Automated cold crank simulator
First Claim
1. In a cold cranking simulator for multi-viscosity motor oils, including therein a controllable cooling and heating apparatus for controlling temperature of a sample delivered thereto and a motor, the improvement comprisingmeans for integrating said cold cranking simulator into a plant control system to provide a substantially continuous and autonomous monitoring of viscosity of motor oil flowing in a conduit, thereby eliminating a requirement for manual intervention in the monitoring process, including:
- single sample providing means including means for retrieving a discrete sample from the conduit and means for introduction of the sample into a measurement chamber of said cold cranking simulatorsequencing means for controlling said single sample providing means and said cold cranking simulator to provide substantially continuous and unattended withdrawal and delivery of samples from the conduit and to said cold cranking simulator, respectively; and
further comprising auxiliary pump means responsive to timing and control signals provided by said sequencing means for providing samples to said cold cranking simulator measuring chamber when pressure in said conduit is below a predetermined threshold value.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for unattended retrieval of samples of material to be tested for viscosity provides substantially continuous monitoring capability for a blending plant. A single device is used for both retrieving the samples from a pipe conveying the material and for delivering the samples to a measuring chamber of a viscometer. The device, such as a pump or a solenoid operated valve, is controlled by a sequence timer programmed to generate a timed sequence of signals. Preferably, the device is operated to provide a new sample to the viscometer when the measuring chamber is being heated, thereby displacing the previous sample without requiring a cleansing agent.
16 Citations
12 Claims
-
1. In a cold cranking simulator for multi-viscosity motor oils, including therein a controllable cooling and heating apparatus for controlling temperature of a sample delivered thereto and a motor, the improvement comprising
means for integrating said cold cranking simulator into a plant control system to provide a substantially continuous and autonomous monitoring of viscosity of motor oil flowing in a conduit, thereby eliminating a requirement for manual intervention in the monitoring process, including: -
single sample providing means including means for retrieving a discrete sample from the conduit and means for introduction of the sample into a measurement chamber of said cold cranking simulator sequencing means for controlling said single sample providing means and said cold cranking simulator to provide substantially continuous and unattended withdrawal and delivery of samples from the conduit and to said cold cranking simulator, respectively; and further comprising auxiliary pump means responsive to timing and control signals provided by said sequencing means for providing samples to said cold cranking simulator measuring chamber when pressure in said conduit is below a predetermined threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. In a cold cranking simulator for multi-viscosity motor oils, including therein a controllable cooling and heating apparatus for controlling temperature of a sample delivered thereto and a motor, the improvement comprising
means for integrating said cold cranking simulator into a plant control system to provide a substantially continuous and autonomous monitoring of viscosity of motor oil flowing in a conduit, thereby eliminating a requirement for manual intervention in the monitoring process, including: -
sample providing means operable for repeatedly retrieving a sample from the conduit and for introduction of the sample into a measurement chamber of said cold cranking simulator, and sequencing means for controlling said sample providing means and said cold cranking simulator to provide substantially continuous and unattended withdrawal and delivery of samples from the conduit and to said cold cranking simulator, respectively, said sequencing means comprising programmable processor means programmed to operate responsively to current drawn by a motor of said cold cranking simulator to provide control signals for controlling operation of said sample providing means and said cold cranking simulator, said sequencing means further comprising current converting means for converting magnitude of current drawn by the motor of said cold cranking simulator to a time duration and for outputting said control signals at times determined by said time duration. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. In a cold cranking simulator for multi-viscosity motor oils, including therein a controllable cooing and heating apparatus for controlling temperature of a sample delivered thereto and a motor, the improvement comprising
means for integrating said cold cranking simulator into a plant control system to provide a substantially continuous and autonomous monitoring of viscosity of motor oil flowing in a conduit, thereby eliminating a requirement for manual intervention in the monitoring process, including: -
single sample providing means including means for retrieving a discrete sample from the conduit and means for introduction of the sample into a measurement chamber of said cold cranking simulator, sequencing means for controlling said single sample providing means and said cold cranking simulator to provide substantially continuous and unattended withdrawal and delivery of samples from the conduit and to said cold cranking simulator, respectively; wherein said sequencing means comprises programmable processor means programmed for operating said single sample providing means, said programmable processor means operable responsive to current drawn by a motor of said cold cranking simulator to provide control signals for controlling operation of said cold cranking simulator, and said sequencing means further comprising means for converting magnitude of current drawn by the motor of said cold cranking simulator to a time duration and for outputting said control signals at times determined by said time duration.
-
Specification