INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME

Abstract

An internal combustion engine having an oil circuit, wherein the oil circuit is designed to supply at least one component of the internal combustion engine with lubricating oil, and at least one oil reservoir for providing the lubricating oil for the oil circuit, wherein there is provided at least one collecting container separate from the at least one oil reservoir, wherein lubricating oil in the oil circuit downstream of the at least one component can be collected in the at least one collecting container, and there is provided at least one removal device, by means of which at least a part of the lubricating oil collected in the at least one collecting container is removable from the at least one oil circuit.

Claims

1. An internal combustion engine comprising: an oil circuit configured to supply at least one component of the internal combustion engine with lubricating oil; at least one oil reservoir configured to provide the lubricating oil for the oil circuit, wherein the at least one component includes at least one turbocharger and/or a blow-by filter; at least one collecting container separate from the at least one oil reservoir, wherein the at least one collecting container is configured to collect the lubricating oil in the oil circuit downstream of the at least one component; and at least one oil remover configured to remove at least a part of the lubricating oil collected in the at least one collecting container from the at least one oil circuit.

2. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, comprising at least one return line configured to return at least a part of the lubricating oil collected in the at least one collecting chamber into the at least one oil reservoir.

3. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein the at least one oil reservoir comprises an oil pan or an oil sump of the internal combustion engine.

4. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein the at least one component includes the at least one turbocharger.

5. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein the at least one component includes the blow-by filter.

6. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein the at least one oil remover has at least one removal line, at least one pump, at least one open-loop or closed-loop controllable valve, and/or at least one old oil tank.

7. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, comprising at least one oil supply configured to supply additional fresh lubricating oil to the oil circuit via the at least one oil reservoir.

8. The internal combustion engine of claim 7, wherein the at least one oil supply has at least one feed line, at least one pump, at least one open-loop or closed-loop controllable valve, and/or at least one fresh oil tank.

9. The internal combustion engine of claim 7, comprising an open-loop or closed-loop controller connected in signal-conducting relationship to the at least one oil supply and configured to feed a defined volume of oil to the oil circuit by open-loop or closed-loop control of the at least one oil supply.

10. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, comprising an open-loop or closed-loop controller connected in signal-conducting relationship to the at least one oil remover and configured to remove a defined volume of oil from the at least one collecting container by open-loop or closed-loop control of the at least one oil remover.

11. The internal combustion engine of claim 7, comprising an open-loop or closed-loop controller configured to maintain constant a total volume of oil of the oil circuit by open-loop or closed-loop control of the at least one oil supply and/or the at least one oil remover.

12. The internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein the at least one collecting container and at least one crankcase are connected together above a liquid level so that gases can circulate between the at least one collecting container and the crankcase.

13. A method of operating an internal combustion engine, comprising: flowing a lubricating oil in an oil circuit to lubricate and/or cool at least one component of the internal combustion engine, wherein the lubricating oil is provided for the oil circuit by at least one oil reservoir, wherein the at least one component includes at least one turbocharger and/or a blow-by filter; collecting the lubricating oil in the oil circuit downstream of the at least one component is collected in a collecting container separate from the at least one oil reservoir; and removing at least a part of the lubricating oil collected in the at least one collecting container by an oil remover.

14. The method of claim 13, comprising feeding to the oil circuit a volume of fresh lubricating oil that corresponds to the volume of lubricating oil removed from the at least one collecting container.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one component includes the at least one turbocharger.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one component includes the blow-by filter.

17. A system, comprising: a controller configured to control an internal combustion engine to: flow a lubricating oil in an oil circuit to lubricate and/or cool at least one component of the internal combustion engine, wherein the lubricating oil is provided for the oil circuit by at least one oil reservoir, wherein the at least one component includes at least one turbocharger and/or a blow-by filter; collect the lubricating oil in the oil circuit downstream of the at least one component in a collecting container separate from the at least one oil reservoir; and remove at least a part of the lubricating oil collected in the at least one collecting container by an oil remover.

18. The system of claim 17, comprising the at least one component, the internal combustion engine, or a combination thereof.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one component includes the at least one turbocharger.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one component includes the blow-by filter.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] Further advantages and details of the invention will be apparent from the FIGURE and the accompanying specific description.

[0039] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an internal combustion engine having an oil circuit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an internal combustion engine 1 according to the invention having an oil circuit. In that arrangement, the internal combustion engine 1 has a crankcase 4, which is closed in its lower region by an oil pan 3. In this embodiment, the oil pan 3 forms the oil reservoir 2.

