US2242460A - Air cleaner - Google Patents

Description

May zo, y1941. J c, ENBLQM, 2,242,460 AIR CLEANER Filed March 22, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A @mivfmu mmzrwmvg Fmmsmmmgg ,ff Mlmwiwgimw l l l l .May 20, 1941. J. C, ENBLOM l 2,242,460

AIR lCLEANER A Filed March 22, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lwell I is an oil cup I4 Patented May 20,

UNITED STATES .PATENT 2,242,460 OFFICE AIR CLEANER John C. Enblom,

direct and mesne assi per cent to Ruth C. D

to Robert H. per cent to A. fourth per centI fourth per cent to twenty-live .per cent to Ruth trustee, and live, per centto Donaldson St. Paul. Minn., assignor, by gnments, of twenty-ve onaldson, twenty per cent Donaldson, twelve and one-halt Donaldson Olin, six and oneto Mae D.Buckeye, six and one.-

Ralph A. Buckeye," and' C. Donaldson as- Margaret M;

Application March 22, 1939, Serial No. 263,487 Y.

(el. 18a-15) 6 Claims.

vtimate comming-ling of airand oil in-the air cleaning action; and-these objects I accomplish by the improved-arrangement illustrated in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view chieiiy in vertical sectionbu with some parts in full and some parts broken away illustrating my invention as applied to an air cleaner of the type illustrated in the 'said Lowther Patent No. 2,130,142; and

Fig. 2 is a view chieiiy in vertical section but with some parts in full illustrating my invention as applied to an air cleaner of the type disclosed in the said Lowther Patent No. 2,006,927.

My invention may, however. be applied to and incorporated with air cleaners other-than the types above referred toas the Lowther air clean- Referring rst to thel structure illustrated in Fig. 1, numeral 5 indicates anuprlght, cylindrical or drum-like casing. preferably of sheet metal, the top of which is .closed by a head 6 having a clean air outlet pipe 1. At its lower portion the casing5 is surrounded by -a skirt orsupplemental shell 8 spaced .therefrom but .rigidly attached thereto at its upper edge. The skirt 8, as shown, is provided with .a plurality of air intake ports 9. Telescoped on to the skirt 8 is a large cup-like oil well I0 which-is -detachably held in place by suitable 'means vsuch asnut-equipped bolts VII that depend from lugs I2 on the exterior of said skirt and work through the ends of a clamping barv I3 extended under the bottom of-the oil well. v

Formed onor otherwise placed within the oil e that isof considerably less diameter thanthe casing 5. The vertical annular ange of the cup I4, for anfimportant reason presently to be noted, is outwardly and upwardly flared or projected at lI5 to form one side of an annular deilectirig baille, the other side of which ,deectng baille is formed' by an annular iiange I 6 that is secured to or formed as a part of the lower edge of the casing 5.

Preferably, and as shown, the ange I 5 is formed by an upturned portion of a downward extension of the casing l5. The spaced edges of the anges vI5 and vIl forma continuous 'orsubstantially continuous annular combined air and oil passage II that is at the level or substantially at the normal static level of the oil Y contained in the well I0. and cup I4. 'I'he annular passage II is constrlcted in respect to the air` intake passage 8' and is concentric thereto. The interior ofthe casing5 forms an expansion chamber Il above the passage II and, of course, this expansion chamber has very much greater cross-sectional area and, hence, 'conducting capacity, than either the air intake passage 8' or the said passage I'I. Preferably and as shown, wire screens or elements I9 are placed in the said expansion chamber.

In the operation of thecleaner just described,

the clean air outlet pipe 'I will usually be vconnected to the carburetor intake of an internal combustion engine so that air, under action of suction, will be drawn in through the perforations 9 of the skirt 8 and down into the oil from; the lower end of the annular air passage 8' and from thence will bedrawnupward into the expansion -chamber I8 through'the contracted or constricted passage I'I.` Because of the smaller "conducting capacity of the passage I1, the air with the oil taken up therewith, will move through the said passage I'I under relative very high velocity. `As

the oil laden air passes through the constricted passage I1 into the expansion chamber Ita rapid expansion and rapid decrease in velocity i will take place which will permit the oil particles l in the air to be condensed on the stacked screens,

if the latter are provided, from which screens the collected oilywill tend to iiow under the action of gravity back in oil well. However, even if the screens should not be provided the rapid expansion and reduction of velocity will cause a particles. e v ,Since the`air stream expands rapidly as lit enters the expansion cham-ber I8, the most'active zone in the expansion chamber I8will-be directly above the ystream diverg'es inwardly and outwardly" from opposite sides of the passage I-'I so that therewili be a relatively 'quiet-zone' directly 'over the oilA cup Il, and another relatively quiet zone directly over the iiange densed upon the1 screenv elements orotherwise the direction oi'` the 'precipitation of the oil constricted passage Il', and the velocity will fall oV progressively as the air.

