JPH05288031A - Automatic adjusting device for engine oil - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always maintain appropriate oil level by providing an engine control unit by which an oil feed motor stored in an oil tank is electrified through a drive circuit, and leading oil stored in the oil tank into an oil pan. CONSTITUTION:An oil tank 3 to store oil 8 for makeup and an oil feed motor 4 to feed the oil 8 stored in the oil tank 3 in an oil pan 2 are provided. The oil feed opening part 7 of an oil feed pipe 6 on the side wall of the oil pan 2 is opened in the oil level position desired to be maintained in the oil pan 2. An automatic adjusting device of engine oil is so constituted that an engine control unit 10 electrifies the oil feed motor 4 through a drive circuit 16 when the oil quantity in the oil pan 2 is reduced at starting the engine and the oil level is lowered beyond the position of a M level sensor 21. Then the oil 8 stored in the oil tank 3 is led into the oil pan 2. After once increasing the oil quantity in the oil pan 2, the oil feed motor 4 is reversely rotated. In this way, appropriate oil level can be always maintained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic engine oil adjusting device, and more particularly, to adjusting the oil replenishment, which is performed when the remaining amount of engine oil is below a reference value, to an appropriate level. The present invention relates to an automatic engine oil adjusting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, lubricating oil (oil) required for lubricating an engine is sucked up from an oil pan when the engine is operating to lubricate a necessary portion of the engine and then returns to the oil pan. However, this oil is consumed little by little during operation in a general-purpose engine that runs continuously for a long time, and decreases, so if the oil is not replenished as it is, the engine will burn due to lack of lubricating oil. For this reason,
An oil replenishment device that stores oil in a replenishment tank and automatically replenishes it has been put to practical use.

In such an oil replenishing device, in order to accurately measure the amount of oil, the amount of oil remaining in the oil pan is detected before the engine is started. When it is lower than the reference value, oil is replenished from the replenishment tank to the oil pan by the oil feeding device. It is well known that the sensor detects the remaining amount of oil in the oil pan and supplies the shortage with an oil supply device to replenish it to an appropriate level, but this replenishment depends on environmental conditions such as atmospheric temperature and engine temperature. It was difficult to maintain an appropriate level after replenishment, because the viscosity of the oil used was not taken into consideration.

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has proposed, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-308916, an automatic engine oil supply device for determining the amount of oil to be fed in consideration of environmental conditions such as atmospheric temperature and engine temperature. According to this device, when the engine is cold started,
Since an appropriate amount of replenishment is always calculated and oil is supplied regardless of the ambient environment such as the ambient temperature and the engine temperature, the oil level in the oil pan is properly maintained.

[0005]

However, the engine oil automatic replenishing device proposed by the present applicant is a predictive control that only predicts and replenishes the replenishing amount according to the surrounding environment. There is a problem that the excessive replenishment amount cannot be corrected when the excessive replenishment amount is excessive.

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the amount of replenished oil is excessive due to a malfunction, it is possible to correct the amount of excessive replenishment and to maintain an appropriate oil level at all times. It is an object to provide an adjusting device.

[0007]

FIG. 1 shows the structure of an automatic engine oil adjusting device of the present invention which achieves the above object. As shown in FIG. 1, an automatic engine oil adjusting device of the present invention includes an oil tank for storing replenishing engine oil, an oil feeding means for supplying the oil in the tank to an oil pan when electricity is applied, and the oil tank. An oil suction port provided so as to come into contact with an appropriate oil level position of the pan, an oil suction unit that sucks oil from the oil suction port when energized, a start detection unit that detects engine start, and an oil pan inside the oil pan immediately after engine start. And an oil remaining amount detecting means for detecting the level of the engine oil, and when the oil remaining amount in the oil pan is less than a predetermined amount at the time of engine start, the energizing time to the oil feeding means is calculated to drive the oil feeding means. The oil replenishment control means for controlling, and for a predetermined time immediately after driving the oil feeding means,
And an oil amount adjusting means for energizing the oil absorbing means.

