JP2003254183A - Suction structure of air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a suction structure of an air cleaner capable of certainly removing the dust and hindering the rainwater from intruding. <P>SOLUTION: Approximately horizontally a duct 10 is installed at an exterior cover 7 of the engine over-part covering the upper part of an engine compartment 6, and a hood-fitted suction cylinder 20 to suck in the outer air is mounted on the duct 10, and an exhaust side connection hole 10b whereto the air cleaner 31 is connected directly or indirectly, is provided in a position a certain distance apart in horizontal direction from a suction side connection hole 10a provided in the duct 10 whereto the hood-fitted suction cylinder 20 is attached. The air outlet 10c at the exhaust side connection hole 10b of the duct 10 is located above the duct bottom surface 10d. The duct 10 is furnished with a water bleed hole 10e. It is desirable that the duct 10 is furnished with a plurality of such suction cylinders 20 as described. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air cleaner intake structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In construction machines such as hydraulic excavators, the engine is generally covered with a machine cab, so that the air temperature inside the machine cab is high. As a result, in order to maintain the performance of the engine, it is necessary to introduce the outside air outside the machine cab into the air cleaner of the engine.

Further, since construction machines are often operated outdoors, they are often forced to work in dust, wind and rain, and even in that case, the outside air introduced from the outside of the machine cab to the air cleaner of the engine is dust. It is necessary to prevent the clogging of the air cleaner and the wetting of the air cleaner by making the air cleaner to be small and free of water droplets.

As a means for solving the above problems, for example, an air cleaner intake structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-64349 is known, and the structure disclosed in FIGS. 7 to 9 is taken as an example. The conventional technique will be described. FIG. 7 is a side view of a hydraulic excavator to which the air cleaner intake structure described in the publication is applied, FIG. 8 is a top sectional view of a conventional air cleaner intake structure, and is an XX sectional view of FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the same and is a sectional view taken along line YY of FIG. 8.

As shown in FIG. 7, the hydraulic excavator 50 is
A swivel frame 53 is rotatably mounted on the traveling device 51, and a machine cab 65 covered with a building cover 55 is disposed on the swivel frame 53 from the center to the rear.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the building cover 5
5 are left and right side covers 58, 58 (only the left is shown), a top cover 59, an engine cover 60, and an under cover 5.
3G and a first partition plate 61 extending in the left-right direction and erected,
The second partition plate 62 and the third partition plate 63 are provided.
Between the first partition plate 61 and the second partition plate 62, an engine chamber 66 and an outside air introducing chamber 67 partitioned by the partition plate 64 and the radiator 71, and between the second partition plate 62 and the third partition plate 6 are provided.
Air cleaner storage chambers 68 are formed between the respective portions 3. A louver (not shown) is formed on the engine cover 60 above the outside air introducing chamber 67 so that the outside air is introduced into the outside air introducing chamber 67 from the louver.

In the air cleaner accommodating chamber 68,
An air cleaner 75 is attached to the third partition plate 63 via a band 78 and a bracket portion 78A of the band 78. An outside air introducing pipe 76C protruding upward from the peripheral wall of the air cleaner 75 is inserted into a communication hole 59A formed in the top cover 59, and the outside air introducing pipe 76C protruding above the top cover 59 is located above the outside air introducing pipe 76C. Precleaner 80
Is installed.

Further, the air cleaner 75 is loosened by the band 78 so that the outside air introducing pipe 7 of the air cleaner 75 is removed.
The direction of 6C is selectable, and the second partition plate 62 has a communication hole 62A through which the outside air introducing pipe 76C can be inserted.
And a dust-proof cowl 72 that covers the outside air introduction chamber 67 side of the communication hole 62A and is open downward. Further, a dustproof cowl 73 which opens downward is disposed on the third partition plate 63 below the air cleaner 75.
A communication hole 73A through which the outside air introduction pipe 76C can be inserted is provided on the upper surface of the dust collector 3, and a dust separation chamber 74 is formed below the dustproof cowl 73.

