JP4133229B2 - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention mainly relates to an air cleaner that is attached to an air intake port of an engine mounted on a vehicle such as a motorcycle and purifies combustion air supplied to the engine.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a motorcycle, the air taken into the air intake duct from the air intake opening opened to the cowling attached to the vehicle body is guided to the air cleaner through the air intake duct and passed through the cleaner element stored in the air cleaner. After cleaning, the fuel is supplied to the fuel supply device as combustion air, where the air is mixed with the fuel.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when many parts of the cleaner element are wetted by rainwater mixed in the air that has entered from the air intake port when traveling in the rain, the cleaner element becomes clogged and intake resistance increases. Therefore, it has been conventionally proposed to provide a mechanism or device for capturing rainwater inside the air intake passage (see Patent Document 1), but it is more compact that can capture rainwater while suppressing an increase in intake resistance. Mechanism is desired.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 2841035 (paragraph 0015, FIG. 2)
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and provides an air cleaner having a function of effectively capturing rainwater on the upstream side of the cleaner element with a compact configuration without causing an increase in intake resistance. It is intended to do.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, an air cleaner according to the present invention is an air cleaner having an air inlet and an air outlet and containing a cleaner element therein, and an air passage upstream of the cleaner element in the air cleaner. Is formed so as to guide the air flowing obliquely from both the left and right sides to the air inlet to the upper cleaner element while expanding both sides, and to the air passage at the center line of the air inlet. A central partition plate extending along the plurality of side partition plates located on both sides of the central partition plate and deflecting air laterally, and the air is separated by the central partition plate and the side partition plates. A passage is partitioned in a transverse direction, and the air passage includes a passage between each of the central partition plate and the side partition plate, and the outermost side partition. It is formed in the outer side of the passage plate.
[0007]
According to this configuration, since the air flowing in from the air inlet contacts the partition plate provided at the air inlet, the rainwater contained in the inflowing air adheres to the partition plate and becomes water droplets. Since it falls along the plate, it is captured before reaching the cleaner element. At this time, since the air flow is decelerated by the contact between the air and the partition plate, the capture of rainwater is promoted. Therefore, in this air cleaner, adhesion of water droplets to the cleaner element can be effectively prevented with a simple and compact configuration. Moreover, since the air which flowed in from the air inflow port is disperse | distributed to a horizontal direction by a partition plate, concentration of the local airflow in an air cleaner is avoided. Further, in addition to the effect of capturing rainwater by the partition plate, the speed of the air that has flowed in and expanded from the air inlet is reduced, so that rainwater contained in the air is more effectively separated. Also, as the speed decreases due to air expansion, air vortices are likely to be generated upstream of the cleaner element, but this vortex generation can be prevented by the side partition plates, so air pressure loss is reduced. It is suppressed.
[0008]
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the partition plate performs draining by deflecting the inflowing air. According to this configuration, when the air is deflected, rainwater having a density higher than that of the air adheres to the partition plate and forms water droplets, so that the rainwater is captured more effectively.
[0009]
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is further provided a discharge hole for discharging the water dropped through the partition plate to the outside. According to this configuration, the rainwater that is captured by the partition plate and collected in the lower portion of the partition plate can be quickly discharged to the outside of the air cleaner.
[0010]
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the partition plate is provided so as to protrude upward from a rear end edge of an inclined portion that rises rearward of the air passage that continues from the air inlet, and is located above the partition plate. The cleaner element is disposed on the surface.
[0011]
According to this structure, the water | moisture content capture | acquired by each partition plate cannot ride on the flow of air but can flow upwards, but flows down on the bottom face of an air cleaner. Therefore, most of the rainwater contained in the air and flowing into the air cleaner is captured before reaching the cleaner element, so that the rainwater can be effectively prevented from adhering to the cleaner element.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a motorcycle equipped with an air cleaner 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this motorcycle, a front fork 4 is pivotally supported via a steering shaft (not shown) on a head pipe 3 formed integrally with a head block 2 at the front end of a body frame 1, and a front wheel 7 is attached to the front fork 4. It is attached. On the other hand, a swing arm 9 is pivotally supported by a swing arm bracket 8 at the center lower part of the body frame 1 so as to be swingable up and down, and a rear wheel 10 is attached to the swing arm 9. An engine E is attached to the center lower portion of the body frame 1. The engine E drives the rear wheel 10 through a chain (not shown), and the handle 12 fixed to the steering shaft and the upper end of the front fork 4. It is configured to steer at. A fuel tank 13 is disposed above the main frame 11 of the body frame 1.
[0013]
A seat rail 14 and a reinforcing rail 15 constituting the rear portion of the vehicle body frame 1 are attached to the rear portion of the main frame 11, and a driver's seat is attached to the seat rail 14. One rear suspension 18 is attached between the vehicle body frame 1 and the swing arm 9.