[0008]

According to the automatic engine oil adjusting device of the present invention, when the start detecting means detects the start of the engine, the remaining oil amount detecting means detects the level of the engine oil in the oil pan immediately after the engine is started, and the refueling is performed. The environment detecting means detects the engine oil supply environment from parameters such as the engine temperature, engine oil temperature, and intake air temperature at engine startup. Then, when the remaining amount of oil in the oil pan is less than a predetermined amount when the engine is started, the oil supply control means drives the oil supply means by calculating the energization time from the supply environment to the oil supply means to supply the oil for supply. The oil in the tank is supplied to the oil pan. On the other hand, the oil amount adjusting means energizes the oil absorbing means that communicates with the oil suction port provided so as to be in contact with the proper oil level position of the oil pan for a predetermined time immediately after the driving of the oil sending means. As a result, the oil at the level above the proper oil level position in the oil pan is sucked out by the oil absorbing means, so that the oil level is maintained at the appropriate level.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 shows the overall construction of an electronically controlled engine equipped with an embodiment of an automatic engine oil adjusting device of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an engine main body, 2 is an oil pan provided at the bottom of the engine main body 1, 3 is an oil tank which is provided in a place different from the engine main body 1 and stores replenishing oil 8, and 4 is its An oil feeding motor provided in the oil tank 3, 5 is an oil suction port of the oil feeding motor 4, and 6 is a discharge port of the oil feeding motor 4 and an oil pan 2
The oil supply pipe 10 connecting to the oil supply port of 10 indicates an engine control unit (ECU). The oil supply opening 7 on the side wall of the oil pan 2 of the oil supply pipe 6 is opened at the oil surface position to be held in the oil pan 2. In addition, the ECU 10
Includes an input buffer 11, an A / D converter 12, a central processing unit (CPU) 13, a memory 14, and an output buffer 15.
Etc. are provided and are connected to each other by a bus 17.

The engine of this embodiment is provided with a large number of sensors for detecting the states of various parts of the engine. First,
On the side wall of the oil pan 2, an L level sensor 21 for detecting whether or not the oil amount in the oil pan 2 is filled up to a lower limit position, and an M level for detecting whether or not the oil amount is filled up to an intermediate position. A sensor 22 is provided,
Both outputs (for example, it is turned on when the sensor position is filled with oil to output a high level “H”) are input to the input buffer 11 of the ECU 10. Reference numeral 23 denotes a water temperature sensor that detects the water temperature by a resistance value that changes in proportion to the water temperature of the engine. In addition to this, a rotation angle sensor 24 that outputs a signal according to the engine rotation and a pulse number that is proportional to the vehicle speed are generated. Vehicle speed sensor 2
5. Intake air temperature sensor 2 for detecting engine intake air temperature
6. Oil temperature sensor 2 for detecting engine oil temperature
7. Throttle sensor 28 for detecting throttle opening,
A negative pressure sensor (PiM sensor) 29 for detecting a negative pressure in the intake manifold of the engine is provided. And
The output of the rotation angle sensor 24 and the output of the vehicle speed sensor 25 are input to the input buffer 11 of the ECU 10 together with the outputs of the L level sensor 21 and the M level sensor 22 described above, and the intake air temperature sensor 26, the oil temperature sensor 27, and the throttle sensor 2 are input.
8 and each output of the PiM sensor 29 are input to the A / D converter 12 of the ECU 10 together with the output of the water temperature sensor 23 described above.

In the ECU 10, the input buffer 1
1 and the signal from the A / D converter 12 and the data stored in the memory 14, the CPU 13 performs various calculations, and the calculation result is output through the output buffer 15. In this embodiment, the output buffer 15 has a drive circuit 16 for energizing the oil feeding motor 4 in the oil tank 3, and a warning lamp 9 for displaying a decrease in the amount of engine oil in the oil tank 3 or a sensor abnormality. Only shown. In this embodiment, the drive circuit 16 is constructed so as to be able to reverse the oil feed motor 4. Further, in this embodiment, the oil amount in the oil pan 2 is measured using the two oil level sensors 21 and 22, but the oil amount should be measured using one float type oil level sensor. Is also possible.

