Lubrication system with tolerance for reduced gravity
A lubrication system includes an auxiliary lubricant tank 48 , a supply conduit 58 extending from a source of lubricant 26 to the auxiliary lubricant tank. A reduced-G bypass line 108 branches from the conduit and enters the auxiliary tank at a first elevation E 1 . The system also includes an auxiliary tank discharge conduit 116 , a portion of which resides within the tank. The resident portion has an opening 122 at least partially at a second elevation E 2 higher than the first elevation.
1. A lubrication system for use with a gear train, the gear train including a ring gear and a lubricant recovery gutter radially outboard of the ring gear, the lubrication system comprising:
an auxiliary lubricant tank;
a lubricant supply conduit extending from the gutter to the auxiliary lubricant tank, the conduit having an outlet configured to communicate lubricant to the tank;
a lubricant bypass line branching from the conduit and having an outlet inside the auxiliary tank at a first elevation; and
an auxiliary tank discharge conduit, a resident portion of which resides within the tank, the resident portion having an opening at least partially at a second elevation higher than the lower elevation, wherein the opening is an array of perforations that are each configured to communicate lubricant radially through a wall of the discharge conduit, and that each have an area that decreases with decreasing elevation, wherein the perforations are axially spaced from an end of the discharge conduit.
2. A gear train utilizing the lubrication system of claim 1 wherein the gear train includes a sun gear radially inboard of the ring gear and a set of intermediate gears radially intermediate the sun gear and the ring gear, the intermediate gears being interconnected by a carrier, wherein the auxiliary lubricant tank is configured to receive lubricant from the gear train.
3. The lubrication system of claim 2 wherein the sun and ring gears are rotatable about an axis and the carrier is nonrotatable about the axis.
4. The lubrication system of claim 1 wherein the auxiliary lubricant tank is not inverted when the second elevation is higher than the lower elevation.
5. The lubrication system of claim 1 , wherein the second elevation is higher than the lower elevation relative to level ground during normal operation of the lubrication system.
6. The lubrication system of claim 1 , wherein the opening in the resident portion is configured to communicate lubricant from a position within the auxiliary tank and outside the auxiliary tank discharge conduit directly to a position inside the auxiliary tank discharge conduit.
7. The lubrication system of claim 1 , wherein the resident portion has a first end interfacing directly with a boundary of the auxiliary tank and an opposing, second end, the opening in the resident portion spaced from both the first and second ends.