Automatic lubricator

Abstract

An automatic lubricator designed for high-pressure applications comprises a pump unit with a check valve inlet and a check valve outlet, fluidly connected to a grease reservoir. The pump unit includes an expansion chamber positioned between the check valve inlet and the check valve outlet. This expansion chamber houses material that changes volume between phase transitions, facilitating the drawing of grease from the reservoir during contraction and expelling grease during expansion. This design enables the lubricator to achieve significantly higher pressures, up to 5000 psi, with the capability of maintaining pressures around 1000 psi via an integrated relief valve, thereby addressing the need for lubrication systems that can achieve and maintain elevated pressures to ensure effective grease delivery in demanding industrial environments.

Description

Automatic lubricatorField of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to automatic lubrication systems, specifically to an automatic lubricator capable of delivering high-pressure lubrication. This invention is applicable in industrial machinery and equipment maintenance, where consistent and reliable lubrication is essential for reducing friction, wear, and extending the operational lifespan of machinery components. The invention addresses the need for lubrication systems that can achieve and maintain elevated pressures to ensure effective grease delivery in demanding industrial environments.Background

[0002] Lubrication systems are essential for the proper maintenance and operation of machinery, reducing friction and wear between moving parts. Automatic lubricators have been developed to ensure consistent and precise delivery of lubricants to machinery components, thereby enhancing performance and extending the lifespan of equipment. These systems are particularly valuable in industrial settings where manual lubrication may be impractical due to the scale, complexity, or operational demands of the machinery.

[0003] Conventional automatic lubricators often rely on electric motors with integrated reduction gears to drive the pumping mechanism. These systems typically utilise battery power and are designed to operate within a specific range of pressures. However, they frequently encounter limitations in generating sufficiently high pressures required for certain applications. Most conventional lubricators are capable of achieving pressures between 100 pounds per square inch (psi) and 500 psi. However, in many industrial applications, higher pressures are necessary to ensure effective lubrication, particularly in environments with high operational loads or where grease must be delivered to multiple lubrication points.

[0004] As such, there remains a need for automatic lubricators capable of generating higher pressures and offering reliable performance across a range of operating conditions.Summary of the Disclosure

[0005] The present disclosure relates to an automatic lubricator designed to generate significantly elevated pressures, surpassing conventional models that predominantly employ electric battery-driven motors integrated with reduction gears. Specifically, existing lubricators often encounter difficulties in achieving high grease pressures, typically limited to pumping capacities between 100 pounds per square inch (psi) and 500 psi. However, the present lubricator unit can generate pressures up to 5000 psi, with the ability to regulate and maintain the pressure around 1000 psi using a relief valve.

[0006] The automatic lubricator comprises a pump unit with a check valve inlet and a check valve outlet, fluidly coupled to a grease reservoir. The pump unit features an expansion chamber containing phase change material, such as paraffin wax, which undergoes an approximately 15% change in volume during its liquid-to-solid and solid-to-liquid phase transitions. Specialised phase change material waxes can be formulated with distinct melting points and may include proprietary additives to enhance thermal conductivity.

[0007] A diaphragm, preferably made of nitrile, interfaces with the expansion chamber and moves in response to the expansion and contraction of the phase change material. This movement facilitates the pumping of grease from the grease reservoir through grease galleries equipped with inlet and outlet check valves, ensuring controlled grease flow. The pump unit can include a relief valve to divert excess grease into a refill canister when necessary, such as in cases of blockage.

[0008] The quantity of phase change material within the chamber is fixed to ensure a consistent expansion volume, such as 2 ml. The phase change material may be heated by an electric element, preferably a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) ceramic heater, which self-regulates to a predetermined temperature. The lubricator may employ a replaceable and refillable grease canister, housing a rechargeable battery to power the electric element. The pump unit can be easily maintained by replacing a few seals, the diaphragm, and replenishing the wax approximately every ten years or as necessary.

[0009] The slow operation of this lubricator allows sufficient time for the wax to melt, which is advantageous for the gradual injection of grease into a hot bearing. An electronic controller may communicate with the heater, maintaining an adjustable delay setting between cycles and featuring WiFi connectivity for remote control and monitoring. A small eccentric vane type motor can be installed to measure actual grease movement, recorded via WiFi. The lubricator also includes low-level warning indicators, LED lights, and a test button.

