Apparatus and method for dispensing a lubricant to the rail and determining the amount of lubricant dispensed and remaining

Abstract

An improved method and apparatus for determining the amount of lubricant dispensed to a rail, adjusting the amount of available lubricant for dispensing based on the amount of lubricant remaining, and advising the operator of same. The apparatus includes a reservoir of lubricant suspended from a load beam having load cells communicating with a microprocessor and a controller to determine the amount of lubricant remaining within the reservoir on a real-time basis as lubricant is dispersed. The method includes the determination of the amount of lubricant remaining and, following dispensing additional lubricant, re-determining the amount of lubricant remaining. In this manner, an operator may prepare a schedule for replenishment of the reservoirs of various lubricating stations based on feedback of the remaining amount of lubricant remaining. Thus, an operator may predict track downtime for refilling of a plurality of lubricating stations and schedule such to minimized track downtime.