JP2003290615A - Filter element, manufacturing method therefor and attachment structure of filter element - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain shape retension even if a frame is omitted while keeping a seal function and to solve the problem of expansion and contraction due to a heat cycle in such a case that a flange is integrated with an element body by an elastomer material. <P>SOLUTION: A sheetlike filter medium 1 comprising a nonwoven fabric made of a thermoplastic resin has hill form folding lines 1a and trough form folding lines 1b alternately formed thereto in a stripe state. Subsequently, the filter medium 1 is continuously sent to a pleating process to be pleated zigzag on the basis of the hill form folding lines 1a and the trough form folding lines 1b to be cut. This habit forming process is provided in order to correct the curving of the filter medium 1 at pinching in a later fusion-bonding process and a pitch shape is accurately held by the striping shape of a fold lines 1c. The trough parts of the filter medium 1 are pinched on both sides thereof over a predetermined width. After the pinching of the trough parts at the pinching position by a cutting blade-shaped ultrasonic horn, ultrasonic waves are applied to the filter medium 1 and the filter medium 1 is fused and cut on both sides of the width direction thereof to be completed as the element body 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filter element, a method of manufacturing the same, and a mounting structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a filter element used in a box-shaped air cleaner has a box-shaped hard resin frame in which the element body is fitted with an element body obtained by alternately folding a sheet-shaped filter medium in a mountain fold and valley fold. And a gasket disposed on the peripheral flange portion of the frame, and the flange portion is sandwiched between the case and the cover of the air cleaner and fixed with a buckle or the like, so that the air cleaner is set while maintaining airtightness.

However, this structure has a large number of parts corresponding to the number of frames, which is a bottleneck in reducing the cost.

[0004]

The reason why the frame is required is mainly that the valley folds on both sides of the element body are opened,
This is because it is necessary to close this opening position with the side plate of the case, and since the element body itself is made of a flexible material, there is no shape retention, and the frame provides shape retention.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to filter the frame by omitting the frame while maintaining the sealing function by closing both sides of the valley of the element body. An element and a method for manufacturing the element are provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a filter element and a method of manufacturing the same that can maintain the shape retention even if the frame is omitted.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure for a filter element which can solve the problem of expansion and contraction due to heat cycle when the flange is integrally formed with the element body by an elastomer material. .

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides that both side valley folds of an element body obtained by alternately mountain-folding and valley-folding a sheet-like filter medium are closed in a bag shape. Characterize.

Therefore, in the present invention, the side opening is closed by the filter element itself, and the frame can be omitted. According to the present invention, since the flange is integrally formed on the four circumferences of the filter element by injection molding, shape retention is provided, and the filter element can be reliably set in the air cleaner case. Further, in the present invention, since the resin material forming the flange is formed of an elastomer material, the flange doubles as a gasket and a sealing effect can be obtained.

The method of the present invention comprises a step of streaking the mountain fold line and the valley fold line alternately orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the sheet-like filter medium, a step of alternately folding along the mountain fold line and the valley fold line, and folding. It is characterized in that both sides of the valley portion of the folded filter medium are pinched, and the pinch positions are welded and fused through ultrasonic processing means to be joined in a bag shape. Therefore, according to the method of the present invention, the bag-like binding operation of the element body can be realized only by adding the ultrasonic welding process. In the method of the present invention, in the muscle pushing step, folding line processing for preventing bending of the filter medium at the time of pinch is performed, and by adding a curling step along the folding line in the folding step, the pitch is accurately maintained. Meanwhile, welding and cutting can be performed. Further, in the method of the present invention, a plurality of pairs of protrusions penetrating through the cavity positions of both molds are provided prior to engaging the other mold with the element body set in one mold of the injection molding mold. Pins are fixed around the four sides of the filter element, then the other die is engaged and injection molding is performed, so that the element body can be accurately set in the die for integral molding. You can

According to the mounting structure of the present invention, a gasket portion is formed integrally on the upper side of the flange integrated with the outer peripheral portion of the element body so as to make a round around the periphery, and the projecting pieces are integrally suspended on the lower four sides. On the other hand, a concave groove that fits the protruding piece is formed around the upper part of the lower part of the air cleaner case,
The bottom of the upper part of the air cleaner case is abutted against the gasket, and a locking part extending downward is formed on the outermost peripheral part of the bottom, and this locking part is fitted in the groove on the outer peripheral part of the projecting piece. It is characterized by doing. Therefore, according to the present invention, the mounting structure can prevent expansion and contraction due to the heat cycle when the flange is made of an elastomer material.

