JP3313441B2 - Rolling bearing lubricant supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rolling bearing lubricant supply device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional rolling bearing lubricant supply apparatus, a lubricating oil supply apparatus detects a supply state, and indirectly detects a lubrication abnormality in the rolling bearing based on the detected state. It corresponds to. Alternatively, a temperature sensor is provided in the bearing housing, and the lubrication abnormality of the bearing is determined by an increase in the housing temperature.

[0003]

In the prior art rolling bearing lubricant supply apparatus described above, in the former case, the lubrication abnormality of the rolling bearing is indirectly detected from the detection of the supply state on the lubricating oil supply apparatus side. , The detection reliability of the lubrication abnormality actually occurring in the rolling bearing is low. Therefore, it is not possible to appropriately cope with the lubrication abnormality in the rolling bearing during rotation, and it is impossible to reliably prevent breakage. In the latter case, after the temperature of the rolling bearing has risen, that is, abnormal lubrication is detected afterwards, it is not possible to prevent the rolling bearing from being completely damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to reliably detect an actual lubrication abnormality of a rolling bearing in a rolling bearing lubricant supply device.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a rolling bearing lubricant supply device in which a sensing end is exposed between inner and outer rings of a rolling bearing, is provided to face a cage surface, and a gap with the cage surface is provided.
A capacitance non-contact sensor that detects capacitance between the two, a lubricant supply unit that supplies a lubricant between the inner and outer rings of the rolling bearing, and a detection value and a standard value of the capacitance non-contact sensor. Control means for controlling the operation of the lubricant supply means based on the comparison result.

[0006]

The rolling bearing is lubricated when the lubricant is supplied between the inner and outer rings by the lubricant supply means, and rotates.
The capacitance between the capacitive non-contact sensor and the surface of the retainer fluctuates depending on the amount of lubricant in the rolling bearing during rotation. It is calculated as a value.

The above-mentioned capacitance of the rotating rolling bearing is detected by a capacitance type non-contact sensor. The detected value is compared with the standard value in the control means.
If the amount of lubricant in the rolling bearing during rotation is insufficient, seizure may occur, or it may become excessive, resulting in an increase in lubricant agitation resistance and an increase in lubricant temperature. Occurs, a difference occurs between the detected value of the capacitance and the standard value, whereby the control means controls the operation of the lubricant supply means.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A rolling bearing lubricant supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment of the present invention, a ball bearing is exemplified as a rolling bearing, and an oil / air lubrication in which a small amount of oil is mixed with air and ejected is exemplified as a lubrication method.

In FIG. 1, a side surface of a ball bearing A composed of an outer ring 1, an inner ring 2, a ball 3, and a
An air supply nozzle 5 is provided adjacent to the air supply nozzle 5.
a is toward the ball 3 and the retainer 4 between the outer ring 1 and the inner ring 2. A capacitive non-contact displacement sensor 6 (hereinafter, referred to as a sensor 6) is embedded in the outer ring 1 in a radial direction from an outer peripheral surface of the outer ring 1, and a detection tip of the sensor 6 is
For example, it is exposed on the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 1 at a position off the raceway surface,
It faces the surface of the retainer 4. The sensor 6 includes an amplifier 7
Is connected so as to input a detection signal to the monitoring system 8 via the.

On the other hand, an oil / air supply device B for supplying oil / air to the ball bearing A via an oil / air supply nozzle 5 is connected to a pressure air supply source (not shown) as shown in FIG. The outlet of the electromagnetic on-off valve 21 (for stopping the pressurized air) is connected to a variable throttle valve 23a of a mixing valve 23 via a pipe 22 and is controlled by a timer 24. ) Is connected to the pneumatic pump. Further, a pneumatic pressure gauge 27 and a pressure switch 28 are connected to an outlet of the electromagnetic on-off valve 21.

An air pressure pump 26 is provided in an oil tank 29, and pipes oil from the oil tank 29 to a fixed quantity valve 23 b of the mixing valve 23.
It is intended to be supplied via 30. An oil level switch 31 is provided in the oil tank 29, and a pressure switch 32 for oil is connected to the pipeline 30. The mixing valve 23 is connected to the supply nozzle 5, and the oil supplied to the pipe 30 is mixed with the pressure air supplied to the pipe 22 by the mixing valve 23 to become oil / air. It is supplied to a ball bearing.

The pressure switch 28, the pressure switch 32 and the oil level switch 31 are connected to input a detection signal to the monitoring system 8, respectively. The monitoring system 8 is connected to input a command signal to the controller 9, and the controller 9 is connected to operate the alarm device 10 and the electromagnetic on-off valve 21 of the oil / air supply device B based on the command signal. ing.