According to the above construction, the connection direction of the outside air introducing pipe 76C can be changed according to the amount of dust in the work environment, and in a work environment with a large amount of dust such as a desert, as shown in FIG.
~ In the state of the above configuration in Fig. 9, the precleaner 8
Zero is used to exclude dust. As a result,
It is said that it is possible to select an engine intake method suitable for various work environments.

[0010]

However, the conventional configuration described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-64349 has the following problems. (1) Since small and medium-sized construction machines are generally used for small-scale construction, the work site can be changed in a short period of time. In that case, in order to maintain a high turnover ratio of each construction machine owned by the leasing company or construction company, it is necessary to make each construction machine a versatile specification that can withstand various work environments. For example, in order to complete the inspection of the air cleaner at regular inspection intervals even after being used in the dust environment in the well-known house dismantling work, the precleaner 80 is indispensable in the intake structure of the air cleaner.

(2) Large-sized construction machines are used for loading and moving large and small rocks (hereinafter referred to as "sludge") obtained by crushing mountains by blasting in mines, limestone mines, quarries, and sand collection sites. Often used for work. In that case, as is well known, the blast due to blast is covered with a large amount of stone powder,
This stone powder flies up as dust every time the sledge is moved, so large construction machines are always used in the dust. Therefore, the precleaner is indispensable in the intake structure of the air cleaner.

(3) At the work site of (2) above,
Even when the weather is heavy and rainy regardless of the weather, the work of loading and moving the sludge is often performed as planned, but in that case, the precleaner 80 arranged above the building cover 55 causes the rain to fall. The outside air is sucked from the surrounding space where there are a large number of water droplets in which the rain splashes that bounce on the upper surface of the building cover 55 coexist. As a result, not only water may enter the air cleaner 75, but dust attached to the precleaner 80 due to water wetting also solidifies and grows over time, which impedes the introduction of outside air and reduces performance. The problem of coming will arise.

(4) Further, since the humidity of the air is high in the case of rain, the air sucked from the precleaner 80 is adiabatically expanded by the suction negative pressure to cause dew condensation on the inner walls of the precleaner 80 and the outside air introducing pipe 76C. The generated water droplets may travel along the wall surface and reach the air cleaner 75. As a result, when the performance of the large-sized construction machine is reduced or the operation of the large-scale construction machine is stopped, the production capacity of the entire mine system is reduced, which is a serious problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air cleaner intake structure capable of reliably removing dust and preventing rainwater from entering.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention is, in an air cleaner intake structure, a duct is disposed substantially horizontally on an engine upper exterior cover that covers an upper portion of an engine compartment. In this duct, an air intake cylinder with a hood that inhales the outside air is attached, and an air cleaner is installed directly or indirectly at a position horizontally separated from the intake side connection port where the air intake cylinder with the hood is attached. It has a structure in which a discharge side connection port for connecting to is provided.

According to the first invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The air sucked in from the upper part of the hooded intake cylinder flows into the duct at a high speed in the hooded intake cylinder downwards, so the water drops mixed with the air and sucked in during rain are straightened by the inertia of the mass. Although it falls on the bottom of the duct, the air flows in the duct by turning horizontally. At this time, since it flows through the expanded space in the duct, the flow velocity is reduced, and water drops easily drop on the bottom surface of the duct. Then, after the outside air flows through the duct, it exits in the air cleaner direction from the discharge side connection port. In addition, water droplets that condense in the air intake cylinder with a hood due to high humidity air in the case of rain also similarly drop on the bottom surface of the duct.
These separate water droplets in the duct.

(2) According to the result of the above (1), if a well-known precleaner is connected to the discharge side connection port (which will be described later in the embodiment), dust can be centrifugally separated without water. Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent rainwater from entering and remove dust. Further, since the inside of the precleaner is not wet with water, the dust does not become mud and sticks over a long period of time, and therefore the dust removing performance of the precleaner is maintained.

