JP2016089766A - Air cleaner housing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air cleaner housing in which dust and water can be appropriately separated from air at an upstream side of filter elements.SOLUTION: A housing 22 is provided with an inlet 26 and an outlet 27. Filter elements 25 are arranged between the inlet 26 and the outlet 27. An inside part of the housing 22 at the upstream side of the filter elements 25 is provided with separation walls 29 opposing against the outlets of the inlet 26. Inside parts of separation walls 29 are formed with separation chambers 28. The separation walls 29 are constituted by a plurality of separation wall pieces 31. The separation wall pieces 31 are arranged on inclination surfaces inclined to be crossed in respect to an advancing direction of air flow. The separation wall pieces 31 have a surface opposing against the air flow. Between each of the separation wall pieces 31 is formed slits opened in a direction crossing with an advancing direction of the air flow.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an air cleaner for filtering air sucked into an engine of an automobile, and to a housing in which a cleaner element for air filtration is incorporated.

  A housing of this type of air cleaner is disclosed in Patent Document 1. A tubular passage communicating with an inlet through which air is introduced is provided inside the housing of Patent Document 1, and an opening is formed in the peripheral wall of the passage at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the passage. And the air from an inlet is introduce | transduced in the said channel | path, direction is changed, and it flows into the air cleaner element side from the said opening. On the other hand, since dust contained in air has a larger mass than air, it proceeds linearly by inertia and stays in the inner part of the passage, which is a bag path, without exiting the opening. As a result, the amount of dust reaching the element is reduced, and the life of the element is extended.

JP 2004-218482 A

  In the configuration of Patent Document 1, the direction of the air in the tubular passage is changed by the negative pressure in the housing and introduced into the housing from the opening. That is, since the direction change of the air flow depends on the pressure difference and the passage shape, it is difficult to obtain a steep angle enough to separate the dust by the mass difference in the direction change. Therefore, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the intended purpose cannot be achieved in the dust separation function.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an air cleaner that can appropriately separate dust and water in an air flow from air on the upstream side of the air cleaner element.

  To achieve the above object, in the present invention, in an air cleaner housing in which an inlet and an outlet are provided in a case, and a filter element is provided in the case between the inlet and the outlet, on the upstream side of the filter element. A separation wall facing the air flow from the inlet in the entry direction is provided inside the case, a separation chamber is formed inside the separation wall, and the separation wall is constituted by a plurality of separation wall pieces. The separation wall pieces are arranged on an inclined surface that is inclined so as to intersect with the air flow entry direction, and the separation wall pieces are formed with opposing surfaces facing the air flow. A slit opening in the direction intersecting with the air flow entrance direction is formed therebetween.

  In the above configuration, air enters the separation chamber via the inlet, hits the opposing surface of the separation wall piece, changes the air flow direction, and then passes through the slit to the filter element side. That is, since the air flow strikes the opposing surface and the direction is forcibly changed, the direction change is appropriately executed at a fixed position. Therefore, air and dust and water are effectively separated based on the mass difference.

  In the present invention, dust and water in the air can be appropriately separated on the upstream side of the air cleaner element, and there is an effect that the life of the filter element can be extended.

The whole housing sectional view of a 1st embodiment. The front sectional view showing the part of a separation wall. The perspective view which shows a lower case. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. The partially broken sectional view which shows a lower case. The partial perspective view which shows 2nd Embodiment. The partial perspective view which shows another example of 2nd Embodiment. The partial perspective view which shows 3rd Embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows 4th Embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows 5th Embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows 6th Embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows 7th Embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows 8th Embodiment. The disassembled perspective view which shows 9th Embodiment. The disassembled perspective view which shows 10th Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
First, the first embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 22 of the air cleaner 21 includes a lower case 23 and an upper case 24, and the upper case 24 is attached to the upper open portion of the lower case 23 so that the upper case 24 can be opened and closed. ing. A filter element 25 is detachably interposed between the lower case 23 and the upper case 24. In the housing 22, a lower space 101 is defined on the lower side of the filter element 25, and an upper space 102 is defined on the upper side. An inlet 26 projects from the side wall 231 of the lower case 23, and an outlet 27 projects from the side wall 241 of the upper case 24. The outlet 27 is connected to an intake system of an engine (not shown). As the engine is operated, air reaches the lower space 101 through the inlet 26, is filtered by the filter element 25, and is sucked into the engine from the upper space 102 and the outlet 27.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, in the lower space 101 of the lower case 23, a half cone having a cone cleaved along the axial direction between the side wall 231 and the bottom wall 232 of the lower case 23. A separating wall 29 having a shape is integrally formed, and the outlet of the inlet 26 faces the inner surface of the separating wall 29. A separation chamber 28 is formed between the separation wall 29 and the side wall 231 and the bottom wall 232 of the lower case 23. The bottom wall 232 is formed with a concave portion 30 having a substantially triangular outline that forms the lower side of the separation chamber 28, and a discharge port 41 constituting a discharge portion is formed at the apex thereof. The separation wall 29 is disposed on the inclined surface S having an angle θ of 20 to 60 degrees with respect to the air entry direction P.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the separation wall 29 is configured by arranging a plurality of narrow plate-like separation wall pieces 31 extending in the circumferential direction of the cone along the axial direction of the cone, and between the separation wall pieces 31. A slit 32 is formed in the inner and outer directions of the separation wall 29, that is, in a direction (vertical direction in FIGS. 1 and 2) that is substantially perpendicular to the air flow entrance direction P from the inlet 26. The total opening area of all the slits 32 is wider than the cross-sectional area of the narrowest portion of the intake passage upstream of the housing 22 including the inlet 26.

