Lubricant control
First Claim
1. A lubricating system for an internal combustion engine comprising an intermittently operated lubricant pump for pumping a predetermined amount of lubricant per cycle of pump operation, means for delivering lubricant from said pump to said engine, means for sensing engine running conditions for determining the amount of lubricant consumed by said engine, and control means for operating said pump for delivering a fixed amount of lubricant to said engine and thereafter discontinuing the operation of said pump, means for reading the output of said sensing means during successive time periods and accumulating a total of the amount of lubricant consumed after a lubricant delivery by said lubricant pump and again initiating a lubricant delivery by said lubricant pump when the accumulated values of lubricant consumed by said engine reaches the predetermined amount of lubricant delivered by said pump.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of lubricating systems and methods for two cycle, crankcase compression, diesel engines wherein certain running components of the engine such as the crankshaft and pistons are each supplied with their own lubricating systems including independently operating lubricating pumps, each system is controlled so as to supply a finite amount of lubricant to the engine and then sense the engine running conditions to determine when the lubricant will have been consumed before additional lubricant is supplied. In addition, a control routine and structure is disclosed wherein lubrication is supplied to the engine before starting is initiated and wherein the amount of lubrication supplied is varied during break-in.
73 Citations
83 Claims
- 1. A lubricating system for an internal combustion engine comprising an intermittently operated lubricant pump for pumping a predetermined amount of lubricant per cycle of pump operation, means for delivering lubricant from said pump to said engine, means for sensing engine running conditions for determining the amount of lubricant consumed by said engine, and control means for operating said pump for delivering a fixed amount of lubricant to said engine and thereafter discontinuing the operation of said pump, means for reading the output of said sensing means during successive time periods and accumulating a total of the amount of lubricant consumed after a lubricant delivery by said lubricant pump and again initiating a lubricant delivery by said lubricant pump when the accumulated values of lubricant consumed by said engine reaches the predetermined amount of lubricant delivered by said pump.
- 20. A lubricating system for an internal combustion engine comprising lubricant delivery means including a lubricant pump and electronic control means for delivering controlled variable amounts of lubricant to at least a component of said engine at successive time-spaced intervals during the running of the engine, starting means for cranking said engine for effecting rotation of said engine, and means for operating said lubricant pump and said control means to deliver only a fixed amount of lubricant to said engine component prior to the initiation of rotation of said engine by said starting means.
- 28. A lubricating system for an internal combustion engine comprising a lubricant delivery system for supplying lubricant to said engine, sensing means for sensing instantaneous engine running conditions, timer means for sensing the total time said engine has been operated, and control means for controlling the supply of lubricant to said engine in response to both sensed engine running conditions and sensed total time the engine has been run.
- 36. A lubricating system for an internal combustion engine having first and second operating elements, a first lubricating system for delivering lubricant to said first operating element, a second lubricating system for delivering lubricant to said second operating element, means for sensing engine running conditions, first control means for controlling said first lubricant system in response to sensed engine conditions independent of said second lubricating system, and second control means for controlling said second lubricating system in response to sensed engine running conditions and independently of said first lubricating system.
- 42. A lubricating method for an internal combustion engine comprising an intermittently operated lubricant pump for pumping a predetermined amount of lubricant per cycle of pump operation, means for delivering lubricant from said pump to said engine, said method comprising the steps of sensing engine running conditions for determining the amount of lubricant consumed by said engine, operating said pump for delivering a fixed amount of lubricant to said engine and thereafter discontinuing the operation of said pump, determining the incremental amount of lubricant consumed during successive time periods from the sensed running conditions and accumulating a total of the amount of lubricant consumed after a lubricant delivery by said lubricant pump, and again initiating a lubricant delivery by said lubricant pump when the accumulated values of lubricant consumed by said engine reaches the fixed predetermined amount of lubricant delivered by said pump.
- 61. A lubricating method for an internal combustion engine comprising lubricant delivery means including a lubricant pump and electronic control means for delivering controlled variable amounts of lubricant to at least a component of said engine at successive time-spaced intervals during its running, starting means for cranking said engine for effecting rotation of said engine, said method comprising operating said lubricant pump and said control means to deliver only a fixed amount of lubricant to said engine component prior to the initiation rotation of said engine by said starting means.
- 69. A lubricating method for an internal combustion engine comprising a lubricant delivery system for supplying lubricant to said engine, said method comprising the step of sensing engine running conditions, sensing the total elapsed time when said engine has been run and for controlling the supply of lubricant to said engine in response to both sensed engine running conditions and sensed total elapsed time the engine has run.
- 78. A lubricating method for an internal combustion engine having first and second operating elements, a first lubricating system for delivering lubricant to said first operating element, a second lubricating system for delivering lubricant to said second operating element, said method comprising sensing engine running conditions, controlling said first lubricant system in response to sensed engine conditions independent of said second lubricating system, and controlling said second lubricating system in response to sensed engine running conditions and independently of said first lubricating system.
Specification