CN112673164A

CN112673164A - Air filter

Info

Publication number: CN112673164A
Application number: CN201980058772.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 川岛幸博
Original assignee: Isuzu Motors Ltd
Current assignee: Isuzu Motors Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-10
Filing date: 2019-09-10
Publication date: 2021-04-16
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-10
Also published as: DE112019004515T5; JP7139803B2; CN112673164B; JP2020041474A; WO2020054731A1

Abstract

The invention provides an air cleaner capable of draining water regardless of the installation direction. The air cleaner (10) is an air cleaner (10) which is assumed to be arranged in a plurality of directions in advance, and is provided with: a filter element (111) for filtering the inflowing air; and a housing (11) which accommodates the filter element (111) and is provided with a plurality of drain holes corresponding to the plurality of orientations, respectively.

Description

Air filter

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an air cleaner used in an internal combustion engine and the like.

Background

Air cleaners for purifying intake air of internal combustion engines and the like have been widely used. Examples of the air cleaner include the following air cleaners: the air flowing in from the inlet is purified while passing through the filter, and the purified air flows out from the outlet. Such an air cleaner is disclosed in, for example, patent document 1.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2017-082664

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

To reduce manufacturing costs, it is desirable to be able to place the air filters in different orientations. Specifically, when the air cleaner needs to be installed in a vertical position or a horizontal position depending on the arrangement relationship with other peripheral components, it is desirable to use a common air cleaner for any orientation.

However, in some cases, a drain hole is provided in the air cleaner in order to drain liquid such as water that enters together with air. Since water flows downward, for example, in an air cleaner that is assumed to be installed horizontally, the drain hole is provided in the vicinity of the lowest portion when the air cleaner is installed horizontally. Therefore, when the air cleaner in which only the horizontal arrangement is assumed is used in the vertical direction, the drain hole may not be located near the lowermost portion, and the drainage may be difficult. Therefore, it is difficult to cope with different orientations of the arrangement using the same air cleaner.

The invention aims to provide an air cleaner which can drain water regardless of the installation direction.

Means for solving the problems

An air cleaner according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a housing; a first discharge portion provided to the housing and configured to discharge the liquid when the first discharge portion is disposed in a first disposed state; and a second discharge portion provided to the housing and configured to discharge the liquid when disposed in a second disposed state.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, water can be appropriately discharged regardless of the installation direction of the air cleaner.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a view for explaining an external appearance of an air cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a view illustrating a case where the air cleaner is installed in a vertical state;

fig. 3A is a view illustrating the flow of air flowing into the housing in a state where the air cleaner is horizontally disposed;

fig. 3B is a view illustrating the flow of water flowing into the housing in the state where the air cleaner is horizontally disposed;

fig. 4 is a view illustrating flows of air and water flowing into the housing in a state where the air cleaner is vertically placed;

fig. 5A is a diagram for explaining an end cap;

fig. 5B is a diagram for explaining an end cap;

fig. 5C is a diagram for explaining the end cap.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In addition, unnecessary detailed description, for example, detailed description of already known matters or repetitive description of substantially the same configuration may be omitted.

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an external appearance of an air cleaner 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the air cleaner 10 has a substantially cylindrical housing 11, an inlet pipe 12, an outlet pipe 13, a first discharge hole 14, and a second discharge hole 15. The first discharge hole 14 is an example of the first discharge portion of the present invention, and the second discharge hole 15 is an example of the second discharge portion of the present invention. In each of the drawings from fig. 1 to fig. 4 described later, the vertical direction in this specification is shown.

The housing 11 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape. An inlet pipe 12, which is a pipe for allowing air to flow into the casing 11, is connected to a part of the cylindrical side surface of the casing 11. Further, an outlet pipe 13, which is a pipe for allowing air in the case 11 to flow out, is connected to one of the cylindrical bottom surfaces of the case 11.