  The lower surface of each separation wall piece 31 has a first surface 33 as an opposing surface having an inclination angle steeper than the angle of the inclined surface S, and a substantially horizontal position upstream of the first surface 33, that is, an air flow entry direction. A second surface 34 substantially parallel to P is provided. The length of the first surface 33 in the approach direction P (the length in the left-right direction in FIGS. 1 and 2) is longer than the length of the second surface 34 in the approach direction P. The air downstream end of the inner surface of the separation wall piece 31 is located at the same height as the upstream end of the inner surface of another separation wall piece 31 adjacent to the downstream side, and the inner end of the slit 32 (see FIG. 1 and the lower end of FIG. 2 are concealed from the air upstream side in the air entry direction P so as not to be exposed.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.
The air is introduced into the inlet 26 by the negative pressure in the housing 22, flows in the approach direction P, hits the first surface 33 of each separation wall piece 31 in an inclined state through the outlet of the inlet 26, and enters the inside of the separation wall 29. The direction is forcibly changed. In this case, since the mass of the air is small, the flow direction is further changed to reach the inside of the slit 32, from the slit 32 toward the element 25, and filtered by the element 25.

  On the other hand, since water and dust contained in air (hereinafter referred to as dust etc.) have a large mass compared to air, the direction is changed by hitting the first surface 33 and forced to the inside. It does not change direction easily and is moved further inward by inertia. Accordingly, most of those dusts and the like remain in the separation chamber 28 without passing through the slit 32. For this reason, the amount of dust or the like flowing to the element 25 side can be reduced.

  Since the opening area of the discharge port 41 is considerably smaller than the cross-sectional area of the outlet of the inlet 26, the amount of air sucked from the discharge port 41 is very small, and most of the air is sucked through the inlet 26. Is done.

For example, when the air flow is stopped by stopping the engine, dust or the like in the separation chamber 28 is dropped and discharged from the discharge port 41 to the outside of the housing 22.
The present embodiment has the following effects.

  (1) Separation of dust or the like is performed by applying an air flow to the first surface 33 and forcibly changing the direction. Therefore, unlike the conventional patent document 1, the direction of the air flow can be changed more reliably, and dust and the like can be effectively separated by inertia based on the mass difference. For this reason, it can suppress that the dust etc. which are contained in the air are introduced into the lower space 101 on the element 25 side from the inlet 26. The dust or the like separated from the air is discharged out of the housing 22 through the discharge port 41. For this reason, it can suppress that dust etc. are wound up by the turbulent flow isolate | separated from air, and reach the element 25 side. Accordingly, the amount of dust and the like captured by the filter element 25 is reduced, and the life of the filter element 25 can be extended.

  (2) Since dust or the like reaching the filter element 25 can be reduced, a small filter element 25 having a small capacity can be used. For this reason, the housing 22 can also be reduced in size and weight, and restrictions on mounting the housing 22 in the engine room can be reduced.

  (3) The slit 32 is positioned in a plane extending in the inner and outer directions, and is hidden from the upstream side in the air flow entrance direction P. Therefore, air can be prevented from being directly introduced into the slit 32 without hitting the first surface 33. For this reason, it can prevent that dust etc. are directly introduced into slit 32, and can improve separation efficiency of dust.

  (4) The mold for molding the slit 32 can be pulled upward, and the mold for molding the separation chamber 28 can be pulled to the inlet 26 side. Accordingly, it is easy to extract a mold for forming the separation wall 29. As a result, a mold having a simple structure can be used, and the housing 22 including the separation wall 29 can be easily molded.

