JPH067621A - Air cleaner element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an element for an air cleaner whose service life and filter performance are improved and simultaneously the service life and filter performance are not deteriorated even if the filter medium itself is a little deformed by external force. CONSTITUTION:A filter medium 2 is formed by alternately folding up a nonwoven fabric in a shape of a sheet at equal intervals to make plural wrinkles consisting of a lot of higher parts and lower parts. In each wrinkle, an expanded part 6 expanding from the clean side to the dusty side is formed at specific intervals. Plural expanded parts 6 are installed, arranged in the wrinkle width direction intersecting perpendicularly to the wrinkle direction by bringing the expanded parts 6 formed in the adjacent wrinkles into contact with each other on the sides. Between the expanded parts 6, a restricted part 30 to which a part of the wrinkle wall surfaces opposite to each other lies slenderly and adjacently in the wrinkle higher part direction is formed. The conditions in the restricted part 30 to which filter media are adjacent to each other are constant in the wrinkle higher part direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air cleaner element for an internal combustion engine installed in a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an air cleaner for cleaning intake air of an internal combustion engine, a sheet-like filter medium 102 made of non-woven fabric or filter paper as shown in FIG. 10 is alternately folded at equal intervals and pleated. There is a cylindrical element 101 that connects both ends of a filter medium and has a horizontal cross section of a chrysanthemum shape. The cylindrical element 101 is such that a porous cylindrical member 103, which also functions as a guide and a reinforcement for the filter medium 102, is fitted inside the pleated filter medium 102, and an annular synthetic resin end plate is provided at the vertical end of the filter medium 102. 104 and 105 are airtightly fixed by integral molding, and the suction air is filtered and cleaned by passing the suction air from the radially outer side to the radially inner side of the pleated filter medium 102. .

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, a sheet-shaped filter medium is pleated, cut into a predetermined length, and an end plate 106 made of synthetic resin is molded and fixed around the cut filter medium 102. The element of is also widely used from the past. This is to filter the intake air by passing the intake air from one side of the filter medium 102 surrounded by the end plate 106 toward the other side.

By the way, in an element in which a sheet-shaped filter medium is folded and only pleats are formed, when the number of pleats is increased in order to increase the filtration area, adjacent pleats are remarkably close to each other, and further partially adhered. In some cases, the passage of the fluid to be filtered is obstructed and the effective filtration area is reduced. Also, as another means to increase the filtration area,
There is also a method to increase the height of the folds, but the higher the folds, the weaker the folds become and the more likely they are to lose their shape. The filtration area was sometimes reduced.

[0005]

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 12 to 13, the filter medium 11 is folded and folded.
In each of the folds 11a, the bulging portion 12 in the folding width direction in which the outward bulge height is the largest in the mountain portion 11b and the smallest in the valley portion 11c, or the inward dent depth is the maximum in the valley portion 11c. By forming the required minimum number of the concave streak portions 13 in the mountain portion 11b, between the adjacent pleats,
A technology that improves the filtration performance by surely forming a constant gap over the entire folding width to prevent the folds from adhering to each other and smoothing the flow of the intake air flow
No. 91604 already disclosed.

In this technique, the bulging portion and the concave ridge portion are abutted with each other at the ridge lines of the two facing bulging portions and the ridge lines of the two facing concave ridge portions, respectively.
It creates a gap between the folds. Therefore, when the positions where the bulging portion and the recessed portion are formed are displaced in the fold direction, or when the pleated portion is displaced in the fold direction due to an external force such as intake pressure, the bulging portion and the ridge line that should be butted against each other There is a risk that the relative positional relationship of the concave streak will shift, part of the side surfaces of the bulge and the concave streak will adhere to each other, and the fluid passage will be partially obstructed, resulting in a decrease in filtration performance. There is. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the life and filtration performance of an air cleaner element, and at the same time, even if the filter medium itself is slightly deformed by an external force such as intake pressure, the life and filtration performance of the air cleaner element are not deteriorated. Is to provide.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention, as an element for an air cleaner, bulges from one side of the filter medium to the other side of each fold of the fold-folded filter medium. A plurality of columnar or rectangular parallelepiped bulging portions are provided, and in use, each of the bulging portions is in contact with an adjacent bulging portion provided in another fold.

[0008]

[Operation] Each of the folds of the air cleaner element of the present invention is formed with a columnar or rectangular parallelepiped bulge, and therefore each fold has a strong elasticity and is not easily deformed.
Further, the bulging portions are in contact with each other at a part thereof, and even if an external force for tilting the folds acts, the bulging portions support each other and the bulging does not occur. Therefore, even when an external force is applied to the filter medium, it is possible to keep the area where the pleats are in close contact with each other small as in the state where no external force is applied.

[0009]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment is a prismatic air cleaner element, and is covered with a filter material 2 folded and folded, an end plate 3 surrounding the outer periphery of the filter material 2 and a tip end portion of a flange 4 projecting outward from the end plate 3 in the circumferential direction. It is composed of an annular gasket 5.

