Abstract:
To address the shortcomings of manual lubrication of bottom belt chains in tobacco silo, such as high labor intensity and poor lubrication effects, an integrated automatic lubrication device was developed. This device consists of a box and a lubrication mechanism, and was mounted on the side wall of the silo's bracket. The box contains a needle-valve type oil cup, a high-precision flow control pump, and a PLC controller. The PLC controls the pump to automatically dispense lubricant from the oil cup to the chains. Properly positioning the lubrication mechanism's dropper and travel switch is essential to adapt to the chains of different specifications. Food-grade gear oil with a viscosity grade of 220 is selected as the lubricant. The amount of lubricant applied to each roller is set at 0.35 mL in a period of 0.8 s. The developed lubrication device was tested on ten tobacco silos in the primary processing department in Guangzhou Cigarette Factory. The results showed that each silo equipped with the automatic lubrication device achieved an approximate annual cost saving of 18 420 RMB Yuan for lubricant, reduced labor cost by 35.5 hours annually, and extended the lubrication cycle from one month to six months. This technology helps cigarette manufacturers reduce costs and improve efficiency.