JP4121218B2 - Mixing valve and oil / air lubrication device using the same - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mixing valve that mixes oil and air into oil air, and an oil-air lubrication apparatus that uses this to convey a required amount of oil that is intermittently supplied to a lubrication target such as a bearing with compressed air. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
A mixing valve for lubricating a plurality of objects to be lubricated is shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the internal circuit of the mixing valve. Note that the external configuration of the mixing valve, the overall configuration of the oil / air lubrication device using the mixing valve, and the bearings to be lubricated are not shown.
[0003]
The mixing valve 100 includes an oil inlet common oil pipe 102, branch oil pipes 104a to 104d, metering discharge valves 106a to 106d, check valves 108a to 108d, common air pipe 110, and branch air pipes 112a to 112d. The flow rate adjusting valves 114a to 114d and the oil / air pipes 116a to 116d are provided. In the oil-air lubrication apparatus using such a mixing valve 100, supply control is performed for oil to the oil inlet of the mixing valve and compressed air to the air inlet of the mixing valve in accordance with the lubrication state of the bearing. It is like that.
[0004]
In the mixing valve 100, the oil supplied from the oil inlet is introduced from the common oil pipe 102 to the respective fixed discharge valves 106a to 106d through the branch oil pipes 104a to 104d. From each of the fixed discharge valves 106a to 106d, oil is discharged into the oil air pipes 116a to 116d intermittently with a fixed amount and a small amount.
[0005]
On the other hand, the compressed air supplied from the compressed air inlet is branched into the branch air pipes 112 a to 112 d via the common air pipe 110. The branched compressed air is adjusted in flow rate by the flow rate adjusting valves 114a to 114d of the respective branched air pipes 112a to 112d and supplied to the respective oil air pipes 116a to 116d.
[0006]
The oil intermittently discharged into each of the oil / air pipes 116a to 116d is mixed with the compressed air and is changed into a continuous flow along the inner wall of the oil / air pipes 116a to 116d by the action of the compressed air. Thus, the oil air is conveyed from each oil air outlet and supplied to each bearing to be lubricated. Thus, each bearing is lubricated by the respective oil air.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the lubrication when the bearing is rotated at a higher speed, even a slight interruption of the oil supply to the bearing immediately causes the bearing temperature to fluctuate (pulsate). In order to eliminate the slight interruption of the oil supply to the bearing, the oil supply amount can be increased by shortening the oil discharge interval from the fixed discharge valve and increasing the oil discharge amount at one time. It is considered good. However, such a simple measure increases the agitation resistance of the bearing and increases the oil consumption and increases the running cost of the apparatus.
[0008]
For this reason, the present inventors have tackled the problem of eliminating the slight interruption of the oil supply to the bearing without increasing the oil consumption for bearing lubrication more than necessary. The difficulty in solving this problem is that if the bearing rotates at high speed, it is necessary to shorten the oil discharge interval from the metering discharge valve. Although it is necessary to further reduce the oil discharge amount, the fixed amount discharge valve with the conventional mixing valve has a lower limit on the oil discharge amount per time due to the structure, and the oil discharge amount could not be reduced by any means That is.
[0009]
Therefore, the present invention solves the problem that in a mixing valve, the amount of oil that is mixed and conveyed with compressed air can be reduced below the amount of oil that is discharged by a fixed discharge valve. It should be a challenge.
[0010]
Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to optimally oil-air lubricate a bearing that rotates at high speed without increasing the running cost by using such a mixing valve.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the mixing valve of the present invention splits the oil discharged from the fixed discharge valve and the single fixed discharge valve that discharges the oil supplied intermittently from the oil supply means. A plurality of oil diversion passages, a plurality of compressed air diversion passages for diverting the compressed air to be supplied, and the respective compressed air diversion passages are individually provided to correspond to each other in the compressed air diversion passage. A plurality of flow rate adjustment valves for adjusting the flow rate of the compressed air, and a plurality of oil air passages individually connected correspondingly between the plurality of oil branch passages and the plurality of oil air outlets, The diverted oil that flows intermittently from each of the plurality of oil diversion passages is caused to flow into the corresponding respective oil by the action of the compressed air from each of the compressed air diversion passages. Instead a continuous flow Ruea passage provided with a structure for transporting the corresponding respective oil air outlet, the oil sump as a diversion starting point of each of the respective oil branch flow path with accumulating oil from the dispensing valve Each of the oil diversion passages is positioned in the same horizontal plane, and each of the plurality of oil diversion passages has an arrangement configuration for diverting the discharged oil radially. It is characterized by that . Thereby, the amount of oil for one time that is mixed with compressed air and conveyed in the oil air passage can be reduced below the amount of oil for one time discharged by the fixed discharge valve.
