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On-board electronic oil contamination detector for vehicle engines

  • US 4,570,069 A
  • Filed: 12/30/1982
  • Issued: 02/11/1986
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1982
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. An on-board motor-oil-quality monitor for an over-the-road-vehicle engine comprisingmeans including a small diameter oil tube for continuously drawing a small quantity of oil from an oil pressure point and recirculating oil back to the engine, said oil tube including a transparent monitor portion, said oil tube being a plurality of feet long and positioning said transparent monitor tube portion at a location remote from the engine, the flow volume of said tube being small compared to the oil capacity of said engine;

  • an opaque housing for retaining said transparent monitor rube portion at said remote location;

    said housing including means for mounting a light-emitting device adjacent said transparent monitor tube portion for supplying infra red radiation thereto and for mounting a photodetector adjacent said transparent monitor tube portion for receiving infra red radiation transmitted therethrough and through engine oil circulating therein;

    said photodetector being characterized by generating an electrical signal representative in magnitude of the infra red radiation from said device and transmitted by the circulating oil and thereby of the cumulative contamination level of the oil;

    and means for comparing the magnitude of said electrical signal to a certain threshold signal indicative of a maximum desired cumulative contamination level of the oil and for generating a perceivable signal representative of the contamination level of the oil, so that the contaminated state of the engine oil can be continuously monitored.

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