JP2019085906A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an air cleaner that can be downsized.SOLUTION: An air cleaner 11 has a case 12 which has a case body 22 having a case opening 15, and an inlet 23 coupled to a side wall 20 surrounding the case opening 15 of the case body 22; a cap 14 which has an outlet 13; and a filter element 17 which has a filtering portion 18 and an annular seal portion 19 provided on a peripheral edge of the filtering portion 18, and is disposed between the case opening 15 of the case body 22 and a cap opening 16 of the cap 14 facing the case opening 15. On the peripheral edge of the case opening 15 on an outer surface of the case body 22, an annular seal surface 25 with which a seal portion 19 of the filter element 17 contacts is provided. The seal surface 25 includes a part of the outer surface of a coupling portion 26 with the case body in the inlet 23.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an air cleaner disposed, for example, in an intake passage of an internal combustion engine.

  Conventionally, as this kind of air cleaner, what is shown, for example in patent documents 1 is known. Such an air cleaner comprises a case having an inlet, a cap having an outlet, and a filter element disposed between the opening of the case and the opening of the cap facing the opening. Then, the intake air taken in from the inlet is supplied to the internal combustion engine from the outlet after being filtered by the filter element.

JP, 2016-121584, A

By the way, since the air cleaner as described above is disposed in a limited space such as an engine room of a vehicle, for example, there is room for improvement in downsizing.
The present invention has been made focusing on the problems existing in such prior art. The purpose is to provide an air cleaner that can be miniaturized.

Hereinafter, the means for solving the above-mentioned subject and its operation effect are described.
An air cleaner that solves the above problems includes a case having a case body having an opening, an inlet having an inlet connected to a side wall surrounding the opening of the case body, a cap having an outlet, and a filter portion and the periphery of the filter portion. A filter element having an annular seal provided and disposed between the opening of the case body and the opening of the cap facing the opening, the outer periphery of the opening in the outer surface of the case body An annular seal surface is provided in contact with the seal portion of the filter element, and the seal surface includes a part of an outer surface of a connection portion with the case body in the inlet. Do.

  According to this configuration, since a part of the outer surface of the connection portion with the case main body in the inlet constitutes a part of the sealing surface, the height of the side wall of the case main body can be reduced. Therefore, the air cleaner can be miniaturized.

  According to the present invention, the air cleaner can be miniaturized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The perspective view which shows the whole structure of the air cleaner of one Embodiment. The disassembled perspective view of FIG. 3-3 arrow sectional drawing of FIG. The perspective view which shows the state when the case in the embodiment is seen from the front side. The principal part enlarged view of FIG. The perspective view which shows the state when the 1st case molded object in the embodiment is seen from the back side. The principal part enlarged view which shows the state when the 1st case molded object of FIG. 6 is seen from the front side. The principal part enlarged view which shows the state when the 1st case molded object of FIG. 6 is seen from the right side.

  An embodiment in which the air cleaner is embodied as an air cleaner of a vehicle-mounted internal combustion engine mounted in an engine room of a car will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following specification, the front and rear sides of the vehicle in the front-rear direction will be referred to simply as the front and the rear, and the right and left as viewed from the rear of the vehicle will be referred to as the right and the left. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the air cleaner 11 includes a case 12, a cap 14 having an outlet 13, a case opening 15 formed in an upper portion of the case 12 and having a rectangular shape in plan view, and the case And a filter element 17 provided between the rectangular cap opening 16 formed in the lower part of the cap 14 facing the opening 15.

  The filter element 17 has a rectangular filter portion 18 formed by folding a filter medium sheet such as nonwoven fabric or filter paper, and a rectangular annular seal portion 19 provided on the periphery of the filter portion 18. . The seal portion 19 is formed of an elastic member such as polyurethane of closed cell.

  The case 12 has a flat case body 22 having a case opening 15, a side wall 20 surrounding the case opening 15, and a bottom wall 21, an inlet 23 connected to the side wall 20, and a resonator connected to an intermediate position of the inlet 23. It has 24 and. The inlet 23 of the present embodiment has a portion functioning as an intake duct that forms an intake passage, and the resonator 24 is integrally formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a rectangular annular seal surface 25 with which the seal portion 19 of the filter element 17 contacts is provided over the entire circumference of the case opening 15 on the upper surface (outer surface) of the case body 22. There is. In this case, the sealing surface 25 includes a part of the outer surface of the connecting portion 26 with the case body 22 at the inlet 23. That is, a part of the outer surface of the connection part 26 with the case main body 22 in the inlet 23 constitutes a part of the sealing surface 25 (in this example, the long side on the front side).