[0017]
An oil-air lubrication apparatus according to the present invention conveys a required amount of oil supplied intermittently to a lubrication target with compressed air. The required amount of oil is intermittently supplied to the mixing valve, and the mixing is performed. In the valve, the oil supplied intermittently is discharged in a fixed amount by a fixed discharge valve, and the discharged oil is divided into a plurality of oils in the plurality of oil branch passages. A configuration in which compressed air is used to convey to each of a plurality of corresponding oil-air outlets makes it possible to optimally lubricate a bearing that rotates at high speed without increasing running costs.
[0018]
The term “single” in a single metering discharge valve not only includes the case where the mixing valve has only one metering discharge valve in quantity, but also includes a plurality of metering discharge valves in the mixing valve. Even if there is a relationship between a plurality of oil distribution passages with respect to one fixed discharge valve, a single fixed discharge valve is provided for the plurality of oil distribution passages. .
[0019]
The passage includes a passage formed by a hole formed in the housing of the mixing valve and a passage constituted by a pipe.
[0020]
In addition, the said radial includes all that if it is the peripheral direction centering on a branching origin. Further, when equalizing the oil diversion flow rate to the diversion passage, the equality condition is determined depending on the inner diameter, length, flow path resistance, etc. of the oil diversion passage. Each of the diversion passages need not have the same shape.
[0021]
The oil branch passage and the oil air passage include those having separate structures and those having an integral structure.
[0022]
Note that the above-mentioned diversion is a broad concept including distribution and the like.
[0023]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, details of an oil-air lubrication device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a ball bearing is illustrated as a rolling bearing to be lubricated. In FIG. 1, A is a ball bearing, and B is an oil-air supply device that supplies oil-air to the ball bearing A. The ball bearing A includes an outer ring 1, an inner ring 2, a ball 3 and a cage 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes an oil-air supply nozzle, which is provided adjacent to the side surface of the ball bearing A. Reference numeral 5 a denotes an outlet of the supply nozzle 5, which faces the ball 3 and the cage 4 between the outer ring 1 and the inner ring 2. 6 is a capacitance-type non-contact displacement sensor, and is embedded in the radial direction from the outer peripheral surface of the outer ring 1. The detection tip of the sensor 6 is exposed to the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 1 at a position off the raceway surface, for example, and faces the surface of the cage 4. The sensor 6 is connected to input a detection signal to a control unit (control means) 8 via an amplifier 7. In the embodiment, the oil / air lubrication device is configured by a portion excluding the ball bearing A, but the oil / air supply device B may be an oil / air lubrication device. The control unit 8 detects a lubrication abnormality of the ball bearing A by comparing a detection value based on a detection signal of the sensor 6 and a standard value, and controls an appropriate supply of oil air. For details, see JP-A-6-241234.
[0024]
The oil / air supply device B will be described.
[0025]
21 is a first electromagnetic on-off valve, 22 is a mixing valve, and 23 is an oil supply means. Reference numeral 24 is a compressed air supply source, 25 is a pressure gauge, and 26 is a pressure switch. The first electromagnetic open / close valve 21 opens in response to the first control signal CS 1 from the control unit 8 and outputs the compressed air from the compressed air supply source 24 to the mixing valve 22 and the oil supply means 23. The pressure of the compressed air supplied from the first electromagnetic opening / closing valve 21 is measured by the pressure gauge 25 and detected by the pressure switch 26. A detection signal from the pressure switch 26 is given to the control unit 8 as an air pressure signal S1.
[0026]
The oil supply means 23 includes a second electromagnetic on-off valve 23a, an oil supply pump 23b, an oil tank 23c, an oil level switch 23d, a pressure release valve 23e, and a pressure switch 23f. The second electromagnetic opening / closing valve 23a opens and closes in response to the second control signal CS2 from the control unit 8, and drives the oil supply pump 23b by outputting compressed air to the oil supply pump 23b in the open state. . The oil level switch 23d detects the level of oil in the oil tank 23c, and inputs this detection signal to the control unit 8 as an oil level signal S2. The pressure switch 23f detects the pressure of oil in the pipe line, and inputs this detection signal to the control unit 8 as an oil pressure signal S3. The oil supply means 23 opens and closes the second electromagnetic on-off valve 23a in response to the second control signal CS2 from the control unit 8, thereby intermittently supplying oil to the mixing valve 22 via the pipe line L3. It comes to supply.
