Claims:
1. A system (100) for detecting on-board oil contamination in vehicle aggregates, wherein the system comprises:
an oil testing chamber (110) configured to receive oil from at least one of the oil reservoirs (10, 20, 30, 40) of the vehicle;
an oil sensor (120) configured to be mounted in the oil testing chamber (110), to provide data related to quality or contamination of the oil received in the oil testing chamber (110);
a controller (130) configured to store and process the data received from the oil sensor (120) and to display the oil contamination level on a display screen (50); and
a cleaning system (170) configured to clean the oil testing chamber (110) and the oil sensor (120).
2. The system for detecting on-board oil contamination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one oil reservoir (10, 20, 30, 40) is configured to be a brake oil reservoir (10), a steering oil reservoir (20), a gearbox oil reservoir (30) and an engine oil reservoir (40).
3. The system for detecting on-board oil contamination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the oil sensor (120) is configured to measure conductance and capacitance of the oil and to provide data related to quality of oil as ratio of conductance and capacitance.
4. The system for detecting on-board oil contamination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller (130) is configured to store retrievable data of oil quality for each testing cycle of oil in the oil testing chamber (110).
5. The system for detecting on-board oil contamination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller (130) is configured to calculate the oil contamination level based on the oil quality data and to display on the display screen (50).
6. The system for detecting on-board oil contamination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured with plurality of inlet control valves (140) on each oil reservoir for feeding the oil from respective oil reservoir to the oil testing chamber (110) for detecting oil contamination.
7. The system for detecting on-board oil contamination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured with plurality of outlet control valve (150) on each oil reservoir for evacuating the oil through a suction pump (160) from the oil testing chamber (110) to respective oil reservoir after detecting oil contamination.
8. The system for detecting on-board oil contamination as claimed in claim 1wherein the cleaning system (170) is configured with:
a cleaning agent reservoir (171) configured to supply a cleaning agent into the oil testing chamber (110);
a cleaning agent collection reservoir (172), wherein the suction pump (160) is configured to evacuate the cleaning agent from the oil testing chamber (110) through the outlet control valve (150); and
a pressurized air tank (173) configured to supply pressurized air to clean the oil testing chamber (110) and the oil sensor (120).
9. The system for detecting on-board oil contamination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured to detect oil contamination for each of the oil reservoirs (10, 20, 30, 40) at a predefined time interval or after a predefined distance travel of the vehicle or on command received from operator.
10. A method (200) of detecting on-board oil contamination in vehicle, wherein the method comprising steps of:
actuating an inlet control valve (140) by a controller (130) to feed a predefined quantity of oil from one of the oil reservoirs (10, 20, 30, 40) to an oil testing chamber (110);
measuring oil quality of the oil in the oil testing chamber (110) by an oil sensor (120);
providing the oil quality data to the controller (130) detected by the oil sensor (120);
calculating an oil contamination level based on the oil quality data by the controller (130);
displaying the oil contamination level on a display screen (50) by the controller (130);
evacuating the oil from the oil testing chamber (110) to their respective oil reservoir by a suction pump (160) through an outlet control valve (150);
supplying a cleaning agent from a cleaning agent reservoir (171) to the oil testing chamber (110) for cleaning the oil testing chamber (110) and the oil sensor (120);
evacuating the cleaning agent from the oil testing chamber (110) to a cleaning agent collection reservoir (172) by a suction pump (160) through the outlet control valve (150);
supplying pressurized air from a pressurized air tank (173) to the oil testing chamber (110) for cleaning the oil testing chamber (110) and the oil sensor (120); and
repeating the above steps for detecting oil contamination in other oil reservoirs.
, Description:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING ON-BOARD OIL CONTAMINATION IN VEHICLE AGGREGATES

Applicant:
Tata Motors Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Bombay House, 24 Homi Mody Street,
Hutatma Chowk, Mumbai 400001,
Maharashtra, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present subject matter described herein generally relates to a system and method for detecting on-board oil contamination in a vehicle, and more specifically to a system for detecting oil contamination of the oil used in vehicle aggregates.
BACKGROUND
[002] A variety of oils are used in a vehicle for lubricating, cooling, power transmission and cleaning of moving parts of the vehicle. The oil is stored in a common oil sump or in dedicated oil chambers for each sub-system or aggregate of the vehicle such as steering system, braking system, internal combustion engine, transmission etc. The oils are generally derived from petroleum-based and non-petroleum synthesized chemical compounds. Modern engine oils are mainly blended by using base oil composed of hydrocarbons and other chemical additives for a variety of specific applications. Over the course of oil's service life, the oil frequently becomes contaminated with foreign particles and soluble contaminants, and its chemical properties become degraded due to oxidation and nitration. A common effect of such contamination and degradation is that the oil may lose its capability to fully protect the engine or other sub-systems, thus necessitating the used oil to be changed or replaced with clean and new oil.
