Lubricant dispenser

Abstract

The invention relates to a lubricant dispenser comprising a storage container (1) filled with lubricant and a pump unit (2) which can be connected to or is releasably connected to the storage container and by means of which the lubricant can be pumped from the storage container (1) to an outlet (5) of the pump unit (2) and is equipped with an electronic controller (35). The lubricant dispenser is characterized in that the storage container (1) is equipped with an electronic coding means (36) which can be connected to the electronic controller (35) of the pump unit (2) and can be read by same so as to transmit information in the assembled state in order to identify the storage container (1).

Claims

1. A lubricant dispenser comprising: a reservoir filled with lubricant and having a downwardly directly floor end face; an outlet port on the floor end face; a pump; a housing holding the pump and having an upwardly directed housing end face juxtaposable with the floor end face of the reservoir; an intake port on the housing end face, the housing being releasably connectable to the reservoir for connection of the intake port to the outlet port with the end faces closely juxtaposed; an electric controller on and connected to the pump for, when the housing is connected to the reservoir, conveying lubricant from the outlet port of the reservoir into the intake port of the housing; an electronic data carrier on the reservoir and carrying information identifying the reservoir; a first contact array connected to the data carrier of the reservoir, carried on the floor end face, and directed toward the housing end face when the reservoir is connected to the pump housing; and a second contact array connected to the controller, on the housing end face, and directed toward the reservoir, the first and second arrays being simultaneously mechanically brought together and electrically contacted on mechanical connection of the pump to the reservoir for transfer of the information on the data carrier to the controller.

2. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the first contact array is pluggable into the second contact array and is thereby electrically contacted, or conversely the second contact array is pluggable into the first contact array and is thereby electrically contacted.

3. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier is integrated into the first contact array or is formed with the first contact array.

4. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the first contact array is an electronic circuit board having or forming the data carrier.

5. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the second contact array is a printed circuit board jack into which is insertable the printed circuit board of the first contact array as the first contact array, the printed circuit board jack being connected to the controller.

6. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the electronic data carrier is connectable wirelessly to the electronic controller and can be read out wirelessly by the controller.

7. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 6, wherein the data carrier has an RFID transponder and the pump or the controller is equipped or connected to an RFID reader.

8. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier has a memory in which information can be stored.

9. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the floor is provided externally with a mechanical retainer in which the data carrier is held mechanically.

10. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier is readable by the controller of the pump and information can also be written in the data carrier.

11. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the reservoir is a collapsible container or has a collapsing inner container that is a cylindrical, flexible cup casing or a concertina-like side wall designed as a bellows, the cup casing or container casing being connected to a rigid base component having or forming the floor.

12. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the reservoir has an upper top-side container cover that, on emptying of the collapsing container, is lowered toward the floor and the pump, a sensor being provided in or on the pump to detect an approach of the container top wall to the floor in order to detect an empty state.

13. The lubricant dispenser according to claim 12, further comprising: a detectable label on the container cover and detectable by the sensor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) In the following, the invention is described in more detail with reference to drawings showing a single embodiment. Therein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a partly sectional perspective view of a lubricant dispenser;

(3) FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail from FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a reservoir of the lubricant dispenser according to FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 3A is a large-scale detail from FIG. 3

(6) FIG. 4 shows a variant on the reservoir of FIG. 1;

(7) FIG. 4A is a large-scale detail from FIG. 4; and

(8) FIG. 5 is an optional variant of the lubricant dispenser of FIG. 1.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) The drawing shows a lubricant dispenser and thus an apparatus for distributing a lubricant, the lubricant dispenser being basically comprised of a reservoir 1 and a pump 2 that is also known as a drive or drive head and that is basically a pump. The lubricant-filled reservoir 1 is releasably mounted on the pump 2. The reservoir and pump 2 can be disconnected and switched out so as to be (modularly) exchangeable usable to form an assembly. The pump 2 conveys the lubricant out of the reservoir 1 to an outlet 5 of the pump 2. Such a lubricant dispenser is connected to a location needing lubrication (e.g. near a bearing of a machine or the like). The pump 2 can be provided with a pump module that for example has a reciprocating piston driven by an unillustrated drive in the pump so as to draw lubricant out of the reservoir 1 and convey it to the outlet 5. Details of the construction and operation of the pump 2 or the pump module are not shown in the drawing. Various different models are known in the state of the art.

(10) Possible other embodiments of the reservoir 1 connected to the pump 2 shown in FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Such a reservoir 1 is cup-shaped and has a floor 20 turned toward the pump 2 and formed with an outlet opening 21. The reservoir 1 is placed with this floor 20 onto the pump, namely on its upper end wall 39 that has an intake port 4 that can fit with the outlet port 21 of the reservoir 1 to connect it to the intake port 4 of the pump 2. It can be seen in FIG. 1 that the reservoir 1 is fixed to the pump 2 by a protective cap 22, for example with a screw or bayonet connection, to be more precise, usually with the interposition of seals. This embodiment with the protective cap 22 is particularly preferably used in a reservoir 1 designed to be collapsible. This will be discussed in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4. However, the invention also includes embodiments in which the reservoir 1 itself has a self-supporting and consequently rigid casing closed with an additional protective cap. In this case, installation entails placing the reservoir 1 on the pump 2 or connecting them with separate mounting tools.