[0014]
FIG. 2 shows a cut-out plan view of the main part including the air cleaner 21. In the figure, the head block 2 is formed by integrally forming an air suction duct 30 whose front end is open and the head pipe 3. In other words, the head block 2 uses the side portion of the head pipe 3 as the air suction duct 30. A front end portion of the air intake duct 30 is connected to an air intake duct 31. The air intake duct 31 has a shape in which the passage area gradually decreases from the front end opening toward the downstream side (rear side). The air suction duct 30 constitutes a part of the air cleaner 21.
[0015]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a cowling 19 is attached to the front portion of the vehicle body frame 1 via a cowling stay (not shown). The cowling 19 has an air intake port 20 formed in the cowling 19 through the air intake 20. It is mounted at a position that matches the front end opening of the intake duct 31. Combustion air A is taken into the engine E from the air intake 20.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, the main frame 11 is composed of a pair of left and right frame halves 11A and 11B whose front ends are connected to the head block 2 by welding. It has a bifurcated shape extending downward (downward in the figure). Accordingly, the vehicle body frame 1 of FIG. 1 includes a main frame 11 composed of a pair of frame halves 11A and 11B (FIG. 2), and the swing arm bracket 8 extending downward from the left and right rear ends of the main frame 11. .
[0017]
In the inner space of the bifurcated main frame 11 shown in FIG. 2, that is, the space between both frame halves 11A and 11B, a cleaner case 23 in which the cleaner element 22 in the air cleaner 21 is housed is disposed. The cleaner case 23 is attached to the air intake duct 30 and supported by a fuel supply device 33 such as a carburetor or a fuel injector of the engine E as shown in FIG.
[0018]
As shown in the side view of FIG. 3, the air inlet 24 opened at the front end of the cleaner case 23 is communicated with the air suction duct 30. Therefore, the air intake duct 31 and the air intake duct 30 are used to introduce the air A taken in from the air intake port 20 of the cowling 19 into the air cleaner 21 through both sides of the head pipe 3 shown in FIG. 34 is constituted.
[0019]
The air passage 45 upstream of the cleaner element 22 in the cleaner case 23 communicates with the air introduction passage 34, and the passage area increases toward the downstream side. Thus, the air flowing obliquely from both the left and right sides with respect to the air inlet 24 is formed into a shape that leads to the upper cleaner element 22 as shown in FIG.
[0020]
In the vicinity of the downstream side of the air inlet 24, there are a central partition plate 27 extending along the center line C of the air inlet 24 shown in FIG. 2 and a pair of left and right sides located on both sides of the central partition plate 27. A partition plate 28 is provided. The side partition plates 28 are arranged so as to spread toward the rear (downstream), and are inclined in the rearward and outward direction with respect to the center line C, respectively. Smoothly deflect to the side. Each of the plurality (three in this example) of partition plates 27 and 28 is a flat plate without bending, and the air passage 45 is divided into a plurality (four in this example) in the transverse direction perpendicular to the flow of the air A. is doing. The four partition passages 45a to 45d are set so as to smoothly spread toward the downstream side (the passage area increases). Thus, the air A comes into contact with the partition plates 27 and 28, is deflected, and is further decelerated by the diverging partition passages 45a to 45d. As shown in FIG. 4, each partition plate 27, 28 of the air passage 45 is a draining unit 26 integrally formed of resin, and the draining unit 26 is connected to a fastening member 39 such as a bolt as shown in FIG. The cleaner case 23 is attached.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 3, a discharge hole 29 for discharging moisture to the outside is formed in the lowermost portion of the bottom wall of the cleaner case 23 when mounted on the motorcycle. As shown in FIG. 2, the discharge holes 29 are provided on the outer sides of the side partition plates 28, 28 in the ventilation passage in the vicinity of the air inlet 24.
[0022]
The cleaner case 23 is provided with four air outlets 25 corresponding to the four-cylinder engine E (FIG. 1). The engine E is not limited to four cylinders. As shown in FIG. 3, each air outlet 25 is connected to a duct 37 of four fuel supply devices 33 individually connected to each cylinder of the four-cylinder engine E (FIG. 1). Therefore, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 3, the combustion air A is introduced into the air introduction passage 34 of the air intake duct 31 from the air intake port 20 of the cowling 19, and then is in the rear portion of the air introduction passage 34. The air passes through the both sides of the head pipe 3 inside the air suction duct 30, is sent into the cleaner case 23 from the rear end of the air suction duct 30, is purified by the cleaner element 22, and then from the clean air chamber 41 downstream thereof. The fuel enters the fuel supply device 33 through the duct 37 where the fuel is mixed with the air A.
[0023]
In the above-described flow of air A, the air intake duct 31 shown in FIG. 2 has a shape that is narrowed so that the air passage area gradually decreases from the front end opening toward the rear. The air A flowing into the vicinity of the opening edge of the front end of the duct 31 collides with the side wall surface and is deflected toward the center. At this time, after rainwater or the like contained in the air A adheres to the side wall surface as water droplets, A part of the air travels along the side wall surface and falls to the bottom, and the other part rides on the flow of air A and is carried downstream.
