JPH054558B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a greasing device, and more particularly to a greasing device that supplies lubricant such as grease to lubricated parts of working machines and the like.

(Prior Art) Recently, greasing devices that include a built-in battery and perform greasing using electric power supplied from the battery have come into practical use. Such a battery-incorporated greasing device does not require a separate power supply source, and therefore has the advantage that there is no need to perform power wiring work when installing the device, making it easy to install. However, on the contrary, when batteries are used, the power supplied per unit time fluctuates due to various causes, which causes the problem that a constant amount of lubricant cannot be ensured. An example of a conventional greasing device that solves these problems is the device described in Japanese Patent Application No. 204291/1983. This device was developed based on the fact that fluctuations in the power supplied per unit time are caused by the battery's consumption characteristics, in which the electromotive force gradually decreases with use.
In other words, the amount of decrease in electromotive force is estimated in advance from the consumption characteristics of the battery, and the power supply time is lengthened according to the amount of decrease, and correction control is performed such that the amount of power when lubricant is supplied is kept approximately constant. I have to.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, the greasing device with the above configuration is based on the assumption that fluctuations in the electromotive force of the battery are caused only by its consumption characteristics, so if the electromotive force fluctuates due to other causes, is difficult to deal with. In other words, the electromotive force of a battery changes not only due to its consumption, but also due to temperature. For example, when used in a place where the ambient temperature fluctuates easily or when used throughout the year, the electromotive force will decrease as the temperature decreases, and conversely, the electromotive force will increase as the temperature rises. Sometimes it happens. Under such a usage environment, it is difficult for the above-mentioned conventional device to maintain a substantially constant amount of power when supplying lubricant, and it is not possible to ensure a constant amount of lubricant supply. Therefore, it is expected that a problem will arise in that the lubricated parts of working machines and the like are not supplied with sufficient lubricant.

This invention was made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and its purpose is to be able to maintain a substantially constant amount of lubricant regardless of the cause of fluctuations in the electromotive force of the battery, so that an appropriate amount of grease can be maintained. An object of the present invention is to provide a lubrication device that can perform lubrication.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, in the greasing device of the present invention, as shown in FIG. This is a lubricating device in which the plunger 13 is reciprocally driven to discharge lubricant by a plunger drive mechanism 23 that is operated by supplying electric power from a power source 33. The first step starts supplying power from the power source 33 to the plunger drive mechanism 23 so as to start the plunger drive mechanism 23.
a control means 31a; a detection means 25, 38 for detecting that the plunger 13 is positioned at a reference position determined on the reciprocating path of the plunger 13 after the plunger 13 is started; and a second control means 31b that stops supplying power from the power source 33 to the plunger drive mechanism 23 so that the plunger 13 stops at the reference position based on a detection signal from the power source 38.

(Function) The greasing device having the above structure focuses on the fact that in order to maintain a substantially constant amount of lubricant, the operating amount of the plunger 13 should be kept constant. That is, a reference position is set on the reciprocating path of the plunger 13, and the position of the plunger 13 at this reference position is detected during the reciprocating movement of the plunger 13, and the operation is controlled to stop at that reference position. By doing so, the plunger 13 starts its operation from its reference position and ends its operation at its reference position, so that the amount of movement of the plunger 13 becomes substantially constant, and a substantially constant amount of lubrication is ensured. It is.

(Embodiments) Next, specific embodiments of the greasing device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a greasing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the pump body 1 has a greasing mechanism section 2 on the right side in the same figure.
Further, a bottomed cylindrical bellows-shaped tank 3 made of soft resin is attached to the upper part of each tank. Inside the pump body 1, there is a pump chamber 4 horizontally in the figure.
is drilled. A suction passage 5 communicating with the pump chamber 4 from the upper surface of the pump body 1 is perpendicularly formed, and a lubricant outlet 6 of the tank 3 is screwed into the upper threaded portion of the suction passage 5. Further, a check valve chamber 7 is provided at the end of the pump chamber 4 opposite to the attachment portion of the greasing mechanism section 2. A check valve 9 biased so as to come into contact with the end face of the pump chamber 4 is arranged. A discharge passage 10 communicating with the check valve chamber 7 is bored at the lower end of the pump body 1, and a nipple 11 is attached by a nut 12 to the open lower part of the discharge passage 10. ing. This greasing device is attached to a device to be lubricated, such as a working machine, by threadingly connecting the nipple 11 to the device to be lubricated. A plunger 13 is inserted into the pump chamber 4 from the greasing mechanism section 2 side so as to be slidable in the axial direction within the pump chamber 4 . This plunger 13 is provided with an O-ring 14 at the open end position of the communication hole 4 of the pump body 1.
is provided around the shaft to form a shaft seal.

