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US 8,786,455 B2Granted
Tool lubrication delivery monitoring system and method
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsJames William Perry, Chandra Jalluri
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tool lubrication delivery monitoring system and a method of control. An accelerometer is provided to detect a position of a valve and fluid flow through the valve. Accelerometer data may be compared to a baseline profile to determine whether fluid flow or valve operation is within established parameters.
Claims20
A tool lubrication delivery system comprising:
- a fluid supply unit disposed on a spindle and including a valve assembly having a valve that moves along an axis between a closed position in which flow of a lubricant is inhibited and an open position in which flow of the lubricant to a cutting tool is permitted;
- and
- an accelerometer disposed on the valve assembly along the axis that detects acceleration of the lubricant through the fluid supply unit, wherein the valve is disposed between the accelerometer and the cutting tool.
A method of monitoring lubrication flow to a cutting tool, comprising:
- providing a baseline acceleration profile representative of a position of a lubricant flow control valve of a valve assembly, wherein magnitude of the baseline acceleration profile indicative of movement of a valve to a closed position is less than magnitude of the baseline acceleration profile indicative of movement of the valve to the open position;
- comparing data from an accelerometer disposed on the valve assembly indicative of a position of the valve to a threshold range based on the baseline acceleration profile;
- and
- providing a warning signal when the data is not within the threshold range.
1 more element
A method of controlling a tool lubrication delivery system with a valve disposed between an accelerometer and a cutting tool, comprising:
- providing a baseline acceleration profile indicative of operation of a fluid supply unit that is disposed on a spindle and that controls the supply of an aerosol having a lubricant to a fluid passage of the cutting tool, the baseline acceleration profile having first, second, and third regions;
- determining first, second, and third threshold values based on the first, second, and third regions, respectively;
- providing data from the accelerometer disposed on the fluid supply unit;
- selecting one of the first, second, and third threshold values;
- comparing the data from the accelerometer to the selected one of the first, second and third threshold values;
- and
- generating a warning signal when the data exceeds the selected threshold value.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.