US2027636A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Description

Jam M9 1936 R. E. DE BOLT AIR CLEANER Filed April 3, 1935 ;za 1,* ,BY

' W TTORNEY Patentecl Jan. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

The object of this invention is to provide a new and improved type of air cleaner that is especially designed and adapted for use on motor driven Vehicles employing gasoline engines.

One object is to provide the air cleaner with means for increasing or decreasing the Velocity of the air in its passage toward and abreast of a cleaning liquid, such means serving to control the air Velocity in accordance with the suction of the engine and being adjustable for that purpose.

A further feature resides in an air cleaning device wherein the incoming air flows in an annular stream toward and against the cleaning liquid and thence radially inwardly and finally centrally upwardly, whereby the surface portions of the liquid are caused to move radially inwadly and the sub-surface portions radially outwardly to thereby sustain an endless circulating movement and constantly bring new or different portions of the liquid into contact with the incoming air.

A further feature consists in such an arrangement whereby the incoming air will not be choked when the car is ascending or descending hills or is tilted laterally from a horizontal position.

The invention has many other features and objects which will be more fully described in connection With the accomp-anying drawing and which will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawingc- Fig. 1 is a Vertical sectional view of an air cleaner embodying the features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a .fragmentary sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a spider frame detaohed from the remainder of the device.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the difierent figures of the drawing.

As shown, my improved air cleaner includes what I will term a housing or housing member that is shown in the form of a cup or receptacle and the same is shown provided with an upper cylindrical lwall portion II a converging air controlling portion 2 and a bottom wall portion 3. The Wall portions and 2 are annular and the housing is open at the top. The bottom portion 3, is adapted to contain an air Cleaning medium such as a liquid having a designated level at 4.

Reference will next be made to a novel supporting means for the housing member.

A spider or frame is shown detaohed in Fig. 4, and includes an outer ring 5 to which a bracket ii may be attached or formed integral therewith, whereby the device may be supported by attachment to any available part of the automobile, indicated at 1. Connecting arms 8, unite ring 5 with an inner ring 9, and these rings may be cast integral, as shown, of such semi-resilient material as aluminum, for instance. The inner ring 9, is split at diametrically opposite points and provided with outwardly projecting lugs IO, through which bolts H pass and function to contract the inner ring for a purpose to be presently described. The outer ring 5, is provided with oppositely disposed and reversely opening lugs IZ, as one part of a means for detachably connecting the housing, which I will generally indicate at A, to its supporting frame, which I will generally indicate at B.

Threaded hanger bolts |3, as shown in Fig. 3, have their lower' ends 14 welded or otherwise sutably secured to the exterior' of housing A, and are adapted to extend upwardly through openings formed by lugs i and the periphery of ring 5. Washers i5, and nuts io, coact with said lugs 12 to hold the upper edge il of the housing within the outer ring 5, and against arms 8, in a rigid and efiective manner.l In order to remove housing A, it is merely necessary to loosen nuts Hi, and shift said housing in a clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 2, whereby the housing may readily be detaohed from its supporting frame.

The importance of this construction may be appreciated when it is realized that this detachable means permits the housing A to be detaohed from its frame B, without Adsturbing any other part of the air Cleaner. Hence', it is a very simple matter to change the air Cleaning liquid and also to observe the resulting action of the device evefwhen a change of the liquid is not necessary.

Reference will next be made to a Cartridge shell member which coacts with the housing member in the treatment and control of the air to be cleaned.

The cartridge member, which will be generally indicated at C, is formed of a cylindrical pipe or shell body E8, which may be of thin steel or other suitable material and which, as shown, inwardly telescopes the housing A, for a portion of the length of the latter. The shell i8, is open at both ends and the operative lower end edge |9, together with the lower peripheral portion 20, which extends abreast of the converging wall portion 2, coacts with the latter to perform thel function of controlling the Velocity at which the air enters the shell |8.

The interior of shell |8 forms a conduit through which the partly and fully cleaned air ascends to the carbureter of the engine, and in order to force the air toward the central portion of the conduit and preVent a surplus ascending in other portions, and to defiect some of the oil or other cleaning liquid, I provide a novel means next to be described.

This combined deflector and bafiie as shown, consists of an internal fiange 2|, secured at 22, to the inner portion of shell |8 and projecting radially inwardly so' that its inner and down- Ward edge 23, and the remaining depth of the fiange, will overhang the outer portion of the conduit. A practically dead air space or trap will be formed at X that will force the incoming air to pass inwardly beneath edge 23, before it can ascend in the conduit. F'urther, both faces of said flange 2|, afford an effective oil drainage area.

