JPH0821597A - Lubricating oil supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect improper supply of oil air to an object to be lubricated with a simple structure in an oil air lubrication system. CONSTITUTION:An on orifice 10 is formed at the downstream drain pipe 8b of a drain pipe 8 for discharging lubricating oil from baring 7 which carries out lubrication with oil air, and a pressure change detection point is set between an upstream drain pipe 8a and the downstream drain pipe 8b. The pressure change detection points for respective bearings 7 are connected to a pressure sensor 11 through a detection point changer 20 to change over the detection point changer 20 as necessary and communicate plural pressure change detection points one by one with the pressure sensor 11. If the detected value of the pressure sensor 11 is lower than that in a normal condition, it is judged as improper supply of oil air to the bearing 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses a compressed air to move lubricating oil to an object to be lubricated, such as a bearing that supports a rotating shaft of a rolling mill or machine tool, along the inner wall surface of a pipeline. The present invention relates to a lubricating oil supply device (oil-air lubrication system) that supplies a lubricating oil (oil-air) in a state in which the oil-air is supplied to an object to be lubricated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a lubricating oil supply device for supplying an oil air, which is a mixture of lubricating oil and compressed air, to a lubrication object such as a bearing, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-271197 previously proposed by the present applicant. There is one disclosed in the publication. Such a conventional technique has a basic configuration including a main unit that supplies lubricating oil and compressed air, a mixer that mixes the lubricating oil and compressed air into an oil-air state, and a distributor that distributes the oil-air in various ways. I am trying. And, in particular, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, by providing a means for optically detecting the flow of the lubricating oil, for example, on the downstream side of the mixer,
It was possible to monitor whether or not an appropriate amount of oil / air was being supplied.

[0003]

Certainly, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, it is possible to monitor whether or not an appropriate amount of oil / air is being sent out from the mixer, but the oil / air is used for each bearing or the like. It is not possible to determine whether or not That is, for example, even if an abnormality such as a break occurs in the pipe line immediately before reaching the bearing, the lubricating oil flow rate and the air flow rate on the downstream side of the mixer do not change as long as the compressed air is normally supplied. Because.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a sensor for detecting whether or not the lubricating oil is surely supplied immediately before all the objects to be lubricated, but the optical sensor as disclosed in the above-mentioned prior art is provided. Is relatively expensive, so if it is applied to a continuous casting machine that has many guide rolls, pinch rolls, etc. and may reach several hundred lubrication points, the cost will be enormous. There is a problem.

In particular, since one feature of the oil-air lubrication system is that a small amount of lubricating oil is continuously and reliably supplied, the lubricating oil that is flowing is often a small amount in the first place. Even then, it was sometimes difficult to accurately detect the oil flow. And in order to detect it more accurately, a highly accurate and expensive sensor is required, so if the number of installation positions reaches several hundreds as described above, it will cause a significant increase in cost. become.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the unsolved problems of the prior art as described above, and has an inexpensive structure for an abnormal state in which oil air is not reliably supplied to an object to be lubricated. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lubricating oil supply device capable of easily detecting an abnormality such as a breakage of a downstream pipe.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention uses a compressed air to move lubricating oil along the inner wall surfaces of a plurality of pipelines to a plurality of objects to be lubricated. The lubricating oil supply device for supplying is provided with an orifice formed in each of the plurality of lubricating oil discharge lines for lubricating oil of the object to be lubricated, and a pressure change detecting means capable of detecting a pressure change. A pressure change detection point is set in at least one of the oil supply line of the target lubricating oil and the oil discharge line on the upstream side of the orifice,
Further, there is provided detection point switching means for communicating the pressure change detection points one by one with the pressure change detection means.