(11) The pump 2 has a housing 3 holding at least the pump module mentioned above for conveying the lubricant and parts connected thereto like a controller 35, here illustrated schematically. The controller 35 serves to control the pump, for example via its drive, so that, for example, certain parameters of the lubricant dispenser, such as dispensing intervals, dispensing periods or the like can be set via the controller. According to the invention, the reservoir 1 is equipped with an electronic data carrier 36 that, in the assembled state, can be connected to the electronic controller 35 of the pump 2 for transmitting information and can be read by the latter in order to identify the reservoir 1. Here, connecting the pump 2 to the reservoir 1 on the one hand connects the outlet port 21 in the floor 20 to the intake port 4 in the end wall 39 and at the same time on the other hand (electrically) connects or contacts the data carrier 36 to the controller 35. For example, the data carrier 36 may store or hold identification data of the cartridge. While reading the data carrier 36, the controller 35 of the pump 2 can determine, for example, whether the identifying data stored in the data carrier 36 matches the identifier data stored as permissible in the control unit, and whether it is consequently a cartridge suitable or permitted for the pump. Optionally, there is the possibility that the memory of the data carrier 36 holds further information about the reservoir, for example, the container type and/or the container size and/or the lubricant and/or the removed amount of lubricant and/or the fill level or the residual volume and/or time information are stored. Such temporal information may be, for example, the time when the cartridge is placed on the pump.

(12) FIGS. 1 and 2 show that a first contact array 37 is on the floor 20 and a second contact array 38 is on the end wall 39, the second contact arrays being mechanically connected to one another while the pump is connected to the reservoir and are thereby electrically contacted. In this case, the first contact array 37 forms the data carrier 36, which in this case is a printed circuit board. The second contact array 38 is electrically connected to the controller 35. This connection is not shown. In the embodiment shown, the first contact array 37, namely the printed circuit board, can be inserted into the second contact array direction 38 and thereby electrically contacted. The second contact array 38 is a circuit board jack or circuit board edge connector into which the printed circuit board is inserted as the first contact array 37. The floor 20 is provided on the outside with a mechanical retainer 40 that mechanically holds the data carrier 36 or the printed circuit board 37 as a first contact array. In the illustrated embodiment, the second contact array 38, which may for example be a circuit board edge plug, is protectively mounted on the end wall 39 within a protective housing or a protective box 43 that sits on the outside of the end wall 39 and is fixedly connected thereto. The protective box 43 has a mouth opening 44 facing the container 1 and through which the printed circuit board 37 or the data carrier 36 can be inserted into the protective box and into the plug therein. FIG. 2 shows the floor 20 provided in the region of the holder 40 with a chamber 45 holding the printed circuit board and into which the box 43 of the pump 2 engages when plugged together.

(13) The reservoir 1 can be, for example, a collapsing container that is emptied by the pump, without separate application of force to the container and, while emptying, automatically collapses. For this purpose, the container 1 can be designed, for example, as a cup-shaped container or collapsible cup 17 that has a thin-walled container side wall 18. This collapsing cup 17 can in turn be connected to the thin-walled cylindrical container jacket 18 with an outwardly projecting collar 19a with the rigid base component 20, for example via a welded connection or else an adhesive connection. While emptying, this thin-walled cup 17 or its container jacket 18 folds together, so that a waste product with minimal residual volume remains. The reservoir 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be, for example, the one shown in FIGS. 3 and 3A, with a collapsing cup 17.

(14) FIGS. 4 and 4A show an alternative embodiment of a reservoir 1 with a bellows 17. This bellows 17 has an accordion-like side wall 18 and a circumferential collar 19a with which the bellows 17 is connected to the rigid base component 20. This type of container also collapses while emptying, so that a waste product with minimal residual volume remains.

(15) Independently of the specific embodiment, the reservoir 1 preferably has an upper end or top wall 19 that, while emptying, lowers, for example, toward the floor 20 and the pump 2. FIG. 5 optionally shows such an embodiment of a lubricant dispenser. By way of example, a collapsible reservoir 1, for example in this embodiment a collapsible inverted cup, is again shown, but in this illustration without an attached protective cap. It can be seen that a detectable label 42 is on the container top wall 19, for example on the outside face thereof and that is for example formed from a metallic and/or a ferromagnetic material. It can be seen in FIG. 1 that, optionally, a sensor 41 can be mounted on the pump for detecting approach of the container cover 19 to the floor 20 in order to detect the empty state, in which the detectable label 42 can be detected by this sensor 41. In this way, fill level can be monitored very simply and reliably. The sensor can be connected to the controller 35, so that it can generate or output information about an empty condition, for example by an optical or acoustic alarm.

(16) The embodiments illustrated in the figures are designed, for example, in such a way that, as it is being mechanically installed, the electronic data carrier 36 is also being connected to the electronic or communication technology at the same time, to be precise in a cable-bound or otherwise hard-wired manner the described plug-in connections. Alternatively, however, the invention also includes those embodiments in that when the reservoir 1 is mechanically connected to the pump 2, a wireless communication connection is established between the data carrier 36 and the controller 35. In this case, for example, a radio link can be accessed, preferably in the radio frequency range. It can be, for example, the standard RFID technology can be used in that the reservoir 1 is equipped with a data carrier 36 in the form of an RFID transponder. The pump 2 or its controllers 35 can be equipped with a corresponding reader or a reader and writer unit for this RFID transponder. Such an embodiment is not shown in the figures.