The object of the invention is a method and an apparatus for lubrication of a regulating unit that has been bearing-mounted in its place and that rotates round its centre axis according to which method lubricant is led at least from one lubricant container to the place to be lubricated.

Advantageous usages of the invention are for instance the cardan shafts in the industry that rotate so long times continuously that one must be able to lubricate their joints while the shafts are rotating. In many different industrial places there are shafts that rotate with the 24/7 principle the whole time between maintenance shutdowns. The purpose of these shafts is the transmission of the power or the movement. The usage of the invention can also be the bearings in the continuously rotating shafts. The very advantageous usages of the invention method and the apparatus are so all the shafts that contain regulating units to be lubricated that are difficult or impossible to lubricate with the ordinary lubricating methods and apparatus because of the shut-downs being too few.

Lubricating methods with the known technology for the before mentioned shaft regulators are for instance gas cartridge driven and centrifugal operated methods. In the first mentioned method the lubricant is moved from the lubricant container to the place to be lubricated using gas pressure. In this case, hydrogen or nitrogen is generated with a battery and the generated gas presses the pistons inside the lubricant container that in turn presse in front of itself lubricant into the dose feeder. The desired time to empty the gas cartridge is tried to obtain by the use of a circuit board when the amount of the electricity defines the amount of the gas to be generated. In the latter case, centrifugal force is used.

A before mentioned lubricating method using gas cartridge in presented for example in internet site: h^p:/7www.m3ci nerviubricaticnxom/Read/887/u-joinr-!ubncation- ECORD COPY - TRANSLATION (RULE 12.4) driveshaft. Method using the centrifugal force is presented for instance in Patent Publication US 4113060.

The worst inconveniences of the known technology can be seen to be the compli- cated apparatus constructions they require and that they are sensible for breakdowns. The gas cartridge, battery, circuit card or gas developer can be faulty or the temperature can affect the voltage of batteries whereupon the speed of function of the system can change. The centrifugal operation requires in praxis that the shaft be stopped. These things accumulate the insecurity factors of the methods and it means rather often that the object shafts must be stopped extra times. The malfunction of the known apparatus, e.g. the uneven operation of the lubrication cartridges, can cause an unbalanced function of a shaft, whereupon for instance bearing damage can take place very soon. Every this kind of unplanned shut-down causes already in itself extra costs, like in form of the production stops. It is clear that the larger the production process is the bigger are the before mentioned economical losses caused by the shut-downs.

It can be seen a disadvantage of the known technique and the methods that control the amount of the lubricant in the container, it cannot be known all the time whether the lubricant is sufficient for the whole operation period.

The meaning of this invention is to get such a method and apparatus bearing- mounted and rotating round the centre axis to lubricate the regulator that the disadvantages of the known technique can be avoided. It is characteristic for the solution according to the invention what has been presented in the characterizing parts of the claims 1 and 3.

It can be seen the greatest advantage of the method and the apparatus of the solution according to the invention that the apparatus is simple and reliable to use. A manually operated apparatus does not contain parts that would be prone for malfunction, like for instance electronics or gas cartridge technology and the amount of the lubricant in the container is easy to set suitable, to be sufficient for the whole period of the operation and it is easy to control while the shaft is rotating

The invention is described in more detail referring to the enclosed drawings where: fig 1 is a cardan shaft and according, to the invention designed apparatus to lubricate the joint in 3D,

fig 2 is the before mentioned apparatus totality seen from the side,

fig 3 is a cross section in the middle of one of the lubrication line equipment, as seen in fig 2 cut in the position A-A,

fig 4 is a certain place B of the lubrication line in more detail.

