# US 11,441,096 B2 · Lubricant for use in electric and hybrid vehicles and methods of using the same

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- Number: US 11,441,096 B2
- Document ID: US11441096B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/858,658
- Filed: 2020-04-26
- Published: 2020-10-29
- Granted: 2022-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 2019-04-26
- Assignees: Valvoline Licensing and Intellectual Property LLC
- Applicants: Valvoline Licensing and Intellectual Property LLC
- Inventors: Anant Kolekar; James Brown; Frances Lockwood; Dale Reid
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11441096B2

## CPC

- C10M 159/18: Complexes with metals
- C10M 169/04: Mixtures of base-materials and additives
- C10M 141/12: at least one of them being an organic compound containing atoms of elements not provided for in groups C10M141/02 - C10M141/10
- C10M 2203/1006: used as base material
- C10M 2203/1025: used as base material
- C10M 2205/0285: used as base material
- C10M 2209/084: Acrylate; Methacrylate
- C10M 2215/04: having amino groups bound to acyclic or cycloaliphatic carbon atoms
- C10M 2219/068: Thiocarbamate metal salts
- C10M 2227/066: derived from Mo or W
- C10N 2010/12: Groups 6 or 16
- C10N 2030/02: Pour-point; Viscosity index
- C10N 2030/06: Oiliness; Film-strength; Anti-wear; Resistance to extreme pressure
- C10N 2030/08: Resistance to extreme temperature
- C10N 2030/20: Colour, e.g. dyes
- C10N 2030/43: {Sulfur free or low sulfur content compositions}
- C10N 2030/45: {Ash-less or low ash content}
- C10N 2040/04: Oil-bath; Gear-boxes; Automatic transmissions; Traction drives
- C10N 2040/12: Gas-turbines
- C10N 2040/14: Electric or magnetic purposes
- C10N 2040/16: Dielectric; Insulating oil {or insulators}
- C10M: LUBRICATING COMPOSITIONS (well drilling compositions C09K8/02); USE OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES EITHER ALONE OR AS LUBRICATING INGREDIENTS IN A LUBRICATING COMPOSITION (mould release, i.e. separating, agents for metals B22C3/00, for plastics or substances in a plastic state, in general B29C33/56, for glass C03B40/02; textile lubricating compositions D06M11/00, D06M13/00, D06M15/00; immersion oils for microscopy G02B21/33)
- C10N: INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS C10M RELATING TO LUBRICATING COMPOSITIONS

## Abstract

A lubricant formulation for an electric or hybrid vehicle includes a base oil, or a blend thereof, one or more additives, and a molybdenum amine complex, such as diisotridecylamine molybdate, are provided. Lubricant formulations can be characterized by one of: improving electric motor protection when a volatage is applied to an electrode in the presence of a formulation comprising the diisotridecylamine molybdate additive as compared to a fluid lacking the diisotridecylamine molybdate additive; maintaining the electrical resistance slope of a formulation comprising the diisotridecylamine molybdate additive as compared to a fluid lacking the diisotridecylamine molybdate additive; the formulation forming a protective film on copper surfaces; a change in color of the formulation indicating contact load, temperature, time, or viscosity change.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for determining a characteristic of a transmission body comprising transmission components, wherein the transmission body and the components are suitable for use in an electric or hybrid vehicle, the system comprising:
a lubricant formulated for use in a transmission component, wherein the lubricant comprises:
a base oil;
a first gear oil additive, and
a second additive, wherein the second additive comprises a molybdenum dithiocarbamate complex in an amount of about 0.5 (w/w) % to about 1.0 (w/w) % of the lubricant, wherein the molybdenum dithiocarbamate additive causes a variation in the color of the lubricant in response to use of the lubricant in a transmission system for a period of time, the variation in color indicative of temperature, contact load, viscosity, or operation time, and
a chart depicting expected lubricant color change undergone by a lubricant of a specified viscosity of a when the component of a transmission body is operated under certain conditions for a certain amount of time for a characteristic, wherein the lubricant is configured to show the variation in color between a temperature window from about 40° C up to about 125° C, and the chart depicts expected lubricant color change undergone by the lubricant when the components of the transmission body is operated under the temperature window from about 40° C up to about 125° C, the color of the lubriean lubricant is amber at 40° C and is blue or green at 125° C,
wherein a characteristic of the component may be evaluated by directly contacting the component comprising an electric motor with the fresh lubricant formulation, operating the transmission component under a set of conditions to form a used lubricant formulation, removing at least a portion of the used lubricant formulation from the component, assigning a color to the used lubricant formulation, matching the color of the used lubricant formulation to the chart.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the base oil is selected from the group consisting of a group I oil, a group II oil, a group III oil, a group IV oil, a group V oil, and a combination thereof.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the base oil is a Group III oil present in amount from about 50 (w/w) % to about 99.9 (w/w) % of the lubricant.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the first gear oil additive is selected from the group consisting of viscosity modifiers, antifoaming agents, additive packages, antioxidant agents, antiwear agents, extreme pressure agents, detergents, dispersants, anti-rust agents, friction modifiers, corrosion inhibitors, and combinations thereof.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the first gear oil additive is present in an amount of between about 0.01 (w/w) % to about 20 (w/w) % of the lubricant.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the second additive is present in an amount of about 0.5 (w/w) % of the lubricant.

### Claim 7

A method of evaluating electrical characteristics of a transmission system suitable for use in an electric or hybrid vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a transmission body comprising the transmission components, wherein the transmission body and components are suitable for use in an electric or hybrid vehicle;
providing a fresh lubricant formulation comprising:
a base oil;
a first gear oil additive; and
a second additive,
wherein the second additive comprises a molybdenum dithiocarbamate complex, in an amount of about 0.5 wt % to about 1.0 wt % of the lubricant, wherein the molybdenum dithiocarbamate additive causes a variation in the color of the lubricant in response to use of the lubricant in a transmission system for a period of time, the variation in color indicative of temperature, contact load, viscosity, or operation time, wherein the transmission components are operated under a temperature window from about 40° C. up to about 125° C., and the variation in color is not due to oxidation of the lubricant formulation; and
directly contacting at least one transmission component comprising an electric motor with the fresh lubricant formulation and operating the transmission component under a set of conditions to form a used lubricant formulation;
removing at least a portion of the used lubricant formulation from the transmission system and assigning a color for the used lubricant formulation;
matching the color of the used lubricant formulation to a chart with a substantially similar color assigned to a control lubricant formulation created under a substantially similar set of conditions to obtain a set of matched colors; and
determining a characteristic of the transmission system selected from the group consisting of a load placed on the transmission system, a temperature at which the transmission system operates, a time that the transmission system operates, and a viscosity of the fresh lubricant formulation based on the set of matched colors.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the lubricant exhibits a variation in color over a contact load between about 100 kg and about 315 kg.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the lubricant exhibits a variation in color between a viscosity of about 6 cSt and about 2.5 cSt over a time period of lubricant use of about 1 hour at 90° C.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the lubricant exhibits a variation in color over a time period of lubricant use from about 5 minutes to about 45 minutes at a constant temperature.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the lubricant is configured to improve extreme pressure protection with a load wear index (LWI) of about 35.4.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the variation in the color of the lubricant comprises that the color of the lubricant is amber when the contact load is 0 kg and is green when the contact load is 400 kg.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the variation in the color of the lubricant comprises that the color of the lubricant is green at 100° C.