US2390643A

US2390643A - Indicator device

Info

Publication number: US2390643A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1945-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 1962-12-11

Description

Dec. '11, 1945.

P.- 5. DE BEAUMONT 2,390,643

INDICATOR DEVICE Original Filed Oct. 15, 1941 /a w k I N V EN TOR. E er/"e 52, la/f defieqa mi in the engine sump,

Patented Dec. 11, 1945 INDICATOR DEVICE Pierre Stuart de Beaumont, Washington, D. C., assignor to Packard Motor Car Company, De-

troit, Mich., a corporati on of Michigan Original application October 15, 1941, Serial No.

415,064. Divided and this application November 8, 1943, Serial No. 509,417

' 4 Claims.

This invention relates to systems employing a Bourdon tube and is a division of Patent No. 2,351,408 issued June 13, 1944.

An object of the invention is to provide a bimetallic tube that will react to pressure and temperature.

Another object of the invention is to provide a Bourdon tube with a contact member for controlling an electric circuit.

Another object of the invention is to provide an indicator system controlled by a bimetallic Bourdon tube in series with a fluid system and reacting to the temperature and pressure of the fluid passing therethrough.

Another object of the invention is to provide a switch member for an electric circuit comprising a Bourdon tube with a contact at its free end.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawing, which forms a part of this specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a partly broken away and sectioned elevational view of the forward end of a motor vehicle having an indicator system incorporating the invention associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the indicator system;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the indicator system control structure taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, an engine is shown in advance of a motor vehicle dash II and instrument board 12. A conventional lubricating system supplies oil under pressure to the usual engine bearings and includes a gear pump 13 driven by the engine through shaft 14. The pump lies formed by pan l5, and has a strainer I 6 at the oil inlet end. The pump draws oil from the sump through the strainer and delivers it under pressure to a distributing manifold conduit 18 leading to engine bearings, such as bearings 11 for the crankshaft 9. Oil drains from the bearings into the sump and is recirculated by the pump.

Operating conditions of the engine and the lubricating system can be readily ascertained by the vehicle driver through means of an electric indicator system. The visible portion of the indicator system is illustrated as an electric light bulb 2| housed in a casing 22 fixed to the instru ment board. One terminal 23 of the incandescent wire 1 in the light bulb is connected in parallel with the engine electric ignition system 24 by conductor 20 and the other terminal 25 of the bulb wire 1 is connected with a stationary contact 21 by conductor 26. This stationary contact 21 can .be fixed to a dielectric bracket 40 anchored to a boss 30 formed on one of the interior walls 18 in the engine casing by securing bolts 8. The light circuit is grounded by conductor 31 that can be fastened to wall 19 and is controlled by means, in the form of a movable switch structure, that is responsive to temperature and pressure, preferably that of the oil in the pressure side of the lubricating system.

The control means for the light circuit consists of the ignition switch 50 and a Bourdon tube 29 anchored at one end to wall l9 and having a contact 28 carried by and movable with the other end which is free. The tube has an open inlet end 34 seated in a passage 31 in boss 30 and conduit 35 is attached to the boss, in communication with the passage, by fittin 38. Conduit 35 leads from the oil distributing manifold I8 on the pressure side of the lubricating system. The free end of the Bourdon tube is formed with a relatively small outlet opening 36 through which oil flows into the engine casing and drains back into the sump, the outlet opening being materially smaller than the inlet opening. formed of two welded together,

flexible metal sections

32 and 33 having diiferent coeflicients of expansion.

Oil from the pressure side of the lubricating system will flow through the flexible Bourdon tube and the free end of the tube carrying the contact 28 can flex in response to pressure and temperature of the oil to thus make and break the light circuit. The arrangement is such that, with the ignition switch 511 closed, the tube will be in circuit closing position under normal engine operating conditions. When the oil supply is low or other conditions occur in the engine operation that lower the pressure and/or raise the term perature of the oil, then the free end of the tube flexes in the direction shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and moves contact 28 away from contact 21. Under this condition the indicator light goes out so that the driver will be advised of an unfavorable engine operating condition and will investigate. Under most unfavorable engine operating conditions the oil pressure will decrease while the oil temperature rises and both pressure and temperature will influence flexing of the free end of the circuit control tube,

It will be understood that various forms of the invention other than that described above may be used without departing from the spirit or s Of the invention.

What is claimed is:

The tube is,

1. In an electric indicator system for a pressure lubricating system having a stationary contact connected with a source of energy, a Bourdon tube having an anchored end with an inlet opening communicating with the lubricatin systern, means grounding the tube, and a contact fixed to the free end of said tube for engaging the stationary contact, the free end or said tube having a lubricant outlet orifice therein materially smaller than the inlet opening and flexing in one direction relative to the stationary contact in response to high temperature or low pressure of the lubricant passing therethrough and in the other direction in response to low temperature or high pressure of the lubricant passing therethrough;

2. In an indicator lightin circuit, a stationary contact in the circuit, a flexible Bourdon tube having an inlet opening at one end and an outlet opening at the other end of much smaller diameter than the inlet opening, means anchoring and grounding the inlet end of the tube, a contact fixed to the free outlet end of the tube and adapted to engage with the stationary contact, and a source of fluid under pressure connected with the anchored inlet end or the tube. the free end of said tube flexing in one direction in response to low pressure or high temperature of the fluid passing therethrough to control the relation of the contacts.

3. In an indicator circuit, a stationary contact, a tube formed of longitudinally extending sections having different coefficients of expansion, said tube having an inlet opening at one end and a relatively small outlet openin at the other end, the inlet end of said tube being anchored and grounded, and a contact fixed on the free end of the tube.

4. In an indicator circuit for a pressure lubricating system, a stationary contact, a bimetallic tube having an inlet end with a relatively large opening connected with the lubricating system and a relatively small opening at the free outlet end, grounded means anchoring the inlet end of the tube, and a contact on the outlet end of the tube, the outlet end of said tube reacting in one direction to low pressure or high temperature of the fluid passing therethrough and in the other direction to low temperature or high pressure of the lubricant passing therethrough.

PIERRE STUART DE BEAUMONT.