I6. Under loperation oi 'the air Y' in the expansion chamber, theoil particles conv primary oil container. These heads of oil lil and l u" will, of course, tend to return to that portion of the oil wellreferred to as thel primary oil y container through the constricted passage Il, but

under high capacity operating conditions this return will be largely eliminated and the oil tending to overflow the edges of the passage l1 will be whipped up by the expanding air stream and commingle therewith. only to be precipitated therefrom in the mann.r already described within the intermediate portion of the expansion 2o chamber and returned back to the vicinity of the passage I1.

As previously indicated. when the air cleaner is acting at high capacity the oil will be largely displaced from the primary oil container, but the loss of this -oil from the primary oil container will be oifset by the resultant oil heads yan'd u", which latter constantly tend to flow back into the primary oil container, but do, as a matter of fact, simply feed the expanding air stream 3b with a continuous supply of oil. In this connection it will be understood that there wlll` be a very great turbulence of air at opposite edges of the air stream as it expandsl over theedges of the passage I'I, and this turbulent air will 35 whip up such oil as'tends to flow into the e l1 and cause the same to be thoroughly lcom mingled with the air, which will result in the eilicient coating of dust particles with oil and the resultant retaining of the same in the oil body. Of course, when the engine is stopped, the oil will settle back to a static condition .as indicated in the drawings.

It is important here to note the important action that takes place as the oil-ladened air moves upward through the passage Il. The ,oil-ladened air delivered to the passage I1 from the outturned ilange Il will be upwardly projected with a force tending to form the same into anupwardly divergng or expanding cone: while the oilladenedv air delivered to. the passage I1 by the ange I6 will be projected upwardly with a force tending to form an upwardly converging conical formation. However, these suggested cones will not be formed' as indicated but the two streams 55 or sprays will be thrown into violent coniliction, at high velocity, which will set up a turbulence resulting in spreading. breaking up and forming of eddies so that the whole violently agitated oil spraywill be thoroughly commingled. co

In counter-distinction to the above described action, due to the manner in which the oil-ladened air is delivered to the constricted passage, it may be stated that if the same volume of oil and air were to be delivered through a cylindrical g5 passage of any considerable length. the oil and air would be projected in the form of a divergin'g spray having less divergence and turbulence than is produced by the arrangement described and which, as demonstrated in practice, would not have the high degree of eiiicency of the arrangement above described.

The annular iianges I5 and I6 converge toward i the restricted passage l1- and form a baille between the expansion chamber and the primary oil container, which latter, inthe present instance, is the oil well il. The flange il has the above noted tendency to project the spray on lines marked a: while the flange It has the tendency to project the spray on lines marked b.

Referring now to the construction illustrated in Fig. 2, the numeral, indicates an upright cylindrical or drum-like casing. preferably of sheet metal, the top of which is closed by a head 2l through which an air intake tube 22 is extended axially downward through the casing 2l. 'Ihe casing is provided at its upper portion with a clean air outlet tube 23. Telescoped on to the lower end of the casing is a large cup-like oil well 24 which is detachably held in place by suitable means, which means such as nut-equipped bolts 25 depend from lugs 26 on the'exterior of the casing 2li andwork through the ends of a sustaining bar 21 extended under the bottom of the oil'well. Within the oil well 2l, by means of a ilange or otherwise, ,there is formed an oil cup 28 that is of much less diameter than the oil well 2l. The air intake tube 22 extends downward into the oil cup 22 and to a point consider- 22 and is .spaced from the edge of the inturned flange 29 to form an annular contracted combined oil and air passage Il. This e 2| is preferably continuous and in any event should be substantially continuous.

The numeral 32 indicates intercepting screens. preferably of wire, that fill the space of the expansion chamber 23 formed between the air intake tube 22 and the casing.

I'he operation of the form of the air cleaner shown in Fig. 2 is very similar to that described in connection with the form shown in Fig. 1. In the structure of Fig. 1 the air is drawn inward and downward through the annular air intake channel, thence through the oil and thence upward through the casing: while in the structure Vupward through the annular expansion chamber formed within the casing. In the structure of Fig. 2 the contracted or restricted air and oil passage 3l has much less conducting capacity than either the air intake tube or the expansion chamber of the casing, so that the oil and air will be drawn through this contracted passage at relatively very high velocity and the velocity of the oil and air will be decreased in the expansion chamber so that there will be proper precipitation of the oil while the clean air will move upward through the clean air discharge tube or passage. Also, in the structure of Fig. 2 the inturned flange 29 of the oil cup will tend to deilect the oil: spray upward in a contracting conical formation while the flange 3l will tend to project the oil spray upward in an outwardly flaring conical formation. Also, the tendency to form these conilicting conical projections of the oil spray results in breaking up the true conical formations. and set up eddies and whirling actions much the same as that described in the structure of Fig. l. Also, the contracted passage 2l is located at or substantially at the normal oil level.

