Grease gun
A grease gun includes a housing, a motor positioned within the housing, a pump assembly coupled to and driven by the motor, and a chamber supported by the housing in fluid communication with the pump assembly. The chamber is configured to store a liquid. The grease gun also includes an outlet in fluid communication with the chamber and a measurement system operable to measure an amount of liquid being dispensed through the outlet. The measurement system monitors a change in current of the motor over a cycle of the pump assembly, compares the change in current to a predetermined value, and, if the change in current is greater than the predetermined value, increases a pump cycle counter to indicate that liquid was dispensed.
1. A grease gun comprising:
a housing;
a motor positioned within the housing;
a pump assembly coupled to and driven by the motor;
a chamber supported by the housing and in fluid communication with the pump assembly, the chamber being configured to store a liquid;
an outlet in fluid communication with the chamber; and
a measurement system operable to measure an amount of liquid being dispensed through the outlet, the measurement system monitoring a change in current of the motor over a cycle of the pump assembly, comparing the change in current to a predetermined value, and, if the change in current is greater than the predetermined value, increasing a pump cycle counter to indicate that liquid was dispensed.
2. The grease gun of claim 1 , wherein the measurement system does not increase the pump cycle counter if the change in current is less than the predetermined value.
3. The grease gun of claim 1 , further comprising an actuator supported by the housing and coupled to the measurement system, the actuator being operable to set a preset count.
4. The grease gun of claim 3 , wherein the measurement system stops the motor when the pump cycle counter is greater than or equal to the preset count.
5. The grease gun of claim 3 , wherein the preset count represents a number of pump strokes to be performed by the pump assembly.
6. The grease gun of claim 5 , wherein the preset count is set by the actuator as one of a volume of liquid to be dispensed and a weight of liquid to be dispensed, and wherein the measurement system converts the preset count to the number of pump strokes to be performed by the pump assembly.
7. The grease gun of claim 3 , wherein the actuator includes a rotatable dial.
8. The grease gun of claim 7 , wherein at least a portion of the rotatable dial extends outwardly through an opening in the housing.
9. The grease gun of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined value is approximately 0.5 amps.
10. The grease gun of claim 1 , wherein the chamber includes a barrel assembly configured to receive a lubricant cartridge.
11. The grease gun of claim 1 , further comprising an output hose coupled to the housing and in fluid communication with the chamber, the output hose including the outlet.
12. The grease gun of claim 1 , further comprising a trigger supported by the housing and electrically coupled to the motor, the trigger being actuatable to energize the motor.
13. A method of operating a grease gun, the grease gun including a motor, a pump assembly coupled to the motor, a chamber in fluid communication with the pump assembly and configured to store a liquid, and an outlet in fluid communication with the chamber, the method comprising:
driving the pump assembly with the motor to dispense liquid from the chamber through the outlet;
monitoring a change in current of the motor over a cycle of the pump assembly;
comparing the change in current of the motor to a predetermined value; and
if the change in current is greater than the predetermined value, increasing a pump cycle counter to indicate that liquid was dispensed.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising holding the pump cycle counter constant if the change in current is less than the predetermined value.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising setting a preset count that represents a number of pump strokes to be performed by the pump assembly.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising stopping the motor when the pump cycle counter is greater than or equal to the preset count.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the grease gun also includes an actuator, and wherein the method further comprises actuating the actuator to set the preset count.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein actuating the actuator includes actuating the actuator to input the preset count as one of a volume of fluid to be dispensed and a weight of fluid to be dispensed, and wherein the method further comprises converting the preset count to the number of pump strokes to be preformed by the pump assembly.
19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined value is approximately 0.5 amps.
20. The method of claim 13 , wherein the grease gun also includes a trigger electrically coupled to the motor, and wherein the method further comprises actuating the trigger to energize the motor.