JPS5936688Y2 - Air cleaner clogging detection device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] The present invention relates to a clogging detection device for an air cleaner.

As is well known, the main purpose of air cleaners for automobiles, etc. is to remove minute dust particles from the air that is sucked into the engine, and to prevent this from being sucked into the cylinders and accelerating wear and tear on various parts of the engine. There is.

If the filter of the air cleaner becomes clogged with dust, the engine performance will deteriorate and the air cleaner will no longer function as a filter, so the filter must be replaced or cleaned.

In the past, this kind of air cleaner filter clogging inspection was carried out at the time of car maintenance or refueling, but when managing based on mileage, etc., filter clogging may occur depending on the car usage environment. Since there are significant differences between the two, it is not possible to judge the inspection results reliably and easily.Therefore, filters that are clogged to the point of being unusable may be continued to be used or filters that are still in use may not be used. There is a problem in that the filter that can be used must be replaced prematurely, making maintenance and management of the air cleaner extremely troublesome.

The present invention was made to solve these conventional problems, and is a completely new air cleaner that automatically detects when the air cleaner filter is clogged to the point that it must be replaced or cleaned. The present invention provides a clogging detection device.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

First, the outline of the clogging detector according to the present invention, which is installed in an air cleaner, will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIG. 1, an air cleaner 1, as is well known, collects air taken in from a manifold 2 through a filter 3 and a manifold 4.
is sent to the engine (not shown) through
There is a strong negative pressure downstream of the filter 3, and this negative pressure increases as the filter 3 becomes clogged with dust and the like.

The present invention utilizes this increase in negative pressure to detect that the filter 3 has become so clogged that it must be replaced or cleaned.

That is, the clogging detector 5 according to the present invention is installed in the middle of the manifold 4, which is the negative pressure area of the air cleaner 1, and
When the filter 3 is clogged to the extent that it must be replaced or cleaned, the bellows is expanded by the increase in negative pressure to detect clogging.

This expansion of the bellows can, for example, close an alarm circuit and activate a lamp or buzzer, thereby warning the driver of air cleaner clogging.

When issuing a warning using a warning lamp, it is preferable to provide the lamp 6 at an appropriate location on the instrument panel 7 of the driver's seat, as shown in FIG.

Next, an example of a specific configuration of a clogging detector for an air cleaner will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3a, 3b, 4, and 5.

Figure 3a shows the normal state before detecting clogging of the air cleaner, Figure 3b shows the alarm state after detecting clogging of the air cleaner, and Figure 4 shows the contact spring provided on the movable plate used in this detector. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the (movable contact) and a back view of an insulating plate provided with a contact plate (fixed contact) with which these contact springs come into contact.

In FIG. 3a, a lower case 10 made of transparent resin has an air cleaner connection opening 11 at its bottom, and this opening is connected to the manifold, which is the negative pressure area of the air cleaner, through a connecting pipe (not shown). Connected in the middle of 4 (see Figure 1)
Therefore, the internal chamber 12 of the lower case 10 is a negative pressure chamber.

A colored display plate 13 is slidably inserted into the lower case 10 to limit the upper part of the negative pressure chamber 12, and a coil is provided between the display plate 13 and the bottom of the lower case to urge the display plate 13 upward. A spring 14 is inserted.

A bellows 15 is fixed to the upper surface of the display board 13 by a latch rod 16, and the upper edge of the bellows 15 is fixed to the upper end of the lower case 10 by an intermediate support plate 17. A hole 17a is formed through which the small-diameter shaft portion 16a of the small diameter shaft portion 16a is slidably inserted.

An upper case 18 is further caulked and fixed to the lower case 10 at a portion 18a, and the intermediate receiving plate 17 and the bellows 15 are firmly held between the upper and lower cases by this caulking force.

The middle receiving plate 17 is provided with a bearing 19 on its left upper surface and a pair of support columns 20 (the left support column is not shown) on its left and right upper surfaces.

The bearing 19 rotatably supports the rotary shaft 21 .
A mounting portion 22c of the movable plate 22 having two arms 22a and 22b is fixed to the movable plate 22.
can rotate together with the rotating shaft 21.

The movable plate 22 is a torsion coil spring 23 provided on the rotating shaft 21.
One arm 22a is urged in the counterclockwise direction of the arrow by the force of
The pressing surface portion 22d of the arm contacts the large-diameter shaft portion 16b with a latch length of 16, and its pivoting is restrained, and at the same time, the pressing surface portion 22d of the other arm 2
A pair of contact springs 26 (see FIG. 4) are provided at the ends of the support columns 20 with rivets 24 and fixing plates 25, and a pair of contact springs 26 (see FIG. It is separated from the contact plate 28 (see FIG. 5).

A pair of lead wires 29 connected to the contact plate 28 by soldering as shown by reference numeral 36 are connected to through holes 3 formed in the contact plate 28 and the insulating plate 35, as shown in FIG.
7 to the surface side of the insulating plate 35, and then
- Connected to, for example, an alarm lamp 6 (see FIG. 2) through a guide member 30 provided in the case 18;

A reset button 31 is slidably provided on the top of the upper case 18, and the reset button 31 is activated by the force of a coil spring 33 inserted between a seat portion 32 formed integrally with the button and the contact plate 28. It is constantly biased upward.

