Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60T—VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF; BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF, IN GENERAL; ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKING ELEMENTS ON VEHICLES IN GENERAL; PORTABLE DEVICES FOR PREVENTING UNWANTED MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES; VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITATE COOLING OF BRAKES
  • B60T17/00—Component parts, details, or accessories of power brake systems not covered by groups B60T8/00, B60T13/00 or B60T15/00, or presenting other characteristic features
  • B60T17/002—Air treatment devices
  • B60T17/004—Draining and drying devices
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
  • B01D53/26—Drying gases or vapours
  • B01D53/261—Drying gases or vapours by adsorption
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60T—VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF; BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF, IN GENERAL; ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKING ELEMENTS ON VEHICLES IN GENERAL; PORTABLE DEVICES FOR PREVENTING UNWANTED MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES; VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITATE COOLING OF BRAKES
  • B60T13/00—Transmitting braking action from initiating means to ultimate brake actuator with power assistance or drive; Brake systems incorporating such transmitting means, e.g. air-pressure brake systems
  • B60T13/10—Transmitting braking action from initiating means to ultimate brake actuator with power assistance or drive; Brake systems incorporating such transmitting means, e.g. air-pressure brake systems with fluid assistance, drive, or release
  • B60T13/66—Electrical control in fluid-pressure brake systems
  • B60T13/68—Electrical control in fluid-pressure brake systems by electrically-controlled valves
  • B60T13/683—Electrical control in fluid-pressure brake systems by electrically-controlled valves in pneumatic systems or parts thereof
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F15—FLUID-PRESSURE ACTUATORS; HYDRAULICS OR PNEUMATICS IN GENERAL
  • F15B—SYSTEMS ACTING BY MEANS OF FLUIDS IN GENERAL; FLUID-PRESSURE ACTUATORS, e.g. SERVOMOTORS; DETAILS OF FLUID-PRESSURE SYSTEMS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F15B21/00—Common features of fluid actuator systems; Fluid-pressure actuator systems or details thereof, not covered by any other group of this subclass
  • F15B21/04—Special measures taken in connection with the properties of the fluid
  • F15B21/048—Arrangements for compressed air preparation, e.g. comprising air driers, air condensers, filters, lubricators or pressure regulators

Definitions

• the electrically controlled solenoid valve is a normally-open solenoid valve configured to re- ceive a control signal indicative of a switched-on state of the compressor, or, in another embodiment, of a switched on state of the vehicle.
• the control signal can be indicative of a vehicle switched on state or of a compressor switched on state.
• the air drying assemble comprises a purge tank that is connected to the output port of the air drying unit and that is configured to store com- pressed dried air during a drying phase of the air drying assembly, and to provide the stored compressed dried air during a regeneration phase of the air drying assembly.
• clean dried air is therefore used to remove moisture from the desiccant element, and, optionally, dust or particles from the filter unit, which are then exhausted via the exhaust port.
• the exhaust valve is a pneumati- cally controlled valve, to avoid water corrosion caused by water present in the exhaust air during the regeneration phase.
• a second aspect of the present invention is formed by an air processing unit.
• the in- ventive air processing unit comprises an air drying assembly according to the first as- pect of the invention and a multi-circuit protection valve unit.
• the multi-circuit protection valve unit includes an inlet port that is connected to the outlet port of the air drying as- sembly and also includes a plurality of output ports for connection to respective pneu- matic units, in particular of a pneumatic braking system.
• the air processing unit of the second aspect of the invention is therefore designed to efficiently dry, clean and distrib- ute the compressed air provided by the compressed air supply unit (e.g. a compressor) into the different circuits of a vehicle’s braking system combining the features of an air drying assembly and a multi-circuit protection valve.
• the compressed air supply unit e.g. a compressor
• a fifth aspect of the present invention is formed by a commercial vehicle comprising an air drying assembly according to the first aspect, or an air processing unit according to the second aspect or a pneumatic arrangement according to the third aspect or a brak- ing arrangement according to the fourth aspect.
• FIG. 1 a schematic block diagram of a known pneumatic arrangement with a pressure discharge line connected to the input of the air drying assembly;
• FIG. 2 a schematic block diagram of a pneumatic arrangement in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 4 a schematic block diagram of a pneumatic arrangement in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 5 a schematic block diagram of a pneumatic arrangement in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 6 a schematic block diagram of a commercial vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a known pneumatic arrangement 50 with a pressure discharge line 11 connected to the input, or inlet port 1 , of an air drying assem- bly 10.