[0012]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1
(A)-(c) shows the manufacturing procedure of the element main body which applied the method of this invention. First, in (a),
For example, the sheet-shaped filter medium 1 made of a non-woven fabric made of 100% polyester is continuously fed to the streak-pressing step, and the mountain fold lines 1 are alternately arranged.
a, the valley fold line 1b is scored. At the same time, fold lines 1c for curling are formed on both sides of the mountain fold line 1a. Then, this filter medium 1 is continuously sent to a pleat process,
As shown in (b), the mountain fold line 1a and the valley fold line 1b are folded in a zigzag shape, and then, as shown in (c), both sides of the mountain portion are lowered based on the fold line 1c for curling. After being sent to the curling process, the product is cut into length units. This squeezing process is for correcting the curvature of the filter medium 1 at the time of pinching during the subsequent welding process, and the crease shape of the folding line 1c allows the pitch shape to be maintained accurately.

Although not shown, the ultrasonic welding device is one in which both sides of the valley portion of the filter medium 1 are pinched with a predetermined width, and the pinch position is an ultrasonic horn having a cutting blade shape, and ultrasonic waves are applied after pinching. By doing so, both sides of the filter medium 1 in the width direction are welded and fused to complete the element body 2.

2 and 3 show the completed state. The lower portions on both sides of the valley portion 2a of the element body 2 are cut by a predetermined length, and a welding portion 3 having a predetermined width is formed in the longitudinal direction at the cutting position. Both ends of the valley portion 2a are bound in a bag shape.

A welded portion 4 which is continuous in the lateral direction and extends to the end portion in the width direction is formed on the upper side communicating with the end portion, and has a structure in which the bottom surface on the upper side is also bound, and is also bound depending on the stiffened shape. The bent portion is molded into a constant shape without being curved.

The element body 2 obtained as described above can be used as a cylindrical filter element by rounding it into a cylindrical shape and welding the loop end thereof, but it is recommended to use a finished filter element.

4 and 5 show a flange integral molding step for imparting shape retention to the element body 2 described above.

In this step, the completed element body 2 is set in the lower die 5 of the injection molding die, and then the upper die 6 is lowered to pass through a runner and a gate (not shown) in the cavities 7 formed in both the dies 5 and 6. By injecting the resin 8 and cooling the molds 5 and 6, a flange is integrated around the element body 2.

In this case, the four circumferences of the element body 2 are set so as to partially enter the cavity 7. However, the end portion 2b of the element body 2 precedes the lowering operation of the upper mold 6 and then inside the cavity 7. Is clamped and fixed by the upper and lower two positioning pins 9 and 10 protruding as indicated by the arrow, and is positioned and fixed at an accurate position in the cavity 7. In this state, the resin wraps inside the cavity and is integrated with the end of the element body 2. To be done. Therefore, according to this method, there is no molding defect due to misalignment or sagging of the end portion of the element body 2, and the product yield is high.

By using an elastomer material as the resin material for the flange used in the above-mentioned molding, instead of the usual hard resin, it is possible to provide shape retention and also have a gasket function. On the other hand, although there are inherent problems such as warpage and bending due to heat shrinkage, the problem is solved by devising the structure described below and the mounting structure for the air cleaner casing.

FIG. 6 to FIG. 10 show the completed state of the product. A plurality of elongated holes 13 which are the projection marks of the positioning pins 9 and 10 are formed above and below the flange 12 in the completed filter element 11. There is. Also flange 1
On the upper side of 2, a gasket portion 14 is formed so as to project around the upper side, and the flange 12 is provided on the lower side four rounds.
A projection piece 15 for fitting in an air cleaner case, which will be described later, is integrally formed in a vertically extending state. Further, the widths on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the flange 11 are formed wider than the widths on both sides in the width direction. This is to prevent the element body 2 from easily contracting in the longitudinal direction and from easily contracting and curving due to selection of the material of the flange 12.

