JP3130124B2 - Lubricating oil replacement notification method and device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lubricating oil replacement notification method and device capable of informing a use limit of a lubricating oil in real time in-line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is a well known fact that an increase in the acid value of a lubricating oil used is a measure of the deterioration of the used oil. The acid value includes a total acid value and a strong acid value, both of which are detected based on JIS or ASTM test standards, and the deterioration degree of the used oil is estimated based on these values. However, these require specialized knowledge and dedicated equipment. Therefore, the applicant of the present application has previously filed Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2-83151 and 3-1.
No. 51108 proposes a method and a device for detecting the degree of deterioration of a lubricating oil, which can detect the degree of deterioration of the used oil in real time in-line. A brief description is as follows.

[0003] First, as shown by the characteristic P1 in FIG. 3, the present applicant firstly stated that "an electrode made of an inert metal such as gold, silver or platinum immersed in oil to be used, and iridium, ruthenium, rhodium or an oxide thereof. That the rate of decrease in the potential difference between the electrode pair and the electrode pair corresponding to the rate of increase in the total acid value of the oil used is found, and by detecting the potential difference between these electrodes, the total acid value is known. It has been proposed to estimate the degree of deterioration of the used oil (see Japanese Patent Application No. 2-83151).

[0004] Further, the present applicant has conducted a subsequent study, as shown by the characteristic P2 in the figure, that "if a strong acid value appears in the oil used, the potential difference due to the increase in the total acid value up to that time tends to increase. It has been found that the generation of a strong acid value is known from S at the time of reversal, and that the degree of deterioration of the used oil is estimated therefrom (Japanese Patent Application No. 3-15110).
No. 8).

[0005]

By the way, when trying to determine the actual use limit of the oil to be used by using the above-mentioned two technologies, since both technologies are separately handled,
In addition, since the provision of the display means and the comparison determination means is missing, it is practically inconvenient.

The present invention pays attention to the problems of the prior art described above, and provides an in-line, real-time notification of a lubricant replacement that can more practically report the use limit of the lubricant in real time while organically combining the two proposed technologies. It is an object to provide a method and an apparatus thereof.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for detecting the degree of deterioration of lubricating oil according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. An electrode pair 1 comprising an electrode 1a made of an active metal and an electrode 1b made of iridium, ruthenium, rhodium or an oxide thereof is immersed in a lubricating oil 2, a potential difference E of the electrode pair 1 is detected, and the potential difference E is detected. The predetermined value is set when the potential difference Ea corresponding to the total acid value, which is the predetermined use limit value of the lubricating oil 2, is reached, or when the decreasing trend changes to an increasing trend. When the potential difference Eb corresponding to the strong acid value, which is the use limit value of the lubricating oil 2, is reached, it is notified that the lubricating oil 2 is at the use limit.

In the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the change in the potential difference E from the decreasing trend to the increasing trend is performed by comparing the current potential difference E with the previous potential difference E _−1, and E < In the case of E- ₁ , E is compared with Ea.
> E- ₁ , E and Eb are compared, and E ≦ Ea or E ≧
In the case of Eb, it is desirable to notify that the lubricating oil 2 is at the service limit.

Next, the lubricating oil exchange notification device according to the present invention is realized by using the above two methods of the invention, and will be described with reference to FIGS. 1a made of an inert metal such as gold, silver or platinum immersed in water
An electrode pair 1 comprising an electrode 1b made of iridium, ruthenium, rhodium or an oxide thereof, and a microcomputer 4,
The microcomputer 4 previously stores a potential difference Ea corresponding to the total acid value and a potential difference Eb corresponding to the strong acid value, which are the usage limit values of the lubricating oil 2, and stores the potential difference E from the electrode pair 1 in advance. Is input and stored, and is compared with the potential difference E _-1 previously input and stored. When E <E ₋₁ , E and Ea are compared. On the other hand, when E> E ₋₁ , E is compared. And Eb,
When E ≦ Ea or E ≧ Eb, the lubricating oil 2 is output to the notifying unit 5 to indicate that it is the usage limit.