When the air cleaner of Fig. 2 is in action at container', with the result that inner and outerl heads of oil, indicated by dotted lines y2 and :u3 respectively, will be maintained and which will constantly tend to iiow back into the oil cup through the constricted passage 3|. Of course in this instance as in the case of the cleaner f Fig. 1, these heads of oil, due to the high velocity of air' moving through the passage 3| under operatingconditions, will not actually-now downwardly through the constricted passage 3| under high capacity operating conditions but will simply flow into the expanding air stream. Here `also, as in the case of the cleaner of Fig. 1, the oil owing back to the edges of the rapidly expanding air stream will be whipped up and commingled with theexpanding air only to be separated therefrom within the expansion-chamber so that a constant circulation of `oil Within the expansion chamber will be maintained.

In the structure illustrated in Fig. 2 the anges 29 and 30 converge toward the restricted passage 3| and form a baille between the expansion chamber and the primary' oil container, 'which latter, in the present instance, is the socalled oil cup 28. The iiange 30 has the tendency to project the spray on lines marked a; while the ange 29 has the tendency to project the spray on lines marked b'. In the specification and the claims the primary oil container is the part through which the dustladened air is primarily delivered and hence,'in Fig. 1 the outer annular portion of the part Aspecifically called the oil well i0 is the primary oil container; while in the structure shown in Fig. 2, the part specii'lcally called the `oil cup 28 is the primary cil container.

What I claim is:

1. In an air cleaner, a casing having an air f inlet and an outlet and annular wall providing an expansion chamber between said inlet and outlet, a second annular wall surrounding the lower portion of said casing wall and providing saidl air inlet passage and said outlet leading directly outwardly from the upper portion of said casing, an oil well detachably connected to said second annular wall with said casing wall extendinginto said well below the static oil level, an oil cup mounted within said oil well inwardly of said lcasing wall and below said expansion chamber, and an annular baille extending'from said casing vwall to said cup between said oil well and said expansion chamber, and said baille having opposed upwardly converging flanges spaced t0 form a constricted air and oil discharge passage from said oil well to said expansion chamber.

2. The structure dened in claim 1 in which the top of said baffle and said constricted annular passage is approximately at the normal static oil level of said `cil well and oil cup.

3. In an air cleaner, a casing having an air inlet and an air outlet and an annular wall be*- `tween said inlet and outlet providing an expansion chamber, said inlet being of tubular form extended axially downward through said casing and said outlet leading from the upper portion of said casing, an oil well detachably connected to the lower end of said casin'g, an oil cup within said well located below and receiving the lower end of said tubular air intake, and an annular baille extending outwardly from said tube to said oil cup below said expansion chamber and provided at its top with opposed upwardly converg- 4ing substantially annular anges spaced to form a constricted substantially annular passage leading from said oil cup to said expansion chamber, said air intake, expansion chamber, oil well and oil cup being in' concentric arrangement.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the top of said baiie and said constricted annular passage is approximately at the normal static oil level of 'said oil well and oil cup.

5. In an'airv cleaner, a casing having an air inlet, an outlet and an expansion chamber between said inlet and outlet, an oil well in the base of said casing having an upwardly opening oil-cup mounted therein and providing primary and secondary oil containers for said cleaner, said expansion chamber having an annular wall radially spaced from the wall of said cup and extending into one of said oil containers below the static oil level thereof and under which inlet air is adapted to pass to said expansion chamber, an annular baille extending from said chamber wall to the upper edge of said cup below said expansion chamber, and said baille having spaced upwardly converging anges providing therebe-A ally concentric walls providing primary and secl ondary oil containers in the base thereof and an expansion chamber above said containers, an outlet communicating with the upper end of said expansion chamber, one of said walls extending from said expansion chamber into` one of saidl Vcontainers below the static oil level thereof and providing an air inlet to said casing, an annular baille extending from said one wall to an adjacent concentric wall between said container and said expansion chamber, and said baile having opposed upwardly converging inner and outer annular anges spaced to form a constricted oil and air inlet passageway communicating with said expansion chamber at approximately the static oil level in said. containers, whereby said inner flange-will produce an outward projection of oil and air and the outer ange an inward.

projection of oil and air from said passageway into said expansion chamber toward the outlet thereof.

JOHN C. ENBLOM.

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