Patent ID: 7461532

Claim:
In a rolling mill in which oil is pumped from a reservoir via feed piping and branch feed lines to oil film bearings and oil is returned from the bearings via branch drain lines and return piping to the reservoir, a monitoring and alarm system comprising: first sensors in said branch drain lines for measuring the flow of oil draining from said bearings and for generating first status signals representative thereof; second sensors in said branch feed lines for measuring the theoretical flow rate of oil being delivered to said bearings and for generating second status signals representative thereof; third sensors in said branch feed lines for sensing the temperature of oil being delivered to said bearings and for generating third status signals representative thereof; alarms for alerting mill operating personnel that individual bearings are in danger of being damaged by continued operation; and a controller having a first evaluator responsive to said first status signals for activating said alarms in the event that the flow of oil in said branch drain lines is less than that required to properly lubricate said bearings, and having a calculator responsive to said second and third status signals for calculating the rate of flow of oil to said bearings and for activating said alarms in the event that said rate of flow is less than that required to properly lubricate said bearings.