Improving Oil Change Efficiency with Solenoids

This latching solenoid provided precise control over the amount of oil dispensed by an oil dispensing meter without any waste.

Oil Change

Customer Problem

A manufacturer of fluid handling systems needed a solution for an automatic shut-off feature on an oil dispensing meter. The meter’s high pressure and flow made it difficult to control manually, often resulting in spills. The manufacturer’s goal was to develop a product that would dispense a precise amount of oil without any spillage or waste. The solution also needed to be battery operated and compact.

The TLX Solution

TLX Technologies designed a custom latching solenoid that used a permanent magnet to hold the oil dispensing meter’s valve open without consuming any power. When the meter determined that the correct amount of oil had been dispensed, a short voltage pulse canceled the magnetic field of the permanent magnet, and a spring closed the valve and stopped the flow of oil. The solenoid could operate efficiently for six months on four AA batteries.

Latching Solenoid 200615 155845

Latching Solenoid

Stroke
1.5 mm ± .508 mm
Supply voltage
4.2 to 6.5 Vdc
Coil resistance at 20°C
2.8 Ω ± .3 Ω
Net latching force
> 21.13 N
Spring load (latched position)
> 10.23 N
Spring load (de-latched position)
4.45 N
Cycle life with 4 AA batteries
> 10K cycles

All TLX components are customized to fit system requirements, meaning technical specifications are unique to each customer and design. Examples given on our website are for illustration purposes only.

Are you designing the technology of tomorrow?

Start your conversation with a TLX engineer today.