[0024]
Further, when the air A flowing into the air intake duct 30 is deflected by the head pipe 3 to both sides thereof, rainwater contained in the air A is formed as water droplets on the outer peripheral surface of the head pipe 3. Some of them adhere to the head pipe 3 and fall to the bottom of the air intake duct 30, and the other part is carried on the flow of the air A and carried downstream.
[0025]
Part of the moisture once trapped on the side wall surface of the air intake duct 31 and the outer peripheral surface of the head pipe 3 as described above is discharged to the outside through the discharge hole 29 at the lowest level. The remaining moisture flows into the cleaner case 23 of the air cleaner 21 from the air inlet 24 together with the air A. At this time, the air A that has flowed into the vicinity of the center of the air inlet 24 is after being deflected to both sides by the head pipe 3, and therefore flows obliquely from both the left and right sides as indicated by arrows in FIG. 2. It flows obliquely with respect to the side surface of the central partition plate 27. Therefore, the rainwater contained in the air A comes into contact with the side surface of the central partition plate 27, and the air flow is decelerated with the contact. In addition, since the air flow is further decelerated in the division passages 45b, c which are wide at the end of the center, the capture of water droplets is promoted. On the other hand, the air A that flows into the vicinity of the periphery of the air inlet 24 flows obliquely into the left and right side partition plates 28 that are arranged so as to spread toward the rear. Similarly, rainwater contained in the air A Is captured by adhering to the side partition plates 28 as water droplets. In addition, since the air flow is further decelerated in the diverging section passages 45a and 45d on both sides, capturing of water droplets is promoted.
[0026]
As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, each of the partition plates 27 and 28 is provided in an arrangement projecting upward from the rear end edge 38 of the inclined portion rising upward from the air passage 45 continuing from the air inlet 24. The cleaner element 22 is disposed above the partition plates 27 and 28. Therefore, as described above, the moisture captured by the partition plates 27 and 28 cannot flow upward along the flow of the air A, but flows down on the bottom surface of the cleaner case 23 and is discharged from the lowest portion. They are collected in the holes 29 and discharged from the discharge holes 29 to the outside. Therefore, most of the rainwater contained in the air A and flowing into the cleaner case 23 is captured and discharged to the outside before reaching the cleaner element 22, so that the rainwater adheres effectively to the cleaner element 22. Can be prevented. Moreover, since the air A flowing in from the air inlet 24 is simply deflected in the flow direction by the partition plates 27 and 28, an increase in the intake resistance is suppressed and no loss of air pressure is caused.
[0027]
Moreover, in addition to the function which can capture | acquire rain water effectively, the both-sides partition plate 28 shown in FIG. 2 has the function which rectifies | straightens the flow of the air A effectively. That is, the air A that flows in from the air inlet 24 and expands to the left and right sides in the cleaner case 23 is downstream along the pair of left and right side partition plates 28 before the flow velocity decreases and vortices are generated. Since rectification is performed so as to smoothly flow toward the side, generation of vortices is prevented, and air pressure loss is also suppressed from this surface.
[0028]
In addition, although the said embodiment demonstrated and demonstrated the case where it applied to a motorcycle, the air cleaner of this invention can be applied not only for vehicles but to various apparatuses which have an engine.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the air cleaner of the present invention, the air flowing in from the air inlet is guided to the downstream cleaner element after the flow direction is deflected by the partition plate provided in the air inlet. At this time, rainwater contained in the inflowing air is also deflected by the partition plate, and thus falls while traveling along the partition plate, so that it is effectively captured before reaching the cleaner element. Therefore, water droplets can be prevented from adhering to the cleaner element. Further, since the air flowing in from the air inlet is merely deflected in the direction of flow to the side, an increase in the intake resistance is suppressed, so that no loss of air pressure is caused.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a motorcycle equipped with an air cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a cut-away plan view of the main part of the motorcycle.
Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of the main part of the motorcycle.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a water draining unit of the same air cleaner.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 ... Air cleaner, 22 ... Cleaner element, 24 ... Air inlet, 25 ... Air outlet, 27 ... Central partition plate, 28 ... Side partition plate, 29 ... Discharge hole, A ... Air.

Claims (4)

An air cleaner having an air inlet and an air outlet and containing a cleaner element therein,
The air passage on the upstream side of the cleaner element in the air cleaner is formed so as to guide the air flowing obliquely from both the left and right sides with respect to the air inlet to the upper cleaner element while expanding both sides.
The air passage is provided with a central partition plate extending along the center line of the air inlet, and a plurality of side partition plates that are located on both sides of the central partition plate and deflect air to the side. By the central partition plate and the side partition plate, the air passage is partitioned in the transverse direction,
An air cleaner in which the air passage is formed by a passage between each of the central partition plate and the side partition plate and a passage on the outer side of the outermost side partition plate .   2. The air cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the partition plate drains water by deflecting the inflowing air.   3. The air cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a discharge hole for discharging water that has fallen through the partition plate to the outside. 4. The partition plate according to claim 1, wherein the partition plate is provided so as to protrude upward from a rear end edge of an inclined portion that rises rearward of the air passage that continues from the air inflow port, and is located above the partition plate. An air cleaner in which the cleaner element is disposed .

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