AU718684B2

AU718684B2 - Lubricant dispenser

Info

Publication number: AU718684B2
Application number: AU46095/97A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Siehe Beiblatt
Original assignee: perma tec GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: perma tec GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1996-11-27
Filing date: 1997-11-27
Publication date: 2000-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2017-11-27
Also published as: EP0845631B1; EP0845631A1; ES2118695T3; JPH10220688A; AU4609597A; ES2118695T1; ATE227009T1; DE59708614D1

Abstract

The dispenser has a housing upper part (3) which is screwable onto a lower part (2). A positioning piston (6) is provided together with a switch plate (7) with control device for the electric motor drive (4), an externally operable switch (15) and batteries (8). The housing lower part has an accommodation chamber (9) for lubricant supply together with a lower side lubricant outlet (10). The positioning piston is arranged non-rotatably in the accommodation chamber, is secured by a threaded spindle (11) and is movable in an ejection direction through a rotary movement of the spindle. An insert (12) is arranged in the housing and has a mounting plate (13) for the motor. The insert also contains an accommodation space for the batteries and supports the switch plate. The output shaft (5) of the motor projects at the under side of the mounting plate and is detachably fastened to the threaded spindle through a plug coupling (17).

Description

P/00/0 11 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: **:Acua Inventor(s): Address for Service: invention Title: TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT sATztNeER imfift& Co.

Siehe Beiblatt

T

7 CALLINAN LAWRIE, 711 High Street, Kew, 3101, Victoria, Australia "LUBRICANT DISPENSER" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 11/1 1/97LP9509.CS, I Description The invention concerns a lubricant dispenser, having a cylindrical housing, comprising a bottom housing part and a top housing part which can be screwed on, an electromotive drive with an electric motor, a reducing transmission and a threaded spindle, an adjusting piston, a switching bar in the top housing part with a control device for the electric motor drive, as well as batteries, wherein the bottom housing part has a holding chamber for a lubricant supply as well as a bottom part which can be attached to the machine including the lubricant dispensing duct and wherein the adjusting piston is fitted in the holding chamber, said piston is joined with a spindle nut guided on the threaded spindle and it can be displaced in the direction of discharge by a rotating movement of the threaded spindle.

::20 In the case of the lubricant dispenser known from DE-U 92 14 096, on which the invention is based, the top housing part of the lubricant dispenser is constructed also as the transmission housing, in which the gears of the reducing drive as well as the threaded spindle are mounted in a rotatable manner. In addition, the top housing part of the lubricant dispenser, constructed as transmission housing, accommodates the switching S bar and contains a chamber to accommodate the batteries. The electric motor is flange mounted on the underside on a bottom of the top housing part. The top housing part, constructed as 30 transmission housing, comprises two housing halves welded together. A cover glass, which can be screwed off, in the region of the switching plate and a flap lid for the battery compartment are necessary to enable the settings of the switching bar and the replacement of the batteries. As far as the manufacturing technology is concerned, the arrangement is very expensive.

The object of the invention is to simplify the construction of the lubricant dispenser, while making the switching bar and the batteries easily accessible.

To achieve this objective, the invention teaches: that the electromotive drive has a basically cylindrical drive housing, which contains the electric motor and the reducing transmission gears, that in the housing a replaceable insert is provided, which has a cylindrical casing as well as mounting plate at the bottom side for the drive housing of the electromotive drive and an accommodating chamber to insert the batteries, while the drive housing is fastened on the mounting plate in an off-centre position, so that the threaded spindle provided off-centre on the face of the drive housing protrudes centrally into the holding chamber of the bottom housing part and the accommodating chamber for the batteries is laterally adjacent to the drive housing, and that the insert is inserted into the bottom housing part and .2 has an external collar which can be clamped between the bottom housing part and the top housing part.

When the lubricant dispenser according to the invention is dismantled, e.g. for the purpose of filling with new lubricant and/or replacing the batteries, basically it splits into three parts, namely the top housing part, the insert with the electromotive drive and battery compartment contained therein as well as the bottom housing part. The top housing part assumes the function of a cover. The bottom housing part accommodates the lubricant supply. The insert with the associated components represents the drive unit. By screwing the top housing part together with the bottom housing part the insert can be clamped and fixed in its position. The dismantled lubricant dispenser can be put together with a few movements.

In particular, there are several possibilities within the scope of the invention for a further development and construction.

Thus according to a preferred execution of the invention, an outward directed switch is provided, which is connected with the switching bar and makes the on and off switching of the lubricant dispenser feasible. In a further development the invention teaches that the switching bar is provided horizontally above the rear end of the geared motor and that a pressure element is inserted into the face of the top housing part and by the adjusting movement of this element the switch provided on the upper side of the switching plate can be actuated. The pressure element can be constructed as a pushbutton, which, when being actuated, glides along a wedged surface moulded on the top housing part and in addition to the rotating movement, executes an axial movement also.

The switching bar carries the electrical control circuitry with, if applicable, the micro-processor, as well as the control device for the electromotive drive, Switching or sensor elements may be connected to the electrical control device, with which the movement and/or the adjustment of the threaded spindle in the cylindrical drive housing is interrogated 0 directly or indirectly. According to a preferred arrangement the drive housing of the electromotive drive is fastened on the mounting plate with the inclusion of spacers and on the upper side of the mounting plate sensor elements are provided in the region of the output shaft or threaded spindle, with which the movement and/or setting of the threaded spindle can be interrogated directly or indirectly.

The lubricant dispenser according to the invention is arranged so that the batteries can be replaced in a simple manner as well as the replacement of the components for the lubricant supply is also feasible when this has been exhausted or has to be replaced for some other reasons. The top housing part and the bottom housing part are screwed together in a detachable manner. For the purpose of exchange and renewal of the batteries and/or of the lubricant supply the top housing part is screwed off. The arrangement can be such that the threaded spindle with the threaded nut remains in the top housing part.

By means of a reversible motor drive, appropriately before the screwed joint between the top housing part and the bottom housing part is undone, the adjusting piston can be moved back into a top initial position.

Another execution of the invention provides that the threaded spindle is connected by means of a socket coupling with an output shaft of the electromotive drive protruding on the underside of the mounting plate and that the bottom housing part with the lubricant supply situated in the holding chamber, the adjusting piston and the threaded spindle forms an assembly-ready component which can be replaced as a unit. In the case of this design the filling of the holding chamber with the lubricant supply and the positioning of the arrangement comprising the adjusting piston and the threaded spindle within the holding chamber of the bottom housing part is carried out in the factory and is not subject to the user's influence. The user merely joins the output shaft and the threaded spindle by means of the socket coupling and assembles the housing parts.

The sub-assembly comprising the bottom housing part, the adjusting piston and the threaded spindle is a throw-away part.

It is understood that the bottom housing part, which in most 9** cases is made of plastics, the adjustment piston which is also made of plastics and the threaded spindle, which in most cases is made of metal, can also be separately disposed of.

When the lubricant is replaced, a pressure builds up in the holding chamber. An axial force acts via the piston area of the adjusting piston on the threaded spindle in the direction of the output shaft and the socket coupling. This axial force 30 prevents the disengagement of the threaded spindle from the socket coupling. To keep the axial force away from the electromotive drive, the socket coupling usefully rests on a sliding ring provided on the underside of the mounting plate, which sliding ring accepts the axial forces and transfers these to the mounting plate and consequently to the housing of the lubricant dispenser. At its rear end the threaded spindle can have a polygonal head which engages the socket coupling in a form-locking manner and forms a stop for the spindle nut of the adjusting piston guided on the threaded spindle.

In a further development the invention teaches that an elastomeric ring is inserted into the spindle nut of the adjusting piston, which elastomeric ring eliminates the radial play between the threaded spindle and the spindle nut.

Furthermore, the adjusting piston on its edge has an elastomeric seal, which by virtue of its friction on the bottom housing part keeps the adjusting piston in the holding chamber in a manner that it cannot rotate.

The invention is explained in detail below based on a drawing illustrating only one embodiment. In a schematic illustration they show in: Fig.l a longitudinal section along a lubricant dispenser according to the invention, Fig.2 a section in the direction A-A across the subject of Fig.l, and 0:00 Fig.3 a longitudinal section along a further execution of the lubricant dispenser according to the invention.

a The lubricant dispenser illustrated in the figures is for the delivery of a lubricant to a machine. The lubricant dispenser has a cylindrical housing 1, consisting of a bottom housing part 2 and a top housing part 3 which can be screwed on the 0 bottom part. The bottom housing part 2 contains a holding chamber 4 for a supply of lubricant and on the bottom a part, which can be attached to the machine including the lubricant dispensing duct 5. Further components of the basic construction of the lubricant dispenser are an electromotive drive 6 with an electric motor, a reducing transmission and a threaded spindle 7, an adjusting piston 8 fitted in the holding chamber 4, whose movement can be controlled as a function of the lubricant feeding rate, a switching bar 9 with a control device for the electromotive drive 6, as well as batteries 10. A spindle nut 11 is provided on the threaded spindle 7, to which nut the adjusting piston is attached.