Next follows a presentation of an advantageous usage structure and operation while referring to the mentioned figs. In fig 1, there is a description of a shaft bear-mounted to its place 1 that contains a joint 2. As the shaft rotates in the direction determined by its bearings a - b (fig 2), there is movement in the sliding fit surfaces 2.1 of the joint, that is in this case a cardan joint, and so these joint surfaces must be lubricated in order to ensure a faultless operation of the joint. In this example there are four joint places 2.1 to be lubricated. The lubrication of the joint places has been arranged so that in the first part 1.1 of the shaft in its perimeter there has been fixed a lubrication line at the point of each joint place 2.1 which line consists of lubricant container 3, a piston 4 that has been installed partly inside the container and a channel 7 from the lubricant container to the place to be lubricated and a dose feeder 6 that is between the first part 7.1 and the second part 7.2 of the channel. The before mentioned parts have been placed one after each other essentially in the same line with the shaft first part 1.1 in the longitudinal direction of it and these lubrication lines in equal distribution around this part of the shaft so that every place to be lubricated, that is joint place 2.1, has one lubrication line. In this example, these lubrication lines have been fixed and sup- ported to their places with two supports 8, 9. These supports are flanges that have been fixed to the first part 1.1 of the shaft and they have openings that are suitable for lubricant containers 3 and dose feeders 6 supporting them to their places in rela- tion to the shaft. In fig 3 there is a cross section of one lubrication line and in fig 4 there is a more detailed picture of this cross section, the lubricant container 3 and the piston 4. In the first end 4.1 of the piston, that is in connection of the piston end outside the lubricant container 3, upon the shaft 1 (around) there is a support ring 10 that is capable of moving upon the first part 1.1 of the shaft in its axial direction. Beside the support ring there is a thrust bearing 11 also upon (around) the first part 1.1 of the shaft and it is capable to the movement to the same direction as the support ring (10). Beside the thrust bearing, in relation to the support ring in its opposite side there has been placed a usage organ 12 that can be used to move the thrust bearing into the direction xl. In this example the usage organ 12 is placed partly around the first part 1.1 of the shaft being a forklike lever having a handle of two parts 12.1, 12.2 and these handle parts are united by supported joint 12.3 operating in vertical direction in relation to the longitude direction of the first part 1.1 of the shaft and thus when the outer part 12.1 of the handle axis is moved into the direction x2 the fork part 12.4 of the usage organ is pressed against the thrust bearing and moves it into the direction xl.

In fig 4 there is a situation where (every) lubricant container 3 has been filled during a shut-down with a certain amount of lubricant 13 and the other end 4.2 of the pis- ton 4 has been placed inside the container against the lubricant. When the shaft 1 of this example is in operation, i.e. its parts 1.1 and 1.2 are rotating around their different direction longitude shafts, using the method of this invention the joint 2 joint places 2.1 are lubricated so that with certain time intervals the usage organ handle part 12.1 is pressed into the direction x2 so much that the fork part 12.4 moving into the opposite direction presses the thrust bearing 11 against the support ring 10 that is rotating with the shaft and the support ring presses the ends 4.1 of the pistons and the pistons 4 move distance c to the direction xl. Then the piston 4 moves distance c deeper inside the lubricant container 3 and presses in front of itself lubricant 13 through the first part 7.1 of the channel into the dose feeder 6 such an amount the volume of which is the cross section area A of the lubricant container and the other end 4.2 of the piston multiplied by the distance c. The dose feeder 6 that is in this example a typical independently charged unit takes part into the lubrication ac- tion so that the piston inside it presses in front of it the lubricant amount corresponding A*c into the other part 7.2 of the channel and so when this channel is full of lubricant 13, the corresponding amount A*c of lubricant 13 moves to the place to be lubricated, that is the joint place 2.1.

The method according to the invention can also be used so that the apparatus does not contain the dose feeder 6 in which case when using the usage organ 12 the lubricant 13 goes directly from the lubricant container 3 through the channel 7 that comes from there to the place to be lubricated, that is joint place 2.1. In the example above, the parts of the channel 7 and the dose feeder 6 form together a channel application leading from the lubricant container to the place to be lubricated.

In the above example that contains a cardan joint flexibility is required from two parts 7.2 of the channel 7 as their total length varies when the shaft 1 is rotating. The use of the thrust bearing 11 between the usage organ 12 and the support ring 10 makes it possible that rotation of the lubrication lines and the support ring does not reach the part of the equipment that is in connection with the usage organ 12, instead it is eliminated inside the thrust bearing. When the usage organ is released the pistons 4, support ring 10 and the thrust bearing 11 remain essentially in their new places to function similarly in the following lubrication event and if the dose feeders 6 are used they load themselves anew according to the known technology lubricant from behind the pistons to front of the pistons. If the dose feeders 6 are not in use every piston movement c inside the lu- bricant container 3 with help of the usage organ moves A*c volume lubricant directly to the joint places 2.1.

