Vehicle filter assembly
AssigneeNissan North America, Inc.
InventorRobert Lloyd
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle filter assembly includes a housing, a cyclone-inducing structure and a self-cleaning trap mechanism. The housing has an inlet, an outlet and a trap aperture. The cyclone-inducing structure is disposed within the housing between the inlet and the outlet to separate particulate from gases passing through the housing from the inlet to the outlet. The self-cleaning trap mechanism is movably arranged with respect to the trap aperture to move between a closed orientation sealing the trap aperture and an opened orientation exposing the trap aperture to release particulate from the housing.
Claims20
A vehicle filter assembly comprising:
- a housing having an inlet, an outlet, a trap aperture, an upper end, a lower end and a side wall extending between the upper and lower ends, with the outlet being formed in the side wall adjacent the lower end of the housing;
- a cyclone-inducing structure disposed within the housing between the inlet and the outlet to separate particulate from gases passing through the housing from the inlet to the outlet;
- and
- a self-cleaning trap mechanism movably arranged with respect to the trap aperture to move between a closed orientation sealing the trap aperture and an opened orientation exposing the trap aperture to release particulate from the housing.
A vehicle filter assembly comprising:
- a housing having an inlet, an outlet, a trap aperture, an annular inner wall and an annular outer wall, with a hollow chamber defined between the inner wall and the outer wall and a central interior chamber defined by the inner wall;
- a cyclone-inducing structure disposed within the housing between the inlet and the outlet to separate particulate from gases passing through the housing from the inlet to the outlet, the cyclone-inducing structure being disposed within the central interior chamber, the outlet being formed in the outer wall, and the inner wall including a fluid communication passage between the inner wall and the outer wall;
- and
- a self-cleaning trap mechanism movably arranged with respect to the trap aperture to move between a closed orientation sealing the trap aperture and an opened orientation exposing the trap aperture to release particulate from the housing.
A vehicle filter assembly comprising:
- a housing having an inlet, an outlet and a trap aperture;
- a cyclone-inducing structure disposed within the housing between the inlet and the outlet to separate particulate from gases passing through the housing from the inlet to the outlet, the cyclone-inducing structure including an inverted conically-shaped member with an upper open end in fluid communication with the inlet and a lower open end in fluid communication with the outlet, with the upper open end of the conically-shaped member having a first diameter and the lower open end having a second diameter that is smaller than the first diameter;
- and
- a self-cleaning trap mechanism movably arranged with respect to the trap aperture to move between a closed orientation sealing the trap aperture and an opened orientation exposing the trap aperture to release particulate from the housing.
A vehicle filter assembly comprising:
- a housing having an inlet provided at an upper end of the housing, an outlet and a trap aperture;
- a cyclone-inducing structure disposed within the housing between the inlet and the outlet to separate particulate from gases passing through the housing from the inlet to the outlet, the cyclone-inducing structure including a spiral-shaped duct fluidly connected to the inlet;
- and
- a self-cleaning trap mechanism movably arranged with respect to the trap aperture to move between a closed orientation sealing the trap aperture and an opened orientation exposing the trap aperture to release particulate from the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.