The air cleaner 10 is mounted on a vehicle such as a truck. Although not shown, the inlet pipe 12 is connected to an intake port of a vehicle or the like via a rubber hose or the like, and the outlet pipe 13 is connected to an internal combustion engine such as an engine. Thus, the air cleaner 10 can purify air introduced from the intake port and supply the purified air to the internal combustion engine.

The first discharge hole 14 and the second discharge hole 15 are holes for discharging liquid such as water flowing into the housing 11 to the outside of the housing 11. The discharge from the first discharge hole 14 and the second discharge hole 15 is not limited to water, and may be other liquid such as oil, for example. As shown in fig. 1, the first discharge hole 14 is provided on a portion of the side surface of the housing 11, and the second discharge hole 15 is provided on a portion of the bottom surface of the housing 11.

Thus, the air cleaner 10 has a plurality of discharge holes. The plurality of discharge holes are provided to correspond to a case where the air cleaner 10 is installed in a plurality of installation states. The plurality of setting states include different setting states previously contemplated in designing the air cleaner 10.

It is assumed in advance that the air cleaner 10 of the present embodiment is provided in a horizontally disposed state in which both bottom surfaces of the cylindrical housing 11 face in the lateral direction as shown in fig. 1, and in a vertically disposed state in which both bottom surfaces of the housing 11 face in the vertical direction (vertical direction) as shown in fig. 2. The horizontal state is an example of the first installation state of the present invention, and the vertical state is an example of the second installation state of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a case where the air cleaner 10 is installed in a vertical state.

In the horizontal state of the air cleaner 10 shown in fig. 1, the respective portions are located at the following positions: the inlet pipe 12 is located at an upper side of the housing 11, the outlet pipe 13 and the second discharge hole 15 are located at a lateral side, and the first discharge hole 14 is located at a lower side.

On the other hand, in the vertical state of the air cleaner 10 shown in fig. 2, the respective portions are located at the following positions: the inlet pipe 12 and the first discharge hole 14 are located at the lateral side of the case 11, the outlet pipe 13 is located at the upper side, and the second discharge hole 15 is located at the lower side.

With this configuration, whichever of the horizontal state and the vertical state of the air cleaner 10 is, either one of the first discharge hole 14 and the second discharge hole 15 is located at the lowermost portion of the housing 11. Therefore, in the case where water flows into the interior of the housing 11 from the inlet pipe 12 together with air, the water is discharged from the discharge hole located at the lowermost portion of the housing 11. In this way, water can be appropriately discharged regardless of which of a plurality of previously assumed installation states the air cleaner 10 is installed. Therefore, the air cleaner 10 can be used in either the horizontal position or the vertical position.

Next, the flow of air and water flowing into the air cleaner 10 will be described. Fig. 3A is a diagram illustrating the flow of air flowing into the housing 11 in a state where the air cleaner 10 is horizontally disposed. The arrows of the one-dot chain line in fig. 3A illustrate the flow of air. Fig. 3B is a diagram illustrating the flow of water flowing into the housing 11 in a state where the air cleaner 10 is horizontally disposed. The dashed arrows in fig. 3B illustrate the flow of water. Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the flow of air and water flowing into the housing 11 in the air cleaner 10 in the vertical position.

Fig. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the air cleaner 10 in a horizontal state on a plane that includes the center axis of the cylindrical shape of the housing 11 and passes through the first discharge hole 14. Fig. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the air cleaner 10 in a horizontal state on a plane perpendicular to the center axis of the cylindrical shape of the housing 11 and passing through the first discharge hole 14. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the air cleaner 10 in a vertical state on a plane including the center axis of the cylindrical shape of the housing 11 and passing through the second discharge hole 15.

As shown in fig. 3A, 3B, and 4, a filter element 111, a first space 112, and a second space 113 are provided inside the housing 11.

The filter element 111 is formed by folding a filter material such as a nonwoven fabric or a filter paper into a corrugated shape and further bending the corrugated filter material into a cylindrical shape, and is generally called a "chrysanthemum shape" or the like. The filter element 111 is formed so that air (gas) can pass but water (liquid) cannot pass. The inside of the housing 11 of the air cleaner 10 is divided by the filter element 111 into a first space 112 and a second space 113.

