US3783971A

US3783971A - Lubrication oil applicator device

Info

Publication number: US3783971A
Application number: US00232828A
Authority: US
Inventors: S Miyake
Original assignee: Fuji Toyuki Co Ltd
Current assignee: Fuji Toyuki Co Ltd
Priority date: 1971-03-09
Filing date: 1972-03-08
Publication date: 1974-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 1991-01-08
Also published as: JPS542482Y2; DE2210815A1; DE2210815B2; DE7208576U; JPS4711007U; SU494865A3; DE2210815C3

Abstract

A lubrication oil applicator device for applying lubrication oil on a running vehicle wheel and or a rail on which said wheel runs, is provided, said device comprising an oil applicator wheel assembly adapted to contact and apply lubrication oil on the rim of the vehicle wheel and/or the top of the rail and an oil metering mechanism including a reciprocally and rotatably movable member which is adapted to reciprocally and axially move and rotate in response to the rotational movement of said applicator wheel so as to pump the lubrication oil to the applicator wheel in a predetermined amount.

Description

[ Jan. 8, 1974 LUBRICATION OIL APPLICATOR DEVICE [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Fuji Toyuki Co., Ltd., Takamatsu City, Japan [22] Filed: Mar. 8, 1972 [211 Appl. No.: 232,828

Susumu Miyake, Takamatsu, Japan 52 us. Cl. 184/3 n, 184/32- [51] Int. Cl F16n 9/02 [58] Field of Search 184/2, 3, 3 A, 15 R, 184/15 A, 102, 32, 7 D, 7 E

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,195,681 7/1965 Hirata 184/3 R 2,699,840 1/1955 Fujinawa 184/3 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 278,283 10/1927 Great Britain 184/32 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Diesel Engineering Handbook, Volume II, Page 340 relied upon.

Primary Examiner-Manuel A. Antonakas Attorney-Orville N. Greene et al.

[5 7 ABSTRACT A lubrication oil applicator device for applying lubrication oil on a running vehicle wheel and or a rail on which said wheel runs, is provided, said device comprising an oil applicator wheel assembly adapted to contact and apply lubrication oil on the rim of the vehicle wheel and/or the top of the rail and an oil metering mechanism including a reciprocally and rotatably movable member which is adapted to reciprocally and axially move and rotate in response to the rotational movement of said applicator wheel so as to pump the lubrication oil to the applicator wheel in a predetermined amount.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 8l974 SHIU 1 [1F 3 PATENTED 8 74 SHEEI 2 BF 3 1 LUBRICATION OIL APPLICATOR DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a lubrication oil applicator device for applying lubrication oil in a predetermined metered amount on a running vehicle wheel and/or to a rail on which the wheel runs and more particularly, to a lubrication oil applicator device for applying lubrication oil on the rim of a running vehicle wheel and/or to the top of a rail on which the wheel runs which comprises a rotary oil applicator wheel assembly adapted to contact and apply lubrication oil on the vehicle wheel rim and/or to the rail top and an oil metering mechanism which includes a reciprocally axially movable and rotational member adapted to reciprocally axially move and rotate in response to the rotational movement of the applicator wheel assembly so as to pump lubrication oil in a predetermined metered amount to the applicator wheel assembly whereby possible wear on the vehicle wheel and/or rail which may otherwise occur due to frictional contact between the wheel and rail can be substantially reduced resulting in the extension of the service life of the vehicle wheel and/or rail.