[0008]

[Function] Since the orifice is formed in each of the drain lines for discharging the lubricating oil from the object to be lubricated, the drain line and the oil supply line upstream of the orifice are
As long as the lubricating oil is appropriately supplied to the object to be lubricated, the predetermined pressure is maintained. This is because the lubricating oil moves along the inner wall surface of the pipeline that constitutes the oil supply line by compressed air to reach the object to be lubricated, and in the situation where compressed air is not supplied, the lubricating oil is This is because, of course, since the oil is not supplied, if the lubricating oil is being supplied to the oil supply line or the oil discharge line, the predetermined pressure is maintained on the upstream side of the orifice. Then, if the flow path is blocked in the oil supply line or a distributor or the like arranged upstream of the oil supply line and the movement of oil air is blocked, a pressure drop occurs at the closed position, so the pressure on the upstream side of the orifice decreases. Therefore, conversely, if the upstream side of the orifice is kept at a predetermined pressure, it can be determined that oil air is appropriately supplied to the object to be lubricated.

More specifically, first, when the pressure change detection point is set on the refueling line, if the pipe breaks or is blocked upstream of the pressure change detection point, the abnormality is detected. Is detected as a pressure drop,
When the pipe is broken or blocked downstream of the pressure change detection point, the break is detected as a decrease in pressure and the block is detected as an increase in pressure.

When the pressure change detection point is set on the drain oil line upstream of the orifice,
For example, if the seal of the object to be lubricated is broken, or the lubrication line is broken or clogged, the abnormality is detected as a decrease in pressure. The pressure change detecting means is not provided for each pressure change detecting point, but one pressure change detecting means is provided for a plurality of pressure change detecting points, and the detection point switching means is switched. By
One of the plurality of pressure change detection points communicates with the pressure change detection means. Therefore, by switching the detection point switching means, by one pressure change detecting means,
Pressure changes at a plurality of pressure change detection points are detected.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 are views showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the entire system of a lubricating oil supply device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a detection point switching device 20, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

First, the structure will be described. The mixer 1 shown in FIG.
Is a device that mixes compressed air supplied from a main unit (not shown) with lubricating oil to generate oil air, and evenly distributes the oil air and sends it out from each of the distribution ports 1a to 1f. Since the specific structures of the mixer 1 and the main unit are known (see the above-mentioned publication), the description thereof is omitted here.

Further, in this embodiment, six distributors 2A to 2F are provided for the mixer 1, and the mixer 1
The respective distribution ports 1a to 1f and the oil supply ports 2a of the respective distributors 2A to 2F are connected to each other via pipes 3a to 3f. Each of the distributors 2A to 2F has a distribution port 4 according to the number of lubrication targets that supply oil air. In this embodiment, four distributor ports 4 are provided for each distributor 2A-2F.
Is provided.

The structure prior to each distribution port 4 is as follows.
Since the same applies to any of the distribution ports 4, the following description will be made only for one distribution port 4 provided in the distributor 2A, and the other figures and description will be omitted. That is, the distribution port 4 is connected to an oil supply pipe 5 as an oil supply line, and the other end of the oil supply pipe 5 is connected to a lubricating oil supply port 7a of a bearing 7 as an object to be lubricated. On the other hand, the lubricating oil discharge port 7b of the bearing 7 and the oil tank 9
Is connected via a drain pipe 8 as an oil drain line.

The drain pipe 8 is divided into an upstream drain pipe 8a near the bearing 7 and a downstream drain pipe 8b near the oil tank 9, and the downstream drain pipe 8 is provided.
An orifice 10 is formed in the middle of b. The downstream end of the upstream drain pipe 8a and the downstream drain pipe 8
The upstream end of b is connected to a detection point switch 20 as detection point switching means. The upstream drain pipe 8a and the downstream drain pipe 8b of the drain pipe 8 connected to bearings other than the bearing 7 shown in FIG.
It is connected to the same detection point switch 20.

Here, the detection point switch 20 constantly connects the upstream drain pipes 8a and the downstream drain pipes 8b, and at least one of the upstream drain pipes 8 is connected.
The pressure sensor 11 as a pressure change detecting means is connected between the a and the downstream drain pipe 8b.
The specific structure of the detection point switch 20 is as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. That is, the detection point switching device 20 has a plurality of radial holes 2 radially extending from the inner peripheral surface side to the outer peripheral surface side and closed on the outer peripheral surface side by the plugs 22a.
2, ..., 22 have a thick-walled cylindrical member 21 formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction in the central portion in the axial direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2). Direction hole 22,
, 22, an axial hole 23 that intersects the axial direction, and a taper screw hole 24 that communicates with both ends of the axial hole 23.
a and 24b are formed, the upstream drain pipe 8a is communicatively connected to the taper screw hole 24a, and the downstream drain pipe 8b is communicatively connected to the taper screw 24b.

