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US 6,447,573 B1Granted
Apparatus and method for lubricant condition control and monitoring
AssigneeTrico Manufacturing Corporation
InventorBrad Rake
Life of this patent
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AssigneeTrico Manufacturing Corporation
InventorBrad Rake
Estimating the term…
An air or oil dryer module is provided to remove or reduce moisture from a lubricant using a pressurized air supply to inject dry air into a lubricant sump. As the “dry air” or air with a minimized moisture content, gathers moisture from the lubricant a relative humidity sensor detects an increase in air moisture. At a pre-determined relative humidity level, a fresh supply of air is added into the lubricant sump, purging the higher relative humidity level air from the sump. A method of reducing moisture content of a lubricant contained in an enclosed space is also disclosed and is performed by agitating the lubricant, providing a humidity sensor in fluid communication with the enclosed space, measuring the humidity of the enclosed space and comparing the humidity measurement with a pre-selected humidity level, introducing dry air into the enclosed space if the humidity level equals or exceeds the pre-selected humidity level, until the saturated humidity level is less than the pre-selected humidity level.
A method of reducing saturated relative humidity of a lubricant in an enclosed space also containing air comprising:
An apparatus for decreasing the saturated relative humidity of a lubricant contained in an enclosed volume comprising:
An apparatus for decreasing the saturated relative humidity of a lubricant contained in an enclosed volume comprising:
An apparatus for decreasing the saturated relative humidity of a lubricant in an enclosed volume comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.