Air compressor oil recirculation system
AssigneeBendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC
InventorDavid Goodell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for removing oil from air in an air compressor that has a piston reciprocable in a cylinder to compress the air, includes an oil removal chamber associated with the compressor. An unloader valve has an unactuated condition and an actuated condition disabling flow of compressed air out of the compressor and establishing fluid communication between the cylinder and the oil removal chamber. The apparatus may include an oil discharge port for draining oil from the oil removal chamber to a location away from the cylinder, and/or a filter element in the oil removal chamber.
Claims42
An apparatus for removing oil from air in an air compressor that has a piston reciprocable in a cylinder to compress the air, the apparatus comprising:
- an oil removal chamber associated with the compressor;
- an unloader valve having an unactuated condition and having an actuated condition disabling flow of compressed air out of the compressor and establishing fluid communication between the cylinder and the oil removal chamber;
- and
- an oil discharge port for draining oil from the oil removal chamber to a location away from the cylinder.
Apparatus for removing oil from air in an air compressor that has a piston reciprocable in a cylinder to compress the air and that has a loaded mode and an unloaded mode, the apparatus comprising:
- an oil removal chamber that can be selectively placed in fluid communication with the cylinder;
- means for placing the compressor in the unloaded mode;
- means for establishing fluid communication between the oil removal chamber and the cylinder when the compressor is in the unloaded mode;
- and
- drain means for draining oil from the chamber to a location away form the cylinder.
A compressor for a vehicle air system, comprising:
- a block defining a cylinder;
- a piston reciprocable in the cylinder;
- an unloader mechanism for selectively placing the compressor in an unloaded mode;
- and
- an unloaded mode delivery chamber connected in fluid communication with the cylinder, by the unloader mechanism, for receiving air from the cylinder when the compressor is in the unloaded mode, the chamber having a discharge port for draining oil from the chamber to a location away from the cylinder.
A method of removing oil from air in an air compressor that has a piston reciprocable in a cylinder to compress the air, the method comprising the steps of:
- unloading the compressor;
- removing oil from the air in the compressor when the compressor is unloaded;
- and
- draining the removed oil to a location away from the cylinder.
A vehicle air system comprising:
- a compressor having an a piston reciprocable in a cylinder to compress air and having an unloader mechanism;
- a reservoir connected with the compressor by a discharge line;
- systems devices of the vehicle air system that use compressed air to operate;
- a governor operative to control the unloading mechanism of the compressor in response to sensed pressure in the reservoir;
- the compressor including an unloaded mode delivery chamber connected in fluid communication with the cylinder, by the unloader mechanism, for receiving air from the cylinder when the compressor is in the unloaded mode, the chamber having a discharge port for draining oil from the chamber to a location away from the cylinder.
An apparatus for removing oil from air in an air compressor that has a piston reciprocable in a cylinder to compress the air, the apparatus comprising:
- an oil removal chamber associated with the compressor;
- a filter element in the oil removal chamber;
- and
- an unloader valve having an unactuated condition and having an actuated condition disabling flow of compressed air out of the compressor and establishing fluid communication between the cylinder and the oil removal chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.