The operation of the above-described rolling bearing lubricant supply device will be described. Under the control of the controller 9, the pressure air supplied from the pressure air supply source (not shown) is supplied to the mixing valve 23 through the pipe 22 while the electromagnetic on-off valve 21 is open. The air pressure at that time is a pressure gauge 27
And is detected by the pressure switch 28.

The supply air is also intermittently supplied to a pneumatic pump 26 via an electromagnetic opening / closing valve 21 which is intermittently opened and closed under the control of a timer 24. The oil of 29 is supplied to the mixing valve 23 via the pipe 30 little by little. The oil pressure at that time is detected by the pressure switch 32. The oil level of the oil tank 29 is also detected by the oil level switch 31.

The oil supplied to the mixing valve 23 little by little is mixed with the pressurized air in the mixing valve 23 to become oil / air, and is rotated through the supply nozzle 5 from the ejection port 5a at the required minimum flow rate. Is injected between the outer ring 1 and the inner ring 2 in the ball bearing A.

The ball bearing A rotates while being lubricated by the injected oil / air, and the sensor 6 in the ball bearing A at that time is rotated.
Is detected by the sensor 6 in the gap between the detection tip of the sensor 4 and the surface of the holder 4. The detection signal of the sensor 6 is amplified by the amplifier 7 and input to the monitoring system 8 as a detected value of the capacitance, and the detected value is displayed.

Although the above-mentioned capacitance varies depending on the amount of oil in the rotating ball bearing A, the capacitance for an appropriate amount of oil is stored in the monitoring system 8 as a standard value, In the monitoring system 8, the detection signal, that is, the detected value of the capacitance is compared with a standard value. If the amount of oil in the rotating ball bearing A becomes insufficient and causes oil shortage, or if the amount of oil becomes excessive and lubrication abnormality occurs, the detected capacitance value and the standard value A command signal is input from the monitoring system 8 to the controller 9.

Then, the controller 9 operates the alarm 10 so as to issue an audiovisual alarm of lubrication abnormality, and also operates so as to close the electromagnetic on-off valve 21. The supply of air to the mixing valve 23 is stopped by closing the electromagnetic on-off valve 21, and the operation of the air pressure pump 26 is stopped,
The supply of the oil to the mixing valve 23 is stopped. That is, the supply of oil / air to the ball bearing A is stopped, and the driven parts such as the spindle supported by the ball bearing A are stopped, so that a serious accident such as bearing damage is prevented.

When an abnormality in the supply air pressure, an abnormality in the supply oil pressure, or an abnormality in the oil level of the oil tank occurs, the respective abnormality detection signals are input to the monitoring system 8, and in any case, the lubrication abnormality is detected. As in the case described above, the display thereof, the alarm 10 and the operation of the solenoid on-off valve 21 are performed. Thereby, the operator deals with those abnormalities.

Further, in the above embodiment, when a lubrication abnormality occurs, all the systems are stopped to prevent damage to the bearing and, consequently, damage to the spindle. It is also possible to input a feedback signal from the controller 9 which has received the abnormality signal to the timer 24, control the supply amount per unit time, and automatically respond to the lubrication abnormality. The invention is also applicable to other types of rolling bearings and lubricant means.

[0021]

According to the rolling bearing lubricant supply device of the present invention, not the abnormality detection on the oil or air supply side,
Abnormal lubrication is detected by detecting the actual lubrication state of the rolling bearing, and based on the detected lubrication abnormality, for example, an abnormality alarm, an abnormality display, and operation control of the bearing lubricant supply device are performed. Therefore, it is possible to reliably cope with abnormal lubrication in the rolling bearing, and to prevent seizure or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a rolling bearing lubricant supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List A Ball bearing B Oil / air supply device 1 Outer ring 2 Inner ring 3 Ball 4 Cage 5 Supply nozzle 5a Spray port 6 Capacitive non-contact displacement sensor 7 Amplifier 8 Monitoring system 9 Controller 10 Alarm device 21, 25 Solenoid on-off valve 22, 30 Line 23 Mixing valve 23a Variable throttle valve 23b Metering valve 24 Timer 26 Pneumatic pump 27 Pressure gauge 28, 32 Pressure switch 29 Oil tank 31 Oil level switch

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-53-81852 (JP, A) JP-A-61-137054 (JP, A) JP-A-60-222695 (JP, A) JP-A-58-217817 (JP) , A) JP-A-61-131850 (JP, A) JP-A-63-285328 (JP, A) JP-A-53-89377 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB Name) F16C 33/66

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A sensing end is exposed between inner and outer races of a rolling bearing, is provided to face a cage surface, and has a gap with the cage surface.
A capacitance non-contact sensor that detects capacitance between the two, a lubricant supply unit that supplies a lubricant between the inner and outer rings of the rolling bearing, and a detection value and a standard value of the capacitance non-contact sensor. A controller for controlling the operation of the lubricant supply means based on the comparison result.