Compressor low cost oil filter
AssigneeThermo King Corporation
InventorDaniel Lee PRICE
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An internal oil filter is installed at least partially inside a crankcase and/or an oil sump of a compressor. The internal oil filter can receive oil from an oil pressure regulator and filter the oil via filter media. The received oil radially penetrates through the filter media and flow directly into the oil sump from an outside surface of the filter media. This can eliminate the need of fluid lines connecting an outlet of an oil filter to the oil sump and any sealing mechanism therebetween.
Claims12
A transport refrigeration system (TRS) compressor, the compressor comprising:
- a crankcase;
- a crankshaft;
- an oil filter including a filter media, the crankshaft and the oil filter disposed within the crankcase;
- an oil pump configured to pump oil to the crankshaft and the oil filter;
- an oil sump configured store oil received from the crankshaft and the oil filter;
- and
- a pressure regulator in fluid communication with the oil pump and the oil filter, the pressure regulator configured to regulate an oil pressure of oil directed from the oil pump to the oil filter,
- wherein the oil filter is disposed downstream of the pressure regulator and the oil sump is disposed downstream of the oil filter so that a first portion of oil flows from the oil pump to the pressure regulator, then to the oil filter, and then to the oil sump, and
- wherein the oil filter is an inside-out filter that is absent of a housing, the oil filter includes a filter media, and oil received from the pressure regulator penetrates through the filter media and flows into the oil sump from an outside surface of the filter media.
(canceled)
10-19. (canceled)
An oil filter disposed in a compressor of a transport refrigeration system, the oil filter comprising:
- a filter media defining an inner space;
- an upper endcap attached to a top surface of the filter media, the upper end cap including an upper opening that is in fluid communication with the inner space;
- a bottom endcap attached to a bottom surface of the filter media that is opposite the top surface, the bottom endcap including a bottom opening that is in fluid communication with the inner space;
- and
- a mounting bracket attached to the bottom surface of the bottom endcap, the mounting bracket configured to attach to a component in the compressor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.