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3. Overview, functional
description
3.1 General
Compact units of the KFU(S)… series are reservoir units with
electrically driven gear pumps that contain all hydraulic and
electrical components required for the operation of a piston
metering system. Thanks to their compact construction,
compact units can be used to set up piston metering systems to
lubricate commercial vehicles very easily, with little installation
work required. Compact units of the KFU(S)… series come in a
standard version designed for use with fluid grease of NLGI
Grades 00 and 000. Special designs for oil and for industrial
machine lubrication are available on request.
3.2 Design
In the basic design, compact units of the KFU(S)… series include
an electrically driven gear pump (supplied by 12 V or 24 V DC
power), a lubricant reservoir made of plastic (3 or 6 liter rated
capacity), plus a pressure-relief valve and pressure limiting
valve which are mounted inside the compact unit. A filler
coupling with built-in strainer is provided for filling the lubricant
reservoir. This filler coupling is accessed by removing the cover
cap of the compact unit. Special designs with a filling cover are
available on request. Optionally, a lubricant level switch can also
be fitted for monitoring of the minimum level.
The plastic reservoirs consist of transparent plastic (3 and
6 liter rated capacity) that allows visual inspection of the fill
level. Due to the components built into the reservoir, only a
maximum of 80 % of the theoretical reservoir capacity (rated
capacity) can be used.
The pressure-relief valve mounted in the compact unit is
required in order to relieve the system pressure built up during
a lubricating cycle to a residual pressure of ≤ 0.5 bar once the
motor is turned off. This is required for the operation of the
piston metering devices.
The pressure limiting valve mounted in the compact unit is
required to limit the maximum permissible system pressure in
the lubrication system. The pressure limiting valve in the
KFU(S)… series compact unit is set to a maximum system
pressure of 38 bar.
Compact units of the KFU(S)… are available in model designs
with or without a control unit. In the model design without a
control unit (for commercial vehicles and industry), the compact
unit (and thereby the lubrication interval) is controlled by the
control unit of the commercial vehicle/machine that the compact
unit is mounted on. In the model design with a control unit
(commercial vehicles only), the compact unit is equipped with an
electronic control unit that controls the compact unit (and
thereby the lubrication interval).
In the model design without a control unit, the KFU(S)… series
compact units are connected to the 12 V or 24 V DC supply
voltage via a 2-pin circular connector, M24 x 1, protected
against reverse polarity (with positive and negative pins). In the
model design with a control unit, the supply voltage is
connected via a 4-pin circular connector DIN 72585-A1-4.1-
Ag/K1 (only pins 1 and 2 are used, pins 3 and 4 are not used).
In both model designs, optional monitoring devices, such as a
float switch, are electrically connected directly via the electrical
connection of the monitoring device.
Depending on the model design, the compact unit may be
equipped with a pushbutton under the cover cap. The
pushbutton is used for manually performing an intermediate
lubrication.
Depending on the model design, the hydraulic pressure to the
main lubricant line is connected either via a plug connection for
10 mm diameter tubes or by a threaded port for solderless
fitting of 10 mm diameter tubes. The port for the solderless
fitting has a M16 x 1.5 thread.
For reservoir ventilation and overfill release, there is an
overfill release tube on the left side of the compact unit.
The standard version is designed for use with fluid greases of
NLGI Grades 00 and 000 as the lubricant. Special designs for oil
are available on request.
3.3 Control unit IG490+924
In the model design of the KFU(S)… series compact units with a
control unit, the control unit used is the IG490+924 (24V DC).
The IG490+924 control unit is designed as a circuit board,
installed under a separate cover cap on the compact unit. The
IG490+924 control unit acts as a timer for four different pause
times (6, 9, 11, and 20 hours). The lubrication interval (the
pump run time) is permanently set to 160 seconds. The
different pause times are set by positioning two jumpers directly
on the circuit board of the control unit. The factory setting for
the pause time is 9 hours.
3.4 Functional description
3.4.1 General
Compact units of the KFU(S)… series are generally used for
single-line systems with piston metering devices. Single-line
systems with piston metering devices are total-loss lubrication
systems.
3.4.2 Total-loss lubrication systems
Total-loss lubrication systems feed clean lubricant (in this
instance: oil or fluid grease) to one or more lubrication points at
specific intervals during the lubrication run time (also called the
contact time, or pump run time). The quantity of lubricant fed is
measured so that the lubrication points are supplied with
adequate lubricant during the total-loss lubrication system's
pause time to maintain a lubricant film between the friction
partners. During operation, the lubricant fed is partially
consumed by aging, evaporation, oil separation, and leakage. An
interval-controlled supply of lubricant to the lubrication point is
required in order to ensure that the lubrication point receives
adequate lubrication. Such systems are referred to as
intermittently operated lubrication systems.
A total-loss lubrication system cannot be used to cool the
lubrication points.