Therefore, the taper screw hole 2 is provided between the upstream drain pipe 8a and the downstream drain pipe 8b of each drain pipe 8.
4a → axial hole 23 → taper screw hole 24b are always connected. Inside the cylindrical member 21,
Cylindrical rotor 2 with one end (left side in FIG. 2) open
5 is rotatably inserted, and a rotary shaft 26 to which a rotational force is transmitted from an electric motor or the like (not shown) is coaxially and integrally coupled to the other end surface of the rotor 25 in the rotational direction. Between the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylindrical member 21 serving as sliding surfaces and the rotor 25
Airtightness is maintained between the outer peripheral surfaces by oil seals 27a and 27b housed in oil seal grooves 21a and 21b formed at both axial ends of the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 21. The oil seals 27a and 27b have lips facing inward in order to improve the hermeticity, and the fall of the lips is prevented by the ring-shaped pressing plates 28a and 28b.

A circumferential groove 29 continuous in the circumferential direction is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the rotor 25 in accordance with the position where the radial hole 22 of the cylindrical member 21 is formed. Further, a through hole 30 having the same diameter as the radial hole 22 of the cylindrical member 21 is formed so as to extend from the circumferential groove 29 to the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 25. Therefore, depending on the rotational position of the rotor 25, the plurality of radial holes 2
Any one of 2, ..., 22 communicates with the circumferential groove 29 via the through hole 30.

Inside the rotor 25, a cylindrical fixed shaft 32, which is integrated with the cylindrical member 21 in the axial and rotational directions by an L-shaped connecting member 31, is inserted. Airtightness is maintained between the inner peripheral surface of the rotor 25 and the outer peripheral surface of the fixed shaft 32, which are sliding surfaces, by an oil seal 27c housed in an oil seal groove 25a formed at the opening side end of the inner peripheral surface of the rotor 25. Is dripping In this case as well, in order to improve the hermeticity, the lip of the oil seal 27c is directed inward, and the drop is prevented by the ring-shaped pressing plate 28c. The holding plate 28c has its outer peripheral portion largely bulged outward so as to cover a part of the surface of the holding plate 28a, whereby the holding plate 28c is fitted into the retaining ring groove 25b formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 25 and pressed. Together with the retaining ring 34 that covers a part of the surface of the plate 28b, it is responsible for positioning the rotor 25 in the axial direction.

The fixed shaft 32 has an L connecting the central portion of the end surface facing away from the rotary shaft 26 and the outer peripheral surface.
A channel 35 of a V-shape is formed, and a taper screw hole 36 is formed at the end of the flow path 35 on the end face side. The taper screw hole 36 is connected to the introduction port 11a of the pressure sensor 11 so as to be able to communicate therewith. There is. The end of the flow path 35 on the peripheral surface side is open at an axial position communicating with the peripheral groove 29.

Although not particularly shown, a controller for driving and controlling an electric motor for rotating the rotary shaft 26,
A rotational position sensor that detects the rotational position of the rotor 25 is provided, and the controller outputs a control signal to the electric motor while monitoring the detection signal supplied from the rotational position sensor to rotate the rotor 25, The through-holes 30 are configured to control the radial holes 22, ... Specifically, in the example of FIG. 3, since the number of radial holes 22, ..., 22 is 20, the controller rotates the rotor 25 by 18 degrees to open each radial hole 22 ,. The through holes 30 are successively communicated. However, the time in which the one radial hole 22 and the through hole 30 are maintained in communication with each other is set to a time in which the measurement by the pressure sensor 11 is sufficiently possible. Therefore, the controller drives the electric motor intermittently.

