Embodiments herein relate to oil condition sensing systems and related methods. In a first aspect, an oil condition sensing system is included having a control circuit, a temperature sensor, and a fluid property sensor, wherein the fluid property sensor measures fluid properties including at least dielectric constant and the oil condition sensing system is configured to automatically detect when an oil change event has occurred, record the fluid property sensor data as new baseline fluid property data after an oil change event has occurred, and evaluate the condition of an engine oil based on a comparison with the baseline fluid property data. The oil condition sensing system can be configured to automatically detect the oil change event by evaluating signals from the fluid property sensor and interpret a change in dielectric constant and/or viscosity crossing a threshold value as an oil change event. Other embodiments are also included herein.

An automatic lubricator for lubricating an object is described, which comprises a housing with a coupling section configured to couple with a lubricant container containing a lubricant, wherein the lubricant container comprises a rotatable shaft with a piston to dispense the lubricant from an output of the lubricant container. The lubricator further comprises an electric motor configured to drive the rotatable shaft of the lubricant container during at least one lubrication action, such that at least a part of the lubricant is dispensable from the lubricant container during the at least one lubrication action, and a power supply configured to supply the electric motor with a supply current during the at least one lubrication action. The lubricator further comprises a control circuitry configured to acquire a current signal indicative of the supply current over time during at least a part of the at least one lubrication action, determine a periodicity of the acquired current signal, and determine, based on the determined periodicity, at least one lubrication parameter indicative of the at least one lubrication action.

Provided is a grease injection system including a plurality of grease injection devices and a host. The grease injection devices uses control information to output lubricating grease, and output a plurality of pieces of status information. The host receives the pieces of status information from the grease injection devices, and generates the control information based on the pieces of status information.

A vehicle drive system includes a first prime mover, a transmission, a power take-off (PTO), a lubrication system for the transmission and the PTO, and a control system. The transmission is powered by the first prime mover. The transmission is configured to rotate a drive shaft of the vehicle. The PTO is connected to the transmission at a first interface. The PTO includes the first interface and a second interface. The control system is configured to control fluid flow through the lubrication system for at least one mode where the input section of the PTO is stationary and the output section rotates.

A system for providing lubrication to a machine. The system comprises at least one ultrasound sensor positioned to detect sound emanating from at least one lubrication point of the machine, and at least one auto-lubrication device configured to provide lubrication to the at least one lubrication point. The at least one auto-lubrication device is controlled to provide lubrication to the at least one lubrication point based at least in part on sound detection data from the at least one ultrasound sensor.

A vehicle includes an inverter, a pump, a buck converter, and a controller. The inverter has an input connected to a battery and an output connected to an electric machine. The inverter is configured to convert power between DC electrical power at the input and AC electrical power at the output. The pump is configured to circulate lubricating fluid within a transmission. The buck converter is configured to deliver DC electrical power from the inverter to the pump. The controller is programmed to, in response to the electric machine delivering AC electrical power to the inverter during a towing condition of the vehicle while the vehicle is shutdown, operate the buck converter to power the pump.

A fitting for a lubrication point of a device to be lubricated and a connector for removably connecting to such fitting to provide a lubricant from a lubrication device via the fitting to the device to be lubricated are disclosed. The fitting comprises an integrated circuit for providing an identification code to identify the fitting, and a first electrical contact for establishing an electrical path between the integrated circuit and a processor of the connector when a connection between the fitting and the connector is established. The connector comprises the processor and a second electrical contact for establishing the electrical path. The integrated circuit is adapted for transmitting data, including the identification code, via the first electrical contact to the processor.

There is disclosed a tool for filtering a lubricant to meet a target ISO cleanliness code. The tool includes a skid-mounted integrated filtration system having a pump that circulates a flow of lubricant from an inlet port, through a heater, through a series of specifically sized filters, and past a digital particle counter. The filtration system also includes a user interface and a programmable logic controller (PLC) configured to track outputs from the pump, the oil heater, and the particle counter to monitor a cleanliness of the circulating lubricant. The filtration system also includes a filtration operations server in communication with the PLC and configured to implement a tracking and monitoring software application enabling control of the filtration system from the system itself or remotely through one or more remote user terminals such as a smartphone, a laptop or tablet computer, and the like. Other embodiments are disclosed.

System and method for constantly monitoring the state of the oil of the wheels of heavy machinery, in particular mining trucks, while they are in motion. Comprising a server; a wireless sensor module attached to the rim of the wheel, obtaining oil measurements from an oil quality sensor, which sends the measurements to the server wirelessly; the sensor, located inside the sensor module; and a spoon-type mechanism which maintains the sensor in permanent contact with the oil inside the wheel, wherein said spoon-type mechanism rotates with the sensor module and the wheel. In addition, it may comprise a receiving antenna module which is located between the sensor module and the server. In addition, it may comprise a transmitter which is located between the receiving antenna module and the server.

An improved method and apparatus for determining the amount of lubricant dispensed to a rail, adjusting the amount of available lubricant for dispensing based on the amount of lubricant remaining, and advising the operator of same. The apparatus includes a reservoir of lubricant suspended from a load beam having load cells communicating with a microprocessor and a controller to determine the amount of lubricant remaining within the reservoir on a real-time basis as lubricant is dispersed. The method includes the determination of the amount of lubricant remaining and, following dispensing additional lubricant, re-determining the amount of lubricant remaining. In this manner, an operator may prepare a schedule for replenishment of the reservoirs of various lubricating stations based on feedback of the remaining amount of lubricant remaining. Thus, an operator may predict track downtime for refilling of a plurality of lubricating stations and schedule such to minimized track downtime.