In a second aspect based on the first aspect, the air outlet at the discharge side connection port of the duct is located above the bottom surface of the duct.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent water droplets that have dropped on the bottom surface of the duct from passing over the air outlet of the discharge side connecting port and flowing into the air cleaner. The water drops on the bottom of the duct can be naturally dried after the rain stops.

In a third aspect based on the second aspect, the duct is provided with a drainage port.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the water droplets that have dropped onto the bottom surface of the duct are discharged from the water drain port, even if the amount of water droplets that drop onto the bottom surface of the duct is large, the water droplets will be discharged together with air to the air outlet of the discharge side connection port. Never intrudes into the air cleaner. As a result, the construction machine and work vehicle can be operated for a long period of time even in severe wind and rain.

A fourth aspect of the invention is the construction of the first, second or third aspect of the invention, in which a plurality of the intake cylinders with hoods are attached to the duct.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the intake air flow velocity of the outside air of each hood intake cylinder can be reduced by mounting the plurality of hood intake cylinders on the duct. The amount of inhaled water droplets can be reduced.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A hydraulic excavator will be described below as an example.
Embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a side view of a hydraulic excavator to which an air cleaner intake structure according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a top view of the air cleaner intake structure according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view, and FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view of the intake structure of the air cleaner according to the first embodiment, which is a MM cross-sectional view of FIG. 2.

In FIG. 1, a swivel frame 4 is rotatably mounted on an upper portion of a traveling device 2 of the hydraulic excavator 1, and an engine room 6 is disposed on the swivel frame 4 in the rear of the central portion. A duct 10 is provided in an engine upper exterior cover 7 that covers the upper part of the engine chamber 6, and an intake cylinder 20 with a hood is provided above the duct 10 for combustion of an engine (not shown) in the engine chamber 6. Air is taken in from the outside of the engine room 6 through the hooded intake cylinder 20.

The details of the intake structure of the air cleaner will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The duct 10 attached to the engine upper exterior cover 7 with the bolts 16 includes an upper box 11 having a convex shape upward and a lower box 12 having a convex shape downward, and the upper box 11 has two suction sides. Connection port 10a, 10a
Is provided. Further, the hooded intake cylinders 20 and 20 cover the cylindrical intake part 24 having a large number of intake ports 24a formed obliquely downward to the outside and the upper opening of the intake part 24 from above. A hood 22 having an eaves portion hanging outward from the intake port 24a, a tubular body 21 inserted into the lower portion of the intake portion 24, and a clamp 23 for clamping the joint portion between the intake portion 24 and the tubular body 21. It has and. The lower portions of the tubular bodies 21 of the intake hood-equipped intake pipes 20, 20 are attached to the two intake-side connection ports 10a, 10a with bolts 21a, 21a.

Further, the lower box 12 is formed with a discharge side connection port 10b at a position separated by a predetermined distance so as not to overlap with the suction side connection ports 10a, 10a in plan view, and the discharge side connection port 10b is formed. The precleaner 32 is inserted from below, and the air inlet 32c at the upper end of the precleaner 32, that is, the air outlet 10c from the duct 10 is provided so as to be located above the duct bottom surface 10d. Precleaner 3
An annular elastic seal material 32b is sandwiched between the flange 32a provided on the outer peripheral portion of the second box 2 and the lower box 12 to prevent air leakage.

The precleaner 32 is an air cleaner 3
The air cleaner 31 is connected to and supported by an air introduction pipe 31a protruding from the body of the engine 1. The air cleaner 31 is attached by a band 37 to a bracket 38 attached to a partition wall 39 provided inside a side surface of the engine compartment 6 with a bolt 38a. ing.

Further, a water drain port 10e is provided on the bottom surface 10d of the duct of the lower box 12, and a drain hose 15 is attached to the water drain port 10e with a clamp 15a. In addition,
The drain hose 15 is thin and long, so that water flows down along the inner wall of the hose 15, but the rise of air in the hose 15 is suppressed by the conduit resistance of the thin and long hose. I have to.