Here, in this embodiment, the division position of the upstream drain pipe 8a and the downstream drain pipe 8b is the pressure change detection point. Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. That is, when the rotor 25 rotates intermittently at a predetermined angle, any one of the plurality of radial holes 22, ..., 22 communicates with the circumferential groove 29 through the through hole 30, but the circumferential groove 29. Is the inlet 11 of the pressure sensor 11 via the flow path 35.
Always in communication with a. Therefore, the divided positions of the upstream drain pipe 8a and the downstream drain pipe 8b of each drain pipe 8 as pressure change detection points are communicated with the pressure sensor 11 one by one in order.

The upstream drain pipe 8a and the downstream drain pipe 8b of each drain pipe 8 have axial holes 23 ,.
The communication state is always maintained by 23. Therefore, the bearing 7
The lubricating oil discharged from the oil tank 9 can always be discharged to the oil tank 9 regardless of the state of the detection point switch 20. That is, the rotor 25 of the detection point switch 20
By only intermittently rotating the bearing 7, any one pressure change detection point is connected to the pressure sensor 11 while maintaining the lubricating oil supply state and the discharging state of the bearing 7.

Due to the throttling effect of the orifice 10 formed in the downstream drain pipe 8b, the pressure in the drain pipe 8, the bearing 7 and the oil supply pipe 5 upstream of the orifice 10 is abnormal. If not, 0.2-0.4
It is kept at kg / cm ² . If the pressure sensor 11 indicates such a normal pressure, it can be determined that the bearing 7 is supplied with an appropriate amount of lubricating oil.

This is because, in the oil-air lubrication system, the lubricating oil moves along the inner wall surface of the pipe due to the flow of the compressed air, so that only the lubricating oil is supplied in the state where the compressed air is not supplied. Because that is impossible. The situation where only compressed air is supplied is a case where the lubricating oil is not normally supplied in the mixer 1, and this is easily detected by the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned publication.

More specifically, for example, if any of the pipe 3a, the distributor 2A and the oil supply pipe 5 is clogged or crushed, and the oil / air is not normally conveyed to the bearing 7, the clogging or crushing will occur. Since a pressure drop occurs at the portion where the above occurs, the pressure in the drain pipe 8 becomes lower than the normal state. Also, for example, the pipe 3
a or the oil supply pipe 5 may be broken, or leakage due to deterioration of the seal at the connecting portion between the distribution port 1a and the pipe 3a,
When the pipes and the like on the upstream side of the orifice 10 are opened and oil air is not conveyed to the bearing 7 due to the abnormality of the other connecting portions, the pressure in the drain pipe 8 also falls below the normal state.

Furthermore, since the seal inside the bearing 7 is damaged, the pressure inside the drain pipe 8 is still normal even when the oil 7 has reached the bearing 7 but the normal lubrication is not performed. It will be lower than the state. That is, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, when the bearing 7 is in an abnormal state where the oil air is not normally conveyed, the pressure in the drain pipe 8 is reduced, and the pressure drop is caused by the pressure sensor 1.
Such anomalies are easily detected as they appear in the measured value of 1.

The structure required to obtain such an operation is basically the orifice 10 and the pressure sensor 11.
It's only because it's cheap. Therefore, even if it is applied to a continuous casting machine having a large number of guide rolls, pinch rolls, etc., and there may be several hundred lubrication points, enormous cost is not required. In particular, in this embodiment,
Since the detection point switching device 20 is applied, pressure changes at a plurality of pressure change detection points are detected by one pressure sensor 1.
1 makes it possible to monitor. Therefore,
Although it depends on the number of drain pipes 8 that can be connected to the detection point switcher 20, the pressure sensor 1 is provided for each drain pipe 8.
Compared with the case where 1 is provided, the number of pressure sensors 11 is several tenths (1/20 in this embodiment). Then, instead, the detection point switching device 20 needs to be installed, but since the increase is smaller than the cost reduction due to the reduction in the number of the pressure sensors 11, the overall cost reduction can be achieved.

Moreover, if the number of the pressure sensors 11 is reduced, there is also an advantage that the time and effort for monitoring are reduced accordingly. Further, in the case of the present embodiment, since the abnormality of the oil-air conveyance is detected by the change in the pressure in the pipe,
Even if the flow rate of the lubricating oil conveyed as oil air is very small, there is an advantage that an abnormality can be easily detected.

