Method for metered dispensing of lubricant

摘要

The invention relates to a method for metered dispensing of lubricants using a lubricant dispenser comprising a reservoir chamber filled with lubricant, a gas generating unit for electrochemically generating gas, a piston acted on by the generated gas for outputting the lubricant from the reservoir chamber, and an electronic control unit for controlling the electrochemical gas generation. According to the invention, the temperature of the lubricant or the environment is measured at time intervals, and an average temperature value is derived from a plurality of measured temperature values. Using stored correction values describing the temperature-dependence of the electrochemical gas generating rate, a control parameter determining the electrochemical gas generation is set for the average temperature value, having the requirement that the gas generating rate at the average temperature value corresponds to the target value that correlates to prescribed dispensing time.

主权项

1. A method of metered dispensing of a lubricant with a lubricant dispenser having
a reservoir filled with the lubricant, a gas generator for electrochemically generating gas, a piston acted upon by the generated gas so as to discharge the lubricant from the reservoir, and an electronic controller connected to the gas generator for controlling the electrochemical generation of gas,the method comprising the steps of:
defining a preset value for a dispensing time in which the reservoir is to be emptied and calculating therefrom a parameter representing the desired base gas-generation rate; measuring a temperature of the lubricant or of the environment multiple times during a predetermined time period; calculating a mean temperature value from the measured temperatures values for the time period; determining a control parameter determining the electrochemical gas generation for the calculated mean temperature value by taking into account stored correction values that represent a temperature dependence of the gas-generation rate; making the gas generation for the calculated mean temperature value correspond to the preset value defined for the specified dispensing time by alternately opening and closing a circuit associated with the gas generator with a succession of pulses separated by pauses; and using modulation of pulse duration and pause duration to correct the gas-generation rate by modifying a ratio of pulse duration to pause duration for recurrent opening and closing of the circuit for a constant pulse duration.