Abstract
An automatic grease lubricator provides an adequate amount of fresh grease constantly to any type of rotating machine to minimize friction heat and reduce friction loss. This study seeks to develop an automatic grease lubricator by means of rapid prototyping with a gear-driven mechanism and a controlled operation time. The ultimate design is to lubricate an adequate amount of grease by a simple dip-switch clicking mechanism according to an advanced set cycle. The backlash of the gear was minimized to increase the power, and to increase the power of the mechanism, the binding frequency and the thickness of the coil were changed. To control the rotation cycles of the main shaft according to certain set numbers, different resistances and chips were used in the design of the circuit which controls the electrical signals via a pulse. A digital mock-up was analyzed and the rapid prototyping (RP) trial products were tested with a PCB circuit and grease. An evaluation of the outlet capacity of RP trial products was conducted, as the friction caused by the outlet on the wall surface was an important factor in the operation of the equipment. Finally, a finishing process was applied to decrease the roughness of a surface to a comparable level to test the performance of the product.