The electromotive drive 6 comprises an electric motor and a reducing transmission and has an essentially cylindrical drive housing 12. An output shaft 13, joined with the threaded spindle 7, extends off-centre from the drive housing 12. The electromotive drive 6 is provided off-centre in such a manner, that the threaded spindle 7 protrudes centrally into the holding chamber 4. The top housing part 3 and the bottom housing part 2, in which the holding chamber is situated, are united by means of a threaded joint 14.

In the housing 1 a replaceable insert 15 is provided, which has a cylindrical casing 16 as well as a mounting plate 17 at the bottom for the drive housing 12 of the electromotive drive 6 and an accommodating chamber for the insertion of the batteries 10. The insert 15 is inserted into the bottom housing part 2 0 and it has an external collar 18 which can be clamped between the bottom housing part 2 and the top housing part 3.

The switching bar 9 is situated in the top housing part 3 and carries the electrical control circuitry with, if applicable, the micro-processor, as well as the control device for the ~electromotive drive 6. The switching bar 9 has an outward directed switch 19 for the control unit, enabling the switching on and off of the lubricant dispenser (Fig.l).

0 The electrical control device may have switching and sensor elements (not illustrated), which, for example, are provided on the upper side of the mounting plate 17 in the region of the output shaft 13 joined coaxially with the threaded spindle 7, by means of which the movement and/or the setting of the threaded spindle 7 can be interrogated directly or indirectly.

However, an electrical control unit could be also envisaged, which has a time-dependent control for the movement of the threaded spindle. In this case the sensor elements, which interrogate the position of the threaded spindle directly or indirectly, are not required.

The threaded joint 14 between the top housing part 3 and the bottom housing part 2 is detachable. To replace the batteries and/or to renew the lubricant supply the top housing part 3 can be removed. During this removal the threaded spindle 7 and the spindle nut 11 remain in the top housing part 3. Naturally, in this conjunction the adjusting piston 8 is appropriately moved back to its initial position, shown in Fig.l. For this purpose the electromotive drive can be executed in a reversible manner.

The insert 15 can be removed from the bottom housing part 2 when the top housing part 3 and the bottom hosing part 2 have been separated in the above described manner.

In the execution illustrated in Fig.3 the switching bar 9 is arranged horizontally above the rear end of the electric motor drive 6. A pressure element 20 is inserted in the face of the top housing part 3 and by the adjusting movement of the 0 pressure element the switch 19, provided on the upper side of the switching bar 9, can be actuated. In the embodiment the pressure element 20 is executed as a push-button which, when actuated, glides along a wedged surface moulded in the top housing part and, in addition to the rotating movement, executes an axial movement also.

It becomes further obvious from Fig.3, that the output shaft 13 of the geared motor, fastened on the mounting plate, protrudes past the underside of the mounting plate 17 and is detachable 30 connected with the threaded spindle 7 by means of a socket coupling 21. The bottom housing part 2 with the lubricant supply held in the holding chamber 4, the adjusting piston 8 and the threaded spindle 7 forms a sub-assembly which is ready to be installed and can be replaced as a unit. The socket coupling 21 is resting against a sliding ring 22 provided on the underside of the mounting plate 17. The sliding ring 22 accepts the axial forces and transfers these to the mounting plate 17. On its rear end the threaded spindle 7 has a I, polygonal head 23, which engages the socket coupling 21 in a form-locking manner and forms a stop for the spindle nut 11 of the adjusting piston guided on the threaded spindle 7. Into the spindle nut 11 of the adjusting piston an elastomeric ring 24 is inserted, which ring eliminates the radial play between the threaded spindle 7 and the spindle nut 11. It can be seen from Fig.3 that the adjusting piston 8 on its edge has elastomeric seals 25 which by virtue of their friction on the bottom housing part 2 keep the adjusting piston 8 in the holding chamber 4 in such a manner that it cannot rotate.

