OIL CONSUMING SYSTEM

Abstract

The invention is concerned with an oil consumer system having at least one rotating component and at least one oil supply from an oil tank, wherein the oil consumer system has an oil return to a first tank and an oil supply via at least one second tank.

Claims

1. An oil consumer system having at least one rotating component and at least one oil supply from an oil tank, wherein the oil consumer system has an oil return to a first tank and an oil supply line from at least one second tank.

2. The oil consumer system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first tank is connected to the second tank via a connection which is arranged adjacent a bottom of each of the tanks.

3. The oil consumer system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and the second tanks each have a vent.

4. The oil consumer system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the oil supply line guides the oil to a housing oil level in a consumer housing, and wherein at least the second tank has a second oil level that is greater than the housing oil level.

5. The oil consumer system as claimed in claim 4, wherein a first oil level in the first tank is the same as the second oil level in the second tank.

6. The oil consumer system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the second oil level in the second tank is higher or lower than the first oil level in the first tank.

7. The oil consumer system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the oil consumer system is a clutch system.

8. The oil consumer system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first and the second tank each have a vent.

Description

DRAWING

[0021] The drawing described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0022] The single FIGURE shows by way of example an oil consumer system 1. In the selected exemplary embodiment there is here illustrated a clutch device 2 as is known from the prior art. The clutch device 2 is accommodated in a 1st housing part 20a.

[0023] The clutch here is a wet-running multidisk clutch which is supplied with oil via an oil supply 12. The oil is guided by way of suitable oil supply bores 14 up to the disk carrier of the clutch, which is indicated by arrows in the drawing.

[0024] The rotation of the clutch causes oil to be flung out at the highest point of the clutch and fed to an oil return 11. Use can also be made here of oil channeling devices, as are already known. The oil channeling means is schematically illustrated in the drawing and can constitute a return line which is routed in the housing 20a, or a separate return line which is also arranged outside the housing 20a. The oil return line 11 opens in a first tank 4 in which the air-oil mixture settles. As indicated in the FIGURE, air 7 is separated from the oil drops 8. The rising air 7 escapes via a first vent 9. There here forms an oil level 6a in the first tank. The first tank 4 is connected to a second tank 5 via a connection 13. Here, the connection 13 is dimensioned such that oil can flow from the first tank into the second tank in a manner sufficient for the supply of the clutch device. In the second tank, the entrained air quantity has already been substantially reduced, the oil-air mixture can further expand there, and the air can escape via a second vent 10. There forms a second oil level 6b which can correspond to the first level 6a or else lie below or above the oil level 6a. The oil flows via the second tank 5, near the bottom thereof, into the oil supply 12.

[0025] The oil supply to the oil consumer, the clutch system 2, is maintained by the pressure of the liquid column in the second tank 5 with the level N2 in relation to the position of the oiling of the consumer at the level N1.

[0026] In the exemplary embodiment, the first tank 4 and the second tank 5 are mounted next to the housing 20a of the oil consumer, the clutch 2. However, it is also conceivable for the different tank volumes and the oil consumer to be combined in a common housing 20 to form an oil consumer system 1.

[0027] The first vent 9 and the second vent 10 take the form of separate openings in the embodiment. However, an embodiment is also conceivable in which the first tank vents into the second tank and a common vent is routed to the outside.

LIST OF REFERENCE DESIGNATIONS

[0028] 1 Oil consumer system [0029] 2 Clutch device [0030] 3 Housing [0031] 4 First tank [0032] 5 Second tank [0033] 6 Oil level [0034] 7 Air [0035] 8 Oil drops [0036] 9 First vent [0037] 10 Second vent [0038] 11 Oil return [0039] 12 Oil supply [0040] 13 Connection [0041] 14 Oil supply bores [0042] 20 Housing [0043] 20a Oil consumer housing [0044] N1, N2 Levels