LUBRICANT DEGRADATION DETECTOR AND BEARING WITH THE DETECTOR

摘要

A lubricant degradation detector that can be compactly mounted in a bearing and that can stably and accurately detect conditions of degradation of lubricant in the bearing. The lubricant degradation detector has a light emitting element and a light receiving element that are provided at opposite ends of a circular arc optical fiber (4), and the lubricant degradation detector also has measurement gap (7) formed at a portion of the optical fiber (4) and in which lubricant (5) is placed. A resistive element (15), the amount of deformation of which varies depending on a variation in lubricating conditions of the lubricant, is provided near the measurement gap (7), and the lubricant (5) in the measurement gap (7) is allowed to flow.