Back to results
US 7,678,177 B2Granted
Membrane air dryer and sweep valve
AssigneeNew York Air Brake Corporation
InventorRandall W. Nichols
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A membrane air dryer includes a proportioning valve for providing sweep air to the dryer. The valve may be located in an easily accessible location and may be oriented so that the movable valve element extends transverse to the length of the shell. The valve may be configured to allow air to flow back from the delivery port to the fibers during a compressor unload cycle to maintain pressure on the fibers, while blocking flow of air from the delivery port to the sweep chamber.
Claims31
A membrane air dryer for removing moisture from compressed air, comprising:
- an elongate shell at least partially enclosing a membrane assembly having a tubular configuration extending along the length of the shell;
- a sweep valve housing at one end of the shell and supporting a sweep valve;
- the sweep valve including a fixed valve element on the housing;
- the sweep valve also including a movable valve element supported on the housing for movement relative to the fixed valve element in a direction transverse to the length of the shell, the movable valve element being oriented relative to the shell so that the movable element is moved by gravity into a closed position;
- the movable valve element being movable against the gravity in response to a flow of dried air from the membrane assembly to enable flow of a first portion of the dried air to a delivery port of the air dyer and flow of a second portion of the dried air to a sweep chamber as sweep air for the membrane assembly.
2 more elements
A membrane air dryer for removing moisture from compressed air, comprising:
- an elongate shell having an inlet port for receiving compressed air from a compressor;
- a membrane assembly in the shell, comprising a plurality of fibers;
- a sweep valve housing on the shell and supporting a sweep valve, the sweep valve including a fixed valve element on the housing;
- and
- the sweep valve including a movable valve element supported on the housing for movement relative to the fixed valve element, in response to a flow of dried air from the fiber, to enable flow of a first portion of the dried air to a delivery port of the air dyer and flow of a second portion of the dried air to a sweep chamber of the membrane assembly;
- and
- the sweep valve being configured to allow air to flow back from the delivery port to the fibers during a compressor unload cycle to maintain pressure on the fibers, while blocking flow of air from the delivery port to the sweep chamber.
4 more elements
A method comprising the steps of:
- directing compressed air from a compressor past fibers of a membrane air dryer when the compressor is loaded to dry the compressed air;
- directing the dried air to move a movable element against gravity for enabling flow of a first portion of the dried air to a reservoir and a second portion of the dried air to a sweep chamber;
- directing the dried air into the reservoir under pressure, said step of directing the dried air being performed at a charging pressure that is higher than the reservoir pressure;
- and
- allowing air from the reservoir to flow back to the fibers when the compressor is not loaded, to maintain pressure on the fibers.
2 more elements
A membrane air dryer for removing moisture from compressed air, comprising:
- an elongate shell having an inlet port for receiving compressed air from a compressor;
- a membrane assembly in the shell, comprising fibers for receiving compressed air from the compressor;
- a sweep chamber in the shell;
- a sweep valve housing on the shell and supporting a sweep valve having a fixed valve element on the housing;
- the sweep valve including a movable valve element supported on the housing for movement relative to the fixed valve element, in response to a flow of dried air from the fibers, to enable (1) flow of a first portion of the dried air to a delivery port of the air dyer and (2) flow of a second portion of the dried air to a sweep chamber of the membrane assembly;
- and
- the sweep valve including means for enabling air to flow back from the delivery port to the fibers during a compressor unload cycle to maintain pressure on the fibers while blocking flow of air from the delivery port to the sweep chamber.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.