Oil deterioration sensor

• US 6,151,956 A
• Filed: 09/04/1998
• Issued: 11/28/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Takahashi, Toshimitsu, Kondo, Takuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Hezron
• Assistant Examiner(s): Soliz, Chad
• Application Number:
  US09/148,508
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: 73/53.05, 73/54.41, 73/61.49, 73/32 A, 73/10
• US Class Current: 73/53.05
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/011 Velocity or travel time
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0222 Binary liquids
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0226 Oils, e.g. engine oils
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0258 Structural degradation, e.g. fatigue of composites, ageing of oils
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02818 Density, viscosity
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02881 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/024 by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/326 compensating for temperature variations
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/26 Oils; Viscous liquids; Paints; Inks G01N33/22 takes precedence

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sensor for detecting the degree of deterioration of oil, and more particularly, provides an oil deterioration sensor which can detect the deterioration of oil and/or the liquid surface of oil by utilizing the fact that the sound velocity of ultrasonic waves change according to the alkalinity of the oil, the oil deterioration sensor for determining deterioration characteristics of oil by utilizing ultrasonic waves, which is characterized in that a deterioration sensor reflecting surface for reflecting ultrasonic waves transmitted from an ultrasonic wave transmitting portion is placed in oil so as to detect deterioration of the oil, and characterized by comprising: an oil deterioration detecting portion for evaluating a transmission velocity of an ultrasonic wave in the oil by receiving ultrasonic waves from the aforesaid deterioration sensor reflecting surface and for evaluating a degree of deterioration of oil from said transmission velocity of the oil.

Claims

1. An oil deterioration sensor which can distinguish deterioration characteristics or a liquid surface of oil by utilizing ultrasonic waves, characterized in that a deterioration sensor reflecting surface for reflecting ultrasonic waves transmitted from an ultrasonic wave transmitting portion is placed in oil so as to detect deterioration of the oil, and comprising:

an oil deterioration detecting portion for detecting a transmission velocity of an ultrasonic wave in the oil by receiving ultrasonic waves from said deterioration sensor reflecting surface and for determining a base number of the oil as a measure of a degree of deterioration of oil from said transmission velocity of the oil; and

an oil level detecting portion for transmitting ultrasonic waves from said ultrasonic wave transmitting portion to an air-liquid liquid surface of the oil and for detecting a height of said liquid surface by receiving ultrasonic waves from said liquid surface.

2. The oil deterioration sensor according to claim 1, wherein a piezoelectric-crystal element, whose temperature characteristics abruptly change at a predetermined temperature, is used in the sensor element.

3. The oil deterioration sensor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said sensor is used for determining the kind of oil from the transmission velocity of the ultrasonic wave.

4. The oil deterioration sensor according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received independently.

5. The oil deterioration sensor according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic reflecting wave from the deterioration sensor reflecting surface is received by a transducer at a transmitting side thereof, and the ultrasonic reflecting wave from the liquid surface of oil is received by a receiving-only transducer.

6. The oil deterioration sensor according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting ultrasonic waves from the deterioration sensor reflecting surface and the liquid surface of oil are received by only one transducer.

7. An oil deterioration sensor for determining deterioration characteristics of oil by utilizing ultrasonic waves, comprising a sensor element positioned to measure the transmission velocity of ultrasonic waves in oil by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in the oil, and means for determining a base number of the oil as a measure of a degree of deterioration of the oil from the measured transmission velocity of ultrasonic waves.

8. The oil deterioration sensor of claim 7, wherein the sensor element comprises a piezoelectric-crystal element having output characteristics which abruptly change at a predetermined temperature.