The other end 34a of the dust suction pipe 34 connected to the lower portion of the precleaner 32 is connected to the exhaust pipe (not shown) of the engine, whereby it is centrifugally separated in the precleaner 32. The dust is sucked out by the high-speed exhaust of the engine through the dust suction pipe 34. The other end 33a of the air delivery pipe 33 attached to the air cleaner 31 is connected to an intake manifold (not shown) of the engine.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the intake structure according to the second embodiment and corresponds to the MM sectional view of FIG. The same components as those in the previous figure are designated by the same reference numerals, and the following description will be omitted, and the same applies hereafter.

In FIG. 4, a cylinder 13 is erected around the discharge side connection port 10b on the bottom surface 10d of the duct, and the cylinder 13 allows the air outlet 10c from the duct 10 to reach the bottom surface 10d of the duct.
The pre-cleaner 32 is arranged below the duct 10 and apart from the duct 10. This eliminates the possibility of the duct 10 coming into contact with the precleaner 32 when the engine upper cover 7 and / or the duct 10 is attached / detached.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a front sectional view of the intake structure according to the third embodiment and corresponds to the MM sectional view of FIG.

In FIG. 5, the lower box 12 is partitioned by a partition plate 14, and a discharge side connection port 1 is provided on the side opposite to the suction side connection port 10a (right side in the figure) with a substantially vertical surface including the partition plate 14 as a boundary.
0b is arranged so that the upper edge of the partition plate 14 becomes the air outlet 10c of the duct 10. This simplifies the structure and reduces the cost. Although the partition plate 14 is a straight plate in the drawing, the partition plate 14 may have a free shape so that it is easy to enclose only the discharge side connection port 10b without being restricted by this.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of the intake structure according to the fourth embodiment and corresponds to the MM sectional view of FIG.

In FIG. 6, the engine upper exterior cover 7
The upper box 11 is attached to the upper part of the to form the duct 10, and the exhaust side connection port 10b is formed in the engine upper exterior cover 7.
And a drain port 10e are formed. This further simplifies the structure and reduces costs. In addition,
Even when the duct 10 is formed by the engine upper exterior cover 7 and the lower box 12 (see FIGS. 3 to 5) as described above, and the suction side connection ports 10a, 10a are formed in the engine upper exterior cover 7, the same applies. Although a duct can be configured in the above, the description is omitted here.

In the above-mentioned configurations of the first to fourth embodiments, the duct 10 can be disassembled (that is, detachable) by attaching the upper box 11 and / or the lower box 12 with bolts or the like.
Although the structure is adopted, the duct 10 may be integrally formed by welding or the like, or the duct 1 may be fixed to the engine upper exterior cover 7 by welding or the like. Moreover, the shape of the duct 10 may be arbitrary. Alternatively, the precleaner 32 may be attached to the duct 10 side, and an elastic seal material may be disposed between the lower portion of the precleaner 32 and the air introduction pipe 31a of the air cleaner 31. Furthermore, when the precleaner 32 is unnecessary, the outlet side connection port 1 of the duct 10
0b and the air introduction pipe 31a of the air cleaner 31 or an extension pipe thereof may be connected and configured in the same manner as described above.

The first to fourth embodiments according to FIGS. 1 to 6 are described above.
In the embodiment, the following actions and effects are obtained. (1) Since the air sucked from the intake port 24a of the hood-equipped intake cylinder 20 flows downward in the tubular body 21 at a high speed, the water droplets mixed with the air and sucked in during rain are straightened by the inertia of the mass. It falls on the bottom surface 10d of the duct. Furthermore, since the air spreads in a wide space when flowing horizontally in the duct 10, the flow velocity decreases, so that the water droplets are more reliably dropped. In addition, the hood 22 is exposed to the high humidity air when it rains.
Similarly, the water droplets that have condensed on the inside of the tubular body 21 are also formed on the bottom surface of the duct 1.
It falls to 0d. By these, water droplets are separated in the duct 10.

