US Patent 9551460 Bearing system with lubrication controller

A bearing system includes a bearing housing configured to house a bearing, the bearing housing enclosing a free volume for receiving lubricant, a quantity of the lubricant in the free volume, a sensor configured to measure at least one parameter affecting a degradation rate at which the lubricant will degrade and to produce at least one output signal indicative of the measured at least one parameter, a pump for pumping lubricant into the bearing housing, and a controller configured to receive the at least one output signal from the sensor and to control the pump based a function of the received at least one output signal.