US1953786A

US1953786A - Air cleaner

Info

Publication number: US1953786A
Application number: US544399A
Authority: US
Inventors: William B Sullivan
Original assignee: MICHIANA PRODUCTS CORP
Current assignee: MICHIANA PRODUCTS Corp
Priority date: 1931-06-15
Filing date: 1931-06-15
Publication date: 1934-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 1951-04-03

Description

April 1934- w. B. SULLIVAN 1,953,786

AIR CLEANER Filed June 15. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 45 April 3, 1934- w. B. SULLIVAN AIR CLEANER Filed June 15, 1951 2' Sheets-Sheet Patented Apr. 3, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE AIR CLEANER Application June 15, 1931, Serial No. 544,399

Claims.

This invention relates to air cleaners, and more particularly to devices for removing dust and other foreign matter from the air supplied to internal combustion engines.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved air cleaner having a removable screen or filter element together with novel means for removably securing the element in operative position. t

y One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a new and improved device for cleaning air that may be inexpensively manufactured and readily attached in operative position.

A further object of .the invention is the pro- 1 vision of a new and improved air cleaner having a readily removable screen element together with means for supplying an oil to the screen or filter element.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved air cleaner that bustion engine showing the invention in position' thereon;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the air cleaner; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the attaching ring; 7 Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a modified form of construction;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the latching mechanism with parts broken away;

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of an internal combustion engine with parts broken away, showing a further modified form of the invention in position thereon;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the air cleaner shown in Fig. '7, on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 9 is a front elevation thereof on a smaller scale than that shown in Fig. 8.

The importance of clean air for carburetion is coming to-be more and more appreciated. It is now recognized by experts in the care of cars that the air cleaners, especially the wet type, should be cleaned quite frequently and the oil renewed,

especially during dry weather when dust is more plentiful 'on the highways.

It is common practice to employ air cleaners having removable elements or provided with means for blowing out and otherwise re1nov-- ing the dust from the screen elements, but these devices are more or less complicated and in some cases new filter elements are required quite fre- I quently. Such devices require too much time to clean and are expensive and complicated.

The present invention seeks to remedy these defects by the provision of a simple air cleaner having a filter or screen element that may be readily removed, cleaned, replaced and oiled. The parts are so designed that the filter or screen element may be cleaned and oiled by the gasoline station attendant, it being only necessary for him to have a receptacle of gasoline or kerosene and one of oil in a convenient place, and at in- 7 tervals, as when oil is supplied to the crank case, he can remove the filter or screen element, wash it in gasoline, dip it in oil and replace it in the cleaner, or it can be removed and blown out with compressed air and oiled, and in this manner the 78 cleaner will operate at its maximum efiiciency at all times.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference character 10 designates the conventional internal combustion engine for an automobile having the usual water jacket 11 for cooling the same; the intake manifold is shown at 12, the carburetor at 13, and the intake passage at 14. The engine is provided with a cooling fan 15 as is usual in such constructions. 8

The improved air filter is shown at 16, see Fig.

1, and comprises a casing 17 which is preferably cylindrical, see Fig. 2, and which tapers as at 18 toward one end and is flared outwardly as at 19 at its other end for forming a dust deflector or 9 shield as will presently appear. The tapered portion 18 terminates in a sleeve extension 21 which is adapted to slip over the intake passage 14 and to be secured thereto by any suitable means v as the clamp 22, the sleeve being slotted as at 23 9 to permit the same to be clamped to the intake passage 14.

The juncture between the cylindrical portion 17 and the tapered portion 18 may be so shaped as to form an annular shoulder 24 against which 1 0 a filter element or dust screen 25 is adapted to seat, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The filter element 25 may be of any suitable construction, that shown is formed by a plurality of wire screens.

The screens are held together in any suitable manner. As shown they are connected together at their central portion by a handle member 26 which has an extension 27 extending through the screens and riveted as at 28- onthe opposite side. 0

centrically of the casing.

Suitable means are provided for removably securing the filter element in position in the casing. As shown in Fig. 2, the casing 17 is provided with an annular recess 29 within which is adapted to be seated a spring ring 81 which engages the filter element and holds the same firmly against the annular shoulder 24. The ring 31 is provided with

finger pieces

32 and 33 by which the same may be compressed for moving the ring from the casing preparatory to removing the filter element.

If desired, the casing may be provided with an opening 37 through which volatiles may be withdrawn from the crank case 38 by the suction of the engine through a suitable pipe or passage 39, see Fig. 1, attached at one end in the crankcase and at its other end to the projection 41 extending about the opening 37.

It has been found that the air cleaner operates at maximum efliciency if it be located in the air current created by the fan and has its intake opening rearwardly or in the same direction as the air flowing from the fan, or is provided with a shield in front of the intake for directing the dust laden air outwardly from the intake so that the heavier particles of dust will be prevented by their momentum from entering the cleaner.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the intake for the air cleaner is directed rearwardly and consequently the casing tapers toward its forward end. The tapered portion will have a tendency to deflect the larger particles of dust and foreign matter outwardly so that the same will not be drawn into the cleaner. Only the finer particles of dust will be drawn with the air into the cleaner and these particles will be separated from the air by the filter element or screen which is adapted to be kept moist as by means of lubricating oil. The casing may also if desired be provided with an oil receptacle 42 having a removable lid or closure 43. When it is desired to clean the screen it is removed and may be first dipped in gasoline and then dipped in oil and replaced, or oil may be poured in the receptacle 42 after the screen is replaced and will flow down over the screen or filter from the receptacle.