There have been proposed and practically employed a great variety of lubrication oil applicators for applying lubrication oil on running vehicle wheels and/or rails on which the wheels run so as to reduce possible wear on the vehicle wheels and/or rails which may be caused by frictional contact between the wheels and rails. One type of the prior art lubrication oil applicator device comprises as its principal parts, a piston disposed within a cylinder for reciprocally axial movement therein, a valve adapted to be opened or closed by the reciprocal movement of the piston and a rotary oil applicator wheel adapted to be fed with lubrication oil by the advancement of the piston. in such a conventional oil applicator device, when the piston is advanced, lubrication oil under pressure within the cylinder is displaced out of the cylinder to open the valve which in turn allows the oil to flow to the oil applicator wheel which in turn applies the oil on an object to be lubricated. Another type of the prior art lubrication oil applicator for the purpose described comprises as its principal parts, a spherical valve, a needle valve and a rotary oil applicator wheel and in which when actuated by oil under pressure, the needle valve opens the spherical valve which in turn feeds the oil to the applicator wheel and the wheel then applies the oil on an object to be lubricated by a centrifugal force generated as the applicator wheel rotates. ln the prior art oil applicator devices including the two typical types of applicator devices referred to above, it has been practically impossible to regulate the amount of lubrication oil to be applied on the object to be lubricated to a precise predetermined value and especially, there has been frequent occurrence of oil application in excess amounts in said prior art oil applicator devices which has necessitated frequent replenishment of lubrication oil to oil supply tanks associated with such oil applicator devices. In order to avoid excess application of lubrication oil and- /or frequent replenishment of the oil to the tanks, attempts have been made to reduce the amount of lubrication oil to be applied on an object to be lubricated thereby to a very small value. It has been generally recognized that when a running vehicle wheel has run on a rail by the distance of 10,000 km., the necessary amount of lubrication oil to be consumed to keep the rail and/or wheel in a proper lubricated condition would be on the order of 1.51. If the amount of lubrication oil to be applied onthe rail and/or vehicle wheel exceeds this value, the excess oil flows on the top of the rail and/or the wheel tread to the extent that the wheel slips on the rail top so as to cause derailment to take place.

Furthermore, such excess oil may stain the environment in the vicinity of the rail installation.

The piston-type oil applicator device referred to above employs a reciprocally movable piston of every small diameter (for example, 1mm. in diameter) for pumping lubrication oil and therefore, if air and/or other foreign matters enter the cylinder or pumping chamber in which the piston moves axially, the piston will be easily rendered inoperative and can not pump the oil. In addition, in such a conventional oil applicator device, the foreign matters which have entered the pumping chamber cause the oil to leak out of the valve or valves to the extent that the functioning of the applicator device in regulating the amount of oil may be jeopardized. And also in the centrifugal type oil applicator device referred to above, the amount of oil applied may easily vary depending upon the environment temperature and/or by improper adjustment of the needle valve and therefore, the application of lubrication oil in a predetermined metered amount on an object to be lubricated by the device may become very difficult. Thus, the centrifugal force type oil applicator device also has the identical defects with those inherent in the piston-type oil applicator device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved lubrication oil applicator device for applying oil on an object to be lubricated which can effectively eliminate the disadvantages inherent in the prior art lubrication oil applicator devices.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a lubrication oil applicator device which essentially comprises a rotary oil applicator wheel assembly which is adapted to contact and apply lubrication oil on an object to be lubricated thereby and an oil metering mechanism which is adapted to pump the lubrication oil to the wheel assembly in a predetermined metered amount.

According to the present invention, the oil metering mechanism essentially comprises a pump chamber defining cylinder, a piston disposed within the cylinder for reciprocally and axially movement and rotational movement in the cylinder. The piston comprises a cylindrical member having a notch at one end and a reduced cross section area portion at the other end the latter of which is snugly received in a bifurcated end of the shaft of a pawl wheel which imparts rotational movement to the piston. The pump chamber defining cylinder is defined by a cylinder block which is provided with suction and discharge ports which are adapted to alternately communicate with the notch on the piston thereby to vary the volume of the pumping chamber. Thus, the oil metering mechanism does not need specific separate suction and discharge valves which are otherwise necessary in the corresponding metering mechanisms of the prior art, but the suction and discharge ports in the cylinder block function as the suction and discharge ports, respectively.

With the above construction of the novel oil metering mechanism, the metering mechanism is so operated that when the piston is in its discharge stroke, for example, the notch on the piston is in communication with the discharge port so that the lubrication oil within the pump chamber can flow out of the chamber through the discharge port to be fed to the oil applicator wheel assembly while the suction port is blocked from communication with the notch on the piston by the full diameter section of the cylindrical piston thereby to prevent the possibility of any oil leakage from the pump chamber.

