JPS6246757B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic vehicular refueling device that automatically replenishes lubricating oil at required intervals in a vehicle such as an automobile.

In order to avoid the complexity of manual refueling and to prevent forgetting to refuel, various devices have been proposed that automatically centrally refuel lubricating oil at predetermined locations in a vehicle. Some conventional devices of this type are configured to automatically refuel at required intervals according to the cumulative engine operating time or cumulative mileage, but all functions are initialized when the key switch is turned off. It is not possible to replenish the lubricating oil taking into account the state of the lubricating oil before the lubricating operation, resulting in excessive lubricating and wasting lubricating oil. In order to eliminate this drawback, an automatic refueling system has been proposed that uses a mechanical switch to memorize the distance traveled and refuels every predetermined accumulated distance traveled (Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-16063). (Refer to the publication), the reliability is low due to the use of a large number of mechanical switches, the mechanical configuration is complex and expensive, and it has the disadvantages that it is impossible to change the refueling interval determined at the time of design. There is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic refueling system for a vehicle that does not require a complicated mechanism, is highly reliable, and can extremely easily change refueling intervals.

The gist of the present invention is that the number of pulses of a pulse signal of a predetermined period is counted by a counter only when the engine is in operation, and the counting result is continuously stored regardless of whether the key switch is on or off. The purpose is to refuel at every predetermined cumulative operating time based on this counting result.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a central lubrication system for vehicles according to the present invention. This central lubrication system 1 supplies lubricating oil in a grease reservoir 2 with a pump 4 driven by a motor 3, as shown by solid arrows. Then, it is sequentially pressure-fed through the main pipe 5 and the switching valve 6 to three distribution valves 7, 8, and 9 arranged in series. The pressure-fed lubricating oil is supplied from each distribution valve 7, 8, 9 to each lubricating portion of a vehicle (not shown). The oil that has passed through the last distribution valve 9 returns to the switching valve 6, and this time the pressure feeding direction is switched by the switching valve 6, and the oil is sequentially transferred in the opposite direction to the distribution valves 9, 8, and 7 as shown by the dotted arrow. After being pressure-fed to , it returns to the switching valve 6 again and one stroke ends. The switching valve 6 is arranged between the grease reservoir 2, the pump 4, and the distribution valves 7 to 9, and has communication ports P, T, _M1 , and _M2 that communicate with these elements, and a part of the pumped oil is , is always returned to the inlet side of the pump 4 via a return oil path 10 via a switching valve 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the switching valve 6 includes a first spool valve 11 equipped with three lands 11a to 11c that reciprocate with the lubricating oil returned from the distribution valve.
5, which reciprocates with the lubricating oil pumped from the pump.
and a second spool valve 12 having two lands 12a to 12e, arranged so that these first and second spool valves operate alternately, and when they are in forward or backward movement positions, distribution is performed. The valve is configured so that the direction in which lubricating oil is pumped to the valve can be switched. This switching valve 6 is provided with a switch 13 operated by a second spool valve 12.
The switch 13 consists of a pressure rod 14 fixed to the second spool valve 12 and a contact mechanism 15 that is opened and closed by the pressure rod 14 as the second spool valve 12 moves back and forth. The contact mechanism 15 is closed by the spring 16 when the second spool valve 12 is moving to the left as shown in FIG. The movable contact portion is pushed open at the tip portion of the contact portion against the spring force of the spring 16 to open the movable contact portion. This second spool valve 12 moves to the right when lubricating oil flows in the direction of the arrow shown by the solid line in FIG. It is in the position shown in FIG. 2 when lubricating oil flows in the direction shown in FIG. Therefore, the switch 13 is closed only when the lubricating oil is flowing in the direction of the arrow shown by the dotted line in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 1, the motor 3 is connected to a DC power supply 19 via a manual operation switch 17 and a key switch 18, and after closing the key switch 18,
When the operator closes the manual operation switch 17, current from the DC power source 19 flows into the motor 3, allowing a predetermined centralized lubrication operation to be performed. An automatic refueling controller 20 is provided to automatically perform this concentrated refueling operation at predetermined intervals related to the driving time of the vehicle. The automatic fuel supply controller 20 is supplied with power from the DC power supply 19 via the first power line 21 regardless of whether the key switch 18 is opened or closed, and is supplied with power via the second power line 22 when the key switch 18 is turned on. The cumulative driving time of the vehicle is measured and stored. and,
When the cumulative value of the cumulative driving time of the vehicle reaches a predetermined value, a driving current is supplied to the motor 3 via the output line 23 to perform centralized refueling. The operation of the motor 3 causes the changeover valve 6 to turn on the switch 13, lighting up the pilot lamp 24, and then the refueling operation is completed, the second spool valve 12 moves to the right again, and the switch 13 turns on. It turns off (see Figure 2). In order to perform the above-mentioned automatic refueling operation again, switch 13 is pressed.
The signal from the automatic fuel supply controller 20 may be input as an initial set signal to the automatic fuel supply controller 20, or the automatic fuel supply controller 20 may be configured to have an initial set function.

