DISTRIBUTOR FOR A LUBRICANT OR FLUID AND A SYSTEM WITH A DISTRIBUTOR

Abstract

A lubricant or fluid distributor may have a housing made in one piece and comprising an inner wall and an outer wall. The inner wall encloses an inlet chamber fluidly connected with an outside of the housing through a fluid inlet. A main chamber may be formed in between the outer wall and the inner wall, the main chamber fluidly connected with the inlet chamber and fluidly connected with the outside of the housing through one or more fluid outlets. A lubricant fitting member may be encapsulated within the inlet chamber. A system with the lubricant or fluid distributor may have a part to be lubricated.

Claims

1-19. (canceled)

20. A lubricant or fluid distributor comprising: a housing made in one piece and comprising an inner wall and an outer wall, wherein the inner wall encloses an inlet chamber fluidly connected with an outside of the housing through a fluid inlet, wherein a main chamber is formed in between the outer wall and the inner wall, the main chamber fluidly connected with the inlet chamber and fluidly connected with the outside of the housing through one or more fluid outlets; and a lubricant fitting member encapsulated within the inlet chamber.

21. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein the outer geometry of the housing is configured to be coupled to a part to be lubricated in a form-fit manner.

22. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein the inlet chamber and the main chamber are fluidly connected through one or more connection channels.

23. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein the main chamber, at least in regions, expands in the radial direction.

24. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein a maximum height of the main chamber substantially corresponds to the height of the inlet chamber.

25. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein the fluid outlets are distributed along the outer wall in axial and circumferential direction of the distributor.

26. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 21, wherein the fluid outlets are evenly distributed along the inner surface of the part to be lubricated.

27. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein the fitting member is part of a commercial fitting.

28. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein a small gasket or first cover is provided on the fitting member in order to improve the adherence of layers printed thereon.

29. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein the fitting member is made of metal.

30. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein the distributor is at least partially produced in an additive manufacturing process selected from the group fused filament deposition, stereolithography, direct laser sintering, and/or multi jet fusion.

31. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein in addition to the housing and the separate fitting member, which is encapsulated in the inlet chamber, a separate first cover or gasket is provided, which has the form of a ring-shaped disk and is located on the front side of the fitting member, wherein the ring-shaped disk has an opening that is aligned with an inlet opening of the fitting member.

32. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20, wherein in addition to the housing and the separate fitting member, which is encapsulated in the inlet chamber, a separate second cover is provided, which has the form of a ring-shaped disk, is located on an outer shoulder of the housing close to its front end and forms a flange which protrudes from the outer wall of the housing in radial direction.

33. A lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 31, wherein the separate first cover or gasket is fixed to the housing by a layer of the material of the housing which is put on the front end of the housing and sticks to the material of the housing as well as to the separate first cover or gasket.

34. A system, comprising the lubricant or fluid distributor according to claim 20 and a part to be lubricated.

35. The system according to claim 34, wherein part to be lubricated is in radial form-fit engagement with the housing.

36. The system according to claim 34, wherein the part to be lubricated is in full circumferential form-fit engagement with the housing.

37. The system according to claim 34, wherein the part to be lubricated has the outer shape of a circular ring or a square ring.

38. The system according to claim 34, wherein the fluid to be distributed is an industrial grease, an oil, a gel, a food liquid, a paste, a sauce, and/or a chemical or medical gel.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0047] Some examples of implementations of the presently proposed subject matter are illustrated by the following drawings, which will be described below.

[0048] Therein,

[0049] FIG. 1 shows an external view of a distributor according to the prior art,

[0050] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a distributor according to the prior art,

[0051] FIG. 3 shows a distributor according to the prior art in a longitudinal cross-section,

[0052] FIG. 4 shows a distributor housing of the presently proposed type without a fitting member and covers,

[0053] FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a radial outer channel produced in an additive manufacturing process,

[0054] FIG. 6 shows a distributor housing of the presently proposed type with a fitting member and covers, and

[0055] FIG. 7 shows a view of a distributor housing, two covers and a fitting member before assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] FIG. 1 shows a lubricant distributor of the prior art made by machining which has a cylindrical part 20 with openings for lubricant delivered from the inside of the distributor. The openings are equally distributed over the circumference of the cylindrical part 20. Further, a flange 21 is provided on which the part that is to be lubricated reposes. In the lower part of FIG. 1 a cylindrical inlet part 22 is shown, which has an inlet opening that can be coupled with a lubricant delivery tube or hose.