In the engine oil automatic adjusting device configured as described above, the amount of oil in the oil pan 2 is reduced when the engine is started, and the oil level is changed to the M level sensor 2.
When the position is lower than the position 2, the ECU 10 energizes the oil feeding motor 4 in the oil tank 3 via the drive circuit 16 to guide the oil 8 in the oil tank 3 into the oil pan 2 through the oil feeding pipe 6, After the amount of oil in the pan 2 is once increased, the oil feeding motor 4 is rotated in the reverse direction to remove excess oil and adjustment is made so as to attain an appropriate level. At this time, the time during which the oil supply motor 4 is energized is determined by the ECU 10
An example of the operation of calculating the energization time of the oil feeding motor 4 and the driving operation of the oil feeding motor 4 according to the present invention will be described below with reference to a flowchart.

FIG. 3 shows a routine for calculating the drive time of the oil feeding motor 4, which is executed immediately after the engine is started. First, in step 301, it is determined whether or not the starter is ON, and it is detected whether or not the starter is turned from the engine stopped state and the engine is started. Then, when the starter is not turned on (NO), this routine is ended, but when the starter is on (YES), the routine proceeds to step 302. In step 302, it is determined whether the M level sensor 22 of the oil pan 2 is OFF, that is, whether the remaining amount of oil in the oil pan 2 has not reached the position of the M level sensor 22. When the remaining amount of oil has reached the position of the M level sensor 22 (NO), this routine is ended, and when it has not reached (YES), the routine proceeds to step 303. In step 303, the current water temperature THWN (output of the water temperature sensor 23), engine oil temperature THO (output of the oil temperature sensor 27), and intake air temperature THA (intake air temperature sensor 26).
Output).

The following steps 304 and 305 determine whether or not the current state meets the condition for supplying the oil 8 from the oil tank 3 to the oil pan 2, and when this condition is not met, Does not replenish the oil in the oil pan 2. The conditions are the following two. The difference between the water temperature THWO at the last engine operation stop (stored in the memory 14 when the engine is stopped) and the water temperature THWN at the current engine start is T ₀ ° C or more;
That is, when the water temperature difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, a sufficient time has elapsed since the last engine stop, and the oil circulated in each part returns to the oil pan, so that the oil amount can be accurately detected.

The voltage of the battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage V ₀ (V), that is, the voltage is required to drive the motor when oil is supplied. This condition is judged in step 304, and if it is not satisfied, this routine is terminated, and only when it is satisfied, the process proceeds to step 305 to judge the condition. And step
When the condition in 305 is not satisfied, this routine is terminated, and only when it is satisfied, the process proceeds to step 306.

In step 306, the cranking rotation of the engine is judged, and if the cranking is within the predetermined number N, the process proceeds to step 307, but if the cranking exceeds N times, this routine is finished. Here, “within N times of cranking” means, for example, one or several times of cranking, and the condition of the number of times of cranking N times is that the oil level in the oil pan 2 after engine start is small. This is for finishing the calculation of the CPU 13 in time.

In step 307, the correction amount (correction coefficient) KTHW based on the water temperature THW, the correction amount (correction coefficient) KTHO based on the engine oil temperature THO, and the intake air temperature THA are applied to the energization time of the oil feeding motor 4. The amount (correction coefficient) KTHA is calculated. The calculation of the correction amount is performed according to the map value stored in advance in the memory 14 of the ECU 10. Water temperature correction amount K stored in the memory 14
The maps of THW, oil correction coefficient KTHO, and intake air temperature correction coefficient KTHA are constant maps as shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8, respectively, and engine displacement, oil pan shape, and engine cooling It suffices to determine the characteristics depending on the condition and to store a map suitable for the engine in the memory 14 in advance.

In the following step 308, the operation correction time Tα for normally rotating the oil supply motor 4 for oil supply is calculated by the following equation. Tα ← KTHW * KTHA * KTHO Then, at step 309, the total operation time T of the forward rotation of the oil feeding motor 4 is calculated by the following equation.

T = A + Tα where A is the basic oil supply time. After the total operation time T of the oil feeding motor 4 is calculated in this manner, the oil feeding motor forward rotation ON flag MO is calculated in the following step 310.
F and the oil supply motor reverse rotation on flag MROF are set to "1",
The values of the counter MKC and the counter MRKC for counting how many times the oil feeding motor has been operated are set to "0", and this routine is ended.

