JP7523792B2 - Quantitative Dispenser - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a constant-volume distributor that measures a predetermined amount of lubricant supplied from a lubricant supply pump and supplies it to a location to be lubricated in a lubricant supply system, and more specifically, to a technology for changing the discharge method.

For example, in various machine tools such as injection molding machines, it is necessary to supply a predetermined amount of lubricant at the appropriate time to prevent the operating parts such as bearings from seizing or galling. A constant quantity dispenser is used for this purpose. In this specification, lubricant includes not only lubricating oil, which is called liquid oil, but also highly viscous grease.

Quantitative dispensers are used by connecting them to a fuel pump that alternates between supplying and depressurizing, and there are two types of discharge methods: a first-discharge method (see, for example, Figures 9 and 10 of Patent Document 1) and a last-discharge method (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

The basic configuration for both the first-in and last-out types is a cylinder that acts as a housing. One end of the cylinder is an injection section that is connected to the primary piping from the fuel pump, and the other end of the cylinder is fitted with a discharge nipple that has a discharge section. A secondary piping that leads to the point to be fueled is connected to the discharge section.

The injection and discharge parts are usually coaxial, and an oil guide tube, the inside of which serves as a lubricant passage, is placed between these ports inside the cylinder. A piston and a coil spring are provided inside the cylinder to bias the piston toward the starting position on the injection part side. An oil guide tube is inserted through the center of the piston, and the piston reciprocates along the oil guide tube between the starting and terminal positions.

Between the injection section and one end of the oil guide pipe, a relay chamber with a diameter smaller than the inside diameter of the cylinder is formed, which communicates with the inside of the cylinder, and an umbrella valve is provided in the relay chamber to switch the flow path depending on the pressure when the oil pump is supplying oil and the pressure when it is depressurizing.

The umbrella valve is pushed up by the pressure of the oil pump when it is filling the oil pipe, and the skirt part of the valve shrinks in diameter and moves away from the wall of the intermediate chamber. This allows the lubricant to flow from the injection part through the intermediate chamber into the cylinder as the first flow path, pushing the piston from the starting position to the terminal position against the force of the coil spring.

When the piston reaches its final position, the cylinder on the head side of the piston becomes a measuring chamber and a fixed amount of lubricant is measured out.

Next, when the oil pump is depressurized, the piston is pushed back by the coil spring. This causes the umbrella valve to move away from one end of the oil guide pipe and the bottom of the valve to expand in diameter and come into close contact with the wall of the relay chamber, closing the first flow path while forming a second flow path through which the lubricant in the metering chamber flows toward the inside of the oil guide pipe.

In the case of the rear discharge type, the lubricant flows directly through the oil guide pipe toward the discharge section, but in the case of the front discharge type, the back side of the piston (the side opposite the head) is used as an oil storage chamber, and a horizontal hole is provided in the oil guide pipe to allow the lubricant to flow into the oil storage chamber.

In other words, in the advance-discharge method, when the oil supply pump is depressurized, the lubricant in the metering chamber flows through the oil guide pipe and into the oil storage chamber via the horizontal hole, and a certain amount of lubricant is temporarily stored in the oil storage chamber.

Then, when the next oil supply from the oil supply pump is performed, the umbrella valve is pushed up, closing one end of the oil guide pipe and reducing the diameter of its bottom, forming the first flow path. At the same time, as the piston rises, the lubricant stored in the oil storage chamber flows through the horizontal hole and the oil guide pipe when the pressure is released, forming a third flow path through which the lubricant flows through the oil guide pipe and is discharged from the discharge part to the secondary piping.

In other words, in the case of the rear-discharge method, the lubricant is discharged at low pressure due to the force of the coil spring inside the cylinder when the oil supply pump is depressurized, whereas in the case of the front-discharge method, the lubricant is discharged at high pressure due to the oil supply pressure of the oil supply pump.

Whether to use low pressure or high pressure discharge is selected depending on the conditions of the location being fueled, but the manufacturer needs to stock a significant number of both post-discharge and pre-discharge type constant volume distributors in order to be able to respond to user orders in a timely manner. However, this creates problems such as the difficulty of inventory management. For these reasons, it is preferable to be able to easily change models.