According to the present invention, there has been provided a lubrication oil applicator device for applying lubrication oil on a running vehicle wheel and/or a rail in a predetermined metered amount, which comprises a one-way rotary lubrication oil applicator wheel assembly which is adapted to contact and apply the lubrication oil on an object to be lubricated thereby and an oil metering mechanism which has a reciprocally and axially movable and rotational member adapted to pump the lubrication oil to said applicator wheel assembly in a predetermined metered amount.

The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show one preferred embodiment of the present invention for illustration purpose only, but not for limiting the scope of the invention in any way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings show one preferred embodiment of oil applicator device for the rims of running vehicle wheels and/or the edges of rails on which the wheel run in which;

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of said applicator device with a portion thereof broken away, and showing the device applying oilon the upper edge or top of a rail for an overhead travelling crane;

FIG.2 is a side elevational view of said applicator device with a portion thereof in section and with the oil applicator wheel assembly of the device positioned in its horizontal position;

FIG.3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of an oil metering mechanism which is adapted to pump lubrication oil to said applicator wheel assembly in a precisely metered amount;

FIG. 4 is a vertically sectional view of said oil metering mechanism taken along substantially along the line IV IV of FIG.3; and

FIGS is an enlarged scale fragmentary perspective view of a piston mounted in said oil metering mechanism of FIGS. 3 and 4.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be now described referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one preferred form of oil applicator device of the invention as the device is applied for applying oil on the upper edge or top of a rail of an overhead travelling crane, for example. As shown in FIG.2, the applicator device generally comprises a hollow main body 1 which has a center opening 2 which extends through along the longitudinal axis (vertical axis as seen in FIG.2) of the main body 1. A shaft 3 is loosely received in the opening 2 and has a first end of reduced cross section area which is keyed in a bore 6 provided in a substantially U-shaped inner wheel cover member 5 which is adapted to rotate together with an outer wheel cover member 4. The inner cover member 5 has a pair of diametrically opposite flanges 5 which extend outwardly from the opposite legs of the U-shaped inner cover member 5 and which are firmly held between the mating shoulders 4' on the outer cover member 4 and projections on an oil applicator wheel assembly 8 of which description will be made hereinafter. The other end of reduced cross section area of the shaft 3 is keyed in a worm 7 which is in turn engaged with a worm wheel 9 (FIG.4) so that the rotational movement of the applicator wheel assembly 8 may be transmitted through the shaft 3 to the worm wheel 9. The shaft of the worm wheel 9 has a rotor 10 fixed to one end thereof and the rotor 10 has on the outer surface an eccentric pin 11.

Numeral 12 denotes a link which is loosely mounted on the shaft 14 for a pawl wheel 13 and the link 12 has a solt 15 adjacent to one end within which the eccentric pin 11 on the rotor 10 is guided so that as the rotor 10 rotates the link 12 is rocked leftwards and rightwards.

A pawl 16 is secured to the inner surface of the link 12 in a position between the opposite ends of the link by any suitable means for engagement with the pawl wheel 13 under the action of a spring (not shown).

As mentioned above, since the link 12 rocks leftwards and rightwards in response to the rotational movement of the worm wheel 12, the pawl 16 intermittently rotates the pawl wheel 13. A second pawl 17 is suitably provided in a position to allow the pawl wheel 13 to rotate in one direction, but prevent the pawl wheel from rotating in the other direction and therefore, the second pawl serves as a detent means for the pawl wheel.

A first outer end of the shaft 14 of the pawl wheel 13 is rotatably received in a recess formed in a cover member 18 and the other end of the pawl wheel shaft 14 is bifurcated to slidably receive one end, of square reduced cross-sectional area, of a piston 19 which moves reciprocally and axially relative to the pawl wheel shaft 14 and at the same time rotates together with the shaft 14 as the latter is rotated in a manner as described hereinafter.