[003] The oil of a vehicle is generally changed during scheduled servicing of the vehicle which is based on the time or distance travelled since previous service. Sometimes based on the operating conditions of the vehicle are also deciding factors for oil change. However these factors are more generalized than being specific to a vehicle operation. In some events the oil may be degraded more than the threshold value and may cause untimely breakdown or damage of the vehicle subsystems. On contrary too frequent oil changes increase downtime and operation cost of the vehicle. Therefore the oil in a vehicle needs to be replaced in a timely manner while monitoring the oil quality on a regular basis.
[004] The present subject matter discloses a system and method for detecting on-board oil contamination in vehicle aggregates to overcome the limitations stated above.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[005] An object of the present subject matter is to determine oil contamination in a vehicle aggregates/ sub-systems.
[006] An object of the present subject matter is to enable testing of oil quality for each of the sub-systems of the vehicle.
[007] Another object of the present subject matter is to notify an operator of oil quality for each of the sub-systems of the vehicle.
SUMMARY
[008] Before the present system is described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular machine or device, as there can be multiple possible embodiments that are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce aspects related to a system and method for detecting on-board oil contamination in a vehicle, and the aspects are further elaborated below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the proposed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the proposed subject matter.
[009] The present subject matter discloses a system for detecting on-board oil contamination in vehicle aggregates. The system comprises an oil testing chamber, an oil sensor, a controller and a cleaning system. The oil testing chamber is configured to receive oil from at least one oil reservoir of the vehicle aggregates. The oil sensor is configured to be mounted in the oil testing chamber. Further the oil sensor is configured to provide data related to quality or contamination of the oil received in the oil testing chamber. The controller is configured to store and process the data received from the oil sensor and to display the oil contamination level on a display screen. The cleaning system is configured to clean the oil testing chamber and the oil sensor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, there is shown in the present document example constructions of the disclosure, however, the disclosure is not limited to the specific methods and device disclosed in the document and the drawing. The detailed description is described with reference to the following accompanying figures.
[0011] Figure 1 illustrates a system for detecting on-board oil contamination in vehicle aggregates, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0012] The figures depict various embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising", “having”, and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any devices and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary, devices and methods are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[0014] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[0015] As discussed above, oils used in a vehicle are degraded after a certain time interval or after a certain distance travelled by the vehicle or other operating parameters of the vehicle. Therefore a regular monitoring of the oil quality is required to notify the operator about the need for change of oil. The present subject matter discloses a system and method for detecting oil contamination in a vehicle.
[0016] Following is a list of elements and reference numerals used to explain various embodiments of the present subject matter.
Reference Numeral Element Description
100 System for detecting on-board oil contamination
10 Brake oil reservoir
20 Steering oil reservoir
30 Gearbox oil reservoir
40 Engine oil reservoir
50 Display screen
110 Oil testing chamber
120 Oil sensor
130 Controller
140 Inlet control valve
150 Outlet control valve
160 Suction pump
170 Cleaning system
171 Cleaning agent reservoir
172 Cleaning agent collection reservoir
173 Pressurized air tank

[0017] Referring to figure 1, a system 100 for detecting on-board oil contamination in vehicle aggregates is disclosed in accordance to an embodiment of the present subject matter. The system 100 comprises an oil testing chamber 110, an oil sensor 120 and a controller 130. The oil testing chamber 110 is configured to receive oil from at least one of the oil reservoirs (10, 20, 30, 40) of the vehicle aggregates. In an embodiment, the at least one oil reservoir is configured to be a brake oil reservoir 10, a steering oil reservoir 20, a gearbox oil reservoir 30 and an engine oil reservoir 40. The oil sensor 120 is configured to be mounted in the oil testing chamber 110. The oil sensor 120 is adapted to sense quality of the oil and send the data related to quality or contamination of the oil received in the oil testing chamber 110 to the controller 130. The controller 130 is configured to store and process the data received from the oil sensor 120 and to display the oil contamination level on a display screen 50. The display screen 50 may be located in the operator cabin of the vehicle.
[0018] The system 100 is further configured with a plurality of inlet control valves 140 one for each of the oil reservoirs (10, 20, 30, 40) for controlling flow of the oil from respective oil reservoir to the oil testing chamber 110 for detecting oil contamination. The system is further configured with a plurality of outlet control valve 150 one for each of the oil reservoirs (10, 20, 30, 40) for controlling flow of the oil from the oil testing chamber 110 to respective oil reservoir after detecting oil contamination. In an embodiment, the system 100 may comprise a suction pump 160 mounted between the oil testing chamber 110 and the outlet control valves 150 to facilitate evacuation of the oil from the oil testing chamber 110 after detecting oil contamination.
[0019] In an embodiment, the system 100 may comprise a cleaning system 170 to clean the oil testing chamber 110 and the oil sensor 120 after each cycle of detecting oil contamination. The cleaning system 170 comprises a cleaning agent reservoir 171, a cleaning agent collection reservoir 172, a pressurized air tank 173. The cleaning agent reservoir 171 is configured to supply a cleaning agent into the oil testing chamber 110 to clean the oil testing chamber 110 and the oil sensor 120. Further the suction pump 160 is configured to evacuate the cleaning agent from the oil testing chamber 110 through the outlet control valve 150. After evacuation of the cleaning agent from the oil testing chamber 110, the pressurized air tank 173 is configured to supply pressurized air to clean the oil testing chamber 110 and the oil sensor 120.