The form of construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 diiiers from that just described in that the sleeve extension 44 of the casing 45 is located ec- By means of this arrangement the air cleaner may be attached to certain types of cars in which the form shown in Fig. 2 could not be attached, and it also enables the cleaner to be adjusted so that it will be in the air current from the fan.

In this construction the juncture between the tapered portion 46 and the body portion 47 constitutes a shoulder against which the filter element or screen 48 is adapted to seat. The filter element is provided with a handle member 49 whereby the filter element may be removed from the casing, cleaned, oiled and replaced without soiling the hands.

In this form of construction the filter element 48 is held in position by a spring ring member 51. The ring member 51 is provided with a radial extension as the loop 52 which is adapted to engage in a recess 53 in the casing. This ring has its ends extending outwardly as at 54 and 55. The

ends

54 and 55 are adapted to engage in

slots

56 and 57 which are constructed substantially the same as those shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

The body portion 47 may be provided with a conduit 50 through which oil may be supplied to the filter element 48 or the conduit 50 may be connected to a pipe similar to the pipe 39 leading from the crank case.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, provision is made for deflecting the larger particles of dust from the air in a type of cleaner in which the opening for the air faces forwardly or toward the fan. In this form of construction the cleaner casing 85 is provided with a screen element 86 which may be substantially the same as the screen element 25 in Fig. 2, and is held in position by a spring ring 87 in substantially the same manner as disclosed in Fig. 6 of the drawings. A hood or deflector member 88 which tapers toward its forward end is adapted to be mounted on and supported by the ring 87. As shown, the deflector 88 is connected to the ring 87 by a plurality of clips 89 so that when the ring 87 is removed the deflector 88 will be removed with it, permitting access to the screen element 86 which may be removed by the handle 91 as in the previous constructions.

In the previously described construction the casing is in the form of a truncated cone with the base or flared portion and the intake directed rearwardly, while in the construction shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 the base and intake opening are directed forwardly, and a shield is provided for deflecting the dirt away from the opening. In all cases, it is intended that the intake 01 the casing shall be so arranged that it will be necessary for the air to change its direction in entering the casing from the fan. The use of the deflecting flange 19 as in Fig. 2 is not necessary to the operation of the device, but it increases its efiiciency very materially.

In the operation of all forms of the device, air is directed rearwardly over the casing by the fan and is drawn into the casing through the filter element by the suction of the engine. In order for this air to enter the casing it must change its direction of flow abruptly and this abrupt change in direction causes the heavier particles of dust and dirt to pass beyond the casing due to the inertia of their mass. The fine particles remaining in the air are separated therefrom in coming in contact with the filter element that is kept moist with oil or the like.

By virtue of the design and location of the filter element it performs other important functions than those of an air cleaner. When in position on the intake passage or carburetor horn inlet of an internal combustion engine, it will efiiciently perform the functions of backfire trapping and carburetor silencing.

While the casings of certain of the forms are 130 shown as tapering toward the fan it is understood that the casing or shield may be of any desired form.

I claim as my invention:

1. An air cleaner comprising a casing, a sleeve 135 member extending outwardly from said casing, a clamping member for securing said sleeve memher to the intake passage of an internal combustion engine, said casing flaring outwardly from said sleeve member, a laminated filter element, a 140 handle member for securing said laminations together and a removable annular spring clip for securing said element within said casing.

2. An air cleaner comprising a casing, a reduced extension at one end of said casing, means 145 for securing said reduced extension to the intake of an internal combustion engine with the axis of said casing in a horizontal plane, the opposite end of said casing being open, a filter member within said casing, means for removably securing 150 said filter element within said casing, and a handle member secured to said filter member for binding the parts of said member together whereby the same may be removed by said handle as a unitary structure.

3. An air cleaner comprising a truncated coneshaped casing open at its base, a filter element in the base, and means for securing said element in position comprising a split ring having its ends bent outwardly for engaging open retaining slots in the base of said casing, said ring having a loop for engaging an opening in said base diametrically opposite said slots.

4. An air cleaner for the intake of an internal combustion engine, comprising a casing, a screen element Within said casing, said casing having an opening therein, means for removably securing said element within said casing, said means comprising an open spring ring having its ends extending through said opening to the exterior of said casing for compressing said ring, and a handle member secured to the central portion of said element.

5. In an internal combustion engine provided with a fan, the combination of an air cleaner for said engine, said cleaner being located in the stream of air created by said fan and comprising a casing opening toward the fan and having the axis of said opening extending in the direction of the flow of air from said fan, a filter element in the open end of said casing, a shield member coaxial with, and in front of, said element for deflecting the air from said fan outwardly and rearwardly from said casing, a split resilient ring for holding said element within said casing, and means for attaching said shield to said ring.

WILLIAM B. SULLIVAN.