  (5) Since the total opening area of all the slits 32 is wider than the narrowest part of the intake passage including the inlet 26, the pressure loss in the slits 32 can be reduced, and efficient engine operation is possible.

  (6) Since the opening area of the discharge port 41 is narrow, a very small amount of air is sucked from the discharge port 41 during operation of the engine. Therefore, the turbulent flow in the separation chamber 28 can be reduced, and the separation efficiency of dust and the like can be maintained at a high level.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In addition, about each embodiment after 2nd Embodiment and a modified example, it demonstrates centering on a different part from 1st Embodiment.

  In 2nd Embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the structure of the separation wall 29 differs from 1st Embodiment. That is, in the second embodiment, the both side wall portions 291 and the upper wall portion 292 of the separation wall 29 are formed in a flat triangular shape, and the separation chamber 28 is formed in a half-split pyramid shape as a whole. And the separation wall 29 is comprised by the separation wall piece 31 similarly to the said 1st Embodiment. A slit 32 is formed between the separation wall pieces 31. As shown in FIG. 7, a connecting piece 311 may be integrally formed between the separation wall pieces 31 in order to reinforce each separation wall piece 31.

The second embodiment has the following effects.
(7) Since the separation wall 29 is formed in a pyramid shape, the separation wall piece 31 and the slit 32 can be elongated in the circumferential direction, and the separation efficiency of dust and the like is improved.

(Third embodiment)
In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the separation wall 29 is constituted by a pair of parallel side wall portions 291 and an upper wall portion 292 constructed between both side wall portions 291. The upper wall portion 292 is inclined with respect to the air flow, and the separation wall piece 31 is configured by the upper wall portion 292.

The third embodiment has the following effects.
(8) Since the length of each separation wall piece 31 can be made equal, in other words, it is not necessary to shorten the separation wall piece 31 on the distal end side of the separation wall 29, so that the length of each slit 32 can be made equal. Accordingly, the amount of air passing through each slit 32 can be made uniform, and the air can be supplied to the element 25 so that the intensity thereof is evenly distributed. It becomes possible.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, each separation wall piece 31 is formed in a circular arc shape as a whole, and the first surface 33 and the second surface 34 are formed continuously.

In this embodiment, since the surface of the separation wall piece 31 that faces the air flow has an arc shape, the air flow is smoothly guided inward by the first surface 33.
Accordingly, the fourth embodiment has the following effects.

(9) Since the air flow is changed inward along the arc surface, the direction change is smooth and the pressure loss is small.
(Fifth embodiment)
In the fifth embodiment, as shown in a two-dot chain line in FIG. 9 and in FIG. 10, the rear edge of each separation wall piece 31 protrudes inward, and the air flow entry direction P on the inner surface of the rear edge. A third surface 36 is formed that is substantially perpendicular to the first surface 36.

The fifth embodiment has the following effects.
(10) The third surface 36 can more reliably guide the air flow inward to effectively separate dust and the like.

(Sixth embodiment)
In the sixth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the inner surface of each separation wall piece 31 is formed flat. Therefore, the entire inner surface of each separation wall piece 31 is the first surface 33.

The sixth embodiment has the following effects.
(11) The area of the first surface 33 of each separation wall piece 31 can be widened, and the action of the wide first surface 33 can effectively separate dust and the like.

(Seventh embodiment)
In the seventh embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, each separation wall piece 31 is formed upright.

The seventh embodiment has the following effects.
(12) Since each separation wall piece 31 is formed upright, the air introduced into the separation chamber 28 strikes the first surface 33 vigorously and changes its direction. Accordingly, dust and the like are more reliably separated.

(13) The opening area of the slit 32 can be increased, and the pressure loss of the air flow can be reduced.
(Eighth embodiment)
In the eighth embodiment, the configuration of the discharge unit is changed as shown in FIG. That is, the bottom wall 232 of the lower case 23 is provided with a dust discharge valve 42 that constitutes a discharge portion. The dust discharge valve 42 is disposed outside the lower end of the elastic cup 44 so as to correspond to the opening 43 formed in the bottom wall 232, the elastic cup 44 attached to the opening 43, and the slit 45 at the lower end of the elastic cup 44. And a weight 46 provided.

