JPH0756208B2 - Lubricant replacement warning device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicular lubrication oil replacement warning device that provides an accurate warning of when to replace the lubrication oil of a vehicle engine or transmission.

(Prior Art) Lubricating oil for vehicle engines and transmissions deteriorates with use and must be replaced. on the other hand,
Lubricating oil needs to be replenished because it decreases due to combustion in the cylinder.

Therefore, conventionally, in addition to the mileage and driving time of the vehicle, the engine speed, the oil temperature of engine oil, the vehicle speed, etc. are detected by a sensor, and the degree of oil deterioration is calculated based on the driving history obtained from the output. When it is judged that it is time to replace the oil, a warning for replacement is issued, while a level sensor is installed in the oil pan to detect the level of engine oil, and a warning for replenishment is issued when the oil level falls below the specified minimum level. A device adapted to emit light has been proposed (for example, JP-A-59-43299).

By the way, when the lubricating oil is replenished, the concentration of foreign matters mixed in the lubricating oil becomes thin and the degree of deterioration is reduced.Therefore, it is appropriate to extend the replacement period by that amount. Since the replacement time has not been corrected, an unreasonable thing occurs that the replacement warning is issued the day after the replacement.

(Object and Structure of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to accurately correct the replacement time when lubricating oil is replenished,
In order to achieve this object, in an apparatus for outputting a lubricating oil replacement warning from a warning means based on a driving history calculated in a calculation circuit using data from various sensors, as shown in the overall configuration in FIG. 1, The level sensor detects that the level of the lubricating oil is at a predetermined lower level, and then it is determined by the replenishment possible determination means that the lubricating oil can be replenished, and the lubricating oil level exceeds the predetermined lower level. When the temperature rises, it is determined that the lubricating oil has been replenished, and the replacement timing of the lubricating oil is corrected.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a lubricating oil replacement warning device according to the present invention, in which 1 is an oil pan, 2 is an oil temperature sensor for detecting the oil temperature in the oil pan 1, and 3 is a traveling distance. Odometer, 4 is a rotation speed sensor for detecting the rotation speed of the engine, 5 is a filler cap, 6 is a nameplate indicating the amount of oil replenishment, 7 is a float 7a which moves up and down according to the change in the oil level, and is attached to the float 7a A level sensor that outputs a MIN signal and a replacement signal by contacting the contacts 8a, 8b provided at the lowest position of the oil level and a position where there is almost no oil below that level. 9
Is a battery, 10 is an ignition switch, 11 is a level sensor 7 when the oil level is stable, for example, at the moment when the ignition switch 10 is turned on.
Detects the position of the oil level and outputs the oil replenishment warning signal when it is at the lowest allowed position (the level of the liquid that requires oil replenishment), and outputs from sensors 2, 3, 4 and the level sensor This is an arithmetic circuit that detects replenishment from the MIN signal from 7 and determines the oil change timing based on these signals and outputs an oil change warning signal. This arithmetic circuit 11 is a mileage or elapsed time of the vehicle. For example, the replacement time is calculated based on the operation history and a warning for replacement is output. The calculation of the replacement time is described in JP-A-59-43299. Reference numeral 12 is an oil replenishment warning lamp which is turned on by an oil replenishment warning signal output from the arithmetic circuit 11, and 13 is an oil exchange warning lamp which is turned on by an oil replenishment warning signal output from the arithmetic circuit 11 to give a change warning. It is convenient to display the oil replenishment warning lamp 12 so that the amount of replenishment can be known when the lamp 12 lights up.

FIG. 3 shows only an essential part according to the present invention in the electric circuit of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and the same components as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this figure, the switch formed by the contact of the contacts of the float 7a with the contacts 8a and 8b is schematically shown as the MIN switch SW1 and the exchange switch SW2. As means for determining the refillable state, for example, an engine hood switch 14 for detecting the opening and closing of the engine hood and a contact of a normally closed contact relay 15 excited by an ignition switch 10.
15a is connected in series. On the other hand, MIN switch SW1
Also, a short circuit 16 for directly connecting the contact 15a of the relay 15 to the arithmetic circuit 11 is connected in parallel with each of the exchange switch SW2. The engine hood switch 14 is provided to prevent erroneous detection of replenishment during towing, which will be described later, and may instead be a filler cap opening / closing switch for engine oil.