JP 2000-199598 A (see Figs. 9 and 10) Publication No. 03-20640

Therefore, the objective of the present invention is to make it possible to easily change a first-out type fixed-volume dispenser into a last-out type fixed-volume dispenser.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cylinder having an injection part to which lubricant is supplied from a primary piping of a fuel pump which alternately repeats fuel supply and depressurization, and a discharge part to which a secondary piping leading to a part to be fueled is connected, an oil guide pipe having an inside which is a lubricant passage and disposed between the injection part and the discharge part, a piston having the oil guide pipe inserted through its center and reciprocating within the cylinder between a start position close to the injection part and a terminal position close to the discharge part, and a spring means for biasing the piston from its back side toward the start position, a relay chamber formed between the injection part and one end of the oil guide pipe and having a diameter smaller than the inside diameter of the cylinder and communicating with the cylinder, and an umbrella valve disposed in the relay chamber for switching a flow path in response to the pressure of the fuel pump during fuel supply and the pressure during depressurization, the inside of the cylinder is partitioned by the piston into a metering chamber on its head side and an oil storage chamber on its back side, and a horizontal hole communicating with the oil storage chamber is formed in the oil guide pipe,
During fuel supply from the fuel supply pump, the umbrella valve closes one end of the oil guide pipe, and a first flow path is formed in which the lubricant flows from the injection part to the metering chamber via the relay chamber, and the piston is pushed up from the start end position toward the end position against the biasing force of the spring means,
When the oil supply pump is depressurized, the umbrella valve closes the first flow path and opens one end of the oil guide pipe, and the spring means pushes the piston back toward the start end position, forming a second flow path through which the lubricant in the metering chamber flows into the oil accumulator chamber through the oil guide pipe and the horizontal hole,
In the constant quantity distributor having a first-in-one discharge method, the first flow path is formed when the next oil is supplied from the oil supply pump, and a third flow path is formed in which the lubricant stored in the oil reservoir flows from the horizontal hole through the oil guide pipe and is discharged from the discharge part to the secondary piping when the depressurization is performed,
The oil supply pump is characterized by comprising a discharge method changing means for blocking the horizontal hole to isolate the oil storage chamber from the oil guide pipe, and for causing the lubricant in the metering chamber to flow from the oil guide pipe toward the discharge part when the oil supply pump is depressurized, thereby changing the discharge method to a rear-discharge method.

The present invention includes an embodiment in which the discharge method changing means is a blocking pipe that is fitted into the oil guide pipe from the discharge section to a position that blocks the side hole.

The blocking pipe is preferably a metal pipe having a predetermined axial length, but one end of the discharge tube connected to the discharge part may be used as the sealing pipe.

In an embodiment in which the cylinder has the discharge portion on its discharge side and is equipped with a discharge nipple supporting the other end of the oil guide pipe, and a sleeve is formed on the discharge nipple which surrounds the horizontal hole of the oil guide pipe with a predetermined gap, and includes an inner-sleeve flow path which runs from the horizontal hole through the sleeve to the oil storage chamber when the second flow path is formed, and which runs from the oil storage chamber through the sleeve and the horizontal hole to the discharge portion when the third flow path is formed, an O-ring which blocks the inner-sleeve flow path at a position below the horizontal hole can be used as the discharge method changing means.

According to the present invention, a first-out type fixed-volume dispenser can be easily changed to a last-out type fixed-volume dispenser.

1A is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of a constant volume dispenser according to a first-delivery system as a basic form of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the constant volume dispenser during depressurization. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing the operation during refueling of a constant volume dispenser according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which the first-delivery type of constant volume dispenser in FIG. 1 has been changed to a last-delivery type, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing the operation during depressurization. 1A is a cross-sectional view showing the operation during refueling of a constant volume dispenser according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the first-out type constant volume dispenser of FIG. 1 has been changed to a last-out type, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing the operation during depressurization. (a) A cross-sectional view during depressurization operation showing another example of a quantitative dispenser relating to the first-out type as the basic form of the present invention; (b) A cross-sectional view during depressurization operation showing a quantitative dispenser relating to a third embodiment of the present invention in which the first-out type quantitative dispenser relating to the other example of (a) has been changed to a last-out type.

Next, several embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 4, but the present invention is not limited to these.

First, referring to Figures 1(a) and (b), a quantitative dispenser 1A according to the first-out method will be described as the basic form (precursor form) of the present invention. The present invention modifies this quantitative dispenser 1A according to the first-out method to a last-out method.

The quantitative dispenser 1A for this advance delivery method has a cylinder 10 as a housing. An injection section 101 is formed at one end side of the cylinder 10 (the lower end side in FIG. 1), and a discharge section 102 is formed at the other end side of the cylinder 10 (the upper end side in FIG. 1). The injection section 101 and the discharge section 102 are arranged coaxially.