The first space 112 is a space formed by the inner wall surface of the housing 11 and the filter element 111. The second space 113 is a space inside the cylindrical filter element 111.

As shown in fig. 3A and 4, the air flowing into the housing 11 from the inlet pipe 12 passes through the first space 112 and the filter element 111, is filtered, and reaches the second space 113. The purified air in the second space 113 flows out through the outlet pipe 13.

On the other hand, as shown in fig. 3B and 4, the water flowing in from the inlet pipe 12 flows in the first space 112 without passing through the filter element 111, and is discharged to the outside from a discharge hole located at the lowermost portion of the housing 11 in accordance with the direction in which the air cleaner 10 is installed. In the horizontal state of the air cleaner 10 shown in fig. 3B, the discharge hole located at the lowermost portion of the housing 11 is the first discharge hole 14, and in the vertical state of the air cleaner 10 shown in fig. 4, the discharge hole located at the lowermost portion of the housing 11 is the second discharge hole 15. In this way, in the air cleaner 10, water is discharged from any one of the plurality of discharge holes provided in accordance with the installation state.

Preferably, a drain valve is provided at the drain hole where the water is drained. That is, as shown in fig. 3A, in the horizontal state of the air cleaner 10, the first drain valve 141 is provided in the first drain hole 14. Similarly, as shown in fig. 4, in the vertical position of the air cleaner 10, the second drain valve 151 is provided in the second drain hole 15. The specific structures of the drain valve 141 and the drain valve 151 are not particularly limited in the present invention. For example, various valves such as a check valve for preventing dust and water from entering the air cleaner 10 from the outside, a valve for automatically discharging water by the weight of water when a predetermined amount or more of water is accumulated in the discharge hole, and an on-off valve that is freely opened and closed by a vehicle maintenance worker and the like to discharge water may be used.

In the horizontal state of the air cleaner 10, water is not discharged from the second discharge hole 15 that is not located at the lowermost portion of the housing 11. Therefore, it is preferable that the second discharge hole 15 is closed so that dust, water, or the like does not enter and air does not leak in a horizontal state of the air cleaner 10, as shown in fig. 1 and 3A.

Similarly, in the vertical position of the air cleaner 10, water is not discharged from the first discharge hole 14 that is not located at the lowermost portion of the housing 11. Therefore, it is preferable that the first discharge hole 14 is closed in the vertical state of the air cleaner 10, as shown in fig. 2 and 4.

Next, the end cap 20 for closing the first discharge hole 14 or the second discharge hole 15 will be described. As shown in fig. 3A, a cylindrical first projection 142 projecting outward of the housing 11 is provided around the first discharge hole 14. Similarly, as shown in fig. 4, a cylindrical second protrusion 152 protruding outward of the housing 11 is provided around the second discharge hole 15. In the case of closing the first discharge hole 14 or the second discharge hole 15, the end cap 20 is fitted over the front end portion of the first projection 142 or the second projection 152. The end cap 20 is formed of a resin having elasticity such as rubber. Such an end cap 20 can prevent dust, water, and the like from entering through a discharge hole that is not used for drainage, and can prevent air in the air cleaner 10 from leaking.

Fig. 5A to 5C are views for explaining the end cap 20. As shown in fig. 5A and 5B, the end cap 20 has a cover portion 21, an inner side wall 22, and an outer side wall 23. The end cap 20 is viewed from the cover portion 21 side in fig. 5A, and the end cap 20 is viewed from the inner side wall 22 and the outer side wall 23 side in fig. 5B.

In the following description, for the sake of simplicity, a case where the end cap 20 is fitted over the first protrusion 142 provided around the first discharge hole 14 will be described, and a case where the end cap is fitted over the second protrusion 152 provided around the second discharge hole 15 will be omitted.