Next, FIG. 11 shows a mounting structure of the above filter element 11 to the air cleaner case 16. In the figure, the lower side is a synthetic resin cover 17, and the upper side is a synthetic resin case 18. A groove 19 for mounting an element is formed around the upper portion of the cover 17, and the projection 15 is fitted in the groove 19 to prevent the flange 12 from contracting in the longitudinal direction and the width direction. .
Further, the bottom surface of the outer peripheral portion of the case 18 is
The abutting portion 20 is elastically contacted with the abutting portion 20 to secure sufficient airtightness, and further, the outermost peripheral portion of the abutting portion 20 is a locking portion 21 extending to the lower side.
By fitting to the groove 19 side in the outer peripheral portion of 5,
The extension of the flange 12 is also regulated.

Therefore, according to the above-mentioned mounting structure, the filter element 11 can be prevented from being deformed due to the thermal contraction and expansion due to the heat cycle, and the sealing function can be sufficiently ensured.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, both sides of the valley of the element body are closed, so that the sealing function can be maintained, but the frame can be omitted, and the frame can be omitted. The shape retention can be obtained even if is omitted. Further, according to the mounting structure of the present invention, it is possible to solve the problem of expansion and contraction due to heat cycle when the flange is integrally formed with the element body by the elastomer material.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A to 1C are explanatory views showing a manufacturing procedure of an element body according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a completed view of the element body.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a mold structure for integrating a flange with an element body.

5 (a) and 5 (b) are enlarged views of a portion B in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a product completed state.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a completed state of the product.

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the same.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where the filter element is incorporated in an air cleaner casing.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 filter media 1a Yamaori Line 1b Taniori Line 1c Folding line for habit 2 Element body 2a Tanibe 3,4 Welded part 5,6 Injection mold (5 lower mold, 6 upper mold) 7 cavities 9,10 Positioning pin 11 filter elements 12 flange 14 Gasket part 15 protrusions 16 air cleaner case 17 Lower case (cover) 18 Upper case (case) 19 groove 20 Abutment part 21 Locking part

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) B29C 45/26 B29C 45/26 65/08 65/08 // B29K 21:00 B29K 21:00 B29L 31:14 B29L 31 : 14 F term (reference) 4D019 AA01 BA13 BB03 CA02 CB01 CB06 4D058 JA14 KA01 KA13 KA25 SA07 4F202 AA45 AD17 AD23 AD27 AG24 AH03 CA11 CB01 CB12 CK42 CQ01 CQ07 4F206 AA45 AD17 AD23 J07Q04 J12Q16 CQ07 4F206 AA45 AD17 AD23 J07Q24 AH AH03 TA02 TC13 TC15 TC18 TC22 TD11 TH02 TH06 TH18 TJ30 TN23

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A filter element, characterized in that the element main body obtained by alternately folding a sheet-shaped filter medium in a mountain fold and valley fold portions on both sides are closed in a bag shape. 2. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein a flange is integrally formed on the four circumferences of the filter element by injection molding. 3. The filter element according to claim 2, wherein the resin material forming the flange is formed of an elastomer material. 4. A step of folding the sheet-shaped filter medium alternately along the longitudinal direction of the mountain fold line and the valley fold line, and a step of alternately folding along the mountain fold line and the valley fold line. A method for manufacturing a filter element, comprising pinching both sides of a valley portion of a filter medium, welding and fusing the pinch positions through ultrasonic processing means, and binding the bag into a bag shape. 5. The folding line processing for preventing the bending of the filter medium at the time of pinching is performed in the muscle pushing step, and the curling step is added along the folding line in the folding step. Item 4. A method of manufacturing a filter element according to Item 4. 6. A plurality of pairs of pins projecting through the cavity positions of both molds before engaging the other mold with the element body set in one mold of the injection mold. The method of manufacturing a filter element according to claim 4, wherein the filter element is sandwiched and fixed around four sides, and then the other die is engaged to perform injection molding. 7. The gasket according to claim 2, wherein a gasket portion is formed integrally with the outer peripheral portion of the element body so as to integrally surround the flange, and a gasket is integrally formed on the lower four sides. While vertically installed, a concave groove that fits the protrusion is formed around the upper part of the lower part of the air cleaner case. A filter element mounting structure, characterized in that a locking portion extending to the inside is formed, and the locking portion is fitted into the concave groove in the outer peripheral portion of the projecting piece.