Lubricant is supplied to the injection section 101 from the primary piping of an oil supply pump (not shown), which alternates between supplying and depressurizing. The lubricant supplied from the oil supply pump includes liquid lubricating oil, as well as highly viscous grease.

A discharge nipple 20 is fitted into the discharge part 102 via an O-ring 201. A secondary piping (discharge tube) (not shown) that leads to the location to be lubricated is connected to the discharge nipple 20.

Between the injection section 101 and the discharge section 102, an oil guide pipe 30 with a lubricant passage 31 inside is arranged on the central axis of the cylinder 10. In this example, the oil guide pipe 30 is formed integrally with the discharge nipple 20, but as shown in FIG. 4(a), the oil guide pipe 30 and the discharge nipple 20 may be separate.

A piston 40 is provided inside the cylinder 10. An oil guide tube 30 is inserted through the center of the piston 40, and the piston 40 reciprocates along the oil guide tube 30 between a start position (position shown in FIG. 1(b)) and an end position (position shown in FIG. 1(a)).

An O-ring 401 is provided on the inner circumference of the piston 40 to seal the contact area with the oil guide pipe 30, and an O-ring 402 is provided on the outer circumference of the piston 40 to seal the contact area with the inner circumference of the cylinder 10.

In the cylinder 10, a compression coil spring 43 is provided between the back 42 of the piston 40 and the inner bottom 21 of the discharge nipple 20 to bias the piston 40 toward the starting position.

In this example, an enlarged step 32 is formed at the top of the oil guide tube 30 to define the end position of the piston 40. A guide tube 44 is slidably fitted to the outer periphery of the oil guide tube 30.

A flange 441 that abuts against the back 42 of the piston 40 is formed at the lower end of the guide tube 44, and the end of the coil spring 43 is placed on this flange 441. The guide tube 44 moves together with the piston 40, and the piston 40 rises to a terminal position where the upper end 442 of the guide tube 44 abuts against the step portion 32.

A relay chamber 50 is formed between the injection section 101 and the inlet end section 301 (the lower end of the oil guide pipe 30 in FIG. 1) on one end side of the oil guide pipe 30. The relay chamber 50 has a smaller diameter than the inner diameter of the cylinder 10 and is connected to the injection section 101 and the cylinder 10.

An umbrella valve 51 is disposed within the relay chamber 50. The umbrella valve 51 has a valve seat 511 that opens and closes the inlet end 301 of the oil guide pipe 30, and a skirt portion 512 that elastically contacts the inner peripheral surface of the relay chamber 50, and is preferably entirely made of a rubber material.

The inside of the cylinder 10 is divided by the piston 40 into a measuring chamber 111 on the head 41 side and an oil storage chamber 112 on the back 42 side. A horizontal hole 33 is drilled in the oil guide pipe 30, which communicates with the oil storage chamber 112.

When fuel is being supplied from the fuel supply pump, as shown in FIG. 1(a), the supply oil pressure pushes up the umbrella valve 51, causing the valve seat 511 to come into contact with the inlet end 301 of the oil guide pipe 30, thereby blocking the inlet end 301 of the oil guide pipe 30, while forcibly reducing the diameter of the bottom portion 512 of the umbrella valve 51, creating a gap between it and the inner surface of the relay chamber 50.

As a result, the lubricant supplied from the oil supply pump flows from the injection section 101 through the relay chamber 50 into the metering chamber 111, forming a first flow path that pushes the piston 40 up against the biasing force of the coil spring 43.

The piston 40 is pushed up to the terminal position where the upper end 442 of the guide tube 44 abuts against the stepped portion 32 of the oil guide tube 30, thereby metering an amount of lubricant for one oil supply cycle into the metering chamber 111.

When the oil supply pump is switched to depressurization and the pressure in the injection section 101 drops, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the force of the coil spring 43 pushes down the umbrella valve 51, and the bottom part 512 expands in diameter and comes into close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the relay chamber 50, opening the inlet end 301 of the oil guide pipe 30 while blocking the first flow path.

That is, the metering chamber 111 and the lubricant passage 31 of the oil guide tube 30 are connected, the metering chamber 111 and the injection section 101 are separated, the piston 40 is pushed back toward the starting position by the force of the coil spring 43, and a second flow path is formed in which the lubricant in the metering chamber 111 flows through the lubricant passage 31 and the horizontal hole 33 of the oil guide tube 30 to the oil storage chamber 112, and the lubricant for one oil supply cycle is stored in the oil storage chamber 112.