[0010] This automatic lubricator can generate sufficient pressure to lubricate multiple grease points when paired with a divider block. The grease canisters come in various sizes, with an average capacity of approximately 500 ml. The battery capacity within the canister can be adjusted based on the volume of the grease canister.

[0011] Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0013] Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective representation of an automatic lubricator;

[0014] Figure 2 shows an assembled perspective representation of the lubricator; and

[0015] Figure 3 shows a schematic view of the lubricator.Description of Embodiments

[0016] An automatic lubricator 100 comprises a pump unit 101 with a check valve inlet 102 and a check valve outlet 103. A grease reservoir 104 is fluidly coupled to the check valve inlet 102 of the pump unit 101 . The pump unit 101 includes an expansion chamber 105 operably interfaced between the check valve inlet 102 and the check valve outlet 103, containing phase change material 106, which may be wax, such as paraffin wax. The pump unit 101 operates by the phase change material 106 transitioning between liquid and solid phases. In some embodiments, the lubricator 100 may be configured for the phase change material 106 to change phase due toambient temperature changes, such as those occurring between night and day or induced by sunlight. However, in a preferred embodiment, the lubricator 100 includes an electric element 107 interfacing with the phase change material 106 to alter its temperature. In some embodiments, the electric element 107 is a heater element, possibly a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heater, and in other embodiments, it may provide thermoelectric heating or cooling using the Peltier effect.

[0017] The phase change of the material 106 may result in an approximately 15% change in its volume. Contraction during the liquid-to-solid phase change of the phase change material 106 draws a volume of grease from the reservoir 104 via the check valve inlet 102. Then, expansion during the solid-to-liquid phase change of the phase change material 106 expels the grease volume via the check valve outlet 103. An outlet fitting 108 interfacing with the check valve outlet 103 may lubricate a bearing or machine 109 via a supply line 1 10. A diaphragm 1 1 1 interfaces the phase change material 106 and the check valves 102, 103. The chamber 105 attaches to a grease gallery block 1 12, so the chamber 105 operably interfaces with a pump port 126 of the grease gallery block 1 12. When the phase change material 106 is in a solid phase, the diaphragm 1 1 1 may take the expanded concave configuration 1 1 1 A shown in Figure 3 to retain a volume of grease, and when the phase change material 106 is in a liquid phase, the diaphragm 1 1 1 may take the flat configuration 1 1 1 B wherein the grease volume is expelled via the outlet check valve 103.

[0018] The lubricator 100 preferably uses a replaceable grease canister 1 13 defining the grease reservoir 104 and which is removably attachable to the pump unit 101 . The canister 1 13 may have a female coupler 1 14 that connects to a male coupler 1 15. A lid 124 may enclose the reservoir 104. The canister 1 13 may include batteries 1 16 for the electric element 107, which may be rechargeable via electrical contacts exposed by the canister 1 13. The couplings 1 14, 1 15 may expose electrical contacts to connect the batteries 1 16 and the electric element 107 electrically when the canister 1 13 is physically attached to the drive unit 101 . The capacity of the batteries 1 16 may be configured according to the volume of grease within the reservoir 104. In an embodiment, the reservoir 104 may hold approximately 500 ml of grease.

[0019] The canister 113 may include a divider manifold 117 concealing the batteries 116 beneath it and fluidly separating the grease reservoir 104 above it. An O-ring 122 may seal the periphery of the divider manifold 117. A piston 125 may follow the depletion of the grease within the reservoir 104 towards the manifold 1 17. An O-ring 123 may seal the periphery of the piston 125. The manifold 117 may define a delivery tube 118 with a channel for the grease to flow through to the pump unit 101. The lubricator 100 may include an electric controller 1 19 that operably controls the electric element 107, configured to periodically operate the electric element 107 to change the phase of the phase change material 106. The electric controller 1 19 may be configured with an adjustable delay between operational cycles of the electric element 107. For example, the electric controller 1 19 may be configured to heat the electric element 107 twice daily to deliver two doses of 2 ml of grease to the bearing or machine 109. The electric controller 1 19 may have a wireless interface to receive operational control instructions and may transmit operational settings and readings via the wireless interface.

