Vortex air cleaner and self-cleaning barrier filter assembly for supercharged engines
AssigneePall Corporation
InventorCharles J. Roach
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air cleaner assembly is provided for supercharged engines including a supercharger compressor, comprising a vortex air cleaner upstream of the supercharger compressor, and a rotatable barrier filter cartridge that is self-cleaning downstream of the supercharger compressor.
Claims15
An air cleaner-supercharger-compressor assembly for supercharged engines including a supercharger compressor, comprising, in combination, a vortex air cleaner, a supercharger compressor, and a rotatable barrier filter cartridge, each in series fluid flow connection with the other, and each having an upstream inlet and a downstream outlet;
- the outlet of the air cleaner being in fluid flow connection with the inlet of the supercharger compressor, the outlet of the supercharger-compressor being in fluid flow connection with the inlet of the barrier filter cartridge;
- and the outlet of the barrier filter cartridge being disposed downstream of the said cartridge for fluid flow connection with an engine;
- the barrier filter cartridge being mounted for rotation and made of material capable of withstanding an elevated operating temperature within the range from at least about 250.degree. F. to about 600.degree. F.;
- means for rotating the barrier filter cartridge at a speed within the range from about 0.05 to 5 revolutions per minute;
- the barrier filter cartridge having in addition to the outlet downstream of the filter cartridge an upstream outlet upstream of the filter cartridge in fluid flow communication with a source of relatively low fluid pressure, less than that prevailing at an upstream surface of the barrier filter cartridge;
- means defining, and restricting fluid flow from the supercharger compressor into, a zone of differential fluid pressure in close proximity to a portion of the upstream barrier filter cartridge surface within the zone for generating at said upstream surface an outward backflow of pressurized fluid through the barrier filter cartridge from downstream thereof entraining material collected on the upstream surface of the barrier filter cartridge within the zone and dumping such material via the upstream outlet during rotation of the filter cartridge and thus inhibit pressure drop across the filter cartridge from exceeding a selected maximum;
- a solenoid valve in the upstream outlet to open and close the upstream outlet;
- and a differential pressure switch in operative actuating relation to the solenoid valve, sensing differential pressure across the barrier filter cartridge, and actuating the valve to open the upstream outlet whenever such differential pressure reaches a predetermined value.
A self-cleaning barrier filter assembly for use in pressurized fluid systems from which a filter-unloading flow can be dumped, comprising, in combination, a filter housing having an upstream inlet for unfiltered fluid, a downstream outlet for filtered fluid and an upstream outlet for filter-unloading dump flow;
- and disposed across the line of flow between the unfiltered upstream fluid inlet and downstream filtered fluid outlet a rotatable barrier filter cartridge, the barrier filter cartridge being made of material capable of withstanding an elevated operating temperature within the range from at least about 250.degree. F. to about 600.degree. F., and being mounted in the assembly for rotation;
- means in the housing for rotating the barrier filter cartridge at a speed within the range from about 0.05 to 5 revolutions per minute;
- and means in the housing upstream of the barrier filter cartridge in communication with an upstream surface of the barrier filter cartridge and defining, and restricting fluid flow into, a zone of differential fluid pressure in close proximity to a portion of the upstream barrier filter cartridge surface for generating at the upstream barrier filter cartridge surface within the zone an outward backflow of pressurized fluid through the barrier filter cartridge from downstream thereof entraining material collected on the upstream surface of the barrier filter cartridge and dumping such material via the means and the upstream dump flow outlet during rotation of the barrier filter cartridge and thus inhibit pressure drop across the barrier filter cartridge from exceeding a selected maximum;
- the upstream dump flow outlet including a solenoid valve opening and closing the outlet and a differential pressure switch in operative actuating relation to the solenoid valve, sensing differential pressure across the barrier filter cartridge and actuating the valve to open the outlet whenever such differential pressure reaches a predetermined value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.