Then, when the next oil supply from the oil supply pump is performed, the first flow path is formed, and at the same time, when the pressure is released, the lubricant stored in the oil storage chamber 112 flows from the horizontal hole 33 through the oil guide pipe 30 as the piston 40 rises, and is discharged from the discharge port 202 of the discharge nipple 20 to the secondary piping, forming a third flow path.

In this way, in the first-delivery type constant-volume distributor 1A, the piston 40 is pushed up by the oil supply pressure of the oil supply pump, and the lubricant stored in the oil storage chamber 112 is discharged, resulting in high-pressure discharge.

To change this first-out type constant quantity dispenser 1A to a last-out type, the horizontal hole 33 should be blocked so that the oil storage chamber 112 is not used. The first embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 2(a) and (b).

The constant quantity distributor 1B according to the first embodiment is provided with a blocking pipe 23 that is inserted from inside the discharge nipple 20 into the lubricant passage 31 of the oil guide pipe 30 as a component for blocking the horizontal hole 33 that connects the lubricant passage 31 in the oil guide pipe 30 to the oil storage chamber 112. The pipe 23 is preferably made of brass, like the other components.

The pipe 23 has a length that extends from the upper end 311 (the other end of the oil guide tube 30) of the lubricant passage 31 across the horizontal hole 33 to the lower part of the horizontal hole 33, and sealing O-rings 231, 232 are arranged above and below the horizontal hole 33. This isolates the oil storage chamber 112 from the lubricant passage 31.

In this constant-volume distributor 1B, as in the first-dispense type constant-volume distributor 1A described above, when the oil supply pump is supplying oil, the piston 40 is pushed up against the biasing force of the coil spring 43, as shown in FIG. 2(a), and the lubricant is metered in the metering chamber 111.

When the oil supply pump is depressurized, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the force of the coil spring 43 causes the lubricant in the metering chamber 111 to flow into the lubricant passage 31 of the oil guide pipe 30, but because the horizontal hole 33 is blocked, the lubricant flows directly into the discharge nipple 20.

In this way, this quantitative dispenser 1B uses a low-pressure discharge method because the lubricant in the measuring chamber 111 is discharged by the biasing force of the coil spring 43.

Next, a second embodiment in which the first-out type quantitative dispenser 1A is changed to a last-out type will be described with reference to Figures 3(a) and (b).

In this second embodiment, instead of the pipe 23 dedicated to blocking in the first embodiment, a discharge tube 24 is used to supply lubricant to a lubricant receiving point (not shown), and one end of the discharge tube 24 is inserted into the lubricant passage 31 of the oil guide pipe 30 to a position that blocks the horizontal hole 33.

Since this type of discharge tube 24 is usually made of a soft resin tube, to prevent the discharge tube 24 from easily coming off, it is advisable to fit a metal abacus bead ring 241 onto the discharge tube 24, screw a cap screw 242 into the discharge nipple 20, and tighten the abacus bead ring 241 with the cap screw 242.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In this third embodiment, the first-out type quantitative dispenser 1A shown in FIG. 4(a) is changed to a last-out type.

In the quantitative distributor 1A in FIG. 4(a), the discharge nipple 20 and the oil guide tube 30 are formed as separate bodies. That is, the discharge nipple 20 has an oil guide tube fitting portion 25 into which the outlet end portion 302 on the other end side of the oil guide tube 30 is inserted to support the outlet end portion 302.

A sleeve 26 is formed around the oil guide fitting 25, extending below the inner bottom 21 of the discharge nipple 20. The sleeve 26 has a larger diameter than the oil guide 30 and surrounds the lateral hole 33 with a specified gap.

This gap is the sleeve inner flow path 261, and when the fuel supply pump is depressurized, the lubricant in the metering chamber 111 flows into the oil storage chamber 112 via the lubricant passage 31 of the oil guide pipe 30 → horizontal hole 33 → sleeve inner flow path 261 as the second flow path. Then, when the fuel supply pump is next fueled, the lubricant in the oil storage chamber 112 flows through the sleeve inner flow path 261 → horizontal hole 33 → outflow end 302 of the oil guide pipe 30 to the discharge port 202 of the discharge nipple 20.

In order to change the first-out type constant quantity distributor 1A in FIG. 4(a) to a last-out type, in this third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4(b), an O-ring 27 is placed below the horizontal hole 33 to block the flow path 261 inside the sleeve. This blocks the oil reservoir 112 from the oil guide pipe 30, so that the first-out type constant quantity distributor can be changed to a last-out type.

