JPH0122444B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic engine oil replenishment device that replenishes engine oil to an oil pan during an engine durability test.

(Prior art) In engine durability tests for automobiles, etc., the engine is often operated at high speeds, so the amount of engine oil in the oil pan is consumed accordingly. Replenishment is underway. This oil replenishment work was performed by the tester after stopping the engine each time.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the past, the engine was temporarily stopped during the engine durability test to replenish the oil, which caused the following problems. . In other words, if you suddenly stop an engine that is rotating at high speed, it will have an adverse effect on the engine due to heat shock, so it is necessary to gradually decelerate and stop it. For some reason, it is necessary to start the engine by accelerating gradually. As a result, the interruption time for engine durability tests is correspondingly longer. In addition, when replenishing oil, testers check the amount of oil in the oil pan using an oil level gauge, which lengthens the interruption time for engine durability tests and makes oil replenishment a hassle. There is.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic engine oil replenishment device that can eliminate interruptions in engine durability tests.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The technical means of the present invention to achieve this object is to attach a Y-shaped plug having an oil inlet and an oil outlet to the bottom of the oil pan, and to Each of the inlet and the oil outlet is connected to the oil tank by a pipe, and a supply pump is provided in the middle of the pipe connecting the oil inlet and the oil tank, and the oil outlet and the oil tank are connected to each other. An oil drain pump is provided in the middle of the connecting pipes, a cutoff valve is provided between the pump and the oil pan in each pipe, and the supply pump and the drain pump are operated according to the oil level in the oil pan. The present invention is characterized in that it is configured to include a control device that controls the operation of each of the cutoff valves. If you attach an oil level gauge with a scale to your oil tank, you can see the amount of oil consumed at a glance. During the engine durability test, the supply pump shall be operated continuously or intermittently, and the configuration shall be such that the selection of this operation can be controlled by a changeover switch of the control device via an electric motor.

(Function) In the engine oil automatic replenishment system configured as described above, if the oil in the oil pan is consumed and drops below the set lower limit level during an engine durability test, the control device will transfer the oil from the oil tank to the oil pan. In order to increase the amount of oil supplied in the oil pan, more specifically, to increase the oil level in the oil pan, the operation of the supply pump is controlled (for example, switching from intermittent operation to continuous operation). When oil is supplied until the oil in the oil pan reaches the set upper limit level, the control device controls the operation of the supply pump to stop the oil level from increasing (for example, from continuous operation to intermittent operation). (switching to driving). Since a means for forcibly removing an excess amount of oil is provided, there is no fear that oil will be replenished beyond the allowable limit even if the supply pump suddenly supplies oil, and the oil supply can be completed in an extremely short time. becomes possible. This series of automatic oil replenishment is performed while the engine durability test continues, and there is no need to stop the test engine.

(Example) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic system diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and 1 is an oil pan of a test engine.As shown in FIG. A Y-shaped plug 2 having an oil outlet is attached, and the upper end opening of a extraction pipe 3 attached to the oil outlet of the Y-shaped plug 2 reaches the height of the set upper limit oil level of the oil pan 1. 4 is an oil tank equipped with a scaled oil level gauge 5; the bottom outlet of the oil tank 4 and the oil inlet of the oil pan 1 are connected by an oil pipe 6;
A supply pump 7 is provided for supplying oil (engine oil) therein to the oil pan 1.
8 is a supply pump 7 and a withdrawal pump 1 which will be described later.
This is an electric motor that serves as the drive source for the second motor. A cutoff valve 9 for blocking a passage in the oil pipe 6 is provided between the supply pump 7 and the oil pan 1 of the oil pipe 6, and an oil supply cutoff switch is provided in the oil pipe 6 between the cutoff valve 9 and the supply pump 7. 10 are provided. The oil supply cutoff switch 10 is activated to issue an on signal when the oil supply pressure or oil supply flow rate falls below a set value.

The upper inlet of the oil tank 4 and the lower end opening of the extraction pipe 3 of the oil pan 1 are connected by an oil pipe 11, and there is a part in the middle of the oil pipe 11 for returning excess oil supplied to the oil pan 1 to the oil tank 4. A extraction pump 12 is provided. The extraction pump 12, like the supply pump 7, is driven by an electric motor 8. There is an oil pipe 1 between the oil pipe 11 extraction pump 12 and the oil pan 1.
A shutoff valve 13 is provided for shutting off the passage within 1. 14 is a supply pump 7 and a withdrawal pump 12 depending on the oil level in the oil pan 1.
This is a control device that simultaneously performs continuous operation or intermittent operation. Here, in the case of intermittent operation control, the amount of oil consumed in the oil pan 1 according to the elapsed test operation time is known experimentally in advance based on the endurance test operation pattern set for the test engine. The control device 1
4 is a supply pump 7 based on the on/off signal of the set timer that matches the test operation pattern.
Also, the intermittent operation of the electric motor 8, which is the drive source of the extraction pump 12, is controlled.
Further, in the case of continuous operation control, continuous operation of the electric motor 8 which is the drive source of the supply pump 7 and the extraction pump 12 is controlled regardless of the height of the oil level in the oil pan 1. The control device 14 controls the electric motor 8 based on the ON signal (abnormality alarm signal) from the oil supply cutoff switch 10.
It has a function of immediately stopping the electric motor 8, and a function of switching the cutoff valves 9 and 13 between fully open and fully closed in response to starting and stopping the electric motor 8.