The construction of the piston 19 is more clearly shown on an enlarged scale in FIGS and as shown in this figure, the piston has at one end a notch 20 on which a pin 21 projects outwardly and the pin 21 is adapted to be guided along in a spiral cam groove 23 formed in the inner surface of an adjustable cam member 22 which is suitably connected to a cylinder block of which description will be made hereinafter. An adjusting arm 30 is secured to the cam member 22 by means of screws for adjusting the position of the cam 22 relative to the piston 19.

A second or upper cover member 18 and a third or lower cover member 18" (as seen in FIGA) are connected to the first cover member 18 by means of screws to define the casing of the lubrication oil metering mechanism of which description will be made hereinafter. The cylinder block 28 is disposed within the metering mechanism casing and connected to the second and third cover members 18"and 18" by means of screws. The cylinder block 28' defines a pump chamber 28 therein and the piston 19 is received in the pump chamber 28 for reciprocal and axial movement and rotational movement as mentioned hereinabove. The cylinder block 28' has a pair of diametrically opposite suction and discharge ports 24 and 25 which open to the pump chamber 28 and which are adapted to alternately communicate with the notch 20 on the piston 19 as the piston 19 is rotated while the piston is slidably moving within the pump chamber 28. And more particularly, the arrangement of the suction and discharge ports 24 and 25 with respect to the notch 20 on the piston 19 is so made that while the pin 21 on the piston 19 is being guided along one half section of the spiral cam groove 23 as the piston 19 rotates within the pump chamber 28 together with and axially moves in one direction relative to the pawl wheel shaft 14, for example, the suction port 24 communicates with the notch 20 while the discharge port 25 being blocked from communicating with the pump chamber 28 by a full diameter intermediate section 29 of the piston so that lubrication oil under pressure in a predetermined metered amount from a supply source (not shown) is allowed to flow through the suction port 24 and notch 20 into the pump chamber 28 and on the other hand, while the pin 21 is being guided along the other half section of the spiral cam groove 23 as the piston 19 rotates together with and axially moves in the other direction relative to the pawl wheel shaft, the discharge port 25 in turn communicates with the notch 20 while the suction port 24 now being blocked from communication with the pump chamber by the full diameter section 29 so that the metered amount of the lubrication oil which has previously flown into and is now held in the pump chamber is allowed to flow out of the chamber to a one-way rotary oil applicator wheel assembly of which description will be made hereinafter.

The above mentioned piston 19, cam member 22 and cylinder block 28 constitute the lubrication oil metering mechanism of the invention together with the parts associated with these principal metering mechanism parts.

According to the present invention, a flexible tube 26 is suitably connected at one end to a pressurized lubrication oil supply source (not shown) and at the other end to a fitting 26 the other end of which is in communication with first and

second passages

27 and 27 in the order which passages are defined by the

abovementioned cover members

18 and 18.

The other end of the second passage 27' is in communication with a third passage 27 which is defined in the cylinder block 28' and which is in communication at its other end with the suction port 24.

As mentioned hereinabove, the position of the cam 22 relative to the piston 19 can be easily adjusted by the adjusting arm 31) and more particularly, by rotating the cam 22 in one or the other direction by the adjusting arm 30, the time point at which the notch 20 on the piston 19 alternately communicates with the suction and discharge ports 24 and 25 as the piston moves axially and rotates as mentioned hereinabove can be varied as desired whereby the time point at which the lubrication oil is pumped out of the pump chamber 28 by the piston 19 can be adjusted accordingly. After having been discharged out of the pump chamber 28 via the discharge port 25 as the piston 19 moves leftwards as seen in FIG.4) or in the advancement stroke, the lubrication oil enters a communication passage 31 defined by the first and

third cover member

18 and 18 and the cylinder block 28 and as the oil flows through the passage 31, the oil lubricates the periphery of the pawl wheel 13 which is partially disposed within the passage. Thereafter, the lubrication oil continues to flow through the opening 2 in the main body 1 and a radial communication passage 32 which is also provided in the main body and which is in communication with the vertical opening 2. The lubrication further continues to flow into a groove 34 formed in a rotary wheel 33 which is journalled on the main body 1 by means of bearings for rotate about the main body.