• the air drying assembly 10 is configured to receive compressed air CA, which is provided by a compressor 504, to dry said received compressed air CA and to provide dried compressed air to a pneumatic unit 502 of the pneumatic arrangement 50.
• the air drying assembly 10 comprises an inlet port 1 that is configured to be connected to the compressor 504, or to an equivalent compressed air supply unit, for receiving the com- pressed air CA, an air drying unit 102 comprising an input port 104 connected to the in- let port 1 , a desiccant element 106 arranged and configured to absorb moisture 108 from the received compressed air CA, and an output port 110 for outputting the dried compressed air DA.
• the desiccant element 106 is pneumatically arranged between the input port 104 and the output port 110, meaning that the pneumatic path between the input port 104 and the output port 110 transverses the desiccant element 108.
• the air drying assembly 10 also comprises an outlet port 2 for providing the dried compressed air DA to the pneumatic unit 502.
• a non-return valve 111 may be included to prevent a backwards flow of air from the pneumatic unit 502 towards the air drying unit 102.
• the air drying assembly 10 also comprises a pressure discharge line 11 for discharging air pressure P in the air drying assembly 10, via a pressure discharge port 12, to an environment 116.
• a flow of discharge air F to the environment 116 is con- trolled by an electrically controllable valve unit 118.
• the pressure discharge line is used to discharge the air pressure P in the line linking the compressor 504 to the air drying assembly 10, especially after vehicle switch off condition. This avoids an initial high torque acting in the compressor's motor when after a subsequent switch on condition.
• the electrically controllable valve unit 118 controlling the flow along the pres- sure discharge is subject to rust due to water entry caused by the valve unit being oper- ated with ambient air.
• the air drying assembly 100 of FIG. 2 comprises an inlet port 1 configured to be con- nected to the compressed air supply unit 504 for receiving compressed air CA, an air drying unit 102 comprising an input port 104 connected to the inlet port 1, a desiccant element 106 arranged and configured to absorb moisture 108 from the received com- pressed air CA, and an output port 110 for outputting the dried com-pressed air DA, and an outlet port 2 for providing the dried compressed air DA to the pneumatic unit 502.
• the desiccant element 106 is pneumatically arranged between the input port 104 and the output port 110.
• the air drying assembly 100 also comprises a pressure discharge line 112 for discharg- ing air pressure P in the air drying assembly, via a pressure discharge port 114, to an environment 116.
• the a flow of discharge air F to the environment 116 is controlled by an electrically controllable valve unit 118.
• the pressure discharge line 112 is connected to the output port 110 of the air drying unit 102.
• valve unit 118 the flow of discharge air that passes through the valve unit 118 has already passed through the air drying unit 102, which reduces the amount of moisture in said flow of air F and the corrosion of the elec- trically controllable valve unit 118 is avoided or at least significantly reduced so that the operational life time of said valve unit 118 is extended.
• the electrically controlled valve unit 118 of FIG. 2 is an electrically con- trolled solenoid valve 120.
• the electrically controlled solenoid valve 120 is a 2/2-way solenoid valve 122 that has a first port 122.1 connected to the output port 110 of the air drying unit 102 and a second port 122.2 connected to the envi- ronment 116, which is controlled by the provision of a control signal CS.
• the electrically controlled solenoid valve is a normally-open solenoid valve configured to receive a control signal CS indicative of a switched-on state of the compressor, or, in the case of implementing the pneumatic arrangement in a vehicle, the control signal can be indicative of a switch state (off/on) of the vehicle.
• the solenoid valve 122 When the control signal is present, the solenoid valve 122 is energized and the pneu- matic path along the pressure discharge line 112 is blocked. In this case, the air pro- vided by the compressor 504 is dried and fed to the pneumatic unit.
• the control signal is no longer pressure, for instance because the compressor, or the vehicle is switched off, the pressure P accumulated in the main line between the compressor 504 and a non-return valve 111 can be discharged via the pressure discharge line 112.
• the main line is the supply line that links the compressor to the pneumatic unit.
• the air drying assembly 100 may comprising a filter unit 103 arranged be- tween the inlet port 1 and the air drying unit 102 and configured to filter the compressed air CA and thereby remove dust or other particles.
• FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of a pneumatic arrangement 500 including an air drying assembly 100b in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention.
• the drying assembly 100b of Fig, 3 further comprises an exhaust line 124 that is con- nected to the inlet port 1 and to an exhaust port 3.