The cover 21 is a portion that serves as a cover for closing the first discharge hole 14 when the end cap 20 is fitted over the first projection 142. The inner side wall 22 and the outer side wall 23 are members for fixing the end cap 20 with respect to the first projection 142 by contacting with the outside or inside of the cylindrical side surface of the first projection 142 when the end cap 20 is fitted over the first projection 142. That is, the end cap 20 has the following configuration: the side surface of the first protruding portion 142 is sandwiched between the inner wall 22 and the outer wall 23, and thus is less likely to fall off. Although fig. 5B illustrates the distance between the inner wall 22 and the outer wall 23 as being emphasized, the distance between the inner wall 22 and the outer wall 23 is substantially equal to the thickness of the side surface of the first projection 142.

Fig. 5C is a sectional view of a plane including the center axis of the end cap 20 in a state where the end cap is covered on the first discharge hole 14. As shown in fig. 5C, the inner sidewall 22 is in close contact with the inner side of the side surface of the first protrusion 142, and the outer sidewall 23 is in close contact with the outer side of the side surface of the first protrusion 142. With such a structure, the end cap 20 can have a larger contact area with the side surface of the first protrusion 142 than a case where there is no inner side wall and only the outer side wall is in close contact with the outer side of the side surface of the protrusion. Therefore, the end cap 20 can be made less likely to fall off the first projection 142 by friction.

With this configuration, the end cover 20 can be made less likely to come off even when a force is applied not only to the end cover 20 from the outside to the inside of the air cleaner 10 but also from the inside to the outside. In addition, when the end cap 20 is attached to the first protrusion 142, the attachment can be performed only by fitting, and therefore, the attachment is easy. With this structure, the end cap 20 can easily close the discharge hole that is not used for drainage. In the above description, the case where the cap 20 is attached to the first projecting portion 142 is described, but the same applies to the case where the cap 20 is attached to the second projecting portion 152.

< action, Effect >

As described above, the air cleaner 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes: a housing 11; a first discharge hole 14 provided in the housing 11 and discharging water when the first discharge hole is disposed in a horizontal state; and a second discharge portion for discharging water in a vertically disposed state.

The first discharge hole 14 is located at the lowermost portion of the casing 11 when it is disposed in the horizontal state, and the second discharge hole 15 is located at the lowermost portion of the casing 11 when it is disposed in the vertical state.

With this configuration, even when the air cleaner 10 is installed in any one of a plurality of installation states assumed in advance, the corresponding discharge hole is provided at the lowermost portion of the housing 11, and therefore water can be appropriately discharged. Therefore, for example, when it is assumed that the air cleaner is to be installed in a plurality of installation states depending on a vehicle type or the like, the air cleaner arranged in the different installation states can be used in common, and therefore, the manufacturing cost and the design cost of the air cleaner 10 can be reduced.

< modification example >

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. It is obvious that those skilled in the art can conceive various modifications and alterations within the scope of the claims, and it is needless to say that they also fall within the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, the respective components in the above embodiments may be arbitrarily combined without departing from the gist of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the air cleaner 10 is mounted on a vehicle such as a truck provided with an internal combustion engine, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can also be applied to agricultural machines, construction machines, pumps, generators, and the like provided with an internal combustion engine.

In the above-described embodiment, the air cleaner 10 has the inlet pipe 12 and the outlet pipe 13 provided in the cylindrical housing 11, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the air cleaner of the present invention, the shape of the housing including the shapes of the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe is not particularly limited, and any shape is possible. Examples of the specific shape of the case include a shape composed of a rectangular parallelepiped, a cube, a cylinder, a cone, a truncated cone, a triangular pyramid, or any combination of these shapes. In the present specification, each shape is not strictly defined, and means a general shape. That is, the cylindrical shape of the housing 11 in the above-described embodiment may include, for example, a shape obtained by cutting off a part of a cylinder, a shape obtained by adding another shape to a cylinder, or the like. The same applies to other shapes.