[0020] In some embodiments, the lubricator 100 may include a grease flowmeter (such as a small eccentric vane type flowmeter) operably interfacing with the electric controller 119, which is configured to detect when the grease within the reservoir 104 is almost depleted and generate a low-level warning. In alternative embodiments, the low-level warning may be detected when the piston 125 reaches the divider manifold 117, such as when a magnetic sensor senses the position of the piston 125 magnetically. The electric controller 1 19 may have operational status or indicator LEDs 120 to indicate the low-level warning. Additionally, or alternatively, the low-level warning may be transmitted by the electric controller 119 via the wireless interface. The electric controller 119 may have a test button to control the operational cycle of the electric element 107.

[0021] A purge grease nipple fitting 121 may operably interface between the check valve outlet 103 and the outlet grease nipple fitting 108. A relief valve may regulate pressure between the check valves, such as at approximately 1000 psi.

[0022] A pressure reducing piston 127 may operate between the expansion chamber 105 and the check valves 102, 103. Specifically, the reducing piston 127 may have a wide head 128 that interfaces with a wide bore in a piston block 130 and a narrow stem 129 that interfaces with a narrow bore in the piston block 130. The wide head 128 interfaces the gallery block 1 12 and the stem 129 interfaces the chamber 105. This configuration allows the piston 127 to regulate pressure by effectively transitioning between these different bore sizes, ensuring controlled movement and pressure adjustments between the expansion chamber 105 and the check valves 102, 103.

[0023] The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that specific details are not required in order to practise the invention. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed as obviously many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the following claims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention.

Claims

Claims1 . An automatic lubricator comprising: a pump unit comprising a check valve inlet and a check valve outlet; a grease reservoir fluidly coupling the check valve inlet, wherein: the pump unit comprises: an expansion chamber operably interfaced between the check valve inlet and the check valve outlet, the expansion chamber comprising phase change material therein, wherein: contraction during a liquid-to-solid phase change of the phase change material draws a volume of grease from the reservoir via the check valve inlet; and expansion during a solid-to-liquid phase change of the phase change material expels the volume of grease via the check valve outlet.

2. The lubricator as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an electric element interfacing with the phase change material to change temperature thereof.

3. The lubricator as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a diaphragm interfacing the phase change material and the check valves.

4. The lubricator as claimed in claim 3, wherein, when the phase change material is in a solid state, the diaphragm is concave.

5. The lubricator as claimed in claim 3, wherein, when the phase change material is in a liquid state, the diaphragm is flat.

6. The lubricator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the chamber is attached to a grease gallery block and wherein the diaphragm interfaces a port of the grease gallery block, the port interfaced between the check valves.

7. The lubricator as claimed in claim 2, wherein the electric element is a heater element.

8. The lubricator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the heater element is a Positive Temperature Coefficient heater.

9. The lubricator as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the lubricator comprises a replaceable grease canister defining the grease reservoir, which is removably attachable to the pump unit.

10. The lubricator as claimed in claims 2 and 9, wherein the grease canister comprises batteries for the electric element.1 1 . The lubricator as claimed in claim 10, wherein coupling between the canister and the pump unit exposes electrical contacts to electrically connect the batteries to the electric element.

12. The lubricator as claimed in claim 10, wherein the canister comprises a divider manifold concealing the batteries thereunder and separating the grease reservoir thereabove.

13. The lubricator as claimed in claim 12, wherein a delivery channel through the divider manifold fluidly connects the reservoir and the pump unit.

14. The lubricator as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an outlet fitting interfacing the check valve outlet.

15. The lubricator as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a purge fitting interfaced between the check valve outlet and the outlet fitting.

16. The lubricator as claimed in claim 2, further comprising an electric controller operably controlling the electric element.

17. The lubricator as claimed in claim 16, wherein the electric controller periodically operates the electric element.

18. The lubricator as claimed in claim 17, wherein the electric controller maintains an adjustable delay between operational cycles of the electric element.

19. The lubricator as claimed in claim 17, wherein the electric controller receives operational control instructions via a wireless interface.

20. The lubricator as claimed in claim 16, further comprising a grease flowmeter operably interfacing the electric controller, wherein the electric controller is configured to detect a level of the reservoir using the flowmeter.21 . The lubricator as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a relief valve configured to regulate pressure between the check valves.

22. The lubricator as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a reducing piston interfacing with the expansion chamber, the check valve inlet, and the check valve outlet.

23. The lubricator as claimed in claim 22, wherein the reducing piston has its largest diameter towards the check valve inlet and the check valve outlet.

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