FIG. 4 shows an oil supply routine by the oil feeding motor 4. In this embodiment, in order to prevent the oil feeding motor 4 from being burnt out, the total operation time T of the normal rotation of the motor 4 calculated in step 309 is shown. Does not operate continuously,
As shown in FIG. 9, the operation of the oil feeding motor 4 is performed three times. That is, the oil feeding motor 4 is driven in the forward direction in three times at a time of 1/3 of the total operation time T of the oil feeding motor calculated in step 309, during which a predetermined time, for example, a rest period of about 130 seconds I am going to leave.

Therefore, when the oil feeding motor forward rotation ON flag MOF is "1" in step 401, the forward rotation driving signal of the oil feeding motor 4 is output in step 402 and the oil feeding motor 4 outputs the oil tank 3 from the oil tank 3. The oil 8 is supplied to the oil pan 2, and the time is counted by the time counter in step 403. In the following step 404, it is judged whether or not the forward rotation drive time of the oil feed motor 4 has passed T / 3, and after the forward rotation of the oil feed motor 4 until T / 3 has elapsed, this step is performed after step 404. The routine is finished, and then steps 401 to 404 are repeated. On the other hand, when T / 3 has elapsed since the oil feeding motor 4 was driven in the normal direction, the steps 404 to 40
Go to step 5 to clear the count value of the time counter and set the oil transfer motor forward rotation ON flag MOF to "0".
The value of the counter MKC is incremented by 1. Subsequent steps
At 406, the forward rotation drive signal of the oil feeding motor 4 is stopped.

Step 407 is to determine whether or not the number of forward rotation driving of the oil feeding motor 4 has reached three times. If the number of forward driving of the oil feeding motor 4 has not reached three times, step 407 is carried out. Proceed to 408, where time is counted. Then, in step 408, it is determined whether or not the pause period of 130 seconds has elapsed, and when it has not elapsed, this routine is ended, but thereafter, in step 405, the oil feeding motor forward rotation ON flag MOF is set to "0". The determination in step 401 becomes NO, and step 401 → step 408 → step 409 is repeated. When it is determined in step 409 that the stop time of the oil feeding motor 4 has reached 130 seconds, the process proceeds to step 410, the count value of the time counter of the pause time is cleared, and in step 411, the oil feeding motor forward rotation ON flag is turned on again. MOF
Is set to "1" to end this routine.

Thereafter, the oil feeding motor 4 is operated twice by the same procedure.
The oil is supplied from the oil tank 3 to the oil pan 2 in the forward rotation of T / 3, and there is a stop period of 130 seconds between them. In this way, the oil feeding motor 4 is divided into three times by T / 3 of the entire forward rotation operation time, and is operated while the oil feeding motor 4 is stopped, so that the atmospheric temperature is low, the oil hardens, and the fluidity is increased. The oil feeding motor 4 will not be burned even in a bad condition.

When the number of forward rotation driving of the oil feeding motor 4 reaches three times in step 407, the oil feeding motor forward rotation ON flag MOF is kept at "0" and the oil amount adjusting routine shown in FIG. 5 is executed. FIG. 5 shows an oil amount adjusting routine by the oil feeding motor 4. In this embodiment as well, the motor 4 for adjusting the oil amount is used to prevent the oil feeding motor 4 from burning.
As shown in FIG. 9,
The operation of the oil feeding motor 4 is performed three times. That is, after the total operation time T of the oil feeding motor 4 is finished, the oil feeding motor 4 is reversely driven in three times at a time S seconds of 1/3 each of the predetermined time 3S seconds, during which, A rest period of a predetermined time, for example, about 130 seconds is set.

Therefore, when the oil supply motor reverse rotation ON flag MROF is "1" in step 501, the reverse rotation drive signal of the oil supply motor 4 is output in step 502 to output the oil supply motor 4
Is reversed to return the oil from the oil supply opening 7 of the oil pan 2 to the oil tank 3 side, and in step 503, the time is counted by the time counter. In the following step 504, it is judged whether or not the reverse rotation drive time S seconds of the oil feed motor 4 has elapsed, and this routine is terminated after step 504 until S seconds have elapsed after the oil feed motor 4 was reversely driven. After that, steps 501 to 504 are repeated. on the other hand,
When S seconds have elapsed after the oil supply motor 4 was driven in reverse, the process proceeds from step 504 to step 505, where the count value of the time counter is cleared, the oil supply motor reverse rotation on flag MROF is set to "0", and the counter MRKC of the counter MRKC is set. Increase the value by 1. In the following step 506, the reverse rotation drive signal of the oil feed motor 4 is stopped.