The end plate 3 is made of polypropylene resin, and the gasket 5 is made of urethane rubber. The filter medium 2 is
A sheet of non-woven fabric is alternately folded at equal intervals to form multiple pleats consisting of numerous peaks and troughs. The bulges 6 are formed by hot press molding at regular intervals. Each of the bulging portions 6 has a flat top surface 7 on the dusty side, and the bulging portions 6 formed in the adjacent folds contact each other at their side surfaces, so that a plurality of bulging portions 6 are formed. Are arranged side by side in the fold width direction orthogonal to the fold direction.

The voids 8 surrounded by the four bulges are formed in substantially the same number as the bulges 6, and although the dusty side is open, the clean side is closed by the bottom surface 9. Has been done. In addition, a fold is formed between the bulging portions 6 and a narrowed portion 30 is formed in which part of the fold wall surfaces facing each other are elongated and close to each other in the height direction of the fold ridge. The proximity of the filter medium in the narrowed portion 30 is constant in the height direction of the pleats.

As described above, in the element of this embodiment, since the bulging portion 6 provided in the fold has a columnar shape, the bulging portion 6 is deformed by an external force such as intake pressure. It is difficult, and it is possible to reduce the area where the filter media are in close contact with each other even in a use condition where intake pressure is applied. Also,
The column-shaped bulging portion 6 is also excellent in rigidity in the height direction of the folds, and since a plurality of ridges are provided in each fold, the folds themselves have a strong rigidity and prevent the folds from bending and deforming, and at the same time the folds are Since they support each other while making line contact on both sides of each column, the pleat does not collapse.

Further, even if the positions of some of the bulging portions are displaced in the fold direction due to some reason, the bulging portions are still in line contact on their side surfaces, and the total area of contact between the filter media does not increase. As described above, in the element of the present embodiment, even if an external force is applied, the initial molded shape can be maintained, and the area where the filter media are in close contact with each other can be made as small as possible. The area is increased, and the life of the element and the dust holding amount can be improved.

FIG. 2 shows the test results of the element of this embodiment. The test method is JIS D 161.
Based on 2, the test was terminated when the increase in ventilation resistance reached 300 mm aqua. As a result, as is clear from FIG. 2, the element of this embodiment is about 1.
It was confirmed to have a life of 5 times.

FIG. 3 shows a cylindrical element 10 which is a second embodiment of the present invention. The cylindrical element 10 is composed of a resin end plate 14, a filter medium 15, and a metal porous cylindrical member (not shown) that also serves as a guide and reinforcement for the filter medium 15.
The filter material 15 is a sheet-shaped non-woven fabric folded at equal intervals and then hot-press molded into the same shape as in the first embodiment. Both ends of the non-woven fabric in the direction orthogonal to the pleat direction are narrow metal plates. It is crimped and formed into a tubular shape. In addition, since the element of this embodiment has a cylindrical shape, the diameter becomes gradually smaller toward the inner side in the circumferential direction. Therefore,
The bulging portion formed in each fold has a substantially truncated cone shape, not a columnar shape.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The element type is the same rectangular element as in the first embodiment, and the configuration of the end plate and the gasket is the same as in the first embodiment, but the top surface 17 of the bulging portion 16 is not a flat surface, The configuration is different from that of the first embodiment in that it is formed into a curved surface protruding toward the side and that the bottom surface 19 of the void portion 18 is formed into a curved surface protruding toward the clean side. Since the top surface 17 of the bulging portion 16 and the bottom surface 19 of the void portion 18 are formed into curved surfaces in this way, the intake flow that impinges perpendicularly on these surfaces becomes very small, and the intake air is smoothly filtered. The ventilation resistance of the element as a whole can be reduced.

FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The element type is a rectangular element, and the configuration other than the filter medium 20 is the same as that of the first embodiment. Filter medium 20
Has a large number of pleats formed by alternately folding sheet-shaped non-woven fabric, and each fold has a plurality of rectangular parallelepiped portions 21 that bulge from the clean side toward the dusty side at regular intervals by hot press molding. It is provided individually.
Further, the rows of the rectangular parallelepiped portions 21 formed in a certain fold are formed while being staggered in the fold direction from the rows of the rectangular parallelepiped portions 21 formed in the adjacent folds, and between the adjacent rectangular cuboid portions, The side surfaces of the fold-direction end portion 22 of the rectangular parallelepiped portion 21 are in contact with each other while overlapping.

Between the rectangular parallelepiped parts 21 and the rectangular parallelepiped part 21 in one fold, a normal fold crest part 23 is formed. The length of the rectangular parallelepiped part 21 in the fold direction is arbitrary, but it is not preferable that the rectangular parallelepiped part 21 is too long. That is,
If the rectangular parallelepiped portion 21 is too long in the fold direction, the number of overlapping portions of the rectangular parallelepiped portions increases, and the overlapping portion of the filter medium, which is not advantageous for filtration efficiency, increases.
And, the top surface 2 of the rectangular parallelepiped part where the intake air flow hits almost vertically
This is because the ventilation resistance may increase due to the increase in the area of No. 4. Therefore, the length of the portion where the ends of the rectangular parallelepiped portion overlap is preferably about 1/10 of the length of the rectangular parallelepiped portion in the fold direction, and the fold crest portion 23
It is desirable that the length in the fold direction is about 4/5 of the length in the fold direction of the rectangular parallelepiped part.

