Air desiccant canister for an air brake system

An air desiccant canister to be supported within an outer shell by spring pressure, the outer shell including a base, the base including internal threads for threaded attachment to an air braking system, the canister comprising:

• a housing having an open end, closed end, and a side wall therebetween;
• a desiccant medium substantially filling the housing;
• an elastomeric pad disposed within the inner shell proximate the closed end to distribute the spring pressure evenly across the desiccant medium;
• and
• a baffle plate in sliding contact with the housing open end and dividing the desiccant such that a first air flow path and a coaxial second air flow path through the desiccant are established.

A method for fabricating an air desiccant canister, comprising the steps of:

• inserting an elastomeric pad into an inner shell proximate a closed end of the inner shell;
• depositing molecular desiccant within an inner shell having an open end, a closed end, and a cylindrical side wall;
• slidably inserting a baffle plate having an end disk and a tube formed integrally with the disk into the inner shell open end, and thereby dividing the desiccant into first and second flowpaths of roughly equivalent dimension, the first flowpath being in communication with the second flow path;
• placing the inner shell on top of a baseplate having an internally threaded inner aperture;
• placing a spring on top of the closed end of the inner shell;
• placing an outer shell over the spring and inner shell and compressing the spring until the outer shell open end contacts the base plate, the sliding engagement between the baffle plate and the inner shell cooperating with the spring to allow relative movement between the baffle plate and the inner shell to thereby maintain uniform compaction of the desiccant within the inner shell;
• and
• attaching the outer shell open end to the baseplate by seaming.