JPS6344184B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically collecting sample oil for contaminant analysis from hydraulic lines provided in various construction machines, machine tools, auxiliary machines, and the like.

Among working machines that have hydraulic lines, especially construction machines, failures can be prevented by knowing in advance the so-called internal state of the machine, such as the wear characteristics of each component and the ingress of foreign substances without disassembling the machine. As a scientific preventive maintenance method, it is already known to sample oil from hydraulic lines at regular intervals and to subject it to analysis.

By the way, in the past, such oil sampling was carried out manually at predetermined intervals, which required the operation of the machine to be interrupted during sampling, and caused inconveniences such as the sample oil overflowing outside. There are many.

In particular, for this type of oil analysis, the important conditions for effectiveness are that the sample oil be sufficiently warmed and well-stirred, and that other oils, foreign substances, dust, etc. should not be newly mixed in during oil sampling. There is.

However, in general, the above-mentioned oil sampling must be carried out by the user (customer) himself in order to satisfy the above conditions and to ensure that new foreign substances do not get mixed in at the correct sampling time.
However, the above conditions are often not met because the work becomes extremely complicated.

Additionally, the sampling device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,022 discloses a configuration that uses the pressure of the fluid to be sampled to discharge the fluid into an oil sampling bottle, and a means for detecting that the fluid is at a sufficient level. Further, the sampling device of US Pat. No. 3,730,001 discloses a configuration in which a valve means automatically opens in an oil well to periodically sample working fluid.

However, in the former, the stored fluid is introduced into the collection bottle by the pressure of compressed air, which makes the structure complicated, and in construction machinery, a certain amount of pressure oil introduced from the hydraulic line is lowered in pressure. No configuration has been proposed for introduction into the collection bottle.

That is, since the flow rate of hydraulic oil differs depending on its viscosity, temperature, and other conditions, if pressure oil is allowed to flow in from the hydraulic line for a certain period of time, the amount will vary, and if it is large, it will overflow from the storage section.

Furthermore, if the oil is directly introduced into the sampling bottle from the hydraulic line, there is a risk that the sampling bottle will separate due to the pressure of the hydraulic oil.

Therefore, the reality is that it is difficult to maintain and manage this type of oil.

This invention was made as a result of intensive research in view of the above circumstances.
It was done anew.

The main object of this invention is to eliminate the need to interrupt the operation of the construction machine for oil sampling, and to reduce the pressure of the pressure oil introduced from the hydraulic line of the construction machine so that it does not work, while having a simple configuration. To provide an automatic oil sampling device in which a certain amount of oil is stored in advance through a hydraulic line, and when introduction from a hydraulic line is completed, the sampled certain amount of oil is allowed to flow down by gravity into a collection bottle using a switching valve.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus for automatically collecting sample oil from a hydraulic line of a construction machine, and (a) integrates the actual operating time of the construction machine and calculates the cumulative time to a preset time. (b) Provide an electromagnetic switching valve that opens the hydraulic line when the control signal is input from the time integrating mechanism and blocks the hydraulic line when the control signal is cut off. (c) providing a bottomed cylindrical oil sump that is connected to the hydraulic line through the electromagnetic switching valve and into which sample oil is introduced; (e) providing a rod that hangs down inside the oil sump; (f) providing an inlet port connected to the oil sump and communicating with the oil sump; (g) A float level switch is provided that moves up and down in accordance with the level of the sample oil flowing in from the oil sump and turns off at a predetermined position to cut off the valve control signal from the time integration mechanism to the electromagnetic switching valve. An oil storage discharge port is provided at the bottom to allow a certain amount of sample oil stored in the oil reservoir to flow down by gravity into an oil collection container provided below; (h) opening and closing of the oil storage discharge port; We have taken technical measures to provide opening/closing means to

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. The automatic oil extraction device according to the present invention includes an oil sump 44 for introducing and storing sample oil from an existing hydraulic line 1 into working machines such as various construction machines, machine tools, and auxiliary equipment via an electromagnetic switching valve 2. We are prepared.

The oil reservoir 44 has a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and has an oil storage and discharge port (hereinafter referred to as an outlet port) 46 opened at the center of the bottom, and a hole 48 extending across the port.

A slide tab 47, which is illustrated as an example of opening/closing means for the outlet port 46, is slidably fitted into the hole 48 and aligned.

The plug 47 is always urged to a position where the outlet port 46 is closed by a coiled spring 49 loaded inside the closed end of the fitting hole 48 .

Further, the upper end opening of the oil sump 44 is closed with a removable canopy 50.

The canopy 50, an air vent hole 51 having a built-in air vent valve 52, an inlet port 45 connected to the pipe line 6 from the switching valve 2 and leading into the oil sump 44, and the oil sump 4
4, and a rod 53 for holding the float hanging down from the center of the inside thereof.

The rod 53 slidably holds a float level switch (hereinafter referred to as a float switch) F.S, which serves as an oil storage amount setting switch for the oil sump 44 and moves up and down in accordance with the oil level within the sump.

Both poles of the switch function part of the float switch F/S are electrically connected to terminals 54 and 55 provided at the outer end of the rod 53, respectively.