A detailed block diagram of the automatic refueling controller 20 is shown in FIG. The voltage stabilization circuit 31, which always receives power supply from the DC power supply 9 via the first power supply line 21, supplies a predetermined stabilized constant voltage _E1 to the oscillator 32, the counter 33, and the monostable multivibrator 34. supplying. The oscillator 32 is a circuit that oscillates and outputs the pulse train signal P ₁ of the frequency selected by the frequency switching circuit 35 , and sends the pulse train signal P ₁ to the output line 37 .
The shutdown is controlled by a control signal S ₁ from the oscillator control circuit 36. The oscillator control circuit 36 is connected to the DC power supply 9 via the second power supply line 22.
It receives power from the key switch 1.
When the key switch 18 is closed, the power supply voltage is applied, and in response, the pulse train signal P ₁ generated in the oscillator 32 is supplied to the counter 33 as a count pulse, and when the key switch 18 is turned off, the pulse train signal P ₁ is output. The feed to line 37 is stopped. Therefore, the counter 33 is supplied with count pulses and stores the number of input pulses only when the key switch 18 is closed, that is, when the engine is rotating. counter 33
The voltage E ₁ applied to the key switch 18
Since it is constantly applied regardless of whether it is opened or closed,
Even in a non-operating state with the key switch 18 turned off, the counting results of the number of pulses input so far are stored and held. Frequency switching circuit 35
Unless the frequency set by is changed midway through, the period of the count pulse output from the oscillator 32 is also constant, so the count content of the counter 33 is proportional to the cumulative operating time of the engine since the counter 33 was reset. are doing. That is, the counter 33 always stores data related to the cumulative operating time of the engine.

When the count content of the counter 33 reaches a predetermined maximum value of the counter 33, the monostable multivibrator 34 is triggered by a change in the output signal of the counter 33 given via the output line 38, and its output is becomes "1" only for a predetermined period. The drive circuit 39 to which power is supplied via the second power supply line 22 supplies drive current to the motor 3 via the output line 23 only while the output of the monostable multivibrator 34 is "1". . After the count value reaches the maximum value, the counter 33 is automatically reset to zero by the input pulse, and the above-described operation is repeated again. As a result, the cumulative operating time of the engine is increased by the refueling interval time (usually ₂ to 8
Refueling is carried out for a predetermined period of time (usually about 1 minute) every time the specified time is reached. Therefore, if it is desired to shorten the refueling time interval, the oscillation frequency of the oscillator 32 may be increased by the frequency switching circuit 35, or the maximum count value of the counter 33 may be reduced. In the above example, the monostable multivibrator is triggered when the counter 33 counts up to the maximum count value. Of course, the trigger may be applied when counting reaches an arbitrary number. For this purpose, a programmable counter can be used in which the base number of the counter can be arbitrarily set. That is, the monostable multivibrator may be triggered when the counter 33 has counted a predetermined number, and the counter 33 may be configured to return to a predetermined counting state, for example, a reset state.