In the case of the execution according to Fig.3 the bottom housing part 2 is supplied as a factory-manufactured subassembly filled with the lubricant, fixed with the adjusting piston 8 and the threaded spindle 7. The insert 15 with the geared motor forms a further, standardised and reusable component. The user places the insert 15 into the bottom housing part, whereby the connecting end of the threaded spindle 7 is guided into the socket coupling 21. Subsequently the top housing part 3 is screwed on, whereby the insert 15 is clamped and thus fixed between the top housing part 3 and the bottom housing part 2.

.*The lubricant dispenser is operated by means of the rotating button 20. The control device has a timer as well as a contactfree sensor (not illustrated), whereby the timer gives a i starting pulse for the geared motor in predetermined time intervals and whereby the sensor monitors directly and indirectly the rotational movement of the output shaft and a.

after a predetermined number of revolutions emits a stop signal to the geared motor. Furthermore, in an appropriate manner the control device has an overload protection, which measures the current supply to the geared motor and interrupts the current supply to the geared motor when the current consumption exceeds a nominal value or a predetermined maximum value. After exceeding the maximum permissible current supply several times, the electronics switches off the lubricant dispenser automatically and emits a disruption signal.

Where the terms "comprise", "comprises", "comprised" or "comprising" are used in this specification, they are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components referred to, but not to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other feature, integer, step, component or group thereof.

*0

S*

*°oo 11/11/97LP9509.P8A.8

Claims

4.6. the electromotive drive has a basically cylindrical drive housing, which contains the electric motor and the reducing transmission gears, in the housing a replaceable insert is provided, which has a cylindrical casing as well as mounting plate at the bottom side for the drive housing of the electromotive drive and an accommodating chamber to insert the batteries, while the drive housing is fastened on the mounting plate in an off-centre position, so that the threaded spindle provided off-centre on the face of the drive housing protrudes centrally into the holding chamber of the bottom housing part and the accommodating chamber for the batteries is laterally adjacent to the drive housing, and the insert is inserted into the bottom housing part and has an external collar which can be clamped between the bottom housing part and the top housing part. 2. A lubricant dispenser according to claim i, characterised in that an outward directed switch is provided, which is connected with the switching bar and makes the on and off switching of the lubricant dispenser feasible. 3. A lubricant dispenser according to claim i, characterised in that the switching bar is provided horizontally above the rear end of the geared motor and that a pressure element is inserted into the face of the top housing part and by the adjusting movement of this element the switch provided on the upper side of the switching plate can be actuated. 4. A lubricant dispenser according to claim 3, characterised in that the pressure element is constructed as a push- button, which, when being actuated, glides along a wedged surface moulded on the top housing part and in addition to S: the rotating movement, executes an axial movement also. Re..
5. A lubricant dispenser according to claim i, characterised in that the drive housing of the electromotive drive is fastened on the mounting plate with the inclusion of spacers and that on the upper side of the mounting plate sensor elements are provided in the region of the output $25 shaft joined to the threaded spindle, with which the movement and/or setting of the threaded spindle can be C*CCRR interrogated directly or indirectly.
6. A lubricant dispenser according to any one of the claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the threaded spindle is connected by means of a socket coupling with an output shaft of the electromotive drive protruding on the underside of the mounting plate and that the bottom housing part with the lubricant supply situated in the holding chamber, the adjusting piston and the threaded spindle forms an assembly-ready component which can be replaced as a unit.
7. A lubricant dispenser according to claim 6, characterised in that the socket coupling rests on a sliding ring provided on the underside of the mounting plate, which sliding ring accepts the axial forces and transfers these to the mounting plate.
8. A lubricant dispenser according to claim 7, characterised in that at its rear end the threaded spindle has a polygonal head which engages the socket coupling in a form- locking manner and forms a stop for the spindle nut of the adjusting piston guided on the threaded spindle.
9. A lubricant dispenser according to claim 8, characterised in that an elastomeric ring is inserted into the spindle nut of the adjusting piston, which elastomeric ring eliminates the radial play between the threaded spindle and the spindle nut.
10. A lubricant dispenser according to any one of the claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the adjusting piston on its edge has at least one elastomeric seal, which by virtue of its friction on the bottom housing part keeps the adjusting piston in the holding chamber in a manner that it cannot rotate. DATED this 27th day of November, 1997. 000 o- C SATZINGER NItBH CO. By their Patent Attorneys: CALLINAN LAWRIE I/l VoiE-tseir,