Continuous reservoir level monitoring

Abstract

The lubricant level within a reservoir is difficult to monitor, leading to the reservoir being refilled more often than necessary to ensure that the reservoir always contains lubricant. A lubricant level sensing system is connected to and monitors various aspects of the pump assembly that draws lubricant from the reservoir. The pump assembly displaces a known volume of lubricant with each pump stroke. A lubricant-level estimator calculates an estimated lubricant level remaining in the reservoir based on a stroke-count value as sensed from the pump assembly and on a reference value stored in amemory. The estimated lubricant level provides the lubricant remaining and the rate of usage such that maintenance can be scheduled ahead of time to prevent the reservoir from running dry.

Description

[0001] Cross reference to related applications [0002] This application claims priority to US Provisional Application No. 62 / 279,884, entitled "Continuous Reservoir Grease Level Monitoring," filed January 18, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. technical field [0003] The present disclosure generally relates to lubrication systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for sensing a lubricant level in a lubricant reservoir. Background technique [0004] Machinery often requires lubrication to function. Seals, pistons, bearings and other components require lubrication with small amounts of grease or oil at too short, frequent intervals to prevent wear, corrosion, over- or under-lubrication. Lubricant is injected through the lubricant injector at specific locations that require lubrication. A local lubricant reservoir stores lubricant until lubricant is applied. Lubricant reservoirs have a ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Therefore, physical means of tracking the surface level of grease may not provide accur

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