[0057] FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of the part shown in FIG. 1 wherein radial channels 23, 24 are shown, which lead lubricant from a central chamber 25 to the outside of the cylindrical part 20. The channels 23, 24 can easily be drilled into the body, which makes producing the distributor according to the prior art easy but wasteful of material because the cylindrical part 20, apart from channels 23, 24, is a solid mass. This makes the distributor heavy and expensive to produce.

[0058] In FIG. 3, a cross-sectional view of the distributor according to the prior art is shown, which discloses a central chamber 25 and one of the channels 24. In addition, the flange 21 is shown as well as the part 10 that is to be lubricated. A chamfer 26 integrated into the distributor facilitates the positioning of the part 10 on the distributor.

[0059] FIG. 4 shows a distributor housing of a lubricant distributor of the presently proposed type in a cross-sectional view. The housing 2 comprises an inner wall 3 and an outer wall 4, wherein the inner wall 3 encloses an inlet chamber 5. The outer wall 4 encloses a main chamber 7 as well as the inner wall 3 and the inlet chamber 5. Both the inner and outer wall 3, 4 have a cylindrical symmetry and are disposed coaxially with respect to each other. The inlet chamber 5 has an inlet chamber opening 6 at the front end of the housing 2. At the end of the housing 2 opposite to the front end, the inlet chamber 5 is connected to the main chamber 7 by radial inner channels 11, 11a, which deliver lubricant from the inlet chamber 5 to the main chamber 7. From the main chamber 7, a lubricant or a fluid may flow through outer radial channels 8a to the outlet openings 8, which are circumferentially distributed on the outside of the outer wall 4.

[0060] The housing 2 basically comprises two parts, wherein the first part lies below the dotted line 19 in FIG. 4. In a first step of 3D printing or additive manufacturing, the first part of the housing 2 up to the dotted line 19 is produced, and then the production process is paused. In a later step, an additional layer above the dotted line 19 is added and perfectly connects to the first part of the housing 2. When the first part of the housing 2 below the dotted line 19 has been finalized, a fitting member 9 is introduced into the inlet chamber 5. The fitting member 9 has an internal inlet opening 16 so that lubricant can pass through the fitting member 9 into the inlet chamber and further into the main chamber of the distributor. The fitting member also has on its inner cylindrical surface a thread that enables a connection to a delivery tube or hose.

[0061] After positioning the fitting member 9 in the inlet chamber, a first cover 12 in the form of a gasket may be placed on the front end of the fitting member 9. The first cover 12 has an opening 15 that is aligned with the inlet opening 16 of the fitting member 9. The first cover serves to prepare the housing for adding additional layers by a 3D printing process, since additional layers in some cases do not stick well to the surface of fitting members made, for example, from metal. During the same pause of the production process of the distributor housing, the second cover 13 may be placed on a shoulder 17 of the first part of the housing 2. The second cover has the shape of a ring-shaped flat disk and serves as a flange on which the part that is to be lubricated can repose. After positioning the first and the second cover 12, 13, the additional part of the housing, which is shown above the dotted line 19 in FIG. 4, may be formed by deposition of additional layers on the housing or on the first part of the housing, respectively.

[0062] FIG. 5 shows a drop-like cross-sectional shape of a channel with the upper part of the cross-section consisting of two arms meeting at an angle in the shape of a roof, wherein the angle 27 between vertical line 28 and each of the ceiling arms of the space is 135 degrees or more than 135 degrees. In this way, channels can easily be provided in a distributor housing made from a typical material used for 3D printing, such as a plastic material.

[0063] In FIG. 6, an exemplary cross-section of outer and inner radial channels 11, 11a, 8a of the housing 2 is shown. In a 3D printing process, and particularly in a FFD process, it is in particular difficult to form hollow spaces with a cover on top, since in the area above the hollow, material has to be deposited and would need some kind of support during the deposition process. This problem can be avoided by adapting the spaces to be formed and giving them a shape that is easier to manufacture by a 3D printing process.

[0064] FIG. 7 shows, next to each other lying in a plane, a sectional part of the housing 2 of a distributor, which as such is obviously not functional but helps to show the internal structure, as well as one half of a first cover 12 and one half of a second cover 13, and a fitting member 9.

[0065] The above-described construction of a distributor for lubricant allows for an easy production in small series and the use of less material than would be necessary for producing a distributor housing by conventional machining methods.