When blocking the sleeve inner flow path 261 with the O-ring 27, it is preferable to make the thickness of the sleeve 26 so that its inner diameter is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the oil guide pipe 30, and to carve a groove in its inner surface into which the O-ring 27 is fitted. This can be accomplished by simply replacing the discharge nipple 20.

In addition, according to this third embodiment, the upper end 442 of the guide tube 44 abuts against the lower end 262 of the sleeve 26, so that the lower end 262 of the sleeve 26 can be used as a stopper that determines the terminal position of the piston 40.

In any case, the present invention is practical because it allows a first-out type fixed-volume dispenser to be easily converted into a last-out type fixed-volume dispenser.

1A Pre-discharge type constant quantity distributor 1B Post-discharge type constant quantity distributor 10 Cylinder 101 Injection section 102 Discharge section 111 Measuring chamber 112 Oil storage chamber 20 Discharge nipple 202 Discharge port 21 Inner bottom 23 Pipe 24 Discharge tube 25 Oil guide fitting section 26 Sleeve 261 Sleeve internal flow path 27 O-ring (for blocking sleeve internal flow path)
30 Oil guide pipe 301 Inlet end of oil guide pipe 302 Outlet end of oil guide pipe 31 Lubricant passage 33 Horizontal hole 40 Piston 41 Piston head 42 Piston back 43 Coil spring 44 Guide tube 50 Relay chamber 51 Umbrella valve 511 Valve seat 512 Bottom

Claims (5)

a cylinder having an injection part to which lubricant is supplied from a primary piping of an oil supply pump which alternately repeats oil supply and depressurization, and a discharge part to which a secondary piping leading to a portion to be oiled is connected;
an oil guide pipe having a lubricant passage therein and disposed between the inlet and outlet portions;
a piston through the center of which the oil guide pipe is inserted and which reciprocates within the cylinder between a start position near the injection port and a terminal position near the discharge port, and a spring means for biasing the piston from its rear side toward the start position;
a relay chamber formed between the injection portion and one end of the oil guide pipe, the relay chamber having a diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the cylinder and communicating with the cylinder;
a valve for switching a flow path in response to a pressure during supplying oil by the oil supply pump and a pressure during depressurization by the oil supply pump,
The inside of the cylinder is divided by the piston into a measuring chamber on the head side and an oil storage chamber on the back side, and a horizontal hole communicating with the oil storage chamber is formed in the oil guide pipe,
During fuel supply from the fuel supply pump, the umbrella valve closes one end of the oil guide pipe, and a first flow path is formed in which the lubricant flows from the injection part to the metering chamber via the relay chamber, and the piston is pushed up from the start end position toward the end position against the biasing force of the spring means,
When the oil supply pump is depressurized, the umbrella valve closes the first flow path and opens one end of the oil guide pipe, and the spring means pushes the piston back toward the start end position, forming a second flow path through which the lubricant in the metering chamber flows into the oil accumulator chamber through the oil guide pipe and the horizontal hole,
In the constant quantity distributor having a first-in-one discharge method, the first flow path is formed when the next oil is supplied from the oil supply pump, and a third flow path is formed in which the lubricant stored in the oil reservoir flows from the horizontal hole through the oil guide pipe and is discharged from the discharge part to the secondary piping when the depressurization is performed,
a discharge method changing means for blocking the horizontal hole to isolate the oil storage chamber from the oil guide pipe, and for causing the lubricant in the metering chamber to flow from the oil guide pipe toward the discharge section when the oil supply pump is depressurized, thereby changing the discharge method to a later-discharge method. The constant volume dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the discharge method changing means is a blocking pipe that is fitted from the discharge section into the oil guide pipe to a position that blocks the horizontal hole. The quantitative dispenser according to claim 2, characterized in that the blocking pipe is a metal pipe having a predetermined axial length. The constant volume dispenser according to claim 2, characterized in that one end of a discharge tube connected to the discharge part is used as the blocking pipe. In a mode in which the cylinder is provided with a discharge nipple at the discharge portion, the other end of the oil guide pipe is inserted into the discharge nipple, a sleeve having a larger diameter than the oil guide pipe is formed in the discharge nipple and surrounding the lateral hole with a predetermined gap, the lubricant reaches the oil reservoir chamber from the lateral hole through the inside of the sleeve when the second flow path is formed, and a flow path within the sleeve is included which runs from the oil reservoir chamber through the inside of the sleeve and the lateral hole to the discharge port of the discharge nipple when the third flow path is formed,
2. The constant volume dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the discharge method changing means comprises an O-ring that closes the flow path within the sleeve at a position below the horizontal hole.

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