The bottom wall 232 of the lower case 23 around the dust exhaust valve 42 is inclined downward toward the opening 43. Accordingly, dust or the like on the bottom wall 232 is guided toward the opening 43.
Usually, the slit 45 is closed by the weight of the weight 46 and the elasticity of the elastic cup 44. In this state, when the engine is operated and the inside of the housing 22 has a negative pressure, a further closing force acts on the slit 45. The dust and the like separated by the separation wall piece 31 are collected in the elastic cup 44 of the dust removal valve 42. In this state, when the weight 46 moves due to vehicle vibration or the like, the slit 45 opens momentarily against the elasticity of the elastic cup 44, and dust or the like in the elastic cup 44 is dropped and discharged.

Accordingly, the fifth embodiment has the following effects.
(14) When the inside of the housing 22 becomes negative pressure, a closing force acts on the slit 45, so that the dust exhaust valve 42 becomes a check valve. Therefore, the internal pressure of the housing 22 is properly maintained, and intake from the slit 45 and the opening 43 can be prevented, so that generation of turbulent flow is suppressed and efficient separation is possible.

(Ninth embodiment)
In the ninth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the separation wall 29 is formed separately from the main body 233 of the lower case 23. The separation wall 29 is fixed to the main body 233 by vibration welding or adhesion.

The ninth embodiment has the following effects.
(15) Since the separation wall 29 is formed separately from the main body 233 of the lower case 23, it is not necessary to remove the mold for molding the inside of the separation wall 29 in the direction of the inlet 26, and the mold is cut downward in FIG. can do. Accordingly, there are fewer restrictions on die cutting, and the flexibility of the shape of the separation wall piece 31 is increased, and the separation wall piece 31 having the shape as shown in the two-dot chain line of FIG. 9 and FIGS. 10 to 12 is easily formed. it can.

(10th Embodiment)
In the tenth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, the separation wall 29 is formed separately from the lower case 23. The separation wall 29 is formed in a conical shape, not a half-conical shape. The conical bottom portion of the separation wall 29 is fixed to the inner surface of the side wall portion 291 of the lower case 23 around the outlet of the inlet 26 by vibration welding, adhesion, or the like.

The tenth embodiment has the following effects.
(16) Since the separation wall 29 has a normal conical shape that is not halved, the separation wall piece 31 and the slit 32 can be long in the circumferential direction of the cone. Therefore, the separation capability of the separation wall piece 31 can be improved, and the pressure loss of the air flow can be reduced. For this reason, the separation wall 29 can be downsized.

(Example of change)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and may be embodied in the following manner.

A plurality of outlets on the lower case 23 side of the inlet 26 are provided, and a plurality of separation walls 29 are provided corresponding to each outlet.
In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 8, 14, and 15, the inclination angle of the separation wall 29 is made gentle and the separation wall 29 is extended toward the opposite side wall 231.

  In the first and second embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, 6, and 7, the separation wall 29 and the lower case 23 are separated from each other as in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 29 is welded or bonded to the lower case 23.

-Apply water repellent treatment to the inner surface of the separation wall 29 and the inner surface of the lower case 23. If it does in this way, water will move easily and it will become easy to discharge from a discharge part.
A plurality of types of slits 32 having different shapes and sizes are formed as one slit 32 in one separation wall 29. In this way, it is possible to suppress the resonance sound caused by air passing through the slit 32.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 ... Air cleaner, 22 ... Housing, 23 ... Lower case, 25 ... Filter element, 26 ... Inlet, 27 ... Outlet, 28 ... Separation chamber, 29 ... Separation wall, 31 ... Separation wall piece, 32 ... Slit, 33 ... Opposite surface As a first surface, 34... Second surface, S... Inclined surface, P.

Claims (6)

In an air cleaner housing in which an inlet and an outlet are provided in a case, and a filter element is provided in the case between the inlet and the outlet.
A separation wall is provided inside the case on the upstream side of the filter element so as to oppose the air flow from the inlet in the entry direction, a separation chamber is formed inside the separation wall, and the separation wall is divided into a plurality of separation walls. The separation wall pieces are arranged on an inclined surface inclined in a crossing manner with respect to the air flow entry direction, and the separation wall pieces are provided with opposing surfaces facing the air flow. An air cleaner housing formed and formed with a slit between each separation wall piece that opens in a direction intersecting with the air flow entering direction. The air cleaner housing according to claim 1, wherein the slit is closed in a direction in which the air flow enters. The air cleaner housing according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a discharge portion for discharging dust and water to the outside of the separation chamber is provided at a lower portion of the separation chamber. The air cleaner housing according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the separation wall piece is provided with a surface along an entrance direction of the air flow on an upstream side of the facing surface. The air cleaner housing according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the separation wall is formed in a conical shape. The air cleaner housing according to claim 1, wherein the separation wall is formed in a pyramid shape.