Patent Application
20070029139
None.
None.
The invention relates generally to the field of maintaining vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to cleaning the oil system of vehicles. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for removing the oil from an engine. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for pre-lubricating the engine prior to startup.
Typically, internal combustion engines use a lubricant medium, usually oil, to lubricate their internal moving components. Four-stroke cycle and some two-stroke cycle engines also contain a sump from which the lubricating oil is drawn and pumped through the parts to be lubricated. Further, most multiple cylinder engines are equipped with an oil filter to help prolong the life of the lubricant by capturing any suspended debris before it reaches areas with critical tolerances. After continuous use, the oil becomes contaminated from combustion by-products, fuel and wear metals. Thus, the oil must then be removed and replaced with fresh oil.
A problem occurs due to the design of most engines in that the draining of the engine does not completely remove all of the contaminated oil contained therein. In most cases involving multiple cylinder engines with built in oil sumps, 10-20% of the contaminated is not removed during the normal oil change process. Some of the contaminated oil remains trapped in vital engine parts such as the bearings, the crankshaft, the hydraulic lifters, and the push rod areas. The amount of used oil left in the engine contaminates the new oil that is added as part of an oil change thereby requiring more frequent oil changes and decreased engine life.
A number of prior art systems and methods have been devised in an attempt to correct this problem. However, most of the known systems and methods are very expensive and cannot be justified if they are only used in conjunction with every normal oil change. Further, the systems are very large and cumbersome. Still further, most are mounted on wheels and take up valuable shop space. They also require time to set up and consume large quantities of flushing chemicals and filters. Still further, they are only used in shop oil change areas when their specific engine cleaning service is sold, in addition to a regular oil change. Further, they require special adaptors designed to replace the vehicles oil filter and the oil pan drain plug. The bulk of the patents issued involve these special adaptors and their usage. One example of such an adaptor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,275 to Deiderich. Deiderich discloses a universal coupling adapter for attachment to the fluid reservoir of an engine, transmission unit, or other hydraulic system in place of a standard spin-on fluid filter. The adaptor contains inlet and outlet ports that allow fluid from the reservoir to be conveyed to a remotely-located fluid circulation device, such as a fluid filter, cooler, or both, and then returned to the reservoir.
Additionally, these known prior art systems create another significant problem once all of the oil is removed. The problem occurs because the engine is void of any lubricant in the critical internal areas such as the rod and main bearings. During startup, the vehicles oil pump will require a few seconds to prime and pump oil from the sump into these critical areas. As such, starting the engine at this time without proper lubrication in these areas can cause significant damage in a short amount of time. The same problem can occur in “dry” start up with a new or rebuilt engine that has just been assembled. In the short time between start up and when the lubricating oil first reaches critical parts severe damage can take place.
While no current methods exists for relubricating an engine that has been flushed prior to start up, several current methods exist that attempt to alleviate the problem of dry start up on newly assembled engines. One method is to manually pour oil onto the rod and main bearing areas before the oil pan or sump is installed. Oil may also be poured or sprayed into the combustion chamber to wet the cylinder walls. However, this method is extremely messy and inexact as oil drips everywhere and often does not reach the critical areas due to external tolerances of the engine parts.
Another method of pre-lubricating is to access the newly assembled engine via the spark distributor port. A drill motor with a slotted long shaft is used to go through the distributor port to turn the oil pump without turning the other components of the engines. However, this method may not be done on many modern distributor less engines.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a system and method which is simpler to use, more compact, less complex in terms of its components, used in combination with a conventional oil change and capable of adequately removing the trapped oil from the engine and providing pre-lubrication prior to start up.
The present invention solves these problems existent in the prior art devices by providing a device for removing and replacing oil in an engine in a vehicle that uses a container and a control system. The container contains a cap assembly, a tubular housing, and a base assembly. The tubular housing is located between the cap and base assemblies and is sealably coupled therewith. A plurality of support rods are used to interconnect the cap and base assemblies. The support rods extend along length of the housing between the cap and base assemblies and are threadably received therein.
The control system includes a pressure system and a transport system. The pressure system includes a pressure gauge, a vent valve, an air valve, and a regulator. The pressure gauge, vent valve, and regulator are each sealably coupled to the cap assembly and are in fluid communication with the tubular housing. The pressure gauge measures the pressure within the apparatus. The vent valve is adapted to release pressurized air from the container. The regulator enables the user to control the rate of air flow into the container. The air valve is coupled to the regulator and is a shut-off switch that controls entry of air into the regulator.
The transport system includes a control valve, an air hose adaptor, and an oil port connector. The transport system is connected to the pressure system via a connector hose. Specifically, the regulator of the pressure system is connected to the control valve of the transport system via the connector hose. The control valve is a T-shaped connector with multiple connectors and a lever. The control valve is connected to the base assembly and is in fluid communication with the tubular housing. The air hose adaptor is connected to the control valve at a first end and to the oil port connector at a second end. The lever on the control valve is movable between an “OIL” position and an “AIR” position thereby controlling whether oil or air is introduced into the engine via the transport system of the apparatus.
A suspension hook is also provided that enables the container to be conveniently hung from the underside of the hood of a vehicle or in some other location.
The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The present invention is designed to connect to a vehicle in a way that it taps into the vehicles oil filter housing. By connecting a relatively small container to the oil filter port and to a shop air hose, the container functions without the assistance of any other supporting equipment. It simply feeds into the engine using pressurized air.
The container is adapted to hold a lubricating medium such as oil. The container is also adapted to provide pressurized air flow. The device of the present invention is very simple, and is easy to use, unlike the prior art devices. It uses a clear fiberglass housing for its container.