In the above-described embodiment, the air cleaner 10 of the type in which the air is purified using the chrysanthemum-shaped filter element 111 is shown as an example of the air cleaner, but the present invention is not limited to this. The invention may also be, for example, air cleaners that use filter elements of other shapes or styles. Further, the air cleaner may be of another type such as a cyclone type.

In the above-described embodiment, the inlet pipe 12, the outlet pipe 13, the first discharge hole 14, and the second discharge hole 15 are disposed in the same plane in fig. 3A, 3B, 4, and the like, but the present invention is not limited thereto. These structures are not necessarily arranged in the same plane, and may be suitably arranged in different planes.

In the above-described embodiment, the horizontal position and the vertical position are described as examples of the arrangement state of the air cleaner 10, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the present invention, it is also conceivable that the air cleaner is disposed in three or more arrangement states depending on the environment in which it is installed. The environment to be installed here specifically means an installation space of the air cleaner, a space where the piping is installed, a positional relationship with the internal combustion engine, a positional relationship with the intake port, and the like. In addition, when it is assumed that the air cleaner of the present invention is disposed in a plurality of orientations, one drain hole for draining water may be formed in the vicinity of a portion that becomes the lowermost portion of the air cleaner in each orientation.

For example, when it is assumed in advance that the air cleaner of the present invention is disposed in an inclined state in which the air cleaner is inclined in addition to the horizontal state and the vertical state, three drain holes may be provided in the air cleaner. Specifically, one discharge hole (the first discharge hole 14 in the above embodiment) may be formed in the vicinity of the lowermost portion in the horizontal state, one discharge hole (the second discharge hole 15 in the above embodiment) may be formed in the vicinity of the lowermost portion in the vertical state, and one discharge hole may be formed in the vicinity of the lowermost portion in the inclined state.

With such a configuration, for example, when it is assumed that the air cleaner is to be installed in a plurality of orientations depending on a vehicle type or the like, the air cleaner of the present invention can be used in a general purpose manner for air cleaners arranged in different orientations. Therefore, the manufacturing cost and the design cost of the air cleaner can be reduced.

The present application is based on the japanese patent application (japanese patent application 2018-16901911) filed on 9/10 in 2018, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Industrial applicability

The present invention is useful for an air cleaner that purifies air supplied to an internal combustion engine.

Description of the reference numerals

10 air filter

11 casing

111 filter element

112 first space

113 second space

12 inlet pipe

13 outlet pipe

14 first discharge hole

141 first drain valve

142 first projection

15 second discharge hole

151 second drain valve

152 second projection

20 end cap

21 cover part

22 inner side wall

23 outer side wall

Claims

1. An air cleaner, comprising:

a housing;

a first discharge portion provided to the housing and configured to discharge the liquid when the first discharge portion is disposed in a first disposed state; and

a second discharge portion provided to the housing and configured to discharge the liquid when provided in a second installation state.

2. The air cleaner of claim 1,

the first discharge portion is located at a lowermost portion of the housing in a case of being set in the first set state,

the second discharge portion is located at a lowermost portion of the housing when set in the second set state.

3. The air cleaner of claim 1 or 2,

the second discharge portion is closed by a closing member when set in the first set state,

when set in the second set state, the first discharge portion is closed by the closing member.

4. The air cleaner of any one of claims 1-3,

a valve is provided in the first discharge portion when the valve is set in the first set state,

when the valve is set in the second set state, a valve is provided in the second discharge portion.

5. The air cleaner of any one of claims 1-4,

the housing has the shape of a cylinder and,

the first setting state is a horizontal state in which the two bottom surfaces of the housing face the lateral directions respectively,

the second setting state is a vertically-disposed state in which the two bottom surfaces of the housing face in the up-down direction,

the first discharge portion is provided on a part of a side surface in the cylindrical shape of the housing,

the second discharge portion is provided on a part of a bottom surface in the cylindrical shape of the housing.