GB2563840A

GB2563840A - Improvements in or relating to oil filters

Info

Publication number: GB2563840A
Application number: GB1710162.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Philemon Petridis Themi; Khan Salman; Shaban-Ali Omar
Original assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2017-06-26
Filing date: 2017-06-26
Publication date: 2019-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 2037-06-26
Also published as: GB201710162D0; GB2563840B

Abstract

An oil or lubrication filter fitting assembly comprises an oil filter with an outer sleeve 30. When the oil filter is correctly assembled a protrusion 24 which extends radially from an annular outer wall of the oil filter engages with a release clip 34 provided on the outer sleeve. The protrusion may be formed integrally with the oil filter or be provided on an inner annular sleeve 20. The inner annular sleeve may be concentrically disposed between the annular outer wall of the oil filter and the outer sleeve. The outer sleeve may be incorporated into a tool or provided on the oil filter.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO OIL FILTERS

This invention relates to improvements in or relating to oil filters and, in particular, to a device that prevents over-tightening and under-tightening of the oil filter.

Oil filters are typically attached to the engine via a pair of mating screw threads. During the installation process the oil filter is screwed onto the engine with a gasket and sufficient torque must be provided to ensure that a seal is formed by the gasket such that oil cannot escape through the interface between the engine and the oil filter. However, if excessive torque is provided then the oil filter may be difficult to remove. Moreover, the over-tightening may cause damage to the gasket, which may be squashed by the excessive force. Furthermore, the screw threads or even to the surfaces of the engine and oil filter immediately adjacent to the threads may be damaged making the fitting of a replacement filter challenging.

In a production plant, the filter is assembled using an automatic tool, which applies a predetermined torque suitable for the effective sealing of the interface between the oil filter and the engine. The in-service workshop instructions typically indicate a required angle of rotation to be applied to the filter upon installation, the angle starting from first contact of gasket with engine. For example, this may be a 270° rotation. However, because the exact point of first contact may be unclear, the effect of an instruction to make a 270° rotation may not be repeatably executed with consistent results.

Hand held devices, such as that disclosed in US2016151895, are known. The device provides a ratchet mechanism that is intended to avoid over-tightening. The torque limiting mechanism is provided within a bore defined by a nut adapted to receive a conventional ratchet. The torque limiting mechanism includes a cam having bearing race notches formed circumferentially there-around. A plurality of ball bearings rest inside the notches until the rotational torque force applied to the socket from the ratchet overcomes the spring force acting opposite the cam.

Whilst such a device may be effectively deployed within a production line where the same torque needs to be applied to each oil filter interface, it becomes less reliable in the context of replacement of parts where an operative may work on a variety of different models with differing torque requirements. Furthermore, it may not be practical for an individual to retain such a device for occasional use.

It is against this background that the present invention has arisen.

The device according to the present invention is intended to provide a clear indication to the operative that point at which first contact of the gasket to the engine is made. This, in turn, provides a consistent means to start the prescribed angular rotation, in order to achieve a consistent final torque. The device provides feedback to the operator when sufficient angular rotation has been achieved and over-rotation is thereby prevented.

According to the present invention there is provided an oil filter fitting assembly comprising: an oil filter with an annular outer wall, a protrusion extending radially outward from the surface of the annular outer wall; an outer sleeve sized to enclose the annular outer wall ofthe oil filter, wherein the outer sleeve is provided with a release clip which is configured to engage with the protrusion when the oil filter is correctly assembled.

The protrusion may be formed integrally with the oil filter and extend out from the outer wall thereof. Although the provision of the protrusion as an integrally formed protrusion would require the moulding for the oil filter itself to be updated, this embodiment would have the minimum number of parts which may justify the resource required to amend the moulding of the oil filter.

The protrusion may be provided on an inner annular sleeve which may be substantially concentric to the annular outer wall of the oil filter.

The inner annular sleeve may be disposed between the annular outer wall of the oil filter and the sleeve provided with the release clip.

The inner annular sleeve may be a post assembly addition to the oil filter assembly. This embodiment enables the invention to be retrofitted onto existing oil filters without requiring the outer envelope of the oil filter to be changed.

The sleeve provided with the release clip may be incorporated into a tool. This embodiment provides the minimum packaging requirement within the engine as the sleeve with the release clip provided on a tool which may be introduced into the engine only when the oil filter is being fitted or changed.

The sleeve provided with the release clip may be provided on the oil filter. The provision ofthe sleeve on the oil filter is advantageous because this embodiment can be utilised by any operative engaged in tightening or loosening the oil filter. Its use is not limited to operatives possessing specific tools.

The invention will now be further and more particularly described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a conventional oil filter connected to an engine;

Figure 2 shows an inner sleeve;

Figure 3 shows an outer sleeve;

Figures 4A and 4B show the inner and outer sleeve in engaged and released configurations respectively;

Figure 5 shows the inner and outer sleeves in the engaged position assembled on an oil filter;

Figures 6A and 6B show the outer sleeve in an unlocked condition; and

Figure 7 shows the inner and outer sleeves in the released position assembled on an oil filter.

Figure 1 shows an oil filter 10 attached to an engine 12 of a motor vehicle. The engine 12 is shown only in part for reasons of clarity. Between the oil filter 10 and the engine 12 there is provided a gasket 14. The gasket 14 is annular and provides a seal at the interface between the oil filter 10 and the engine 12. The gasket 14 is held in place under compression. However, under excessive pressure, the gasket can become damaged.