In the above example where the dose feeders are used they operate so that when the pressure of the lubricant pressing into the dose feeders releases, backwards pressing spring (direction x2) presses the piston back to start position and then the last lubricant pressed into the dose feeder moves through a certain channel to the front side of the piston because its way back to the first part 7.1 of the channel 7 is blocked. This ready portion of the lubricant moves during the next usage of the usage organ 12 to the place to be lubricated and a new corresponding amount of the lubricant into the dose feeder 6. The usage organ 12 of the method and apparatus according to the invention can function also in some other principle than the presented lever like organ. It can be mentioned as an example that instead of the forklike part 12.4 around the first part 1.1 of the shaft, a mounted ring like organ that is pressed using some known technology manually against the thrust bearing so that a wanted distance c movement of the pistons 4 is obtained. The usage organ 12 can also be equipped with an organ that in spite of the force directed to the usage organ only allows a certain distance movement of the pistons 4 at a time. This organ can be for instance a limiter that allows a certain part of the usage organ with one pressing, pushing, drawing and so on to move pistons 4 a distance c into the direction xl. The wanted amount of the lubri- cant can also be moved with more than one manual action of the usage organ, like for instance pressing the handle.

Another way is to arrange to the usage organ a scale and an indicator and then the movement of the indicator on the scale tells to the user of the apparatus the amount of the lubricant movement. The tolerances of the parts, like the usage organ 12, the thrust bearing 11, the support ring 10 and the pistons can be kept so small that the moving lubricant amount that is presented with the scale and the indicator is the wanted lubricant amount with a desired accuracy. As an example of the lubricant volume A*c can be mentioned the amount of 0,01 - 1 ml. When using the dose feed- ers it is possible to get in the markets readymade dose feeders that have been made to dose this kind of amounts. For instance Beka produces these size equipments.

The method and the apparatus according to the invention are suitable to lubricate one or more spaces in a shaft. When there is only one place to be lubricated, 2 lubri- eating lines are normally needed that are placed in the opposite sides of the shaft 1 so that the balance of the shaft can be maintained. In this case, the lubricant containers 3 are connected to the channel 7 that leads to the place to be lubricated so that the balance of the shaft / part of the shaft with its middle axis can be maintained. It is central for the operation of the apparatus according to the invention that the shaft 1 or that part of the shaft where the parts of the apparatus are fixed is balanced with the centre axis during the operation so that the shaft bearings do not get extra load.

The thrust bearing 11 and the support ring 10 can be selected / made according to the size of the shaft with a suitable sliding fit. It is essential that the support ring 10 and the support ring side of the thrust bearing 11 rotate with the shaft during the lu- bricating process and that the usage organ side of the thrust bearing does not rotate. It is also essential that in addition to the lubricating lines the other parts of the apparatus according to the invention are made so that the before mentioned balance with the centre line of the shaft is achieved. The lubricant containers 3 and the pistons 4 can be produced individually for the apparatus according to the invention or suitable for this purpose things from the market can be used, like medicine syringes or like. The pistons 4 can be equipped with a construction that supports them in the direction of the container, like for instance support bars 4.3 because then they function without disturbance in the direction of the lubricant containers. The fixing of the lubricant containers 3 and the dose feeders 6 to the shaft / certain part of a shaft can be made in many different ways. So the before mentioned ring like support organs 8, 9 can be replaced with some other parts or ways to fix so that the lubrication lines stay well in their places in relation to the shafts when the shafts are rotating and form together with the shaft a balance with the centre axis. The lubrication lines need not be absolutely the same direction with the shaft or the part of the shaft where they are fixed but the best application of the invention can be regarded the situation where the mentioned parts are essentially of the same direction. The lubricant in the method according to the invention can be for instance Vaseline or some other stuff that is suitable to lubricate machine parts. In some situations when the rotation speed of the shaft is low and the need to lubricate the regulator relatively small it is possible that the apparatus according to the invention consists only of one lubrication line. In these cases, the effect of the unbalance is so small that it does not have any meaning for instance the uneven loading of the bearings of the shaft. It is desired to bring fourth with this application example that also an apparatus with one lubrication line implements the invention.

In the method according to the invention, it is possible to replace the thrust bearing 11 also with such a solution where the usage organ 12 is in contact directly to the support ring 10 having this usage organ rolls / balls in which case the rotating movement of the support ring makes these rolling organs to rotate and thus there is no friction between the usage organ and the support ring. The term "thrust bearing" in the claims includes therefore in addition to actual known thrust bearings all such parts that take care of the tasks of the thrust bearing that can prevent the friction caused by the rotation of the support ring 10 to the usage organ 12 and part that is in connection with it and on the other hand to brake the rotation of the support ring. It is desired to bring forth with this application that the apparatus according to the invention is not limited alone to the usage of a known thrust bearing.

It must be noted that even though in this presentation it has been kept in one type of favourable implementation example, this does not want to limit any way the usage of the invention in only this type of example, instead many variations are possible within the inventive idea defined in the claims.