Furthermore, the counting start and counting stop of the counter 33 need not necessarily be performed by stopping the oscillation of the oscillator 32, but can be performed by providing a gate circuit on the input side of the counter 33 and controlling this gate circuit. It's okay to get old.

FIG. 4 shows the automatic oil supply controller 2 shown in FIG.
A more specific circuit of 0 is shown. A diode 4 is connected between the first power supply line 21 and the ground.
0, a resistor 41, and a voltage regulator diode 42, and a voltage stabilizing circuit 43 configured to take out a constant voltage _E1 generated across the voltage regulator diode 42.
This constant voltage E ₁ is supplied to a variable frequency oscillator 47 mainly composed of a NAND gate 44 and inverters 45 and 46 (the power supply wiring is omitted in FIG. 4). be). In addition, 48 is a capacitor for removing noise, and 49 is a large capacity capacitor for improving the regulation of the power supply. The output of the inverter 45 is fed back to one input terminal of the NAND gate 44 via a capacitor 51 and a resistor 50.
The output of the inverter 46 is fed back to the input side through one to four of the resistors 56. The other input of the NAND gate 44 includes a diode 57,
A control voltage _E2 generated in an oscillator control circuit 62, which is composed of resistors 58, 59, a constant voltage diode 60, and a capacitor 61 and is provided between the second power supply line 22 and the ground, is applied via a resistor 63. It is becoming more and more common. When the key switch 18 is off, E ₂ =0, and the variable frequency oscillator 47 is in an inactive state. When the key switch 18 is turned on, a predetermined voltage _E2 is generated, and the variable frequency oscillator 47 outputs a pulse train signal _P1 with a frequency according to the setting of the switch 52, and this pulse train signal _P1 is stabilized. voltage
It is input as a count pulse to a counter 64 operated by _E1 .

Referring to FIG. 5, the state of the pulse train signal P1 (FIG. 5b) corresponding to the on/off state of the key switch ₁₈ (FIG. 5a) is shown, and the pulse train signal P1 is only when the key switch 18 is turned on. Signal P ₁
is being output.

This counter 64 is configured as a 14-bit binary counter, and the most significant digit output signal _Q14
is output to the output line 65. As shown in FIG. 5c, if the counter 64 is reset at time t= _t1 , then 8192 (=
2 ¹³ ) t when the th pulse is input to the counter 64
= At time t ₂ , the output signal Q ₁₄ becomes "1" level, and at t ₃ , the 16384th (= 2 ¹⁴ ) pulse is input to the counter 64, so that the output signal Q 14 becomes "1" level.
The level of _Q14 becomes "0" and the counter 64 is reset again.

The output signal _Q14 whose level changes as described above is supplied to the operational amplifier 66, the resistors 67 to 70, and the capacitor 7.
1, input to a monostable multivibrator 73 configured by a NOR gate 72. A resistor 67 and a capacitor 7 are connected to the negative input terminal of the operational amplifier 66.
1 is formed, the potential _V1 at the - input terminal rises gently as shown in Figure 5d, and at this time the voltage level U at the upper trip point of the + input terminal rises. potential than ₁
In response to V ₁ going high, operational amplifier 66
The output voltage O ₁ changes from the "1" level to the "0" level. Then, at t=t ₃ the output signal Q ₁₄
Describing the case where V changes from "1" to "0", at t= _t3 , the charge stored in the capacitor 71 is discharged via the resistor 67 and the counter 64, and the potential _V1 changes to the operational amplifier 66. At time _t4 , when the output voltage O1 becomes lower than the lower trip point level _U2 , the output voltage _O1 changes from the "0" level to the "1" level.

The output signal Q ₁₄ and the output signal O ₁ are the NOR gate 7
2, the output voltage O ₂ of the NOR gate 72 is at the "1" level only during the period from time t ₃ to t ₄ when the levels of both signals are both at the "0" level (FIG. 5 f). reference).

This output voltage O ₂ is
5. The output voltage is input to a drive circuit 81 which is composed of resistors 76, 77, 78, 79 and a diode 80 and receives power from the second power supply line 22.
In response to O ₂ reaching the “1” level, the transistor 75 is turned on, causing a drive current to flow through the motor 3. Note that the diode 82 connected in parallel to the motor 3 is a protection element for the transistor 75.