[0027]
The mixing valve 22 includes a single fixed discharge valve 22a that discharges a fixed amount of oil, an oil distribution start point 22b that serves as a starting point for collecting the oil discharged from the fixed discharge valve 22a, and for dividing the oil into a plurality of parts. First to fourth oil branch passages 22c that are connected in common to the start point 22b and branch a plurality of oils from the oil branch start point 22b into four in this example, a common compressed air flow path 22d, and a common compressed air flow In this example, a plurality of compressed air in the passage 22d is divided into four in this example, first to fourth compressed air branch passages 22e, and first to fourth flow rates connected to the respective compressed air branch passages 22e. The first to fourth oil valves connected individually corresponding to the adjusting valve 22f, each of the plurality of oil branch passages 22c, and each of the plurality of oil air outlets. And a Ruea passage 22 g.
[0028]
In such a mixing valve 22, the oil supplied intermittently from the oil supply means 23 is discharged in a fixed amount by the fixed discharge valve 22a, and is divided into each oil distribution passage 22c via the oil distribution start point 22b. At this time, the oil in each oil diversion passage 22c is changed to a continuous flow by the action of the compressed air in the compressed air diversion passage 22f adjusted in flow rate by each flow adjustment valve 22f to each oil air outlet. It is conveyed and supplied to the supply nozzle 5 via an oil / air pipe (not shown) to lubricate the bearing to be lubricated.
[0029]
In this mixing valve 22, the oil is temporarily accumulated at the oil distribution start point 22b, and each oil distribution passage 22c is located in the same horizontal plane and is connected to each other from the fixed discharge valve 22a. The oil is distributed evenly or substantially equally from the oil distribution start point 22b to each of the oil distribution passages 22c. It is like that. As a result, even if the minimum oil discharge amount from the fixed discharge valve 22a is, for example, 1/100 ml, the oil amount to be diverted to each oil diversion passage 22c becomes 1/4 of that, and one oil discharge The amount can be reduced sufficiently. In the case of the oil / air lubrication apparatus according to the embodiment including such a mixing valve 22, a bearing rotating at a higher speed can be optimally lubricated with oil / air.
[0030]
Although the mixing valve 22 shown in FIG. 1 is shown as a functional circuit configuration, the mechanical configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a sectional view of the mixing valve 22, FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a check valve housing of the mixing valve 22, and FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the mixing valve 22. As shown in FIG. The mixing valve 22 is provided with a single fixed discharge valve 22a and four flow rate adjusting valves 22f (of which only two are shown in FIG. 2).
[0031]
In these drawings, when corresponding to FIG. 1, 22a is a fixed discharge valve surrounded by a two-dot chain line, 22b is a branch flow starting point, 22c is an oil branch passage, 22d is a compressed air common flow path, 22e. Is a compressed air branch passage, 22f is a flow rate adjusting valve, and 22g is an oil air passage 22g. Although not shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 22h is a check valve housing, and 22m is an oil distribution port.
[0032]
Here, the fixed discharge valve 22a uses a part of the check valve housing 22h as a part of its configuration. The check valve housing 22h has a circumferential groove h1, and the circumferential groove h1 has oil holes h2 corresponding to the number of oil diversions, and the check ball h4 is pressed downward by an internal spring h3 so that the valve h5 The opening is closed. The fixed discharge valve 22a has a spring h3 of the check valve housing 22h, a check ball h4, and a valve h5 as a part of its configuration.
[0033]
The oil distribution port 22m is arranged around each oil hole h2 of the check valve housing 22h. In the embodiment, since the number of oil diversions is four, the number of the oil holes h2 is four, and therefore the number of oil distribution ports 22m is four. The oil distribution port 22m also has a throat m1, and the oil flow rate can be adjusted by adjusting the length of the throat m1. The length of an oil / air pipe (not shown) connected to the oil / air outlet 22g is not necessarily the same. When the oil / air piping length is long, it takes a long time to reach the oil bearing, and when the oil / air piping length is short, the time to reach the oil bearing is shortened. Therefore, prepare an oil distribution port 22m with a different throat m1 length according to the oil / air piping length, and if the oil arrival time takes a long time, shorten the throat m1 length and slightly reduce the oil flow rate. When the oil arrival time is shortened, the length of the throat m1 is lengthened to reduce the oil flow rate. In this way, the oil flow rate is adjusted with the throat m1 of the oil distribution port 22m.
[0034]
In this case, since each oil distribution port 22m needs to be in phase with each oil hole h2 of the check valve housing 22h, the check valve housing 22h is arranged so that the oil uniformly enters the oil distribution port 22m from the oil hole h2. A circumferential groove h <b> 1 is formed on the outer peripheral surface. In the check valve housing 22h, a space in which oil enters, including the circumferential groove h1, serves as an oil reservoir, and the branch flow start point 22b is present in the oil reservoir.