[0010]

In any of the above inventions, whether the invention is a method invention or an apparatus invention, the threshold value Ea corresponding to the total acid value indicating the use limit of the lubricating oil and the threshold value corresponding to the strong acid value indicating the use limit of the lubricating oil are used. Eb.

At the time of detecting the total acid value, as shown in FIG. 3, the potential difference E of the electrode pair 1 tends to decrease. During this time, by comparing the potential difference E with the threshold value Ea, E ≦ Ea is satisfied. If so, it can be reported that the lubricating oil is at the service limit.

On the other hand, when a strong acid value is detected, as shown in the figure, if a strong acid value appears at the time of detecting the total acid value, the decreasing tendency of the potential difference E of the electrode pair with the increase of the total acid value up to that time tends to increase. The potential difference E is compared with a threshold value Eb. Thereafter, the potential difference E is compared with a threshold value Eb, so that E ≧ Eb (Eb is Eb1 or Es + in FIG.
Eb2), it can be reported that the lubricating oil is at the limit of use.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a lubricating oil replacement notification method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a lubricating oil replacement notification device. In the figure, reference numeral 1a denotes an electrode made of an inert metal such as gold, silver or platinum, and reference numeral 1b denotes an electrode made of iridium, ruthenium, rhodium or an oxide thereof. Immersed in Reference numeral 1c denotes electrodes 1a, 1b
Is an amplifying circuit, and reference numeral 1d is a potential difference detecting circuit for detecting the potential difference En of the electrode pair 1. Symbol 32 is
Since the potential difference En fluctuates due to the temperature of the lubricating oil 2 and becomes noise n, a noise removing circuit for inputting the temperature of the lubricating oil from the temperature sensor 31 and removing the temperature noise n from the potential difference En.

As shown in FIG. 2, the microcomputer 4 calculates a potential difference Ea corresponding to the total acid value which is a use limit value of the lubricating oil 2, and
The potential difference Eb corresponding to the strong acid value is stored in advance, and the potential difference E is input from the noise removing means 3 and sequentially stored, and is compared with the previously input and stored potential difference E- _1. When <E ₋₁ , E and Ea are compared with each other, and E>
When E ₋₁ , E and Eb are compared, and E ≦ Ea or E ≧ E
In the case of b, the buzzer 5 serving as a notification unit warns that the lubricating oil 2 is at the usage limit.

Another embodiment will be described. The notification means 5 is a buzzer in the above embodiment, but may be appropriately selected from a warning light, a device for automatically stopping the machine using the lubricating oil, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, the threshold value Eb may be the absolute value Eb1, or may be the sum (Es + Eb2) of the potential difference Es at the time of inversion S and the relative value Eb2. In the former case, the absolute amount Eb1 is used as a comparison value in the strong acid value characteristic P2 after the reversal.
There is no danger of being used at times and being confused with the threshold value Ea. In the latter case, the potential difference Es at the time of the reversal S is always a value that has been determined before, so this is stored in advance, and when the input potential difference E satisfies E ≧ Es + Eb2 is reported as the use limit time of the lubricating oil. What should I do?

The detection potential difference En and the noise removal potential difference E
And so on, after sampling several times, averaging them or finding the median value, and thereafter, these values and the threshold values Ea,
You may compare with Eb.

For example, when the lubricating oil temperature is constant or when the detection accuracy may be low, the potential difference En of the electrode pair 1 is determined by the threshold values Ea, Eb without considering noise removal.
Can also be compared.