Next, the circuit operation will be described.

(1) First, in the case of oil replenishment, when the oil in the oil pan decreases and reaches the specified lower level, MIN
Switch SW1 turns on, but ignition switch 10
When is on, the contact 15a of relay 15 is opened and MIN
No signal is input to the arithmetic circuit 11. When the ignition switch 10 is turned off in this state, the contact of the relay 15 is closed.

When the engine hood is opened to replenish the oil, the engine hood switch 14 is turned on, and at this time, the MIN signal and the short signal are input to the arithmetic circuit 11 for the first time, as shown in FIG. When the oil is replenished, the oil level gradually rises, and as shown in FIG. 3B, the MIN switch SW1 is turned off and the MIN signal is cut off, but the seat signal is continuously input to the arithmetic circuit 11.

As described above, when the MIN signal is cut off while the short circuit signal is being input to the arithmetic circuit 11, it can be determined that the oil has been replenished, and the arithmetic circuit 11 performs the correction calculation for the replacement warning time. I do.

The oil replenishment amount is displayed on the nameplate 6 or together with the oil replenishment warning lamp 12, so there is almost no problem. The nameplate may be illuminated by a switch that operates when the engine hood or the oil filler cap is opened in consideration of night time. The attention can be further increased by making the nameplate and the display section blink. Similarly, it is more convenient to display the oil change amount when the oil change warning lamp 13 is turned on.

When exchanging oil, all the oil in the oil pan is temporarily removed, so the exchanging switch SW2 is turned on, and the exchanging signal is input to the arithmetic circuit 11. Therefore, the presence or absence of this exchange signal makes it possible to distinguish between replenishment and exchange of oil.

When the engine hood is closed after refilling the oil, the engine hood switch 14 is turned off, and the short signal is cut off at this time. The same applies when the ignition switch 10 is turned on to start the engine. When the engine is started, the oil level in the oil pan fluctuates and MIN
The switch SW1 and the exchange switch SW2 may be turned on, but this is not a problem because the contact 15a of the relay 15 is open at this time.

(2) Next, the operation during towing of the vehicle will be described with reference to FIG.

There is a possibility that the oil level fluctuates up and down each time the vehicle goes up and down, and the MIN switch SW1 is turned on and off as shown in FIG. However, since the engine hood is normally closed during towing, the engine hood switch 14
Is off. Therefore, even if the MIN switch SW1 is turned on / off, no signal is input to the arithmetic circuit 11 and there is no problem. The same applies when the vehicle is placed on a carrier car that is being transported by land.

(3) Next, a case where the vehicle stops on a steep slope will be described with reference to FIG.

Considering a case where the vehicle is stopped on a steep slope and the engine hood is opened, the ignition switch 10 is off at this time, so the contact 15a of the relay 15 is closed and the engine hood switch 14 is on. At this time, the MIN switch SW1 may be on or off depending on the condition of the slope, but even if the oil level of the level sensor part is locally low, the MIN switch SW1 turns to the fifth position.
Even if it is in the ON state as shown in Fig. (A), there is no change in the state from ON to OFF unless the oil is replenished or replaced. Absent. However, if the engine is started from the state shown in FIG. 5 (a) and the vehicle is started, the oil level may temporarily rise and the MIN switch SW1 may be turned off as shown in FIG. 5 (b). At this time, the MIN switch SW1 turns from on to off, but when the ignition switch 10 is turned on once, the contact 15a of the relay 15 opens and the short signal is interrupted. No timing correction is performed.