The rotary wheel 33 constitutes a part of an oil applicator wheel assembly which is generally indicated by numeral 8 and by which the lubrication oil is directly applied on a running vehicle wheel (not shown) and/or a rail 41 on which the vehicle wheel runs. The oil applicator wheel assembly generally comprises an applicator wheel 8' which is journalled on the main body 1 and secured to the rotary wheel 33 for rotational movement therewith and the applicator wheel as an oil absorbing felt 40 held in a peripheral groove in the applicator wheel. A thimble 35 is inserted in a center opening in the applicator wheel 8' and the thimble 35 has on the top as seen in F102) a groove 36 which is in communication at one end with the groove 34 in the rotary wheel 4, a second groove 37 which is in communication at one end with the other end of the groove 36, a restricted passage 38 which is communication at one end with the other end of the groove 37 and a second restricted passage 39 which is'in communication at one end with the other end of the first passage 38. The provision of the grooves 34,36 and 37 and restricted passages 38 and 39 is to prevent the lubrication oil within the applicator device from gushing out of the device as the applicator wheel assembly 8 rotates and to thereby restrict the amount of oil to the predetermined metered value. If the lubrication oil in any excessive amount is applied on the rail of an overhead travelling crane or a running vehicle wheel, the excessive oil may cause slippage on the rail or vehicle wheel or at least constitutes waste of oil. in order to further insure against excess flow of oil, in the illustrated embodiment, the groove 34 in the rotary wheel 33 and an outlet 43 of the thimble 35 which is in communication with the second restricted passage 39 and which separates between the thimble 35 and applicator wheel 8 are displaced from each other by With such an arrangement of the groove 34 and outlet 43, even when the outlet 43 is positioned at a height lower than that of the groove 34 or vice versa, excess oil flow to the object to which the lubrication oil is to be applied, can be effectively prevented.

The outer cover 4, oil applicator wheel 8 and rotary wheel 33 are assembled together by means of bolts 47 extending therethrough and nuts threaded on the bolts.

Ball bearings

44, 45 and 46 are disposed between the main body 1 and the rotary wheel 33 and thimble 35 so that the applicator wheel assembly and its associated rotatable parts can be rotated as one unit relative to the main body.

The entire applicator device of the invention is supported by a conventional support structure for such a device. The support structure generally comprises a stationary part which is to be secured to a suitable structure which is a part of the facility where the applicator device of the invention is operated and a movable part articulately connected to the stationary part. Since such a support structure has been well known in the art,

a detailed description of the structure will be omitted herein. Thus, it will be understood that the entire applicator device can easily be maneuvered with respect to the object to be lubricated by the applicator device at any desired angle to the object.

Furthermore, it should be understood that the stationary part of the support structure is detachably secured to the body of a running vehicle (not shown) adjacent to a vehicle wheel which is to be lubricated by the applicator device of the invention or in any other suitable position in which the applicator device can conveniently apply the lubrication oil on a rail on which the vehicle wheel runs. In the case where the vehicle wheel is to be lubricated, as the vehicle runs on the rail the applicator wheel assembly rotates by virtue -of its contact with the vehicle wheel and the rotational movement of the applicator wheel assembly in turn opcrates the various movable parts referred to above. Similarly, in the case where the rail is to be lubricated, the rail is contacted by the applicator wheel assembly and the assembly rotates as the vehicle runs on the rail to operate the movable parts in the same manner as in the case of the lubrication of the vehicle wheel.

By the provision of the oil metering mechanism of the present invention in the oil applicator device, it is possible to eliminate any valve or valves which were otherwise necessary' in such an oil applicator device in the past and accordingly, the present invention will provide the following novel and improved advantages over the prior art corresponding lubrication oil applicators:

l. The employment of the worm, worm wheel, pawl wheel and related parts can provide a greater reduction ratio thereby to make it possible to employ a relatively large diameter piston. It is well known in the art that the larger the diameter of a piston is, the easier is the manufacture thereof.