Figure 2 shows an inner sleeve 20 which is sized to fit closely onto the oil filter 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the inner sleeve 20 includes a body portion 22, which is substantially cylindrical and sized to fit the oil filter 10. The inner sleeve is provided with at least one protrusion 24 which forms part of a release mechanism 26 in cooperation with an outer sleeve 30. The protrusion 24 extends radially out from the body portion 22 and is provided with a torque control tab 23 and a head portion 25.

The torque control tab 23 has an annular region 27 which is elongate in a circumferential direction. There is further provided a button 21 which extends away from the annular region 27 in a direction parallel to the axis of the oil filter 10. The button 21 in the illustrated embodiment is circular.

The head portion 25 is elongate in a circumferential direction and includes a step 29 between a first level and a second level.

Although the illustrated embodiment of the inner sleeve 20 includes a body portion that covers substantially the entire body of the oil filter 10, the invention could alternatively be implemented with a body portion that did not extend over substantially the entire body of the oil filter 10. For example, the body portion may extend only sufficiently far to support the outer sleeve 30. In some embodiments, the inner sleeve may consist only on the protrusion 24 which may be provided integrally with the oil filter 10.

Figure 3 shows an outer sleeve 30 which includes a body portion 32, which is substantially cylindrical and sized to fit closely around the inner sleeve 20. The sizing of the outer sleeve 30 should be sufficiently generous to allow the outer sleeve 30 to rotate relative to the inner sleeve 20, but the overall package of the inner 20 and outer sleeve 30 should increase the oil filter package size to the minimum practical extent.

The outer sleeve 30 is provided with a release clip 34 which, together with the step 29 of the head portion 25 on the inner sleeve 25 forms the release mechanism 26. The release clip 34 includes an arm 36 which extends around the circumference of the body portion 32 and a head portion 35 which includes a step 39. In use the head portion 35 of the release clip 34 deforms until the step 39 interfaces with the step 29 providing a positive indication to the user that sufficient torque has been provided and the oil filter 10 is correctly installed onto the engine 12.

Figures 4A and 4B show the inner sleeve 20 and outer sleeve 30 together to illustrate the engaged position, as shown in Figure 4A and the released position as shown in Figure 4B. In the engaged position, the release clip 34 of the outer sleeve 30 is engaged with the head portion 25 of the inner sleeve 20. When the outer sleeve 30 is rotated in the engaged state, both inner sleeve 20 and outer sleeve 30 rotate together with the filter 10. When step 29 makes contact with the engine 12, it is pushed towards the release clip 34 as the engaged inner 20 and outer 30 sleeves and filter 10 are further rotated. When correct rotation has been reached for optimum sealing, the release clip 34 is moved away from step 29 so that the release mechanism 26 is activated. At this point the outer sleeve 30 becomes free to rotate relative to the inner sleeve 20, so further rotation will not apply additional torque to the filter 10.

The released position is shown in Figure 4B where the step 29 provided on the head portion 25 of the inner sleeve 20 is clearly visible configured for cooperation with the release clip 34 as the engaged position is reached.

Figure 5 shows the inner 20 and outer 30 sleeves in the context of the oil filter 10. The body portion 22 of the inner sleeve 20 extends further in the axial direction that the body portion 32 of the outer sleeve 30. The body portion 22 of the inner sleeve 20 is provided with a beading 52 which prevents the outer sleeve 30 from slipping axially relative to the inner sleeve 20.

Figures 6A and 6B show the mechanism deployed to unlock the release mechanism 26 thus enabling the oil filter 10 to be removed from the engine 12. As illustrated in Figure 6A, when contact is made between the gasket 14 and the engine 12, the torque control tab 23 makes contact with the engine 12. As the oil filter 10 is screwed onto the engine 12, the torque control tab 23 moves into the outer sleeve 30 and unlocks the release clip 34 at the prescribed angular rotation. This action disconnects the outer sleeve 30 from the inner sleeve 20 and therefore if the operator continues to rotate the filter holding the outer sleeve 30 this further rotation will not result in further tightening of the filter 10 because the outer sleeve rotates independently of the filter 10 as shown in Figure 7.

In some embodiments, not illustrated in the accompanying figures, the device could be deployed as a reusable tool rather than integrated with the oil filter 10. The tool would incorporate the inner sleeve 20 and outer sleeve 30 and an additional locking feature would be provided to prevent rotation between the inner sleeve 20 and the oil filter 10. In order to enable the tool to be used with numerous filter designs with different gasket thicknesses, a locating feature would be required to ensure that the toque control tab is compatible with each filter variant.

It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although the invention has been described by way of example with reference to several embodiments it is not limited to the disclosed embodiments and that alternative embodiments could be constructed without departing from the scope ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An oil filter fitting assembly comprising: an oil filter with an annular outer wall; a protrusion extending radially outward from the surface ofthe annular outer wall; an outer sleeve sized to enclose the annular outer wall of the oil filter; and wherein the outer sleeve is provided with a release clip which is configured to engage with the protrusion when the oil filter is correctly assembled.

2. The oil filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is formed integrally with the oil filter and extends out from the outer wall thereof.

3. The oil filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is provided on an inner annular sleeve.

4. The oil filter assembly according to claim 3, wherein the inner annular sleeve is substantially concentric to the annular outer wall of the oil filter.

5. The oil filter assembly according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the inner annular sleeve is disposed between the annular outer wall of the oil filter and the sleeve provided with the release clip.

6. The oil filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve provided with the release clip is incorporated into a tool.

7. The oil filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve provided with the release clip is provided on the oil filter.