As can be seen from the above explanation, _{the time T 1} ⁽ =t ₃ −
t ₁ ) is the refueling interval time, and the output voltage O ₂ is "1"
The time T ₂ (=t ₄ −t ₃ ) during which the fuel remains at the level is the refueling time. As described above, after the counter 64 starts the refueling operation by counting up to ²¹⁴ , the counter 64 starts counting again from 0. As shown in the example of FIG. 5, if the key switch is turned off before the count content of the counter 64 reaches 2 ¹³ (t=t ₅ ),
Although there is no change in the operation of the stages after the counter 64, the voltage _E1 from the voltage stabilizing circuit 43, which operates regardless of whether the key switch 18 is turned on or off, continues to be supplied to the counter 64. Therefore, after _t4 , the count pulse number up to _t5 is continued to be stored, and when the operation is restarted again at t= _t6 , counting is started again from the stored count contents. t ₇
When the count content reaches 2 ¹³ at , the same operation that took place at t ₂ takes place in the monostable multivibrator 73 and the output voltage O ₁ becomes t ₈
becomes the "0" level. Even if the key switch 18 is turned off again at _t9 , the output signal remains
The levels of Q ₁₄ , potential V ₁ , and output voltage O ₁ are maintained as they are until time t ₁₀ when the key switch 18 is next turned on, and when the count reaches 2 ¹⁴ at t ₁₁ , a refueling operation is performed. As is clear from the above explanation, periods T ₃ (= t ₅ - _{t 4} ), T ₄ (= t ₉ - t ₆ ), T ₅ (=
The sum of t ₁₁ −t ₁₀ ) is equal to T ₁ , and each time the cumulative value of the time that the key switch 18 is on reaches a predetermined length T ₁ , the key switch 18 is switched in the middle. Refueling is done automatically regardless of the condition.

In the above embodiment, the oscillator control circuit 62 is configured to output the pulse train signal _P1 when the key switch 18 is in the on state, but the oscillator control circuit 62 is configured to output the pulse train signal P1 when the engine is in the operating state.
For example, a pressure switch that detects the engine oil pressure is provided, and _{the pulse train signal P 1 is} generated and stopped by detecting the increase in engine oil pressure due to engine rotation. It may be configured to control. Furthermore, a voltage controlled oscillator may be used as the oscillator 47, and the frequency may be switched by changing the value of the control voltage applied from the outside.

FIG. 6 shows the automatic oil supply controller 2 shown in FIG.
A block diagram of another embodiment that can be used in place of 0 is shown. In the automatic refueling controller 90 shown in FIG. 6, parts corresponding to those of the automatic refueling controller 20 shown in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals. In the automatic oil supply controller 90, the output voltage _Q14 of the counter 33 is directly input to the drive circuit 39, and the timing signal G that becomes "0" when the switch 13 shown in FIG. Based on this timing signal G, the reset circuit 92 generates a reset pulse that coincides with the end timing of a predetermined one-stroke operation of refueling.
This differs from the automatic oil supply controller 20 shown in FIG. 3 in that it is configured to generate a pulse RP and reset a counter 33 using the reset pulse RP. Since the other basic operations of the automatic refueling controller 90 are the same as those of the automatic refueling controller 20, the reset operation of the automatic refueling controller 90 will be described in detail below.

