Patent Application
20120061185
The present invention relates to a bushing lubricator and system for lubricating parts, such as bushings, with lubricant, such as oil. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a bushing lubricator and system which ensures adequate lubrication of bushings used in domestic appliances, prior to assembly of the appliance, in an efficient and speedy manner.
Domestic appliances in use today require a number of moving parts, for example, tensioning arms, or other like parts, which require the use of bushings. Prior to assembling such domestic appliances, in order to ensure proper functioning, the bushings must be lubricated, such as with oil, on their interior surface.
Current approaches to lubricating bushings in an assembly process involve manually picking up the bushing and using a bottle applicator to inject lubricating fluid or oil on the interior surfaces of the bushing. A problem with such systems, however, is that there is no way to ensure that the entire surface on the interior of the bushing is adequately lubricated and that consistent amount of lubricant is applied to each bushing, thus causing possible problems in operation of the domestic appliance after assembly. In addition, the process is inefficient and is manually intensive, thus slowing assembly on the production line. Further, current approaches do not provide an efficient or effective way to capture excess oil generated as a result of the bushing lubrication process.
In accordance with the present invention, such disadvantages are avoided by providing a novel bushing lubricator and system, which can be used to efficiently lubricate bushings during assembly, for example, of domestic appliances.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a bushing lubricator that includes an elongate body having a lubricant passage extending from an inlet opening to an outlet port. The elongate body includes a connection portion at the inlet opening for engaging with a lubricant tray of a lubricating system, a main body portion in a central region, and a bushing lubricator portion of a width to accommodate a bushing with an interior surface of the bushing surrounding the bushing lubricator portion. The outlet port on a periphery of the bushing lubricator portion discharges lubricant onto the interior surface of a bushing.
The connection portion of the elongate body may be threaded. The bushing lubricator may be made of metal, such as stainless steel or brass. The bushing lubricator also preferably includes at least one cut-out section along an outer surface of the main body portion for directing excess lubricant to flow along the cut-out section. A flange may be provided extending perpendicularly from the main body portion and may include corresponding cut-out sections coextensive with the cut-out sections of the main body portion for directing excess lubricant to flow away from the bushing lubricator. The outlet port on a periphery of the bushing lubricator portion may include a plurality of outlet ports.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a lubricating system for lubricating bushings, that includes a housing, a lubricant tray in the housing, a bushing lubricator with an elongate body connected to the lubricant tray and having a lubricant passage extending from an inlet opening to an outlet port. The elongate body further includes a connection portion at the inlet opening connecting with the housing, a main body portion in a central region, and a bushing lubricator portion of a width to accommodate a bushing with an interior surface of the bushing surrounding the bushing lubricator portion, the outlet port on a periphery of the bushing lubricator portion for discharging lubricant onto the interior surface of a bushing, and a lubricant supply fluidly connected to the bushing lubricator, and a controller for controlling the lubricant supply.
In a more specific aspect, the system includes a discharge tube in fluid communication with the bushing lubricator for discharging excess lubricant from the bushing lubricator. A sensor may be associated with the lubricant tray for detecting the presence of a bushing. A controller may be connected to the sensor and to the lubricant supply source for causing the lubricant supply source to supply lubricant (e.g., oil) to the bushing lubricator when the presence of a bushing is detected by the sensor. The controller may be programmed to cause the lubricant supply source to supply a predetermined amount of lubricant in response to the type of bushing being lubricated. In one additional aspect, the lubricant supply source may further include a selectively actuatable lubricant supply valve connected for dispensing lubricant to the bushing lubricator, and controlled by the controller.
These and other aspects and features of embodiments of the present invention will be better understood after a reading of the following detailed description, together with the attached drawings, wherein:
The present invention is described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Bushing lubricator portion 19 is closed at a top portion 21, and includes a lubricant passage 91 (as shown in
As further illustrated in
As discussed above, bushing lubricator 11 includes lubricant passage 91 through which lubricant may be transmitted to outlet ports 23. Bushing lubricator 11 is mounted and connected, in an exemplary embodiment, in threaded engagement under bushing platform 20, to lubricant supply tube 37 which passes through wall 39 via passage 41, and is connected to lubricant supply valve 35. Lubricant supply valve 35 is in fluid communication with a pressurized lubricant supply reservoir (not shown) at lubricant inlet 36. Lubricant supply valve 35 is controlled by a pneumatic control signal received at control signal inlet 38 from a controller 103.
In operation, the lubricant in pressurized lubricant supply reservoir is held under pressure. Upon receiving a pneumatic signal from controller 103 at control signal inlet 38 lubricant supply valve 35 opens and permits the lubricant to flow from lubricant inlet 36 to lubricant supply tube 37 to lubricant passage 91 and out through outlet ports 23 (for lubricating a bushing 93). After a predetermined time has passed, controller 103 sends a pneumatic signal to control signal inlet 38 and lubricant supply valve 35 closes and remains closed until a pneumatic signal is received from controller 103.
Bushing lubricating system 31 further includes an excess lubricant collection feature. Excess lubricant generated from use of bushing lubricating system 31 (i.e., that beyond what is needed to lubricate bushing 93) may be discharged along the sides of main body portion 13 of bushing lubricator 11 along cut-out sections 14 of main body portion 13 and then to cut-out sections 18 of flange 17 and into collection chamber 12. The excess lubricant then flows from collection chamber 12 through an oil drain passage 72 (shown in
With reference to
Sensor 101 is a light sensor including a sending unit and receiving unit, housed in notches that extends outwardly from lubricant tray 43 into wall 39 (see
In operation, the sending unit of sensor 101 sends a light beam that crosses through a portion of lubricant tray 43, and is sensed by the receiving unit of sensor 101. When a bushing 93 is mounted on bushing lubricator portion 19, it breaks the light beam and controller 103 receives a signal from sensor 101. In response, controller 103 controls lubricant supply valve 35 to open for a preset amount of time to dispense an appropriate amount of lubricant through lubricant supply tube 37 to lubricant passage 91 and out through outlet ports 23 of bushing lubricator portion 19.
Controller 103 may be programmed in accordance with a type, e.g., size, of bushing 93 to control the predetermined amount of time which lubricant supply valve 35 is controlled to be open. In one example, lubricant supply valve 35 may remain open for about 0.5 seconds.
Bushing lubricator 11 may be in the range of about 60 mm to 65 mm in length, and preferably about 60 mm in length. Internal passage 91 may be in the range of about 4 mm to 4.2 mm in diameter, and preferably about 4.2 mm in diameter. At flange 17, bushing lubricator 11 may be in the range of about 28 mm to 30 mm wide, and preferably about 30 mm wide. Connecting portion 15 may be in the range of about 16 mm to 20 mm in length, and preferably about 16 mm in length and bushing lubricator portion 19 may be in the range of about 19 mm to 25 mm in length, and preferably about 19 mm in length.
The present invention has been described in terms of an exemplary embodiment. However, modifications and additions to this embodiment is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. It is intended that all such modifications and additions comprise a part of the present invention.