In the claims and the above description, at the time of the total acid value, the potential difference tends to decrease with an increase in the total acid value. On the other hand, when a strong acid value appears, the total acid value increases up to that point. Although it has been described that the decreasing tendency of the potential difference turns into an increasing tendency, if a configuration for inverting the output of the potential difference is added in advance, the decreasing tendency and the increasing tendency are reversed. This is, of course, because the potential difference is inverted in advance, and the gist of the present invention is exactly the same, and such a case is also included in the present invention.

As described above, the effect of the present embodiment can be described as follows. Since the determination means based on the total acid value, the determination means based on the strong acid value, and the notification means are appropriately combined, the use limit of the actually used oil can be determined in real time in real time. Can be notified, and it becomes practically easy to use.

[0021]

As described above, according to the lubricating oil replacement notification method and apparatus according to the present invention, the determination means based on the total acid value, the determination means based on the strong acid value, and the notification means are folded without any inconvenience. Because of the configuration, the use limit of the actually used oil can be notified in-line in real time, which makes it practically easy to use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a lubricating oil replacement notification device according to an embodiment of the third invention, and is also a partial explanatory diagram of a lubrication oil replacement notification method according to the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the second invention and the third invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating a relationship between a potential difference and a total acid value, which are the basis of the first to third inventions.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 electrode pair 1a electrode made of an inert metal such as gold, silver or platinum 1b electrode made of iridium, ruthenium, rhodium or its oxide 2 lubricating oil 3 noise removing means 4 microcomputer 5 reporting means En potential difference n noise E potential difference (this time E- ₁ Potential difference of previous time Ea Potential difference corresponding to total acid value which is the limit of use of lubricating oil Eb Potential difference corresponding to strong acid value which is the limit of use of lubricant

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-4-350552 (JP, A) JP-A-4-332860 (JP, A) JP-A-3-282249 (JP, A) JP-A-63- 40855 (JP, A) JP-A-3-251754 (JP, A) JP-A-63-6452 (JP, A) JP-A-61-20851 (JP, A) JP-A-58-144734 (JP, A) JP-A-5-281140 (JP, A) JP-A-5-5720 (JP, A) JP-A 4-126154 (JP, U) JP-A 62-143262 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 27/416 G01N 27/30

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrode pair 1 comprising an electrode 1a made of an inert metal such as gold, silver or platinum and an electrode 1b made of iridium, ruthenium, rhodium or an oxide thereof is immersed in a lubricating oil 2, and A one-to-one potential difference E is detected, and the potential difference E is detected.
Is predetermined when the potential difference Ea corresponding to the total acid value, which is a predetermined use limit value of the lubricating oil 2, is reached when the tendency to decrease or when the tendency to decrease is increased. A lubricating oil replacement notification method, wherein when the potential difference Eb corresponding to a strong acid value, which is a use limit value of the lubricating oil 2, is reached, the lubricating oil 2 is notified that it is at a use limit. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the current potential difference E is compared with a previous potential difference E _-1, and when E <E _-1 , E and Ea are compared. On the other hand, E> E
_{When −1} , E is compared with Eb, and E ≦ Ea or E ≧ Eb
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the notification that the lubricating oil 2 is at the service limit is given. E ≦
Ea or E ≧ Eb 3. An electrode pair 1 comprising an electrode 1a made of an inert metal such as gold, silver or platinum immersed in a lubricating oil 2, and an electrode 1b made of iridium, ruthenium, rhodium or an oxide thereof. The microcomputer 4 includes a microcomputer 4 and a notification unit 5. The microcomputer 4 previously stores a potential difference Ea corresponding to a total acid value and a potential difference Eb corresponding to a strong acid value, which are use limit values of the lubricating oil 2, and The potential difference E is inputted from 1 and stored, and compared with the potential difference E _-1 previously inputted and stored. When E <E _-1 , E and Ea are compared. On the other hand, E> E
_{When −1} , E is compared with Eb, and E ≦ Ea or E ≧ Eb
In this case, the lubricating oil replacement notification device is configured to output to the notification means 5 that the lubricating oil 2 is at the usage limit.