[0020] In an embodiment, the oil sensor 120 is configured to measure conductance and capacitance of the oil and to provide data related to quality of oil as ratio of conductance and capacitance. The controller 130 is configured to display the data related to quality of oil as a contamination level of the oil on the display screen 50 located in the operator cabin. The oil contamination levels may be classified as good, partially contaminated and bad based on the quality of the oil.
[0021] The system 100 is configured to detect oil contamination for each oil reservoir at a predefined time interval or after a predefined distance travel of the vehicle. Therefore the system provides automatic notification of the oil quality at a predefined test schedule. In another embodiment, the operator may also command the system 100 to detect oil contamination for the oil in any of the selected oil reservoirs.
[0022] The present system 100 is described for detecting on-board oil contamination in a plurality of oil reservoirs (10, 20, 30, 40) in a single oil testing chamber 110. The system is configured to receive oil receive from any of the oil reservoirs (10, 20, 30, 40) in the oil testing chamber 110 for detecting oil contamination. The system also has provision for cleaning of the oil testing chamber 110 and the oil sensor 120 after each testing cycle to prevent any error in quality check due to mixing of oils from different oil reservoirs.
[0023] In another embodiment the present subject matter discloses a method 200 of detecting on-board oil contamination in vehicle. The method 200 comprising steps of: at 201- actuating, by a controller 130, an inlet control valve 140 to feed a predefined quantity of oil from one of the oil reservoirs 10, 20, 30, 40 to an oil testing chamber 110; at 202- measuring, by an oil sensor 120, oil quality of the oil in the oil testing chamber 110; at 203- providing, by the oil sensor 120, the oil quality data with the controller 130; at 204- calculating, by the controller 130, an oil contamination level based on the oil quality data; at 205- displaying, by the controller 130, the oil contamination level on a display screen 50; at 206- evacuating, by a suction pump 160, the oil through an outlet control valve 150 from the oil testing chamber 110 to the respective oil reservoir; at 207- supplying a cleaning agent from a cleaning agent reservoir 171 to the oil testing chamber 110 for cleaning the oil testing chamber 110 and the oil sensor 120; at 208- evacuating, by a suction pump 160, the cleaning agent through the outlet control valve 150 from the oil testing chamber 110 to a cleaning agent collection reservoir 172; at 209- supplying pressurized air from a pressurized air tank 173 to clean the oil testing chamber 110 and the oil sensor 120; and repeating the steps 201-209 for detecting oil contamination in other oil reservoirs.
[0024] In an exemplary embodiment, the process of detecting oil contamination in the gearbox oil reservoir 30 is described. Based on the scheduled testing or based on the operator’s command, the system 100 is instructed to start testing oil quality in the gearbox oil. The controller 130 actuates the inlet control valve 140 to allow a predefined quantity of the gearbox oil to flow from the gearbox oil reservoir 30 to the oil testing chamber 110. The oil sensor 120 measures the conductance and capacitance of the oil in the oil testing chamber 110 and shares the oil quality data, with the controller 130, as ratio of conductance and capacitance. The controller 130 is configured to calculate the oil contamination level based on the oil quality data and to display the oil contamination level on a display screen 50 which may be located in the operator cabin.
[0025] After the detection of oil contamination, the outlet control valve 150 for the gearbox oil reservoir 30 opens and the suction pump 160 is configured to evacuate the oil from the oil testing chamber 110 to the gearbox oil reservoir 30. Further the cleaning system 170 is configured to supply the cleaning agent from the cleaning agent reservoir 171 to the oil testing chamber 110 for cleaning the oil testing chamber 110 and the oil sensor 120. After cleaning, the cleaning agent is drained in the cleaning agent collection reservoir 172 by actuating the outlet control valve 150 and the suction pump 160. Afterwards a pressurized air tank 173 is configured to supply pressurized air to clean the oil testing chamber 110 and the oil sensor 120. One test cycle is completed and the oil quality or the contamination level is displayed on the display screen 50 to notify the operator. Similar process is followed to test the oil in other reservoirs of the vehicle.
[0026] Therefore it is evident from above that the present system is capable of detecting oil contamination or to check oil quality in various types of oils in a vehicle by configuring a single oil testing chamber.
[0027] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include the following.
[0028] Some embodiments of the subject matter enable detection of oil contamination in a vehicle.
[0029] Some embodiments of the subject matter enable testing of various types of oils in a single oil testing chamber.
[0030] Some embodiments of the subject matter enable automatic detection of oil contamination at a predefined time interval.
[0031] Some embodiments of the subject matter enable automatic detection of oil contamination at a predefined distance travelled by the vehicle.
[0032] Some embodiments of the subject matter enable detection of oil contamination for a specific oil reservoir based on the operator’s command.
[0033] Some embodiments of the subject matter enable to prevent vehicle breakdown due to contaminated oil.
[0034] Some embodiments of the subject matter enable to reduce cost of oil change in a vehicle.
[0035] Although implementations for the system and method for detecting on-board oil contamination have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementation for the system and method for detecting on-board oil contamination.