In addition, a dustproof filter 34 is filled between the seat portion 32 and the upper case 18, thereby blocking dust, water droplets, etc. that enter through the gap between the upper case 18 and the reset button 31, and connecting the upper contact plate 28 and the contacts. This ensures the electrical operation of the spring 26.

Note that in FIG. 5, 38 is a hole for a screw 27 for fixing the insulating plate 35 having the contact plate 28 to the pair of support columns 20.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 3a described above, the negative pressure chamber 12 is subjected to negative pressure from the air cleaner 1 shown in FIG. The bellows 15 is held in a contracted state by the force of the spring 14 at this negative pressure.

In this contracted state of the bellows 15, the pressing surface portion 22d of the arm 22a of the movable plate 22 comes into contact with the large diameter portion 16b of the latch rod 16, as described above, and the pivoting of the movable plate 22 in the direction of the arrow is restrained. The contact spring 26 on the arm 22b side is separated from the contact plate 28, so that the lamp 6 (see FIG. 2) is turned off.

At the same time, the display panel 13 is held in a position hidden by the -, h case 18 and cannot be visually observed from the outside of the transparent lower case 10.

Next, when the air cleaner filter becomes so clogged that it must be replaced or cleaned, the negative pressure in the negative pressure area of the air cleaner increases as described above, and therefore the negative pressure in the negative pressure chamber 12 also increases. To increase.

When the negative pressure in the negative pressure chamber 12 increases above a certain value in this manner, the bellows 15 expands against the force of the spring 14, as shown in FIG. 3b.

Due to the expansion of the bellows, the latch rod 16 is lowered, and the movable plate 22 further pivots in the direction of the arrow due to the force of the spring 23, so that the pressing surface portion 22d of the arm 22a is now pressed against the latch rod 1.
The stepped portion 16 between the small diameter shaft portion 16a and the large diameter shaft portion 16b of No. 6
c, the contact spring 26 on the arm 22b side comes into contact with the lower surface of the contact plate 28, and as a result, the lamp 6 (second
(see figure) lights up.

At the same time, the display plate 13 is lowered to a position where it can be seen from the outside of the transparent lower case 10, so that clogging of the air cleaner can be confirmed when the engine room is opened.

In the state shown in FIG. 3b, even if the negative pressure in the negative pressure chamber 12 decreases due to the rotation of the engine decreasing or stopping, the pressure surface 22d of the movable plate 22 will cause the step 16 of the latch rod 16 to
Since the bellows 15 is prevented from contracting by pressing c, this state is maintained and the alarm continues.

In this way, after detecting and alarming the clogging of the air cleaner and replacing or cleaning the filter, press the reset button 31.
is pushed against the force of the spring 33, and the rivet I of the movable plate 22 is pressed.
24 through the center hole 35a of the insulating plate 35 and pivoting the movable plate 22 in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow, the state shown in FIG. 3b is returned to the state shown in FIG. 3a.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically detect when the air cleaner filter is clogged to the extent that it must be replaced or cleaned by inflating the bellows due to the negative pressure that increases due to the clogging. Therefore, by utilizing the expansion of the bellows, it is possible to appropriately and quickly warn the driver when the air cleaner is clogged, and there are advantages such as the maintenance and management of the air cleaner becoming extremely simple and easy.

Further, according to the present invention, even if the negative pressure in the negative pressure area of the air cleaner decreases due to a decrease in engine speed or stoppage after the bellows is inflated, the movable plate arm engages with the stepped portion of the latch rod and the latch rod is closed. Since the movement is restrained, the bellows is prevented from contracting, thereby ensuring that the contact state between the movable contact and the fixed contact is maintained regardless of changes in negative pressure due to engine rotation, and the air cleaner clogging alarm is generated. It has the advantage that it can be continued.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a clogging detector according to the present invention installed in an air cleaner, Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of installation of a warning lamp installed in the detector, and Figures 3a and 3b are An example of the specific configuration of the air cleaner clogging detector according to the present invention is shown, and FIG. 3a shows the state before the detection operation.
Figure b shows the state after the detection operation, and Figure 4 is a plan view of the contact spring provided on the movable plate used in this detector.
FIG. 5 is a back view of an insulating plate provided with a contact plate with which these contact springs come into contact. 1... Air cleaner, 3... Filter, 5... Air cleaner clogging detector, 10...
... lower case, 12 ... negative pressure chamber, 13 ...
... Display board, 14 ... Coil spring, 15.
...Bellows, 16 ...Latch rod, 21
...Four rotation axes, 22...Movable plate, 23...
...Torsion coil spring, 26...Contact spring, 2
8... Contact plate, 31... Reset button.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In an air cleaner clogging detection device in which a bellows is expanded by an increase in negative pressure when the air cleaner filter is clogged to the extent that it must be replaced or cleaned, a movable contact contacts a fixed contact. and a large diameter shaft, and this large diameter shaft is fixed to the bellows, and has a latch rod that is movable as the bellows expands and contracts, and two arms, one of which is movable. A pivotable movable plate having a contact point, this movable plate is biased in the left or right rotation direction, and the other arm is brought into contact with the large diameter shaft of the latch rod when the bellows is contracted, but when the bellows is expanded, A clogging detection device for an air cleaner, comprising a spring that engages with a step to stop movement of a latch rod, and a reset button that pivots the movable plate in the opposite direction against the force of the spring. .