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US 6,039,778 AGranted
Air cleaner assembly
AssigneeDonaldson Company, Inc.
InventorPaul R. Coulonvaux
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air cleaner assembly having a body member and a removable cover is provided. The assembly includes a lock assembly for engagement between the cover and the body member. The preferred lock assembly is a rotation activated lock assembly movable between locked and unlocked orientations by a selected amount of relative rotational movement between the cover and the body member.
Claims21
An air cleaner assembly comprising:
- (a) a body member including a sidewall and an end wall;
- (i) said body member defining an open air cleaner interior and an air flow inlet;
- (ii) said sidewall defining an open end for selected insertion and removal of an air filter element;
- (iii) said body member including a generally cylindrical, cover engagement, surface;
- (b) a removable cover sized for selective positioning in covering relation to said sidewall open end;
- (i) said cover including a generally cylindrical, body member engagement, surface;
- (ii) said body member engagement surface being dimensioned to circumscribe said cover engagement surface;
- (c) a rotation activated lock assembly having a first unlocked orientation and a second locked orientation;
- (i) said cover being separable from said body member when said lock assembly is in said first, unlocked, orientation;
- (ii) said cover being secured to said body member when said lock assembly is in said locked orientation;
- (iii) said rotation activated lock assembly being constructed and arranged to selectively move between said unlocked orientation and said locked orientation, by rotational movement of said cover relative to said body member;
- (iv) said cover being selectively rotatably slideable relative to said body member, with said cylindrical cover-engagement surface opposed to said cylindrical body member engagement surface, during selected movement of said lock assembly between said locked and unlocked orientations;
- (v) said rotation activated lock assembly including a holder arrangement;
- said holder arrangement comprising a first plurality of p-shaped holders, each having a tail extending generally perpendicular to a direction of rotation of said cover relative to said body member during locking;
- (A) said body member being a molded plastic construction with said holders molded thereon and integrally therewith;
- (vi) said rotation activated lock assembly including a second plurality of feet;
- said feet each including a banana shaped segment oriented to engage a selected one of said p-shaped holders during locking;
- (A) said tail of each p-shaped holder extending sufficiently far to block rotation of said cover, relative to said body member, by engagement with a portion of a selected foot, beyond a selected amount of rotation, during locking;
- (B) said cover being a molded plastic member with said feet molded thereon and integrally therewith;
- and
- (d) a moveable engagement finger selectively positionable between engaged and release positions;
- (i) said engagement finger, when in said engaged position, being positioned to secure a portion of a selected holder between a portion of the engagement finger and a portion of a selected foot member to prevent rotational movement of the cover relative to the body member;
- and,
- (ii) said engagement finger, when in said release position, releasing a selected holder to allow selected rotational movement of the cover relative to the body member.
21 more elements
An air cleaner assembly according to claim 4 wherein:
- (a) said pair of projections of each holder defines a central hollow having an area of at least 50 mm.sup.2.
An air cleaner assembly comprising:
- (a) a body member including a sidewall and an end wall;
- (i) said body member defining an open air cleaner interior and an air flow inlet;
- (ii) said sidewall defining an open end for selected insertion and removal of an air filter element;
- (iii) said body member including a generally cylindrical, cover engagement, surface;
- (b) a removable cover sized for selective positioning in covering relation to said sidewall open end;
- (i) said cover including a generally cylindrical, body member engagement, surface;
- and,
- (c) a rotation activated lock assembly having a first unlocked orientation and a second locked orientation;
- (i) said cover being separable from said body member when said lock assembly is in said first, unlocked, orientation;
- (ii) said cover being secured to said body member when said lock assembly is in said locked orientation;
- (iii) said rotation activated lock assembly being constructed and arranged to selectively move between said unlocked orientation and said locked orientation, by rotational movement of said cover relative to said body member;
- (iv) said cover being selectively rotatably slideable relative to said body member, with said cylindrical cover-engagement surface opposed to said cylindrical body member engagement surface, during selected movement of said lock assembly between said locked and unlocked orientations;
- (v) said rotation activated lock assembly including a holder arrangement;
- said holder arrangement comprising a first plurality of p-shaped holders;
- (A) each of said p-shaped holders having a perimeter wall and a depending tail;
- (1) each of said depending tails extending generally perpendicular to a direction of rotation of said cover relative to said body member during locking;
- (2) each of said perimeter walls defining a central hollow;
- (vi) said rotation activated lock assembly including a second plurality of feet;
- said feet each including a banana shaped segment oriented to engage a selected one of said p-shaped holders during locking;
- (A) said tail of each p-shaped holder extending sufficiently far to block rotation of said cover, relative to said body member, by engagement with a portion of a selected foot, beyond a selected amount of rotation, during locking.
17 more elements
An air cleaner assembly comprising:
- (a) a body member and a removable cover;
- and
- (b) a rotation activated lock assembly having a first unlocked orientation and second locked orientation;
- (i) said cover being separable from said body member when said lock assembly is in said first, unlocked, orientation;
- (ii) said cover being secured to said body member when said lock assembly is in said locked orientation;
- (iii) said rotation activated lock assembly being constructed and arranged to selectively move between said unlocked orientation and said locked orientation by rotational movement of said cover relative to said body member;
- (iv) said cover being selectively rotatably slideable relative to said body member, with said cylindrical cover-engagement surface opposed to said cylindrical body member engagement surface, during selected movement of said lock assembly between said locked and unlocked orientations;
- (v) said rotation activated lock assembly including a holder arrangement;
- said holder arrangement comprising a first plurality of holders;
- each holder comprising an outer perimeter wall;
- (A) each outer perimeter wall defining a central hollow;
- (vi) said rotation activated lock assembly including a second plurality of feet;
- said feet each including first and second segments;
- (A) each of said first segments extending generally parallel to a direction of rotation of said cover relative to said body member during locking;
- (B) each of said second segments extending at an oblique angle relative to a respective one of said first segments;
- and
- (C) each of said holders having a portion extending sufficiently far to block rotation of said cover, relative to said body member, by engagement with a portion of a selected one of said feet, beyond a selected amount of rotation, during locking.
14 more elements
An air cleaner assembly comprising:
- (a) a body member and a removable cover;
- and
- (b) a rotation activated lock assembly having a first unlocked orientation and second locked orientation;
- (i) said cover being separable from said body member when said lock assembly is in said first, unlocked, orientation;
- (ii) said cover being secured to said body member when said lock assembly is in said locked orientation;
- (iii) said rotation activated lock assembly being constructed and arranged to selectively move between said unlocked orientation and said locked orientation by rotational movement of said cover relative to said body member;
- (iv) said cover being selectively rotatably slideable relative to said body member, with said cylindrical cover-engagement surface opposed to said cylindrical body member engagement surface, during selected movement of said lock assembly between said locked and unlocked orientations;
- (v) said rotation activated lock assembly including a holder arrangement;
- said holder arrangement comprising a first plurality of p-shaped holders;
- (A) each of said p-shaped holders having at least a first segment;
- and a second segment including a C-shaped section and a depending tail;
- and
- (vi) said rotation activated lock assembly including a second plurality of feet;
- said feet each including a segment oriented to engage a selected one of said p-shaped holders during locking.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.