Machines such as large-capacity diesel engine systems used in connection with construction equipment, earth-moving equipment, transportation equipment (e.g., locomotives) and the like, are often implemented in adverse operating conditions. Typical operating conditions for such equipment can require extensive maintenance, repair and overhaul work to sustain the equipment and its components, including the engine systems. As a consequence of adverse equipment operating conditions, certain equipment components may be exhausted long before the expected end of their useful lives. This component exhaustion can occur despite efforts to ensure proper component installation and maintenance, including periodic maintenance of equipment oil supply and lubrication systems, for example. Extensive and premature wear of large-capacity diesel engines, for example, can be caused by a combination of factors, including inadequate lubrication of components prior to engine ignition, failure to adhere to prescribed maintenance schedules, failure to collect and analyze data associated with equipment operation, system malfunction, general misuse of the equipment, and other factors.
Methods and systems for data collection and analysis are therefore needed that can extend the useful life of equipment components. Component movement and interaction during various periods of equipment operation can impact the continued effective operation and useful life expectancy of the engine system. In connection with operation and/or maintenance of the engine system during such periods, important data such as, for example, temperature, oil pressure, time to evacuate an oil sump, and historical data regarding previous engine ignition cycles can be collected and analyzed. Conventional equipment methods and systems, however, typically do not collect and analyze data during various stages of machine operation to assist in operation or maintenance of the machine and its components.
In addition, in the context of performing machine maintenance, there is often a need for performing multiple evacuations and/or refills of fluid receptacles. Such fluid receptacles may include, for example and without limitation, oil sumps, transmission fluid reservoirs, fuel tanks, waste-receiving receptacles, hydraulic fluid reservoirs, and other like receptacles associated with machine operation and maintenance. In many situations, such fluid evacuation and fluid refill processes may not be timed and/or sequenced to maximize performance of maintenance on a machine. Furthermore, data crucial to scheduling maintenance and monitoring performance issues with machines are often neither collected nor analyzed during fluid evacuations, fluid refills, or other fluid processing activities.
Many industrial machines and equipment have requirements for fluid exchanges. Examples of these fluid exchanges include changing the oil in motors and engines or hydraulic fluid in presses and lifting equipment. Countless other examples exist, but what is generally common to these machines or equipment is the fact that the outlet port is inconveniently located. Typically this is the result of having to remove the fluid from a sump or drainage point that is located at the bottom of the machine to utilize gravity flow.
The tasks of removing and refilling machine fluids may be difficult or time consuming because of the usually inconvenient location of the fittings required to perform these fluid operations. Some machines, however, may include fluid circulation pumps that are installed and applied in locations that are external to the machine. Also, some equipment may be provided with one or more internally or externally located pre-lubrication devices that permit oil or fluid to commence circulation prior to the activation of the primary equipment or engine on which the pre-lubrication device is installed. Illustrative of such devices is the pre-lubrication device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,431, which is incorporated herein by reference, and which is typically fitted to a diesel engine used in power equipment, trucks and/or heavy equipment.
Furthermore, in certain off-road heavy equipment, reservoirs containing fluids may contain scores of gallons of fluid, which can consume unacceptably long periods of time to drain and refill. For example, in some equipment, an engine oil sump or reservoir may contain up to 150 gallons of oil; a transmission sump may contain up to 100 gallons of transmission fluid; and a separate reservoir of hydraulic fluid to power hydraulic functions may contain up to 500 gallons of hydraulic fluid. Downtime costs for relatively large machines and other pieces of equipment can be substantial. Accordingly, if downtime for maintenance in such machines can be minimized, then substantial economic benefits often result. In addition, there are numerous comparatively smaller devices and motors for which access to fluid discharge ports is difficult to reach or in which the fluid must be assisted for removal. Examples include marine engines and the like. In some small-sized pieces of equipment, the engine must be inverted to remove oil, for example, or other fluids. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,526,782; 5,257,678; and, 4,977,978.
Thus, what are needed are improved methods and systems for performing fluid maintenance functions, such as fluid evacuation and refill processes, for example, in connection with machine operation and maintenance. What are also needed are enhanced methods and systems for sequencing and timing fluid operations, while collecting, storing and/or analyzing data pertinent to the performance and results of such fluid transfer operations.