[0041] Lubricating oil can be fed to individual components of the internal combustion engine 1 by the oil circuit. Thus, for example, lubricating oil from the oil pan 3 is fed by way of the supply line 19 to the turbocharger 6 to cool or lubricate it. In addition, a blow-by gas can be discharged from the crankcase 4 by a discharge line 20 for blow-by gases and can be fed to a blow-by filter 7.

[0042] Subsequently to the components (e.g., turbocharger 6 and blow-by filter 7), the lubricating oil which represents a lubricating oil with increased signs of wear (e.g., severely reduced lubricating oil quality) can be respectively fed to a collecting container 5 in which the lubricating oil can collect and gases can be released from the lubricating oil. Those gases which occur in the collecting container 5 can circulate by way of a connecting line 23 to the crankcase 4 of the internal combustion engine 1. That connecting line 23 is arranged in such a way that it connects the crankcase 4 above a liquid level to the collecting container 5 above a liquid level in respect of the lubricating oil (e.g., the liquid levels are symbolically illustrated by horizontal lines).

[0043] According to the invention, there is provided a removal device 8, by means of which lubricating oil (which collects in the collecting container 5) can be discharged from the collecting container 5.

[0044] In this embodiment, that removal device 8 has a removal line 9, which carries a part of the collected lubricating oil of the collecting container 5 to an old oil tank 12. In that respect, removal of the old lubricating oil from the collecting container 5 can be open-loop or closed-loop controlled by way of the pump 10 of the removal device 8 and/or the open-loop or closed-loop controllable valve 11 of the removal device 8.

[0045] As in this embodiment, only a part of the collected lubricating oil in the collecting container 5 is passed to the old oil tank 12 by way of the removal device 8. A return line 13 returns the remaining part of the old lubricating oil to the oil pan 3 of the internal combustion engine 1. It can be provided that a further filter element for lubricating oil or a backflow blocking means (e.g., non-return valve) is provided in that return line 13.

[0046] In addition, this embodiment in FIG. 1 has a feed device 14, which feed device 14 can feed fresh lubricating oil by way of a feed line 15 from a fresh oil tank 18 into the oil pan 3 (and thus the oil circuit). The feed device 14 further has a pump 16 of the feed device 14 and an open-loop or closed-loop controllable valve 17 of the feed device 14 to provide for open-loop or closed-loop control of the extent of fed fresh oil volume per unit of time.

[0047] There is further provided an open-loop or closed-loop control unit 22, which is connected in signal-conducting relationship by way of signal-conducting connections 21 to the pump 10 of the removal device 8, the open-loop or closed-loop controllable valve 11 of the removal line 9, the pump 16 of the feed device 14 and the open-loop or closed-loop controllable valve 17 of the feed device 14. In that respect, it can be provided, for example, that, by way of the open-loop or closed-loop control unit 22, the removed volume of old oil per unit of time and/or the fed volume of fresh oil per unit of time can be open-loop or closed-loop controlled by way of the pumps 16, 10 and/or the open-loop or closed-loop controllable valves 11, 17. In that respect, it can be provided, for example, that a removed old lubricating oil by way of the removal device 8 is compensated substantially in faithful volume relationship by fresh lubricating oil by way of the feed device 14 by means of the open-loop or closed-loop control unit 22.

[0048] It can, however, also be provided that the open-loop or closed-loop control unit 22 is adapted by way of sensors to detect a total oil volume of the internal combustion engine 1 (for example, by way of a filling level by virtue of the liquid level of the lubricating oil in the oil pan) and to provide for open-loop or closed-loop control of the feed device 14 and/or the removal device 8 in such a way that that liquid level (or also the total lubricating oil volume) is kept constant.

LIST OF REFERENCES

[0049] 1 internal combustion engine [0050] 2 oil reservoir [0051] 3 oil pan [0052] 4 crankcase [0053] 5 collecting container [0054] 6 turbocharger [0055] 7 blow-by filter [0056] 8 removal device [0057] 9 removal line [0058] 10 pump of the removal device [0059] 11 open-loop or closed-loop controllable valve of the removal device [0060] 12 old oil tank [0061] 13 return line [0062] 14 feed device [0063] 15 feed line [0064] 16 pump of the feed device [0065] 17 open-loop or closed-loop controllable valve of the feed device [0066] 18 fresh oil tank [0067] 19 supply line for turbocharger [0068] 20 discharge line for blow-by gases [0069] 21 signal-conducting connection [0070] 22 open-loop or closed-loop control device [0071] 23 connecting line