• a flow of exhaust air E to the exhaust port 3 is controlled by an exhaust valve unit 126 that is configured to enable the flow of exhaust air E upon reception of an exhaust request signal ER.
• the exhaust valve unit may comprise one or more pneumatically controlled valves, electrically controlled valves or a combination of pneumatically and electrically controlled valves.
• the air drying as- sembly also comprises a purge tank 128 that is connected to the output port 110 of the air drying unit 102 and configured to store compressed dried air DA, for instance during a drying phase DP of the air drying assembly 100b, and to provide the stored com- pressed dried air DA during a regeneration phase RP or purging phase of the air drying assembly 100b.
• the compressed dried air DA pro- vided by the purge tank 128 is directed to the exhaust port 3 via the air drying unit in a regeneration flow direction R from the output port 110 to the input port 104 of the air drying unit 102.
• the regeneration phase is advantageously used to regenerate the desiccant material.
• the dried compressed air interacts with the desiccant material and carries away part of the humidity stored, which is then exhausted via the exhaust port 3.
• the purge tank 128 is connected in parallel to the pres- sure discharge line 112.
• FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of a pneumatic arrangement 500 including an air drying assembly 100c in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention.
• the purge tank 128 is now connected in the pressure discharge line 112 between the output port 110 of the air drying unit 102 and the electrically controllable valve unit 118.
• the pneumatic arrangement 500 of FIG. 4 is otherwise analogous to that of FIG. 3 and the reader is referred to the discussion of FIG. 3 for a comprehensive explanation of the features shown in FIG. 4.
• FIG. 5 shows a schematic block diagram of a pneumatic arrangement in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention.
• the pneumatic arrangement of FIG. 5 is ex- emplarily configured as a braking arrangement 500b and includes an air processing unit -APU- 200.
• the APU 200 exemplarily comprises an air drying assembly 100 as previ- ously described with reference to FIG. 2.
• alternative APLJ’s may comprise other embodiments of air drying assemblies according to the invention, such as, for ex- ample, air drying assembly 100b of FIG. 3 or air drying assembly 100c of FIG. 4.
• the air processing unit 200 comprises a multi-circuit protection valve unit 202 hav- ing an inlet port 21 connected to the outlet port 2 of the air drying assembly 100 (or 100b, or 100c) and a plurality of output ports 22, 23, 24 for connection to respective pneumatic units 502a, 502b, 502c of the pneumatic braking system 500b.
• the multi-cir- cuit protection valve unit 202 is, in this particular example, a three circuit protection valve.
• the multi-circuit protection valve unit may be a four circuit protection valve.
• Multi-circuit protection valve units typically comprise (not shown) one or more in- tegrated pressure limiting valves and a plurality of check valves and is used to limit and guard the pressure in multiple-circuit braking arrangements.
• FIG. 6 shows a schematic block diagram of a commercial vehicle 1000 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• the commercial vehicle 100 comprises a pneu- matic arrangement 500, which can be configured as a braking arrangement 500b, which in turn comprises an air drying assembly 100, 100b, 100c, or an air processing unit 200.
• the vehicle compressor 504 is configured to provide compressed air, which is dried by the air drying assembly 100 and stored in one or more compressed air storage units 506, from where it is provided for operation of the braking units 508, which are config- ured to apply a braking force to the wheels 1002 of the vehicle 1000.
• the combination of the compressed air storage unit 506 and the braking units 508 which receive dried compressed air for their operation therefrom, is labelled as an exemplary pneumatic unit 502.
• the invention is directed to an air drying assembly comprising an inlet port for receiving compressed air an air drying unit for outputting the dried compressed air, and an outlet port for providing the dried compressed air to a pneumatic unit.
• the air drying assembly also comprises a pressure discharge line for discharging air pressure in the air drying assembly, via a pressure discharge port, to an environment, wherein a flow of discharge air to the environment is controlled by an electrically controllable valve unit.
• the pressure discharge line is connected to the output port of the air drying unit, which reduces the corrosion of the valve unit.
• a single unit or device may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims.
• the mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Valves And Accessory Devices For Braking Systems (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=90924041

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 2024
  • 2024-04-25 WO PCT/EP2024/061382 patent/WO2024235606A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2024-04-25 EP EP24722521.2A patent/EP4713232A1/de active Pending
  • 2024-04-25 CN CN202480027330.1A patent/CN121039004A/zh active Pending

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events