Continuous on-board diagnostic lubricant monitoring system and method
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring a lubricant, said method comprising:
- (a) measuring the lubricant'"'"'s temperature;
(b) measuring the lubricant'"'"'s permittivity;
(c) compensating for temperature dependence in the permittivity; and
, (d) determining if the lubricant has been contaminated by a coolant.
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Abstract
A continuous on-board diagnostic lubricant monitoring system and method evaluates lubricant quality and detects incipient lubricant failure due to contamination by measuring physical characteristics of the lubricant itself. The lubrication system (1) employs a diagnostic cell (27) which samples engine lubricant (EL) from an engine (2), and exposes the samples to sensors (28) which measure its physical characteristics. The senors (28) preferably include a permittivity sensor, a viscosity sensor, and a temperature sensor. Diagnostic testing based on the measurements can be carried out on-board via a controller (30) running selected algorithms or processes. A time to condemning limit for the lubricant, i.e., the time until the lubricant has degraded to given quality level, is calculated based on permittivity data received by the controller (30) from the sensors (28). Likewise, a time to condemning limit is calculated based on viscosity data. Based on the permittivity and temperature data, the controller (30) is able to detect incipient failure of the lubricant due to water or coolant contamination. Additionally, based on the monitored lubricant viscosity, the controller (30) is able to detect fuel contamination. In this manner, a superior lubricant monitoring system and method is achieved which is particularly applicable to railroad locomotives, mining machinery, and other off-highway vehicles.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring a lubricant, said method comprising:
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(a) measuring the lubricant'"'"'s temperature;
(b) measuring the lubricant'"'"'s permittivity;
(c) compensating for temperature dependence in the permittivity; and
,(d) determining if the lubricant has been contaminated by a coolant. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of monitoring a lubricant, said method comprising:
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(a) obtaining, over time, permittivity data from measured permittivity values of the lubricant;
(b) determining a rate of degradation of the lubricant'"'"'s quality based on changes in the permittivity data over time; and
,(c) determining an amount of time until the lubricant reaches a set degraded quality level. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A lubrication system for an engine, said lubrication system comprising:
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a lubricant; and
,a diagnostic cell which samples the lubricant for diagnostic testing thereof, said cell including;
a permittivity sensor which monitors the lubricant'"'"'s permittivity; and
,a temperature sensor which monitors the lubricant'"'"'s temperature. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of monitoring a lubricant, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining measurements of the lubricant'"'"'s viscosity;
(b) obtaining measurements of the lubricant'"'"'s temperature;
(c) normalizing the viscosity measurements based on the temperature measurements such that the normalized viscosity measurements all relate to a common reference temperature; and
,(d) diagnosing a condition of the lubricant based on the normalized viscosity measurements. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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29. A lubrication system for an engine, said lubrication system comprising:
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a lubricant;
a diagnostic cell which samples the lubricant for diagnostic testing thereof, said cell including;
a viscosity sensor which monitors the lubricant'"'"'s viscosity; and
,a temperature sensor which monitors the lubricant'"'"'s temperature; and
,a controller which interfaces with the diagnostic cell to carry out the diagnostic testing, said controller receiving viscosity data from the viscosity sensor and temperature data from the temperature sensor, wherein the viscosity and temperature data is processed to diagnose a condition of the lubricant.
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Specification