This present invention is designed to remove oil from two and four stroke cycle engines that have an internal oil sump. Further, the invention is designed provide an accessible method of entering the engine through an oil filter port. Still further, this invention is primarily designed to remove oil from engines that have an oil pump to circulate the lubricating oil through the moving parts. This invention is designed to perform equally well with both compression ignition (diesel, natural gas, or alcohol) or spark ignition engines. Even further, this invention is designed to perform with passenger cars of all sizes, stationary engines, marine engines, light trucks to medium duty trucks and similar engines. The present invention, of course, is not intended to be limited to such applications.
This present invention is highly versatile and can be used in any location where vehicles receive engine oil changes and where shop air is available. It can also be used in plants and shops that build or rebuild engines and shops that install new and rebuilt engines. The apparatus is very small and can hang on a peg board or small roll around IV stand.
With initial reference to
Referring again to
Referring now to
When screwed into the cap assembly 24 the fill cap 32 forms a sealed relationship with the container using an O-ring 44. The O-ring 44 is constructed of rubber, as is normally the case. When fill cap 32 is screwed into the threaded hole 36 of the cap assembly 24, the O-ring 44 is trapped and forms a compressed seal. This sealed relationship allows the container 12 to be pressurized during operation. The threaded hole 36, as discussed above, serves as a filling hole when the fill cap 32 has been removed.
Referring now to
The regulator 56 is a standard item that is known in the art and coupled to the cap assembly 24 via a first connector 58. The regulator 56 is located opposite the vent valve 52. It should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that any attachment method may be used. The regulator 56 enables the user to control the amount of air allowed into the container 12 and the transport system 48. As stated above the regulator 56 is coupled to an aperture, not shown, located in the cap assembly 24 via the first connector 58. The aperture passes through the cap assembly 24 to provide fluid communication between the regulator 56 and the tubular housing 26. The regulator 56 is coupled to the air valve 54 via a second connector 60. The air valve 54 is a shut-off type that enables the user to administer or not administer air into the regulator 56 and thus the container. The air valve 54 has two positions, “ON” and “OFF.” It should be obvious that in the “ON” position air is allowed to flow to the regulator 56, while in the “OFF” position it is not. The air source may be a standard shop air hose 62, or come from any other suitable source. One skilled in the art will be well aware of potential sources which might be used, and the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular source of air. Almost all automotive service centers will have shop air available which will suffice for these purposes. The shop air hose 62 is connected to the air valve 54 via an intermediate hose 64 and a pair of connectors 66, 68 located at upper and lower ends of the hose 64. Each of the hoses and connectors mentioned above are standard items known by one of ordinary skill in the art.
Referring again to
As stated above the connector hose 72 is coupled to the third connector 88 of the control valve 70 at one end and to the oil port connector 74 at the other end. The air hose adaptor is a standard item that is known to one of ordinary skill in the art. The universal nature of the air hose adaptor 72 allows for easy connectability to multiple types of oil port connectors 74. Thus, as seen in
The transport system 48 further contains a float valve 98. The float valve 98 is a standard item that is known to one of ordinary skill in the art. The float valve 98 includes a holding apparatus 100 and a ball 102. The float valve 98 is coupled to the aperture 84 in the base assembly 28. The float valve 98 allows the flow of oil from the container 12. The oil is drawn out through the aperture 84 when the lever 90 on the control valve 70 is turned to the “OIL” position and the air valve 54 is turned to the “ON” position as will be discussed further below.
The operation of the oil changing system will now be discussed. The following discussion relates to an engine having an oil filer connected to an oil filter port and a drain plug connected to a oil pan drain. However, the discussion below is not meant to be strictly limited to such a configuration. Before removing the contaminated oil from the engine, the container should be prepared by securely replacing the fill cap 32 and closing the vent valve 52. This seals the apparatus 12 for pressurizing. Next, the user should turn the air valve 54 on the air line going to the apparatus to the closed “OFF” position. After that, the user connects the shop air hose 62 to the connector 68 on the intermediate hose 64.
To remove the dirty oil, the drain plug is removed from the oil pan drain on the engine and the oil is allowed to drain therefrom. The oil should then be allowed to drain until it stops flowing. The drain plug should not be replaced at this time. The oil filter should then be removed from the engine. Next the oil port adaptor 74 is attached to the oil filter port 92. As seen in
To replace the oil for initial lubrication the user first removes the fill cap 32 of the apparatus 10 and pours in an appropriate amount of the engine oil. An appropriate amount will usually be one liter or one quart for smaller vehicles and up to two quarts for larger capacity diesels engines. If oil additives or enhancers are to be installed, they should be added to the oil in the apparatus at this time.
Next the user turns the control valve 70 on the apparatus 10 to the “OIL” position and slowly opens the air valve 54 on the pressure system 46. It should be noted that the connector hose 72 from the apparatus 10 is still connected to the oil port connector 74. At this time the oil in the cylinder will begin to flow into the engine and through the areas where the used trapped oil had been. The oil should be allowed to flow until the canister is empty and the float valve 98 has closed shutting off oil flow. Once the canister is empty the air valve 54 on the apparatus 10 should be turned to the “OFF” position. The vent valve 52 should then be pressed to release all air pressure from the apparatus 10. The oil port connector 74 should then be removed and the new oil filter installed. The drain plug will then be replaced and the engine will be filled with the requisite amount of oil required to bring it to its normal capacity with filter change.
The present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments, which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its scope.
It will be seen from the foregoing that this invention is one well adapted to attain the ends and objects set forth above, and to attain other advantages, which are obvious and inherent in the device. It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather, all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not limiting.
