US 10,208,773 B2Granted

System for hydraulic pump health monitoring

AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.

InventorsRichard A. Carpenter, Solimar Reyes-Rodriguez

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Abstract

A system may comprise a first sensor; a second sensor; and an electronic control module. The electronic control module may be configured to determine a flow of the fluid based on information regarding the pressure from the first sensor and information regarding the temperature from the second sensor; determine a portion of the flow of the fluid that is directed to a particle counter of the machine; receive, from the particle counter, information identifying a quantity of particles in the portion of the flow of the fluid; determine a quality of the fluid based on the quantity of particles; determine whether the flow of the fluid exceeds a flow threshold or whether the quality of the fluid is less than a quality threshold; and take a remedial action when the flow of the fluid exceeds the flow threshold or the quality of the fluid is less than the quality threshold.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of determining health of a hydraulic pump of a machine, the method comprising:

receiving, by an electronic control module of the machine and from a first sensor of the machine, information regarding a pressure of a fluid in a case drain providing a passage from the hydraulic pump to a hydraulic tank of the machine;
receiving, by the electronic control module and from a second sensor of the machine, information regarding a temperature of the fluid in the case drain;
determining, by the electronic control module, a flow of the fluid in the case drain based on the information regarding the pressure and the information regarding the temperature;
determining, by the electronic control module, a portion of the flow of the fluid in the case drain that is directed to a particle counter of the machine;
receiving, by the electronic control module and from the particle counter, information regarding particles in the portion of the flow of the fluid;
determining, by the electronic control module, a quality of the fluid in the case drain based on the information regarding the particles in the portion of the flow of the fluid;
determining, by the electronic control module, whether the flow of the fluid in the case drain exceeds a flow threshold or whether the quality of the fluid in the case drain is less than a quality threshold to determine the health of the hydraulic pump;
and
taking, by the electronic control module, a remedial action when at least one of the flow of the fluid in the case drain exceeds the flow threshold or the quality of the fluid in the case drain is less than the quality threshold.

6 more elements

A system comprising:

a first sensor configured to transmit information regarding a pressure of a fluid in a case drain providing a passage from a hydraulic pump to a hydraulic tank of a machine;
a second sensor configured to transmit information regarding a temperature of the fluid in the case drain;
and
an electronic control module configured to:
determine a flow of the fluid in the case drain based on the information regarding the pressure and the information regarding the temperature;
determine a portion of the flow of the fluid in the case drain that is directed to a particle counter of the machine;
receive, from the particle counter, information regarding particles in the portion of the flow of the fluid;
determine a quality of the fluid in the case drain based on the information regarding the particles in the portion of the flow of the fluid;
determine whether the flow of the fluid in the case drain exceeds a flow threshold or whether the quality of the fluid in the case drain is less than a quality threshold;
and
take a remedial action when at least one of the flow of the fluid in the case drain exceeds the flow threshold or the quality of the fluid in the case drain is less than the quality threshold.

8 more elements

A machine comprising:

a first sensor configured to transmit information regarding a pressure of a fluid in a case drain providing a passage from a hydraulic pump to a hydraulic tank of the machine;
a second sensor configured to transmit information regarding a temperature of the fluid in the case drain;
and
an electronic control module configured to:
determine a flow of the fluid in the case drain based on the information regarding the pressure and the information regarding the temperature;
determine a portion of the flow of the fluid in the case drain that is directed to a particle counter of the machine;
receive, from the particle counter, information identifying a quantity of particles in the portion of the flow of the fluid;
determine a quality of the fluid in the case drain based on the quantity of particles in the portion of the flow of the fluid;
determine whether the flow of the fluid in the case drain exceeds a flow threshold or whether the quality of the fluid in the case drain is less than a quality threshold;
and
take a remedial action when at least one of the flow of the fluid in the case drain exceeds the flow threshold or the quality of the fluid in the case drain is less than the quality threshold.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/244,471Filed 23 Aug 2016
Published: US 2018/0058482 A11 Mar 2018
Granted: 19 Feb 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification17 codes

F15B 20/00
Safety arrangements for fluid actuator systems
E02F 9/226
Hydraulic or pneumatic drives: safety arrangements, e.g. hydraulic driven fans, preventing cavitation, leakage, overheating
E02F 9/26
Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00: indicating devices
E02F 9/268
Diagnosing or detecting failure of vehicles: with failure correction follow-up actions