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US 6,279,555 B1Granted
Blow-by gas evacuation and oil reclamation
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsThomas J. Crowell, Douglas E. Wilson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Air laden with oil and blow-by gases is evacuated from an engine compartment such as a crankcase. The air is cleaned by removing oil and may be reused for engine combustion by routing it through a turbocharger inlet. The reclaimed oil may be returned to an oil pan for reuse in engine lubrication.
Claims12
A blow-by gas evacuation and oil reclamation system, comprising:
- an engine compartment having a pump inlet leading to a pump;
- the pump having a pump outlet leading to an oil separation chamber;
- the oil separation chamber including an oil vapor separator, a gas outlet, and a liquid outlet leading to an oil receptacle;
- and
- a valve movable between a first position and a second position, in said first position said valve closes the liquid outlet leading to the oil receptacle and opens said gas outlet of said oil separation chamber, in said second position said valve opens the liquid outlet leading to the oil receptacle and closes said gas outlet of said oil separation chamber.
2 more elements
A blow-by gas evacuation and oil reclamation method for an engine, comprising:
- routing oil-laden air from an engine chamber to an oil separation chamber;
- separating the oil-laden air within the oil separation chamber into separated oil and separated air that is cleaner than the oil-laden air;
- and
- operating a valve between a first position and a second position wherein said first position allows fluid communication between said oil separation chamber and an oil receptacle while said valve prevents fluid communication from an air outlet on said oil separation chamber.
1 more element
A method for reclaiming oil and evacuating blow-by gases from an engine compartment, comprising:
- evacuating engine air, including blow-by gases and oil vapor, from the engine compartment;
- cleaning the evacuated engine air, including reclaiming liquid oil from the evacuated engine air by removing oil vapor from the engine air, resulting in cleansed air having a reduced oil vapor content;
- and
- alternating between diverting the cleansed air to be reused in engine combustion and diverting the reclaimed liquid oil to the oil receptacle.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.