In these terminals, the terminal 54 of one pole is connected to one end of the electromagnetic coil 2a of the electromagnetic switching valve 2 via the time integration mechanism 8 described later, and the terminal 55 of the other pole is connected to the other end of the electromagnetic coil 2a. They are directly electrically connected to each other.

On the other hand, the electromagnetic switching valve 2 has an electromagnetic coil 2 on one end side.
The valve a is opened by inputting a control signal from the time integration mechanism 8, and when the signal is cut off, the valve is closed by being actuated by a spool spring 2b on the other end side.

The time integration mechanism 8 is for signal control of the electromagnetic switching valve 2, and is a working machine equipped with a hydraulic line 1.
For example, the actual operating time of a construction machine such as a loader or a tractor is accumulated, and when the accumulated time reaches a preset time, a valve control signal is sent to the electromagnetic coil 2a of the switching valve 2 to excite the coil. .

The valve control signal output by the time integration mechanism 8 is
The float switch F.S is turned off when the oil sump 44 floats to the constant volume region, thereby shutting off the flow.

Therefore, when the electromagnetic switching valve 2 is switched by inputting a control signal from the time integration mechanism 8, the pressure oil from the hydraulic line 1 is sent into the oil sump 44 from the inlet port 45 via the pipe line 6. As a result, the amount of oil stored in the oil sump gradually increases.

As the oil amount gradually increases, the float switch F/S rises along with the oil level, and when the oil amount in the oil sump 44 reaches a fixed amount, the switch is turned OFF and switched from the time integration mechanism 8. Cut off the control signal to valve 2.

Therefore, the switching valve switches with its own spool spring 2a and blocks the hydraulic line 1.

In this way, a certain amount of oil is stored in the oil reservoir 44, and by opening the tank 47 at an appropriate time, the oil is collected from the outlet port 46 into a separately prepared collection bottle or the like.

Note that the time integration mechanism 8 may be replaced with a sensor that measures the actual operating status of each component of the machine or a sensor that measures the status of the hydraulic line, and the control signal for the switching valve may be transmitted from that sensor. good.

Further, the time integration mechanism or sensor may be used in conjunction with a computer system, the computer may calculate the sampling timing of the hydraulic line, and the output signal of the computer at the time of the calculation may be used as the control signal for the switching valve. In this case, an alarm signal may be issued at the end of sampling.

As described above, according to the present invention, sample oil can be automatically collected in advance from the hydraulic line of the machine into the oil sump every fixed operating time of the machine, so that this kind of sampling can be done in the same manner as in the past. There is no need to interrupt machine operation.

Moreover, when the amount of oil introduced from the hydraulic line into the oil sump reaches a fixed amount, the oil storage amount setting switch responds and the control signal from the time integration mechanism to the solenoid valve switching valve is suddenly cut off. Since the switching valve is closed, the amount of oil introduced into the oil sump is always kept within the capacity of the oil sump.

Therefore, there is no fear that the sample oil from the hydraulic line will spill out of the oil sump.

In addition, the sample oil in the oil reservoir can be easily collected into another bottle, etc., by simply opening and closing the oil storage outlet at the bottom of the container at a convenient time. Sometimes the high pressure from the hydraulic line does not act at all, so the recovery operation can be carried out smoothly.

Therefore, the present invention is extremely effective for regular or periodic oil analysis of working machines equipped with hydraulic lines, and greatly contributes to improving the maintenance and management of this type of oil.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a sectional view of an automatic oil extraction device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a hydraulic line, 2 is an electromagnetic switching valve, 8 is a time integration mechanism, 44 is an oil reservoir, 46 is an oil storage and discharge port, 4
Reference numeral 7 indicates an opening/closing means, and F.S indicates a float level switch, which is exemplified as an oil storage amount setting switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A device that automatically collects sample oil from a hydraulic line of a construction machine, which accumulates the actual operating time of the construction machine, and when the accumulated time reaches a preset time, extracts sample oil for a fixed period of time. A time integration mechanism that outputs a control signal; an electromagnetic switching valve that opens a hydraulic line when a control signal is input from the time integration mechanism and blocks the hydraulic line when the control signal is cut off; a bottomed cylindrical oil sump to which the oil sump is connected and introduces sample oil; an inlet port that is connected to the hydraulic line through the electromagnetic switching valve at the upper part of the sump and communicates with the inside of the oil sump; A rod that hangs down inside the vessel, and a rod that is installed on the rod and moves up and down in accordance with the level of the sample oil flowing in from the inlet port in the oil sump vessel, turns off at a predetermined position, and switches electromagnetically from the time integration mechanism. A float level switch that cuts off the valve control signal to the valve, and an opening formed at the bottom of the oil sump to allow a certain amount of sample oil stored in the oil sump to flow down by gravity into an oil collection container provided below. An automatic oil extraction device comprising: an oil storage discharge port; and an opening/closing means for opening and closing the oil storage discharge port. 2. The opening/closing means consists of a slide tab provided in the bottom wall of the oil sump and fitted into and aligned with a hole crossing the oil storage outlet, and the slide is always attached in the closing direction of the oil storage outlet. 2. The automatic oil extraction device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic oil extraction device is