said heating mechanism before operation of said heating mechanism; and a control unit configured to permit said generator to carry out the power generation operation in order to supply energy to said heating mechanism in cases where a result of the calculation of said first calculation unit exceeds a result of the calculation of said second calculation unit, wherein said first calculation unit calculates a first engine load which is an engine load before operation of said heating mechanism by the use of a temperature of the lubricating oil detected by said first detection unit as a parameter, calculates a second engine load which is an engine load at the time of assuming that said heating mechanism has been operated by the use of, as a parameter, a temperature of the lubricating oil at the time of assuming that said heating mechanism has been operated, and calculates the amount of decrease of the engine load at the time of assuming that said heating mechanism has been operated by subtracting the first engine load from the second engine load.