In this automatic engine oil replenishment system configured as described above, when the test engine starts operating, the electric motor 8 is operated intermittently by the control device 14 in the case of intermittent operation control, and the supply pump 7 and the extraction pump 12 are operated intermittently by the control device 14. performs intermittent operation at the same time. The intermittent operation of the supply pump 7 automatically replenishes the oil in the oil tank 4 to the oil pan 1 intermittently. In the case of continuous operation control, the electric motor 8 is continuously operated, and the supply pump 7 and the extraction pump 12 are simultaneously operated continuously. By continuously operating the supply pump 7, the oil in the oil tank 4 is automatically and continuously replenished into the oil pan 1. In this case, if excessive oil is supplied to oil pan 1 in excess of the set upper limit oil level for any operation control,
Excess oil is sucked in from the upper end opening of the extraction pipe 3 and returned to the oil tank 4 by the extraction pump 12.

In the case of intermittent operation control, when the operation setting timer of the electric motor 8 of the control device 14 is activated, the electric motor 8 is switched to the operation state, and the supply pump 7 is switched to the operation state.
and the extraction pump 12 are simultaneously switched into operation. As a result, oil is continuously replenished from the oil tank 4 to the oil pan 1, and the oil level in the oil pan 1 rapidly rises.

When the operation setting time ends, the operation setting timer expires, and the electric motor 8 is switched to a stopped state.
The supply pump 7 and the withdrawal pump 13 are switched to a stopped state again. Further, at the same time as the operation setting timer expires, a stop setting timer for the electric motor 8 is activated, and when the stop setting time ends, the stop setting timer is extinguished and at the same time, the operation setting timer is activated. Excess oil supplied to the oil pan 1 is sucked in by the extraction pipe 3 as described above, and returned to the oil tank 4 by the extraction pump 12.

Here, if the oil supply pressure or oil supply flow rate in the oil pipe 6 falls below the set value due to a failure of the supply pump 7, etc., the oil supply cutoff switch 10 detects this and turns on, and the control device 1
Send a signal to 4. When the control device 14 receives an ON signal (abnormality alarm signal) from the oil supply cutoff switch 10, it stops the electric motor 8 and simultaneously switches the cutoff valves 9 and 13 to a fully closed state. Therefore,
Backflow of oil within the oil pipes 6 and 11 can be prevented. In addition, when the electric motor 8 breaks down,
Since the supply pump 7 and the withdrawal pump 12 are stopped at the same time, excessive oil replenishment can be prevented.

In this way, even if the oil in the oil pan 1 drops to the set lower limit oil level during an engine durability test, oil is replenished from the oil tank 4 to the oil pan 1 at set intervals, and oil level control is maintained. Therefore, the engine durability test can be continued without stopping the test engine. In this embodiment, since the oil level gauge 5 with a scale is attached to the oil tank 4, the oil pan 1
You can easily read the oil consumption in the
It is possible to eliminate the need to measure the amount of oil using an oil level gauge. Note that the height position of the oil tank 4 with respect to the oil pan 1 is not particularly limited.

3 and 4 show the second and third embodiments of the present invention, respectively, and the same components as in FIG. 1 are designated by the same symbols as in FIG. 1. . In the second embodiment, the extraction system oil circuit in the one shown in FIG. The supply pump is connected to The oil pan 1 is configured to control the switching between the operating state and the stop state of the oil pan 1, and also to control the oil level in the oil pan 1. In addition,
The length of the pipe 3' does not need to be set so that its upper end opening is at the same height as the set upper limit oil level, and can be set to an appropriate length.

In the third embodiment, the oil circuit of the extraction system is also used as the oil circuit of the supply system in the one shown in FIG.
The oil extraction pump 17 is configured to be able to supply and extract oil by rotating the oil extraction pump 17 in the forward and reverse directions according to a signal from a timer set in the control device 14.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the operation of the supply pump, the extraction pump, and each cutoff valve provided between the oil pan and the oil tank is controlled based on the oil level in the oil pan, and the oil extraction is performed. Since the system is configured to forcibly remove excess oil from the oil pan, it is possible to automatically and quickly replenish oil to the oil pan without stopping the test engine. The oil level in the pan can be automatically adjusted, thereby eliminating interruptions in engine durability tests and eliminating the need to measure the oil level using an oil level gauge. Further, by providing a shutoff valve, not only is there a complete measure against pump failure, but also it is possible to safely perform intermittent operation in combination with a pump.
Further, by using a Y-shaped plug, the number of processing steps and the number of parts can be reduced, and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of main parts showing the Y-shaped plug part in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the invention. System Configuration Diagram FIG. 4 is a system configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. 1...Oil pan, 4...Oil tank, 6,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Oil pipe, 7... Supply pump, 8... Electric motor, 12... Extraction pump, 14... Control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Attach a Y-shaped plug having an oil inlet and an oil outlet to the bottom of the oil pan, connect each of the oil inlet and oil outlet of the Y-type plug to the oil tank with a pipe, and connect the oil tank to the oil tank. A supply pump is provided in the middle of a pipe that connects the inlet and the oil tank, and an oil removal pump is provided in the middle of the pipe that connects the oil outlet and the oil tank, and the pump and oil pan of each of the pipes are connected. An engine oil characterized in that a shutoff valve is provided between the oil pans, and a control device that controls the operation of the supply pump and the withdrawal pump and the operation of each of the shutoff valves according to the oil level in the oil pan. Automatic replenishment device.