As described above, in the pleats of this embodiment, the plurality of rectangular parallelepiped portions contact each other with the rectangular parallelepiped portions of the other folds, so that the pleats on both sides are supported by each other and some external force is applied. However, the folds do not collapse. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when the intake air flow is inhaled in the direction of the arrow, the side surface 25 of the rectangular parallelepiped portion 21 is curved toward the clean side as indicated by the broken line due to the intake pressure, but the distance between both side surfaces is increased. Since d is sufficiently vacant, the side surfaces do not come into close contact with each other and the initial effective filtration area can be secured.

Further, even if the position of a certain rectangular parallelepiped portion is displaced in the fold direction, the length of the overlapping portion
Since the gap can be absorbed, the pleats are still in contact with each other at both ends of the rectangular parallelepiped part, and also,
Since the area in which the rectangular parallelepiped portions are in contact with each other does not change, the effective filtration area does not decrease even in such a case. Also,
Since multiple cuboid parts with excellent rigidity are provided in one fold, the fold itself also becomes stronger. FIG. 7 is a graph showing the results of the element filtration performance test in this example. This test was conducted based on JIS D 1612, and the increased ventilation resistance value at the end of the test was set to 300 mm aqua. As a result, it was confirmed that the life of the element of this example was extended by about 1.2 times as compared with the conventional element in which the filter medium was simply folded.

FIG. 8 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the filter element 26 is a cylindrical element.
Except for this, the configuration is the same as that of the second embodiment. The filter medium 26 is
Bending in the same manner as the filter medium 20 used in the fourth embodiment,
After that, it is a material that has been subjected to forming processing. In the present embodiment, the top surface 28 of the rectangular parallelepiped portion 27 is formed in a flat shape, but the top surface 28 may be formed into a curved shape as in the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the filter element 32 is a cylindrical element.
Other than that is the same as the second embodiment. The filter material 32 is obtained by alternately pleating a sheet-shaped nonwoven fabric at long intervals and short intervals and then hot-pressing it into the same cylindrical shape as in the second embodiment. In the case of the filter medium 32 of the present embodiment, one of the fold wall forming the folds is high and the other is low because the folding widths forming the folds alternate. Since both ends of the thus-folded filter medium 32 are crimped with metal pieces to form a tubular shape, at the time of forming the cylindrical element 31, the
As shown in, all of the folds incline in a certain direction. By aligning the direction of inclination of the folds with the direction of intake air flow, the intake air flow strikes the top surface 34 of the bulging portion 33 at a certain angle rather than perpendicularly.
The intake air is smoothly filtered, and the pressure loss due to the filtration can be reduced. Further, since the folds are inclined, this embodiment has a smaller thickness in the radial direction of the element than the second embodiment, and the element itself can be downsized. Furthermore, the technique of inclining the folds disclosed in the present embodiment can be easily applied to a rectangular element.

[0023]

[Effect] Since each fold of the element of the present invention is provided with a plurality of bulging portions having a cylindrical shape or a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the fold itself becomes strong and the bulging portions interfere with each other. By fitting them together, deformation and collapse of the folds are suppressed, and the folds are prevented from adhering to each other. Also,
Even if some of the bulges are misaligned in the fold direction,
According to the bulged portion shape of the present invention, the contact area of the filter medium does not increase, so that the initial effective filtration area can be secured. That is, according to the present invention, even when an external force such as an intake pressure is applied to the filter medium, the area of the filter medium that is in close contact does not increase, so that the life is prolonged and the dust holding amount is increased as compared with the conventional element. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing a rectangular element according to a first embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the results of the performance test of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a cylindrical element according to a second embodiment of the present application with a part of the description omitted.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a rectangular element of a third embodiment of the present case.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing a rectangular element according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view showing a state of deformation of the third embodiment when intake pressure is applied.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the results of a performance test of the fourth example.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a cylindrical element according to a fifth embodiment of the present application with a part of the description omitted.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a cylindrical element of a sixth embodiment of the present application, with a part of the description omitted.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a conventional cylindrical element with a part cut away.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a conventional rectangular element.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state in which a conventional filter medium is slightly stretched.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a part of a conventional filter medium.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2, 15, 20, 26, 32 Filter medium 3, 14 End plate 4 Flange 5 Gasket 6, 16, 33 Bulging portion 7, 17, 24, 28, 34 Top surface 8, 18 Void portion 9, 19 Bottom surface 10, 31 Cylindrical element 21, 27 Rectangular parallelepiped part 22 Folding direction end 23 Folding crest part 25 Side surface 30 Drawing part

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Kazuyuki Horie 1-chome, Showa-cho, Kariya, Aichi Prefecture Nihon Denso Co., Ltd. Within

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Each of the folds of the fold-folded filter medium is provided with a plurality of columnar or rectangular parallelepiped bulges that bulge from one side of the filter medium to the other side, and each of the bulges. Is an air cleaner element characterized in that it is in contact with adjacent bulges provided in other pleats.