Referring to FIG. 7, when the key switch is in the on state as shown in FIG. 7a, the output signal _Q14 of the counter 33 changes from "0" to "1" at t=t _a .
When the current changes to , the drive circuit 39 immediately operates to start supplying the drive current _ID to the motor 3, and refueling is started. As already explained, the switching valve 6 (second
The second spool valve 12 shown in the figure) moves to the right at the start of refueling and the switch 13 is open, so the level of the line 91 is at the power supply voltage level. After a predetermined time has elapsed, when the second spool valve 12 moves to the position shown in FIG. 2 (t=t _b )
When switch 13 is closed, timing signal G
level becomes "0", and at the same time lamp 2
4 lights up. Then, at time _tc when one stroke of the switching valve 6 is completed, the second spool valve 12 returns to its original position and the switch 13 is opened, so that the level of the line 91 becomes the power supply voltage level again. The reset circuit 92 is a circuit that outputs a reset pulse RP (see FIG. 7e) in accordance with the timing when the timing signal G changes from "0" to "1".
3 and returns the counter 33 to zero. Therefore, at _tc , the output signal _Q14 becomes "0", and the drive current _ID flowing through the motor 3 becomes zero. After t _c , the counter 33 counts and stores the number of pulses of the pulse train signal P ₁ again, and when the counted value reaches a predetermined value, the above-described operation is repeated again. According to such a configuration, even if the required refueling time differs depending on the mounting conditions of the refueling device, a constant amount of refueling can be achieved regardless of the mounting conditions of the refueling device without any adjustment taking this required refueling time into account on the control device side. can be refueled.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the counter 33
Since we used the output signal Q ₁₄ from
2. Lubricating will be performed every time ¹³ pulses are input, but it should be configured so that the output signal Q ₁₅ of the 15th stage is input to the drive circuit 39 using a counter consisting of a stage divided by 15. For example, similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, refueling can be performed every time ²¹⁴ pulses are input to the counter 33.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the counter operation was an addition operation, but it is also possible to use a preset counter to preset a predetermined value and then perform a subtraction operation using a pulse train signal. It may be configured such that when the subtraction result reaches a predetermined value, the refueling operation is performed and the preset counter is preset.

FIG. 8 schematically shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the central oil supply system 100 uses an air actuator 101 to
This device differs from the device 1 shown in FIG. 1 in that it is configured to send lubricating oil from the grease reservoir 2 to 104. In the device 100, a pressure switch 13' for controlling lighting of the lamp 24 is provided in the distributor 104 furthest from the main pipe 5, and the switch is activated when the lubricating oil pressure in the distributor 104 reaches a predetermined value. 13' is closed and lamp 2
4 is configured to light up. As the automatic oil supply controller 20, the one shown in FIG. 3 can of course be used, and the controller shown in FIG. 6 may also be used. However, in the device shown in FIG. 8, the pilot lamp 24 lights up when refueling is completed, so the reset circuit 92 is configured to output a reset pulse in response to the switch 13' being turned on. It is preferable to do so.

According to the present invention, as described above, there is no need for a complicated mechanical structure, the reliability is high, and the refueling interval can be changed extremely easily.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure shows a detailed sectional view of the switching valve shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows a detailed block diagram of an embodiment of the automatic oil supply controller shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 shows the circuit shown in Fig. 3. Wiring diagrams showing more specific circuit examples, Figures 5a to 5f are waveform diagrams to explain the operation of the circuit shown in Figure 4, and Figure 6 is the automatic lubrication diagram shown in Figure 1. A detailed block diagram of another embodiment of the controller, FIGS. 7a to 7e are waveform diagrams for explaining the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a detailed block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. Schematic configuration diagram. 1,100... Central lubrication device, 2... Grease reservoir, 13,13'... Switch, 18...
Key switch, 19...DC power supply, 20, 90...
... Automatic oil supply controller, 32, 47 ... Oscillator, 3
3, 64... Counter, 34, 73... Monostable multivibrator, 32, 62... Oscillator control circuit, 39, 81... Drive circuit, 92... Reset circuit, P ₁ ... Pulse train signal, RP... Reset pulse.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Oil distribution means for centrally supplying lubricating oil to each part of the vehicle including the actuator, and a pulse generator that generates pulses with a preset constant cycle;
a counter that counts and stores the number of input pulses; a control means that controls the counter to start and stop counting in response to the start and stop of operation of the engine of the vehicle; and the contents of the count of the counter. means for driving the actuator to perform a predetermined refueling operation in response to reaching a predetermined value, and refueling is performed every predetermined cumulative operating time of the engine. Automatic lubrication device.