  In the portion corresponding to the corner portion of the case body 22, four hooked portions 28 are formed in which a clamp 27 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) for fastening the case 12 and the cap 14 is latched. ing.

  The inlet 23 has a connecting portion 26 connected to the front surface of the side wall 20 of the case body 22. The connecting portion 26 of the inlet 23 is connected to the side wall 20 on one long side of the case opening 15 in the case main body 22 over the entire width of the case opening 15. That is, the connecting portion 26 is connected to the side wall 20 on the front side of the case main body 22. The inlet 23 extends leftward along the vehicle width direction from the connection portion 26 and then U-turns and extends rightward.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the case 12 is formed by being divided into a first case molded body 30 and a second case molded body 31 provided on the lower side of the first case molded body 30. . Each of the first case molded body 30 and the second case molded body 31 is formed of a hard synthetic resin material.

  The first case molded body 30 has an opening-side side wall 32 surrounding the case opening 15, a half-cylindrical first inlet half 33 extending continuously with the opening-side side wall 32, and a first inlet half. And a half-cylindrical first resonator half portion 34 extending continuously with the portion 33.

  The second case molded body 31 has a bottom wall 21, a bottom wall side wall portion 36 continuous with the bottom wall 21, and a half cylindrical second inlet half portion 37 extending continuously with the bottom wall side wall portion 36. And a second resonator half 38 in the form of a half cylindrical half extending continuously with the second inlet half 37. Then, the case 12 is formed by joining the peripheral edge of the first case compact 30 and the peripheral edge of the second case compact 31 by, for example, vibration welding.

  In this case, the case main body 22 is formed by joining the peripheral edge of the opening side wall portion 32 and the peripheral edge of the bottom wall side wall portion 36. Furthermore, the inlet 23 is formed by joining the peripheral edge of the first inlet half 33 and the peripheral edge of the second inlet half 37. Furthermore, the Helmholtz resonator 24 is formed by joining the peripheral edge of the first resonator half 34 and the peripheral edge of the second resonator half 38.

  As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the extending direction of a portion constituting a part of the seal surface 25 on the outer surface of the upper wall of the connecting portion 26 of the inlet 23 (first inlet half 33) Outer ribs 40 are formed on both sides in the lateral direction, which is the width direction. That is, a pair of outer ribs 40 are formed at positions adjacent to each other on the front side with respect to both end portions in the extending direction of the part that constitutes a part of the sealing surface 25 on the outer surface of the upper wall of the connecting portion 26. The outer ribs 40 of each pair extend in the left-right direction and are arranged to be slightly apart in the front-rear direction. In this case, the outer ribs 40 of each pair are disposed at the corner portions of the left and right ends of the connecting portion 26 so as to straddle the upper surface and the side surface of the outer surface of the connecting portion 26.

  As shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, the inner surface opposite to the outer surface of the upper wall constituting a part of the seal surface 25 in the connection portion 26 of the inlet 23 (first inlet half 33), A grid rib 41 is provided as an example of the inner rib. The grid rib 41 has a plurality of (in this example, eleven) plate-like first ribs 42 extending in the direction of protrusion (in this example, the front direction) of the connection portion 26 from the case main body 22 and the protrusion direction orthogonal (crossed) (In the present example, three in the present example) plate-like second ribs 43 extending in the direction (in the present example, the left-right direction) are arranged in a grid.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the three second ribs 43 are disposed adjacent to the case opening 15 and are parallel to each other at equal intervals in the front-rear direction. It extends to the full width in the left-right direction. Both end portions in the left-right direction of each second rib 43 are curved so as to straddle the inner surface of the upper wall of the connecting portion 26 and the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls.