In the case of oil exchange, since the exchange signal is output while the short signal is being output, the calculation and display can be automatically reset by this signal.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the lubricating oil change warning device according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, a cap switch for detecting the opening / closing of the oil filler cap is used instead of the engine hood switch and the relay of the first embodiment described above.
A specific example of the cap switch is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, a switch box 19 is attached near the oil inlet 18 on the rocker cover 17, and a rotatable lever 20 extends horizontally from the center of the box. The tip of the rehearsal 20 is located almost in the center of the oil filler cap 5, and when removing the oil filler cap 5, the tip of the lever 20 is pinched with a finger as shown in the figure so that it can be removed from the top of the cap 5. Rotate to. Inside the switch box 19, there is provided a contact mechanism in which the contacts are separated from each other when the lever 20 is in the position shown, and the contacts are contacted when the lever 20 is in the rotated position. By oil filler cap 5
Turn on to remove.

With this configuration of the cap switch, the oil filler cap does not need to be modified.

FIG. 8 shows the essential parts of the circuit of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6. Since the cap switch 21 is on when refilling the oil, the oil level drops below the specified lower level and the MIN switch SW1 is turned on. As in the case of the above-described embodiment, the arithmetic circuit detects a change in which the oil level rises and then turns off from the on-state.

Operations in each case of oil exchange, vehicle towing, and steep slope stop are also the same as those in the above-described embodiment, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as can be seen from FIG. 8, the circuit structure is simple and the level sensor 7 is energized only when oil is replenished or replaced, so that the power consumption of the battery can be reduced. In the above cases, when the engine hood or filler cap is opened and oil is replenished, it will close until the oil reaches the oil pan, and a timer is provided to prevent the replenishment from being detected. You may make it continue energizing.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the present invention detects that the level of the lubricating oil is at a predetermined lower level in the lubricating oil replacement warning device that issues the warning of the replacement of the lubricating oil based on the operation history.
After that, when the lubricating oil level rises above a predetermined lower level when the lubricating oil can be refilled, it is determined that the lubricating oil has been replenished and the lubricating oil replacement timing is corrected. , A proper replacement warning will be given. Also,
In the present invention, the replenishment of the lubricating oil is determined by using the level sensor that can detect only that the lubricating oil level is at a predetermined lower level. Compared to the conventional level sensor of the same type that detects both the upper level and the lower level of the lubricating oil, the gap between the uppermost end of the structure can be widened and there is no interference between the two. It becomes easy to mount it on other vehicle types. Further, the system itself is simple, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a lubricating oil replacement warning device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a lubricating oil replacement warning device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment shown in FIG. In the defeat diagram schematically showing the main part of the present invention in the circuit configuration of
(A) shows a state before replenishing oil, (B) shows a state after replenishing oil, FIG. 4 shows a specific example of the cap switch, and FIG. 5 shows an operation of the lubricating oil replacement warning device according to the present invention while the vehicle is being towed. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation when the vehicle is stopped on a steep slope according to the present invention, in which (a) is when the vehicle is stopped, (b) is when the vehicle starts, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of the cap switch, and FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the main part of the present invention in the circuit configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. It is a wiring diagram. 1 ... Oil pan, 2 ... Oil temperature sensor, 3 ... Odometer, 4 ... Engine speed sensor, 5 ... Oil filler cap, 6 ... Name plate, 7 ... Level sensor, 8a, 8b
...... Contact point, 10 ...... Ignition switch, 11 ...... Calculation circuit, 12 ...... Oil supply warning lamp, 13 ...... Oil replacement warning lamp

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lubrication oil replacement warning device for issuing a warning of replacement of lubrication oil based on a driving history of a vehicle, and a level sensor for detecting that the level of the lubrication oil is at a predetermined lower level, and a condition of the vehicle is lubricated. Replenishment possible determination means for determining that the oil replenishing operation is possible, and when the replenishment possible determination means determines that the lubricating oil replenishment operation is possible, and by the level sensor. A vehicular lubricating oil replacement warning device, comprising: a correcting means for correcting the lubricating oil replacement timing when it is detected that the lubricating oil level has risen above a predetermined lower level.