As shown in the figure, the greasing mechanism section 2 for reciprocating the plunger 13 has an electric motor 16 disposed therein. The rotation of the electric motor 16 is controlled by a transmission mechanism 17 consisting of a gear train.
The rotation is transmitted around the output shaft 18 of the disc-shaped crank 20 attached to the output shaft 18. Although not shown in the figure, a power source consisting of a dry battery is disposed inside the greasing mechanism section 2, and the electric motor 16 is rotationally driven by the power supplied from this power source.

Further, a circuit board (not shown) is disposed inside the greasing mechanism section 2, and an IC and other electrical components are attached to it, and the electric motor 16 is connected to the power supply.
A control unit is formed to control the supply of power to. The functions of the control section will be explained later.

At the eccentric position of the crank 20, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, one end of the connecting member 21 has a pin 2.
2, and the end of the plunger 13 is pin-coupled to the other end of the connecting member 21. Therefore, when the output shaft 18 rotates, this rotational movement is converted into a reciprocating movement of the plunger 13 via the connecting member 21. The plunger 13 in FIG. 2 shows the forward movement start position, and as shown in the figure, the tip of the plunger 13 is positioned approximately at the center of the suction passage 5.
At the forward movement end position, the tip of the plunger 13 crosses the opening of the suction passage 5 into the pump chamber 4 and approaches the check valve 9. Due to the reciprocating movement of the plunger 13 and the check valve 9 at the end of the pump chamber 4, the pump chamber 4
A so-called pumping action occurs in the space, and when the plunger 13 moves back, it sucks the lubricant from the suction passage 5, and when it moves forward, it sucks the lubricant from the discharge passage 10 through the check valve 9.
The sucked lubricant is then discharged to the side. Therefore, the electric motor 16 and
Mechanism parts 17, 20, and 21 for transmitting operation between the electric motor 16 and the plunger 13 constitute a plunger drive mechanism 23 of this device.

On the other hand, a limit switch 25 is disposed at a position adjacent to the coupling portion of the crank 20 of the connecting member 21. This limit switch 25 is turned on when the side end of the connecting member 21 comes into contact with it when the plunger 13 is located at the end of backward movement position.
The plunger 13 is positioned so that it is turned OFF when it is located at a position other than the return end position (see FIG. 3). That is, when the output shaft 18 rotates, the plunger 13 starts to move forward, reaches the forward end position, then moves backward, and when the plunger 13 reaches the backward end position, the limit switch 25 is turned on. . This limit switch 25 is connected to the control section of the circuit board, and its ON signal is outputted to the control section as a detection signal. Therefore, the plunger 1
The end position of the return movement No. 3 constitutes a reference position set on the reciprocating path of the plunger 13, and the limit switch 25 constitutes a detection means for detecting when the plunger 13 is located at the reference position. Become. In FIG. 2, 27 is a tank cover, and 28 is a piston member for pressing the upper part of the bellows-shaped tank 3 downward, and this pressing force is generated between the tank cover 27 and the piston member 28. This is applied by the biasing force of a spring 29 interposed between.

The operation of the greasing device having the above configuration will be described next. When the electric motor 16 is rotated, this rotational operation is transmitted as a reciprocating motion of the plunger 13 as described above. When the plunger 13 moves back, one end of the pump chamber 4 is sealed by a check valve 9.
The space volume increases and negative pressure is created there. The tip of the plunger 13 is the pump chamber 4 in the suction passage 5.
When the lubricant moves backward from the opening to the tank 3, the negative pressure acts as a suction force for the lubricant in the tank 3, and the lubricant is sucked into the pump chamber 4 from the suction path 5. Thereafter, when the plunger 13 moves forward, when the tip of the plunger 13 advances beyond the opening of the suction passage 5 into the pump chamber 4, the lubricant sealed between the check valve 9 and the opening With the forward movement of the plunger 13, the check valve 9 is opened,
It will be pushed out from the check valve chamber 7 to the discharge path 10.

The control configuration for the operation of the plunger 13 accompanying the above-mentioned greasing operation will be explained based on the block diagram of FIG. 4. In the figure, 31 is a control section;
A timer 32 is connected to this control section 31 . The control section 31 has a down time setting section, and the down time is set so that greasing is performed at predetermined time intervals of several hours according to the elapsed time of the timer 32. When the first pause time has elapsed, the control unit 31 outputs a power supply start signal, and based on this signal, the power supply 33 starts supplying power to the plunger drive mechanism 23.
Plunger 13 starts. When the plunger 13 is located at the backward movement end position after the end of greasing, the limit switch 25 is turned on and a detection signal is emitted from the limit switch 25. This detection signal is output to the control unit 31, and based on the power supply stop signal generated by the control unit 31, the power supply from the power source 33 to the plunger drive mechanism 23 is stopped, and the operation of the plunger 13 is stopped. Become. When the next pause time has elapsed, the plunger 13 starts to move forward from the end position of the backward movement, and performs the same operation as described above.