It will now be clear that shell C, forms with housing A, an annular passage through which incoming dirty air may descend between arms 8, downwardly toward the Cleaning liquid 4, and thence upwardly in the conduit formed by the shell C.

Reference will next be made to an important feature of the invention whereby the shell C may be mounted and also held in various adjusted positions in housing A, to increase or decrease the Velocity of the incoming air.

The inner ring 9, not only functions as a shell member centering rings or device, but by reason of the clamping device formed by the lugs |0 and the bolts it also functions to frictionally grip the shell C so that the latter can be readily adjusted to any Vertical and relative longitudinal relationship with respect to the housing A. Now because the shell C, has one cross sectional form or contour, namely cylindrical, and by reason of the fact that the lower or co-nverging portion 2, of housing A, has another cross sectional form 01' contour, it will now be clear that relative adeighth of an inch, and the metalof which said frame is formed, will of course yield. that much between adjacent arms 8.

It will be understood that the liquid 4, in the housing A, is the primary air cleaner because it functions tol remove from the air all the larger and heavier particles, and I will next describe what I shall term the secondary air treating means.

Upper and lower screens 2| and 25, respectively, are suitably secured to the interior of shell C, in the position shown, and in a manner to form a cartridge shell across the conduit. The cartridge is completed by a filler of suitable material such as braided copper indicated at 26, through which the air must pass, in its ascent up- Wardly through the conduit.

Reference will next be made to the manner in whichV the egress end 21, of shell member C, is connected in a manner to discharge the cleaned air` to the carbureter of the engine.

A ring cap 28 is telescoped over the exterior of shell C and the same has a top 29 that overhangs said shell and said top is provided with an opening 30. One or more anchoring bolts 3|, may be provided, one only being shown, having its lower end 32, secured to the interior of shell C. The upper end of bolt 3| projects through cap 29 and a nut 33 may serve to hold the cap snugly onto the end 21, of said shell, and in a manner easily to be removed therefrom. An 'elbow of an egress pipe 34, may be suitably secured to cap 29, and provided with a flexible connection 35 leading to the carbureter. Thus, with this flexible connection, the shell C, may be adjusted without disturbing the piped connection with the carbureter.

It will of course be understood that the ingress I openings between arms 8, which I will generally indicate at D, may be covered by any suitable screen which it is not necessary to show in full, or on some installations, these ingress openings may be uncovered, as for instance when the installation is made inside of a car or the cab of a truck. Further, such addition, in view of the present disclosure, Would be well within the skill of a mechanic.

While the operation of my air Cleaner may be clear from the foregoing, I will briefiy recapitulate the same as follows:-

In the initial installation, the adjustment of the cartridge shell will be altered to meet the action of the engine' until a satisfactory and efficient adjustment has been established and then the adjustment Will remain permanent, as will be clear to those skilled in automobile operation.

This adjustment consists in shifting the' shell C into just the right Vertical relation With respect to the housing A to obtain the proper air Velocity. It is possible to elevate shell C until the lower edge |9 is on a level or above the bottom Z, oi' the cylindrical wall portion l, in which event the air Velocity will be normal or just equal to the capacity of the annular air passage, or in other Words, reduced to a minimum. The more shell C is lowered, the greater will be the air Ve-locity.

With the adjustment shown, the air will 'be induced to flow downwardly in the annular passage between the housing and shell members A and C, respectively, and there will be a constriction of a gradually increasing extent as the air passes the bracketed portion 20, and the maximum will be reached when the air has descended to the lower edge |9. This maximum willV be sustained by the horizontal restriction between'the edge |9 and the level of the liquid 4, except for the fact that such horizontal restriction will'be elastic and Variable by reason of the fact that the downward rush of air will cause the radially outer portions of the liquid to'valley and the radially inward or central portion to "hill as shown by dotted line Y, when the engine is running at a normal or high speed. At a slow speed, such as When idling, the liquid may be substantially level.

If'the air'turns about edge'l9 'too' sharply, it

will'be bafiled by fiange 2|, or rather trappedby the annular body of air in X, and will be forced to ascend interiorly of the edge 23, of said flainge. Practically all the air ascending in the conduit formed by shell C, will carry some oil;'and as it is desirable to free the air from oil after the air has been freed from'impurities, and `before it enters the carbureter, Iwill next explain the feature of my secondary Cleaner.