In the case of the present embodiment, since the pressure drops in the case of an abnormality, a pressure switch for detecting that the pressure is below a predetermined pressure may be used instead of the pressure sensor 11. Then, since the pressure switch is generally cheaper, the cost can be further reduced. Here, in the above embodiment, the case where the pressure change detection point is provided in the drain pipe 8 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the pressure change detection point may be set in the oil supply pipe 5.

With such a configuration, when clogging or breakage occurs on the upstream side of the pressure change detection point, the pressure on the downstream side of the clogging or breakage point decreases, and therefore the measured value of the pressure sensor 11 decreases to cause abnormalities. Is detected. Further, if blockage occurs due to clogging or the like on the downstream side of the pressure change detection point, the pressure on the upstream side of the clogged position rises, so an abnormality is detected by an increase in the measured value of the pressure sensor 11.

Further, when the opening occurs due to breakage or the like on the downstream side of the pressure change detection point, the pressure in the oil supply pipe 5 decreases, so that the abnormality is detected by the decrease in the measured value of the pressure sensor 11. As described above, even if the pressure change detection point is set in the oil supply pipe 5, it is possible to detect the state in which the oil / air is not normally supplied to the bearing 7 by the change in the measurement value of the pressure sensor 11 as in the above embodiment. You can

Moreover, in this case, the pressure of the pressure sensor 11 may increase or decrease depending on the type of abnormality. Therefore, the type of abnormality is discriminated to some extent from the change state of the measured value of the pressure sensor 11. It is also possible to do so. Even when a pressure change detection point is set in the oil supply pipe 5, a pressure switch may be applied instead of the pressure sensor 11. However, in this case, the pressure may increase or decrease depending on the type of abnormality.Therefore, the pressure switch that detects that the pressure has increased compared to the normal state and the pressure decreases compared to the normal state. There are two types of pressure switches, a pressure switch for detecting that the pressure is detected, or a pressure switch having two contacts. Further, the detection point switching device 20 is provided in the same manner as in the above-mentioned embodiment, and its operation and effect are also similar to those in the above-mentioned embodiment.

Further, the pressure change detection points may be set in both the oil supply pipe 5 and the drain pipe 8. Also,
In the above embodiment, the bearing 7 is shown as the object to be lubricated, but it is not limited to this. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the rotary detection point switch 20 that switches the connection state by rotating the rotor 25 is applied, but the invention is not limited to this, and a slide switch may be used. . However, the rotary type as in the above embodiment has an advantage that the structure and control are simple. Further, the number of switching points of the switching device is not limited to 20 and is arbitrary.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An orifice is formed in the oil discharge line for the lubricating oil of each lubrication target, pressure change detection points are set upstream of the orifice, and these pressure change detection points are connected to the pressure change detection means one by one. Since the point switching means is provided, it is possible to detect a state in which oil air is not normally supplied to the object to be lubricated with an inexpensive configuration, and moreover, when the flow rate of the lubricating oil conveyed as oil air is very small. Also has an effect that an abnormality can be easily detected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a detection point switch.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Mixer 2A-2F Distributor 5 Oil supply pipe (oil supply line) 7 Bearing (lubrication target) 8 Drain pipe (oil drain line) 8a Upstream drain pipe 8b Downstream drain pipe 10 Orifice 11 Pressure sensor (pressure change detection means) ) 20 detection point switching device (detection point switching means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lubricating oil supply device for supplying lubricating oil to a plurality of objects to be lubricated by moving the lubricating oil along the inner wall surfaces of a plurality of pipelines using compressed air, wherein the plurality of objects to be lubricated are lubricated. An orifice formed in each of the oil discharge lines and a pressure change detection means capable of detecting a pressure change are provided, and the upstream side of the lubricating oil supply line of the plurality of objects to be lubricated and the orifice. Setting a pressure change detection point on at least one of the oil drain lines,
Further, the lubricating oil supply device is provided with a detection point switching means for communicating the pressure change detection points one by one with the pressure change detection means.