  The eleven first ribs 42 are disposed so as to be parallel to each other at equal intervals in the left-right direction so as to be full in the left-right direction of the upper wall of the connecting portion 26. Each first rib 42 extends from the second rib 43 located at the rearmost side among the three second ribs 43 to the front side of the second rib 43 located at the frontmost side. Of the three second ribs 43 in each first rib 42, the portion on the front side of the second rib 43 located on the foremost side has a streamline shape. That is, the rear end side of each first rib 42 forms a lattice with the second rib 43, and the front end side forms a streamlined shape.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the cap 14 comprises a flat cap body 47 having a peripheral wall 45 and a top wall 46 surrounding the cap opening 16, and an outlet 13 integrally formed on the cap body 47. There is. A flange 48 is formed around the entire periphery of the cap opening 16. At portions corresponding to the corner portions of the cap body 47, four convenient support portions 49 for tiltably supporting the clamp 27 are formed. The outlet 13 is connected to the rear surface of the peripheral wall 45 of the cap body 47 and protrudes rearward, and the downstream end thereof is directed downward.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cap 14 is formed by being divided into a first cap molded body 50 and a second cap molded body 51 provided on the upper side of the first cap molded body 50. Each of the first cap molded body 50 and the second cap molded body 51 is formed of a hard synthetic resin material.

  The first cap molded body 50 has an opening side peripheral wall 52 surrounding the cap opening 16 and a first outlet molding 53 connected to the opening side peripheral wall 52 and extending rearward. The first cap molded body 50 is formed with an outer peripheral wall 54 that covers the cap main body 47 from the outer peripheral side. A support 49 is formed on the outer peripheral wall 54.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second cap molded body 51 is connected to the top wall 46 of the cap body 47, the top wall side peripheral wall 55 connected to the top wall 46, and the top wall side peripheral wall 55. And a second outlet molding 56 which extends toward the Then, the cap 14 is formed by bonding the peripheral edge of the first cap molded body 50 and the peripheral edge of the second cap molded body 51 by, for example, vibration welding.

  In this case, the cap body 47 is formed by joining the peripheral edge of the opening side peripheral wall portion 52 and the peripheral edge of the top wall side peripheral wall portion 55. Furthermore, the outlet 13 is formed by joining the peripheral edge of the first outlet molded portion 53 and the peripheral edge of the second outlet molded portion 56.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the seal portion 19 of the filter element 17 is held between the seal surface 25 of the case body 22 and the flange 48 of the cap 14, whereby the seal portion of the flange 48 of the cap 14 and the filter element 17 The space between 19 is sealed.

Next, the operation of the air cleaner 11 configured as described above will be described.
In the air cleaner 11, the seal surface 25 of the case main body 22 includes a part of the outer surface of the connection portion 26 with the case main body 22 at the inlet 23, and the connection portion 26 is on one long side of the case opening 15 in the case main body 22. The side wall 20 is connected over the entire width of the case opening 15. Therefore, the connecting portion 26 has a flat shape long in the left-right direction, and the height of the side wall 20 of the case main body 22 is reduced, so that the air cleaner 11 can be miniaturized.

  However, when the air cleaner 11 is mounted in the engine room of an automobile which is heated to a high temperature by the heat of the engine, it is particularly susceptible to creep deformation such that the upper wall of the connecting portion 26 having a flat shape long in the lateral direction hangs downward. In this respect, in the present embodiment, since the connecting portion 26 is reinforced from the inside and outside by the grid rib 41 and the outer rib 40, creep deformation of the connecting portion 26 is effectively suppressed. In addition, since the grid rib 41 is provided on the inner surface of the connecting portion 26 which is deviated from the main flow of intake, an increase in pressure loss of intake due to the grid rib 41 is suppressed.

According to the embodiment described above, the following effects are exhibited.
(1) In the air cleaner 11, the seal surface 25 of the case body 22 includes a part of the outer surface of the upper wall of the connecting portion 26 with the case body 22 in the inlet 23. Therefore, the height of the side wall 20 of the case main body 22 can be lowered, so that the air cleaner 11 can be miniaturized.

  (2) In the air cleaner 11, on the inner surface of the upper wall of the connecting portion 26, the plurality of first ribs 42 extending in the protruding direction of the connecting portion 26 from the case main body 22 and the plurality of second ribs extending in the direction orthogonal to the protruding direction A grid-like grid rib 41 having ribs 43 is provided. In general, when a part of the seal surface 25 is configured by a part of the outer surface of the upper wall of the connection portion 26 of the inlet 23, it becomes difficult to secure the strength of the portion of the connection portion 26 that configures the seal surface 25. In this respect, according to this configuration, the grid rib 41 provided on the inner surface of the upper wall of the connecting portion 26 can effectively reinforce the portion of the connecting portion 26 that constitutes the sealing surface 25. For this reason, the strength reduction of connecting part 26 can be controlled effectively.