2. It is known that larger diameter pistons (for example, in the range of 8mm 11mm in diameter) can be manufactured with a substantially high preciseness. For example, such large diameter pistons can be produced having the high preciseness such as the clearance of 4 microns with respect to the cylinders in which the pistons are disposed and within an error of 1.5 microns in diameter. Such pistons have a high operation efficiency.

3. Although the oil metering mechanism is not provided with any valve or valves which are usually employed to regulate the amount of lubrication oil to be applied on an object to be lubricated to a predetermined value, there is no possibility of oil leakage in the metering mechanism since the piston which constitutes the principal part of the mechanism has been precisely manufactured.

4. Since the oil metering mechanism has no valve, it is not necessary to vent air from the mechanism.

5. The oil metering mechanism can always provide lubrication oil in a predetermined metered amount without being influenced by the environmental conditions.

6. The oil applicator device having the oil metering mechanism incorporated therein is substantially free of 8 maintenance in order to keep the device in its proper operative conditions.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is aimed, therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is 1. An oil applicator device for lubricating objects such as rails and/or rotating wheels, of the type which includes a rotary oil applicator wheel adapted to contact said object to be lubricated and to be rotated by the relative motion therebetween, comprising an oil applicator wheel assembly comprising a rotary oil applicator wheel and a pump means axially spaced from said oil applicator wheel,

said oil applicator wheel including an axial shaft drivingly connected to said pump means through a speed reduction device,

said pump means having a pump chamber and a rotatable and axially reciprocable pumping piston located therein,

cooperating cam means in said chamber and on said piston for reciprocating said piston when the latter is rotated,

the output of said speed reduction means being connected to rotate said piston,

said chamber having oil-entrance and oil discharge ports on opposite sides thereof,

the end of said piston being notched to provide access of oil from the oil entrance port and simultaneously to close off the discharge port through a portion of each rotation of the piston, and viceversa, to provide access of the oil in the chamber to the discharge port and simultaneously close off the entrance port during another portion of each rotation of the piston,

passages conducting the oil from said discharge port to the oil applicator wheel through a devious path to nullify the effects of centrifugal force whereby the flow of oil to said oil applicator wheel is controlled solely by said pump means.

2. The oil applicator device as claimed in claim 1 comprising means for varying the position of one of said cooperating cam means whereby to vary the amount of oil pumped per revolution of the oil applicator wheel.

3. The oil applicator device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said passages for conducting the oil from the discharge passage of the pump chamber to the oil applicator wheel includes regions containing at least a portion of said speed reduction means whereby to lubricate the latter.

4. The oil applicator device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said piston has a relatively large diameter of

Claims

1. An oil applicator device for lubricating objects such as rails and/or rotating wheels, of the type which includes a rotary oil applicator wheel adapted to contact said object to be lubricated and to be rotated by the relative motion therebetween, comprising an oil applicator wheel assembly comprising a rotary oil applicator wheel and a pump means axially spaced from said oil applicator wheel, said oil applicator wheel including an axial shaft drivingly connected to said pump means through a speed reduction device, said pump means having a pump chamber and a rotatable and axially reciprocable pumping piston located therein, cooperating cam means in said chamber and on said piston for reciprocating said piston when the latter is rotated, the output of said speed reduction means being connected to rotate said piston, said chamber having oil-entrance and oil discharge ports on opposite sides thereof, the end of said piston being notched to provide access of oil from the oil entrance port and simultaneously to close off the discharge port through a portion of each rotation of the piston, and vice-versa, to provide access of the oil in the chamber to the discharge port and simultaneously close off the entrance port during another portion of each rotation of the piston, passages conducting the oil from said discharge port to the oil applicator wheel through a devious path to nullify the effects of centrifugal force whereby the flow of oil to said oil applicator wheel is controlled solely by said pump means.

4. The oil applicator device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said piston has a relatively large diameter of 8-11 mm.