In step 507, it is judged whether or not the number of reverse rotation driving of the oil feeding motor 4 has reached three times. When the number of reverse driving of the oil feeding motor 4 has not reached three times, step 508 follows. Proceed and count time here. Then, in step 508, it is determined whether or not the pause period of 130 seconds has elapsed, and when it has not elapsed, this routine is ended, but thereafter, in step 505, the oil feeding motor reverse rotation on flag MROF.
Is set to “0”, the determination in step 501 is NO.
And step 501 → step 508 → step 509 are repeated. When it is determined in step 509 that the stop time of the oil feeding motor 4 has reached 130 seconds, the process proceeds to step 510, the count value of the time counter of the pause time is cleared, and in step 511, the oil feeding motor reverse rotation on flag MR is again turned on.
The OF is set to "1" and this routine is finished.

Thereafter, the oil feeding motor 4 is operated twice by the same procedure.
The oil is supplied from the oil tank 3 to the oil pan 2 by being driven in reverse for S seconds, and there is a stop period of 130 seconds in the meantime. In this way, the oil feeding motor 4 is divided into three times for every S seconds of the reverse rotation operation time, and is operated while the oil feeding motor 4 is stopped. Therefore, when the atmospheric temperature is low and the oil hardens and the fluidity is poor. However, the oil feeding motor 4 does not burn out.

When the number of times of reverse rotation drive of the oil feed motor 4 has reached 3 in step 507, this routine is ended with the oil feed motor reverse rotation ON flag MROF set to "0". This oil amount adjustment routine is always executed after the oil supply routine. The reverse rotation time 3S of the oil feed motor 4 may be made to coincide with the total forward rotation time T of the oil feed motor 4. As described above, the oil feed motor 4 reverses for a predetermined time whether the oil is normally supplied or not, and when the oil is supplied above the oil level to be retained, the oil level in the oil pan 2 is adjusted to an appropriate level. Since the oil is returned to the oil tank 3 side from the oil supply opening 7 provided so as to be in contact with it, the amount of oil in the oil pan 2 is maintained at an appropriate level. Further, when the oil is normally supplied and the proper oil level is maintained, the oil feeding motor 4 only idles, so that the oil is not sucked out of the oil pan 2 below the appropriate level. ..

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if the oil supply amount becomes excessive due to a malfunction, the excessive supply amount can be corrected, and an appropriate oil level can always be maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a principle configuration of an engine oil automatic adjusting apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of an electronically controlled engine including an embodiment of an automatic engine oil adjusting device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a motor drive time calculation procedure according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an oil supply routine in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of an oil amount adjustment routine in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a map diagram for calculating a water temperature correction coefficient in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a map diagram for calculating an oil temperature correction coefficient according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a map diagram for calculating an intake air temperature correction coefficient according to the present invention.

9 is a waveform diagram showing a drive signal waveform output to the oil feeding motor in the procedure of the flowchart of FIG. 4 or FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Engine main body 2 ... Oil pan 3 ... Oil tank 4 ... Oil supply motor 6 ... Oil supply pipe 7 ... Oil supply opening 8 ... Oil 10 ... Engine control unit (ECU) 16 ... Drive circuits 21, 22 ... Oil level sensor 23 … Water temperature sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An oil tank for storing replenishing engine oil, an oil feeding means for supplying the oil in the tank to an oil pan when energized, and an oil tank provided so as to come into contact with an appropriate oil level position of the oil pan. Oil suction port, oil suction means for sucking oil from the oil suction port when energized, start detection means for detecting engine start, and oil remaining amount detection means for detecting the level of engine oil in the oil pan immediately after engine start And an oil replenishment control means for driving the oil feeding means by calculating an energization time to the oil feeding means when the remaining amount of oil in the oil pan is less than a predetermined amount at the time of starting the engine, and driving the oil feeding means. An engine oil automatic adjusting device comprising: an oil amount adjusting means for energizing the oil absorbing means for a predetermined time immediately after.