- As the oil impregnated air 'strikes screen 25,

some of the oil will be dashed'ofl, andas the air enters and filters through the mass of copper or like material 26, and emerges from the upper screen 24, it will be practically free from oil before it reaches the carbureter. Thus, not only at the time that the air strikes screen 25, but all the time it is passing through the Cartridge, it will be forced to take a circuitous path 'of travel that will most effectively free the air from oil globules, and the greater portion of the latter will be arrested by screen 25, and drip down into the oil body 4. In practice, I have found that the whole interior of shell C, below the cartridge, will be filmed with draining oil.

The great advantage of introducing the incoming air in an annular stream should now be clear not only as regardsthe more effective control of Velocity, but also because adequate and non-variable entrance into the shell C is always afforded irrespective of the deviation of the car from a horizontal position, and this feature is rendered even more effective by the fact that the oil body can valley in a manner to make the horizontal constriction flexible When the car is in any inclined position.

It will also be clear that after adjustment of the shell C has been made, there are no movable parts to rattle or get out of order, and the housing A can readily be removed without dismantling the device, in order to change or inspect the condition of the oil. q

It is believed the invention Will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and while I have herein shown and described one specific form of the invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

I claimz- 1. In an air cleaner, an annular housing having a bottom portion adapted to contain an -air cleaning liquid, a cylindrical cartridge shell in said housing and of reduced diameter with respect thereto to form therewith an annular air ingress passage leading toward the liquid, the interior of said shell forming a conduit for egressing -cleaned air andv said shell having a lower air Velocity controlling edge, the lower portion of said housing converging and coacting with said edge to increase or decrease the Velocity of the air .dependent upon the position of said shell, an air cleaning cartridge in said shell for cleaning the air egressing through said conduit, and means for holding said shell in relatively different positions of adjustment with respect to said housing.

2. In an air cleaner, an outer housing member having a bottom portion adapted to contain an air Icleaning liquid, an inner shell member forming With said housing member an annular air ingress passage. leading toward the liquid and said shell member having a lower air controlling edge about and under which the ingressing air is adapted to fiow and coact With the liquid and pass upwardly in said shell member, an air treating means in said shell member in the path of the egressing air therein, said shell and housing members having different cross sectional shapes with respect to each other, and means for holding said members in relatively different positions of adjustment to increase or decrease the Velocity of the ingressing air responsive to suction Variation.

3. An air cleaner including telescoped housing and shell members, and a bracketed supporting frame comprising outer and inner ring means for sup-porting said housing and shell members, respectively.

4. An air cleaner including telescoped housing 5 and shell members, and a supporting frame having an outer ring for said housing member, means for securing said housing member to said ring, an inner ring for said frame, embracing said shell member, and means for clamping said inner ring 10 about said shell member to hold the. latter in adjusted relation to said housing member.

5. In an air cleaner, telescoped housing and shell members forming a cycle for air to ingress and egress therethrough, one of said members 15 having a portion adapted to contain an air cleaning medium in the path of the air traversing said cycle, said members having different contours adjacent said medium, and means for holding said members in different positions of relative adjust- 20 ment to cause said different contours to increase or decrease air Velocity near said medium responsive to suction Variation.

6. In an air cleaner, telescoped housing and shell members fo-rming a cycle for air to ingress 25 and egress therethrough, one of said members having a portion adapted to contain an air cleaning medium in the path of the air traversing said cycle, said members having different contours adjacent said medium, supporting means rigidly 30 holding one of said members and friction-ally holding the other of .said members in different positions of relative adjustment to cause said different contours to increase or decrease air velocity near said medium responsive to suction va- 15 riation.

7. In an air cleaner, an open top one piece housing member adapted to contain an air cleaning liquid in the bottom thereof, a shell member in telescoped relation in said housing member 40 and forming therewith a cycle for air to ingress and egress therethrough in coaction with said liquid, means for supporting said shell member in different adjusted positions with respect to said liquid, and means for detaohably supporting said housing member to permit removal thereof independently of said shell member.

8. In an air cleaner, a housing member adapted to contain an air cleaning liquid in the bottom thereof, a shell member having a cartridge and disposed in telescoped relation in said housing member and forming therewith a cycle for air to ingress and egress therethrough in coaction with said liquid, means for supporting said shell member to permit the latter to be removed independently of said housing member to clean said cartrdge, and means detachably supporting said housing member to permit removal of the latter independently of said shell member.

9. An air cleaner including telescoped housing and shell members forming a cycle for air ingress and egress therethrough in coaction with an air cleaning liquid in said housing member, a supporting frame comprising outer and inner rings united by connecting arms, means for contracting said inner ring about said shell member to frictionally support the latter in different positions of adjustment with respect to said housing member and cause the air to coact with said liquid, and means for supporting said housing member in said outer ring and anchoring said housing member against said connectng arms.

ROBERT E. DE BOLT.

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