  (3) In the air cleaner 11, outer ribs 40 are formed on both sides in the extending direction of a portion that constitutes a part of the sealing surface 25 on the outer surface of the upper wall of the connecting portion 26. Therefore, the connecting portion 26 can be effectively reinforced by the outer rib 40.

  (4) In the air cleaner 11, the case opening 15 of the case body 22 has a rectangular shape in plan view, and the inlet 23 is connected to the side wall 20 on one long side of the case opening 15 in the case body 22 There is. Therefore, the opening area of the inlet 23 can be easily secured, and therefore, even if the height of the side wall 20 of the case body 22 is reduced, the pressure loss of the air flowing from the inside of the inlet 23 into the case body 22 can be reduced.

(Modification example)
The above embodiment may be modified as follows.
The case opening 15 of the case body 22 does not have to be rectangular in plan view. That is, the case opening 15 may be, for example, square in plan view.

  The inlet 23 does not have to be connected to the side wall 20 on one long side of the case opening 15 in the case body 22. That is, the inlet 23 may be connected to the side wall 20 on one short side of the case opening 15 in the case main body 22.

  The connecting portion 26 of the inlet 23 is not necessarily connected to the side wall 20 on one long side of the case opening 15 in the case body 22 over the entire width of the case opening 15.

The number and shape of the outer ribs 40 may be changed as appropriate.
The outer rib 40 may be omitted.
The inner ribs do not necessarily have to be the grid ribs 41. That is, the inner rib may be the first rib 42 or the second rib 43.

In the grid rib 41, the number and shape of the first rib 42 and the second rib 43 may be changed as appropriate.
The grid rib 41 (inner rib) may be omitted.

  The air cleaner 11 does not necessarily have to be an air cleaner of a vehicle-mounted internal combustion engine mounted in the engine room of a car. That is, the air cleaner 11 may be used for apparatuses other than a vehicle-mounted internal combustion engine.

  11: Air cleaner, 12: Case, 13: Outlet, 14: Cap, 15: Case opening (opening), 16: Cap opening (opening), 17: filter element, 18: filtration portion, 19: sealing portion, 20: sidewall 21: bottom wall, 22: case body, 23: inlet, 24: resonator, 25: sealing surface, 26: coupling portion, 27: clamp, 28: hooked portion, 30: first case molded body, 31: Second case molded body, 32: opening side wall, 33: first inlet half, 34: first resonator half, 36: bottom side wall, 37: second inlet half, 38: Second resonator half, 40: outer rib, 41: lattice rib as an example of inner rib, 42: first rib, 43: second rib, 45: peripheral wall, 46: top wall, 47: cap body, 48 ... flange, 9 support portion 50 first cap molded body 51 second cap molded body 52 opening side peripheral wall portion 53 first outlet molded portion 54 outer peripheral wall 55 top wall side peripheral wall portion 56 ... 2nd outlet molding part.

Claims (5)

A case having a case body having an opening, and an inlet connected to a side wall surrounding the opening of the case body;
A cap with an outlet,
A filter part and an annular seal part provided around the periphery of the filter part, and a filter element disposed between the opening of the case main body and the opening of the cap facing the opening;
An annular seal surface with which the seal portion of the filter element is in contact is provided on the periphery of the opening on the outer surface of the case body.
An air cleaner characterized in that the sealing surface includes a part of an outer surface of a connection portion of the inlet with the case body.   The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein an inner rib is provided on an inner surface of the connecting portion opposite to the outer surface.   The inner rib is a grid-like grid rib having a plurality of first ribs extending in a direction in which the connection portion protrudes from the case main body and a plurality of second ribs extending in a direction intersecting the direction of protrusion. The air cleaner according to claim 2, characterized in that.   The outer rib is formed in the both sides of the extension direction of the part which comprises a part of said sealing surface in the said outer surface of the said connection part, The external rib is formed in any one of the Claims 1-3 The air cleaner described in the section. The opening of the case body has a rectangular shape in plan view,
The air cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the inlet is connected to the side wall on one long side of the opening in the case main body.