(2) Water drops that have fallen on the duct bottom surface 10d are air outlets 10c located above the duct bottom surface 10d.
It does not come out of the air outlet, and is discharged from the water outlet 10e located at a position lower than the air outlet 10c (the duct bottom surface 10d in the above-described embodiment). By connecting a narrow and long drain hose to the drainage port 10e, it is possible to allow water drops to flow down along the inner wall of the drain hose on the one hand, and rise in the drain hose toward the negative pressure in the duct on the other hand. The amount of air can be controlled by the conduit resistance of the thin and long drain hose.

(3) As a result of the above (1) and (2), it is possible to surely prevent rainwater from entering. Further, as a result, dust does not adhere to the inside of the precleaner 32 due to water wetting, so that the dust removal performance of the precleaner 32 can be prevented from decreasing and the dust removal performance can be maintained. As a result, it is possible to surely prevent rainwater from entering and remove dust, and it is possible to operate the machine for a long time even in heavy rain or in a lot of dust.

(4) By providing the two intake hoods 20 and 20 with a hood, the flow velocity of the intake air from each intake port 24a can be reduced, so that water drops from the intake port 24a can be dropped even during heavy rain. The inhalation amount of can be reduced.

(5) By arranging the duct 10 horizontally along the engine upper exterior cover 7, the duct 1
Since 0 does not block the space around the engine (not shown), the flow of the engine cooling air is smooth. Further, as described above, the duct 10 can be removed integrally with the exterior cover 7. As a result, the maintenance of the engine is not impaired by the disposition of the duct 10. (6) Since the duct 10 is attached to the engine upper exterior cover 7, the duct 10 can be removed and cleaned, and can be easily performed.

Although the embodiment of the intake structure of the air cleaner has been described above by taking the hydraulic excavator as an example, the intake structure of the air cleaner is not limited to the hydraulic excavator and is universally applied to the intake structure of the air cleaner of other construction machines, work vehicles and the like. It is possible to carry out in the same manner as above, and the same actions and effects as above can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a hydraulic excavator to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a P view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line MM in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of an air intake structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front sectional view of an air intake structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of an air intake structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a hydraulic excavator to which a conventional intake structure is applied.

8 is a cross-sectional top view of an intake structure according to the related art, and FIG.
FIG.

9 is a side sectional view of an intake structure according to a conventional technique, and FIG.
3 is a sectional view taken along line YY of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 ... Engine room, 7 ... Engine upper exterior cover, 10 ...
Duct, 10a ... Intake side connection port, 10b ... Exhaust side connection port, 10c ... Air outlet, 10d ... Duct bottom face, 10e ...
Drainage port, 11 ... Upper box, 12 ... Lower box, 13 ... Cylinder, 14 ...
Partition plate, 20 ... Intake cylinder with hood, 21 ... Cylindrical body, 22 ...
Hood, 24 ... Intake part, 24a ... Intake port, 31 ... Air cleaner, 31a ... Air introduction pipe, 32 ... Precleaner, 3
2a ... Flange, 32b ... Elastic sealing material, 32c ... Air inlet.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In an air cleaner intake structure, a duct (10) is arranged substantially horizontally on an engine upper exterior cover (7) covering an upper part of an engine room (6), and outside air is sucked into the duct (10). The air cleaner (31) is installed at a position horizontally separated by a predetermined distance from the suction side connection port (10a) in which the hooded intake cylinder (20) of the duct (10) is attached.
An intake structure for an air cleaner, characterized in that an exhaust side connection port (10b) for directly or indirectly connecting the above is provided. 2. The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the air outlet (10c) at the discharge side connection port (10b) of the duct (10) is located above the duct bottom surface (10d). Intake structure. 3. The intake structure for an air cleaner according to claim 2, wherein a water drainage port (10e) is formed in the duct (10). 4. The intake structure for an air cleaner according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein a plurality of the intake cylinders (20) with a hood are attached to the duct (10).