The control method in the control section 31 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 below. In the following description, control to detect when the lubricant in the tank 3 is empty will be included. After installing this greasing device to the lubricating point of the work machine, etc., the greasing time interval (rest time) HO is set to 1 hour,
In addition to selecting and setting 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, etc. (step S1),
In step S2, a refueling counter n is initialized to zero. And clock timer H for downtime
, and continues counting the pause time H (step S3). During this time, the electric motor 16
is not energized. When the above-mentioned rest time H reaches HO, the process moves to step S4, and the electric motor 1
6 is energized, and the lubricant supply operation (greasing) is started. Then, in step S5, plunger 1
3 has reached the end position of the backward movement during that stroke, that is, whether the connecting member 21 has come into contact with the limit switch 25 and the limit switch 25 has been turned on. If it is not ON, the greasing operation continues; if it is ON, the process moves to step S6 and the greasing operation is stopped. In the above description, steps S1 and S3 refer to the first control means 31 of the control section 31.
a, step S6 constitutes the second control means 31b. Then, in step S7, 1 is added to the refueling frequency counter n. Then the value of n is the reference value N
It is determined in step S8 whether the number of times of replenishment required to exhaust the lubricant in the tank 3 has been reached. If it has not been reached, the process moves to step S3 and restarts the clock for the downtime until the next greasing. If the lubricant in the tank 3 has been reached, the process moves to step S9, where the LED continues to blink to indicate that the lubricant in the tank 3 is empty, and the operation is stopped.

As explained above, in the above embodiment,
Since the plunger 13 always stops at the end position of the return movement after the greasing operation, it is possible to always maintain a constant amount of movement, and therefore, regardless of fluctuations in the electromotive force of the battery, approximately constant greasing is performed. The amount can be maintained and appropriate lubrication becomes possible. In addition, as described above, since the reference position is set at the end position of the double movement, the plunger 13 comes to rest at the end position of the double movement, which lengthens the communication time between the suction passage 5 and the pump chamber 4. Even when a highly viscous lubricant is used, the suction operation from the suction path 5 to the pump chamber 4 can be performed reliably. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a function is provided to detect when the lubricant in the tank is empty.
This also eliminates the problem that the plunger 13 operates without being lubricated.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the invention. Since this embodiment differs from the above-mentioned embodiments in the configuration of the detection means, this detection means will be mainly explained and the explanation of other parts will be omitted. As shown in the figure, the detection means adopted in this embodiment is such that one end of a conductive linear member with a bent portion 36 formed in the center is fixed to a circuit board 37, and the other end is attached to a plunger. It is comprised of a detection lever 38 that comes into contact with the connecting member 21 only when the lever 13 is located at the backward movement end position. In other words, in the detection means of this embodiment, when the plunger 13 is located at the end of the backward motion, a current flows from the detection lever 38 to the ground side via the connecting member 21, which becomes a detection signal and is sent to the circuit board. It will be output to the control section 37. Also in this embodiment, it is possible to achieve the same effects as in the above embodiment.

Although specific embodiments of the greasing device of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be implemented with various changes within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the reference position is set at the end position of the reciprocating movement of the plunger 13, but this can be set at any position on the reciprocating movement path of the plunger 13. Further, in the above embodiment, the pause time is set and the plunger 13 is automatically activated.
Although the plunger 13 is described as operating, it may be configured to operate the plunger 13 at a necessary time by operating a manual switch or the like.
Even in this case, the plunger 13 always ends its operation at the reference position, and therefore the amount of lubricant is maintained substantially constant. Further, although dry batteries were used in the above embodiments, the power source may also be configured with other rechargeable batteries or other types of batteries.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the greasing device of the present invention, even if the electromotive force of the battery fluctuates due to various causes, it is possible to always supply a substantially constant amount of lubricant regardless of the fluctuations in the electromotive force. Therefore, proper lubrication is possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a view corresponding to the claims of the greasing device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the lubricating device of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the operating state of the limit switch shown in Fig. 3. 4 is a functional block diagram of the first embodiment, FIG. 5 is a control flowchart of the control section shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the first embodiment.
It is a sectional view showing an example. 1...Pump body, 4...Pump chamber, 13...
Plunger, 23... Plunger drive mechanism, 25
...Limit switch (detection means), 31a...
First control means, 31b... Second control means, 33...
…power supply.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plunger 13 is arranged in a pump chamber 4 formed in the pump body 1 so as to be able to move back and forth, and the plunger 13 is driven back and forth by a plunger drive mechanism 23 that is operated by being supplied with power from a power source 33 consisting of a battery. A first control means 3 which is a lubrication device configured to discharge lubricant and starts supplying power from the power source 33 to the plunger drive mechanism 23 so that the plunger 13 starts at a specific time.
1a, detection means 25, 38 for detecting that the plunger 13 is located at a reference position determined on the reciprocating path of the plunger 13 after the plunger 13 is started, and the detection means 25, 38.
a second control means 31b for stopping the supply of power from the power source 33 to the plunger drive mechanism 23 so that the plunger 13 stops at the reference position based on a detection signal from the lubrication device. Device.