[0035]
Thus, the check ball h4 is urged downward in the axial direction by the spring h3, whereby the upper end opening of the valve h5 is closed by the check ball h4. In the state where the opening of the valve h5 is closed by the check ball h4, the oil is not supplied. When oil is supplied from the lower end side of the valve h5, the check ball h4 is pushed up in the axial direction against the spring h3 by the oil pressure. As a result, the opening of the valve h5 is opened, and oil is supplied to the oil distribution port 22m and discharged.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
In the mixing valve according to the present invention , the oil that is intermittently discharged from the fixed discharge valve is divided into a plurality of oil branch passages, and the oil in each oil branch passage is made continuous by the action of compressed air. Since it is transferred to each oil air outlet instead of the flow, the amount of oil that is mixed and transported with compressed air can be reduced below the amount of oil that is discharged directly from the metering discharge valve. . As a result, according to the present invention, oil less than one oil discharge amount from the fixed discharge valve can be conveyed by compressed air and changed into a continuous flow, so that the oil discharge interval according to the bearing rotating at high speed Even if this is shortened, the oil supply to the bearing can be prevented from being interrupted slightly, thereby enabling bearing lubrication without bearing temperature pulsation.
In the mixing valve according to the present invention, the oil that is intermittently discharged from the fixed discharge valve is once stored in the oil reservoir and then distributed to each of the oil distribution passages, so that the oil is easily divided equally, As a result, the diversion proceeds smoothly and oil-air lubrication can be performed more optimally.
[0037]
In the mixing valve according to the present invention, when the oil is diverted, the oil diversion passages are both positioned in the same horizontal plane, so that the oil is easily diverted evenly, and as a result, the diversion proceeds smoothly. This enables oil-air lubrication more optimally.
[0038]
In the mixing valve according to the present invention , each of the oil distribution passages has an arrangement form in which the discharged oil is radially divided with respect to each other, so that the oil can be divided almost evenly and any of the distribution flow Oil is not unevenly distributed on the road, and more optimal oil-air lubrication becomes possible.
[0039]
In the oil / air lubrication apparatus using the mixing valve according to the present invention, the bearing rotating at high speed can be optimally lubricated without increasing the running cost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an oil-air lubrication device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a ball bearing lubricated by the oil-air lubrication device. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the mixing valve of FIG. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the mixing valve of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a view showing a conventional oil-air lubrication device.
A Ball bearing B Oil / air supply device 1 Outer ring 2 Inner ring 5 Oil / air supply nozzle 8 Control unit 21 First electromagnetic on-off valve 22 Mixing valve 22a Fixed discharge valve 22b Split flow starting point 22c Oil branch flow path 22d Compressed air common flow path 22e Compressed air distribution flow Passage 22f Flow rate adjusting valve 22g Oil air passage 23 Oil supply means

Claims (2)

A single metering discharge valve for metering out the oil intermittently supplied from the oil supply means;
A plurality of oil diversion passages for diverting oil discharged from the fixed discharge valve;
A plurality of compressed air diversion passages for diverting the supplied compressed air;
A plurality of flow rate adjustment valves arranged individually corresponding to the compressed air branch passages to adjust the flow rate of the compressed air in the compressed air branch passages;
A plurality of oil air passages individually connected correspondingly between each of the plurality of oil branch passages and each of the plurality of oil air outlets;
Have
The diverted oil flowing intermittently from each of the plurality of oil diversion passages is made to flow continuously in the corresponding oil air passages by the action of the compressed air from the respective compressed air diversion passages. In addition to having a configuration for conveying to each corresponding oil air outlet ,
An oil sump for collecting oil from the fixed discharge valve and serving as a starting point for each of the oil diversion passages,
At the time of oil diversion, each of the oil diversion passages is positioned in the same horizontal plane,
Each of the plurality of oil diversion passages has an arrangement form in which the discharge oil is diverted radially .
A mixing valve characterized by that. In the oil-air lubrication device that conveys the required amount of oil supplied intermittently to the lubrication target with compressed air,
The required amount of oil is intermittently supplied to the mixing valve according to claim 1, and in the mixing valve, the intermittently supplied oil is discharged in a fixed amount by a fixed discharge valve, and is discharged. The divided oil is divided into a plurality of oils in the plurality of oil branch passages, and each of the plurality of divided oils is conveyed to each of a plurality of corresponding oil air outlets by compressed air.
An oil-air lubrication device.

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