Device for measuring contamination of lubricant
First Claim
1. A device for measuring contamination of a lubricant, comprising:
- measuring means, dipped in said lubricant, for detecting an amount of contaminant in said lubricant,said measuring means having an optical path gap provided between a light source window provided at a light source side and a light receiving window provided at a light receiving element side for measuring said contamination in accordance with a transmittance of light through the optical path gap,said measuring means including a spacer ring having a plurality of projections each extending from said light source window to said light receiving window to cause said optical path to be less than substantially 0.34 mm.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a lubricant contamination measuring device, an optical path gap is provided between a light source window at a light source side and a light receiving window at a light receiving element side. A lubricant having an amount of contaminant to be measured in accordance with a light transmittance is present in the optical path gap and the length of the optical path gap is selected to be shorter than a predetermined length. At least one of the light source and light receiving windows has a convex shape, and the center of the convex window is in contact with a surface of the other window. Thus, the amount of contaminant in the lubricant can be measured up to a high contamination range.
29 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A device for measuring contamination of a lubricant, comprising:
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measuring means, dipped in said lubricant, for detecting an amount of contaminant in said lubricant, said measuring means having an optical path gap provided between a light source window provided at a light source side and a light receiving window provided at a light receiving element side for measuring said contamination in accordance with a transmittance of light through the optical path gap, said measuring means including a spacer ring having a plurality of projections each extending from said light source window to said light receiving window to cause said optical path to be less than substantially 0.34 mm.
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2. A device for measuring contamination of a lubricant, comprising:
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measuring means, dipped in said lubricant, for detecting an amount of contaminant in said lubricant; temperature detecting means for detecting a lubricant temperature; controlling means for generating a control signal in response to respective signals from said measuring means and said temperature detecting means; and signaling means for signaling a level of contamination in response to the control signal; wherein said controlling means operates said signaling means when said temperature detecting means detects that the lubricant temperature has reached a predetermined temperature. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5)
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6. Apparatus for measuring contamination in a lubricant, comprising a measuring device dipped in said lubricant, said measuring device including:
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light source means for providing light; a light source window adjacent said light source means; light receiving means for receiving the light provided by said light source means and propagated through said lubricant a light receiving window adjacent said light receiving means and defining an optical gap path length with respect to said light source window; and spacer means having a plurality of projections each extending between said light source window and said light receiving window; whereby a measure of said contamination corresponds to light transmittance through said optical gap path length. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification