US2425848A

US2425848A - Portable flushing and filtering unit

Info

Publication number: US2425848A
Application number: US586083A
Authority: US
Inventors: Vawter Dale
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-04-02
Filing date: 1945-04-02
Publication date: 1947-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 1964-08-19

Description

Aug. 19,- 1947. D. vA'wTER PORTABLE FLUSHING AND FILTERING UNIT Filed April 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l wzzeia" Aug. 19, 1947. AW 2,425,848

PORTABLE FLUSHING AND FILTERING UNIT Filed April 2, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 9335 MAY VALVE T //5 Y m4:- a mare v 5 v TANK cpoLE 7 23 HEflTEf {V S h/A) VALVE-.5 I

SIGHT mass ,c r NG FROM TANK 4/ 43 I V 1; .1 3W 45 WaPW Patented Aug. 19, 1947 UNITED STAT ES. PATENT F 2;.425,84-8' PORTABLE'FLUSHIN G AND FILTERING UNIT Dale Vawt'er, Greensburgfa.

Application. April. 2, 1945, Seria1'No.. 586,083.

5 Claims. I;

This invention relatesto a compact and portable filtering unit for. filtering contaminated. fluids which may also be used as a. flushing and after-it has circulated through the machinery and before. returning it to the machineryto remove any contaminating material from the flushing oil;

In servicing machinery and: automobiles, wherein lubricant for the machinery is contained within a crankcasa'sump', enclosure, housing or case, it is. necessary to keep the lubricant for the machinery free from suspended material which may be. abrasive to. the machinery; It is' also desirable to have a portable and. compact unit through which any fluid having contaminating material in suspension may pass so that the; con.- taminating material may be removed. It has been the practice, after removing lubricant from machinery, to circulate a flushing oil through the machinery to Wash away any dirt or solid matter which may have collected, Within the ma.- chinery. It is desirable to be able to remove the collected dirt and solid matter; from the flushing. oil so the flushing oil may be. reused, again and again.

It is one of the objects of the invention, among others, to provide an improved apparatus or unit for filtering a. contaminated fluid which apparates may also be used for flushing and cleaning machinery with a flushing oil after which the flushing oil is cleaned of contaminating mate,- rial by filtering; to provide av unit that is portable and compact; to provide. a unit that. is readily changed from filtering alone to one where a flushing oil isforced through machinery and the flushing oil is filtered after it has passed through the machinery; to. provide a light-Weight, compact unit capable of being manually handled; to provide a unit that is simple in design and easy to manufacture and assemble; a unit which requires a limited amount, of space for storage; a unit simple to operate which does not call for a specially skilled operator; a unit wherein the elements are easily replaceable should they wear; a unit of low initial cost; a unit wherein the elements are so arranged that the overall size of the unit is held to a minimum so as to form a highly compact unit of small size, lightweight and low cost; and a unit economical in operation.

In carrying out one use of the invention there is provided a portable and compact filtering unit for cleaning contaminated fluid, the structure of which comprises a base. member having front and rearportions. On the undersideof the rear portion of the-base-member are connected wheels for rolling the unit from place to place when desired while the'front' portion of the basemember has a support, which is out of contact with a floor surface when the unit" is moved on the wheels but contacts the floor-when the unit is stationary, to support the unit in a vertical position. The front support member may be a wheel memberand the unit moved by pushing while it is in a vertical position. Ata-nk is mounted on the rear of the base member to hold contaminated fluid and handles are-mounted on top-of the'tank to; serve as-handgrips for an operator or operators rolling the filtering; unit fromplace to place on the wheels; A pump and pump actuating; means are mounted on thefront portion of the base member while a filterelement is mounted on the front of the tank' and above the pump and pump actuating means. A conduit connects the filter element-with-the pump; a second condhi-t connects the filter element to the tank and a: third conduit runs from thetank to the pump to time make a closed, cycle between the tank; pump, filter element andyback tothe tank. The contaminated fluidneed not be in the tank but could be afluidfrom any sou-roeor container and conduits from the pumpand filter element connect into the source or container and complete, the cycle just as above for-the tank.

In carrying out another use of the invention, or where a flushing and filtering; operation is desired; the same structure as above is employed. The tank instead of being filled with contaminated fluidfill'ed' with a clean flushingoil. When lubricant has been drained or removed from the machinery; and it is desired to clean the machinery, a flushing oilis forced into the machinery and circulated around to pick up any dirt or grit in the machinery; A conduit connects the. tank to the pump through a three-Way valve, a. second conduit connects the, filter element to the crankcase of machinery through a second three-way valve with a. branch pip onne ting the tank with the filter element. through. the second threeway valve when the three-way valve is operated to. 'c-losethe conduit between the filter elements and the; machinery. A return conduit runs from: the machinery and connects into the first mentioned three-way valve. w-hichvalve is operable to. connect either the. tank with the pump or the return conduitwi'th the pump.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention will be more fully described hereina a after and will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a front and side view in perspective of the flushing and filtering unit.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view showing a filter element attached to the tank.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of one use of the invention showing a filtering operation of contaminated fiuid from the tank going through the filtering cycle.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of another use of the invention showing the setting of the flushing and filtering unit preliminary to entering flushing oil from the tank into the machinery.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the same use of the invention as shown in Fig. 4 showing the setting of the flushing and filtering unit after the unit and machinery are full of flushing oil for recirculation.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of the same use of the invention as shown in Fig. 4 showing the setting of the fiushing and filtering unit when the flushing recirculation has been completed and the flushing oil is being returned to the tank.

Referring now to Figure l, a portable and compact filtering and flushing unit is shown comprising a base member l having front and rear portions l3 and [4 respectively. To the rear portion Id of the base member it, on suitable axles, are attached wheels H, one of which is seen in Figure 1, mounted on-suitable ball bearings placed between the axle and wheel hub with the wheels being of a suificient size and strength to readily support the weight of the unit and roll freely when the unit is full or empty. On the front of the base member is mounted a support member !2, which may take the form of a plain strut or maybe a caster as shown in Figure 1. The wheels H and the caster l2 support the unit in a vertical position when the unit is stationary. On the rear portion M of the base member is mounted a tank 55 of sheet steel construction welded in a well known manner having handles iii and W of bent pipe of approximately inch diameter, attached to each side at the top of the tank. The handles and ll may be manually grasped, the unit tilted backward, thus supporting the whole weight of the unit on the wheels I I, with the unit rolled on the wheels i I when a change of location is desired for the unit. The handles i6 and il may also be grasped by a hoist and the unit transported in this manner. The tank I5 is of a size that the bottom of the tank just fits within the dimensions of the rear portion of the base member with no overlapping of the base member. The unit weighs approximately 288 pounds when the tank 15 is empty and when the tank E5 is filled with oil, this weight increases to approximately L33 pounds. The unit is manually movable by one man when the tank I5 is full. If the distance the unit is to be moved is short and the floor smooth and even, it can be pushed on the wheels I I and caster i2. The tank I5 has a cleanout opening l8, in the side thereof at the bottom for draining tank I5 and allowing entrance into the interior of tank for cleaning purposes at the tank bottom. On the top of the tank is projection [9 having a suitable cover, which provides an entrance into the tank l5 for admission of oil thereto, and said projection it! also provides a member about which flexible hose mem- Lil 4 bers connecting the unit into machinery, may be wound when the unit is moved from place to place, to be more fully described later.

A pump 28 is mounted on the front portion l3 of the base member IE3 by any suitable means such as bolting the pump to the base member F1. The pump is a positive displacement pump and one type of pump found suitable for this purpose is a Model ZFH sold by the Viking Pump Company. Suitable actuating means for the pump are provided in electric motor 2! connected to the pump 20 through suitable coupling means 22. A General Electric motor H. P., 1800 R. P. NL, volt A. C., 60 cycle induction motor, capacitor starter, resilient base, explosion proof, type K. C., and frame #75 has been found suitable for this purpose. It is noted that the pump actuating means could be a steam, air or hydraulic motor and that the electric motor is shown as one example of a pump actuating means. The pump 23 and motor 2| are within the confines of base member Iii with no portions of the tank, motor or pump overlapping, hence a compact structure is provided Mounted on the front of the tank :5 and above the pump 20 and pump actuating means 2! is a filter element which in the present disclosure comprises two filter elements, 23 and as connected to the tank by suitable bracket members 25 as clearly shown in Figure 2. The filter elements have a cover member 26, attached to the filter element by bolts or screws so as to be removable from the filter element body. The filter elements are filled or packed with an absorbent waste material which is readily replaceable when the waste material becomes dirty and clogged. A petcock 2'! is provided on the bottom of each filtering element to drain the filtering element of liquid if it becomes desirable. The two

filtering elements

23 and 24 are connected together by a pipe 23 Two filtering elements 23 and 2 have been shown but it is to be understood one filtering element may be employed or more than two filtering elementsmay be used without affecting the method of operation. In the present instance two filtering elements were chosen because they lent themselves more to a compact arrangement of the unit. Another type of filter element found suitable is the Nugent filter head manufactured by the Wm. W. Nugent Co., of Chicago, Illinois, and identified as their Fig. No. 1116, LY, size N0, 1R, preferably the type having duplicate filter bodies wherein one filter body can be closed off for cleaning purposes and the other filter body left in operation, until both can again be connected for filtering purposes. In this type, the head is attached to the tank and the filter body is removed for repacking and cleaning.

A heater 28 is mounted on the tank !5 to one side of the filter element and above the pump 2%) and motor 2!. The heater shown is an electrical resistance type heater, well known in the electrical heater art, and is for the purpose of heating oil passing through the filtering unit in order to reduce its viscosity and thus facilitate flow through the unit.

Electrical conductors

29 and 30 connect into heater 28 and motor 2! respectively with both

cables

29 and 30 connecting into switch panel 3| mounted on front wall of tank i5. A conductor cord 32 of substantial length is wound and hung from supporting bracket 33. When the unit has been moved to the desired location, cord 32 is plugged into a source of electrical supply. By actuation of either switch 3m or 31b or both electric current can be supplied to. either the heater or motor, or to both, as desired, because the heater and motor are actuated from separate switches 3l-a or 3th on the switch panel 3!.

In some applications, cooling may be required as where a big bearing or gear case is running improperly and heating occurs. The invention contemplates also, connecting a cooler into the unit, at a users option and need, which cooler may easily be attached in series with the heater. A cooler wherein cold water is used as the coolant has been found suitable for the purpose. It is noted that when the cooler is used it is not necessary to use the heater, hence the heater is closed off from the circulation system and flow directed to the cooler. When the heater is in use the cooler is out of the system either by closing valves or removing the cooler entirely from the unit.

The tank i5 is connected by pipe 49, three-way valve 4! and pipe 42 to pump 20, which

pipes

49 and 42 combine to form a conduit running from the tank to the pump. Discharge from pump 2t passes into pipes 43 and thence to three-way valve 44 which valve 44 can be set to have the discharge of pump pass through

filter elements

23 and 24 or to by-

pass filter elements

23 and 24. While it is an unusual occurrence when filter elements 23 and 24: are by-passed, there are occasions when it becomes desirable and three-way valve can be operated to divert flow to pipe 45 around filter elements 23 and '24 and heater 28. If: flow is. directed to the filter elements 23 and it passes through pipe 4%, which pipe 46 and pipe. 4-3 combine to form a conduit connecting pump. it with

filter elements

23 and 24. Flow leaves filter

elements

23 and 24 through pipe 471 and enters heater 28. Heater 23 is controlled by switch 3.1a, hence this switch determines whether heater 28: heats any liquid passing therethrough or not. From heater 28 flow goes into pipe 48., to three-way valve 49 and thence to fiexible tubing 53] or pipe 54, which pipe 54 leads to the tank l5. Flexible tubing 53 has a suitable connection with a crankcase 5| of machinery for delivering liquid to said crankcase 5! or any other lubricant container of machinery. Return flow from crankcase .5! is through flexible tubing 52, to. three-way valve 4!. Pipe 41, heater 28, pipe 48: and flexible tubing 501 all combine to form a conduit. connecting the

filter elements

23 and 24 with the crankcase 5!. The flexible tubing 52 and pipe 432 combine to form a conduit between the crankcase 5i and pump 20. Further, flexible tubing 52 has a sight-glass 53 mounted in said tubing 52 to give a visual indication of flow through the tubing 52. When a stream of flushin-goil is passed through hose Elli it passes through a nozzle on the end of the hose member to thus discharge a stream of high velocity and pressure, which stream may be guided by hand to be squirted around in the machinery to knock off loose dirt, etc; or the stream may be a low-velocity, free-flowing stream for volume recirculation or a simple slow lubricating stream to flood out contaminants. The same fiow rate applies for both methods.

When flexible tubing and 52 are removed firom crankcase 5! and it is desired to change position of the unit the tubing 50 and 52 are wound circularly about the projection IS on top of tank It. This allows the unit to be moved without the tubing 50 and 52 becoming fouled and also lends to the; compactness of the unit.

From the foregoing, description it can clearly be seen, that a unit. is presented thatis; compact and portable; capable of being: manually mcveil; r m place; to place and one that: takesun a: imum amount of: space for. storage,

Referring now to Figure, 3,. a. diagrammatic. View of; flow throu h the unit; of one use. to. which the; apparatus may b put is; sh wn wherein tank. it is filled with a. contaminated liquid, such as lubricating oil drained from. machinery and. it; is desired to filter said contaminated lubricatin oil and. return it to tanl; l5. For operatipm three-way valve 4|: is set; to connect pip s; 410 and N r a c nduit between tank: is. pumn- 2t. Conductor 32 has been plugged, into a. sourceof electricity and switch 3lb has been actuated to set motor 2i into operation. Pump 20. is; in: operation and draws liquid from tank l5 through the conduit formed by pipes 4!]. and 42- into pump. 2% The liquid is discharged from pump 20: into pipe 43 and three way valve 44- is set to direct. flow through three-way valve 44 into pipe 46..

Pipes

43 and 46 and three-way valve 44 form a conduit between the pump 20 and filter elements, 23 and 24. From filter elements 23 and 2.4, flow goes through pipe 41 to heater 28, which heater; may be on or off as determined. by switch 3.1a, to. pipe 48. Three-way valve 49 is set to directflow from pipe 48 into pipe 5.41. The pipe 4.1, heater 28, pipe 48 and pipe 54 all combine to form a conduit connecting the

filter elements

23 and 24 with the tank I5. It can be seen that this. circuit is just a circulation through the unit itself and recirculates the contaminated liquid from and returns it to tank [5. until it is finally determined to be clean.

If it is desired to use the unit to clean a contaminated liquid from some source other than tank !5, flexible tubing 52 is connected into the outlet, for instance the outlet of a crankcase of machinery, and flexible tubing 50 is connected into the inlet. Figure 5 shows the cycle of op eration, namely flexible tubing 52- and pipe 42 forming a conduit from the source of contaminated liquid to the pump 2a, through three-way valve 4! and sight glass 53. Flow from pump 20 is through pipe 43, three-way valve 44 and pipe 46 to filter

elements

23 and 24 as previouslydescribed. From

filter elements

23 and 24, a con-- duit between filter elements 23 and. 24 and the source of contaminated liquid is formed by pipe ll, heater 28, pipe 48, through threeeway valve 49 and flexible tubing 51 Circulation is continued until observation through sighteglass 53, or tests,

shows that the contaminated liquid isclean.

When tank I5 is filled with a flushing oil, which term flushing oil may also include sol-vents alone or mixed with a flushing oil, and it is desired to use the unit to clean machinery, Figures 4:, 5 and 6 show diagrammatically the different operations that take place. The machinery must first bedrained of lubricant andflexible tubing: 50 is connected into the inlet to the machinery and flex-l ible tubing 52 leads away from the outlet of the machinery. Conductor 32 is plugged into a source of electricity, motor 21 is started by act-21.1- ating switch 3lb and heater 2B is. turned on or left on? as the operator desires, depending upon the nature of the flushing oil. It is first neces.- sary to fill the unit and machinery with flushing oil before a circulation can be established which circulation is necessary in order to flush away contaminating material from the machinery... Figure 4 shows

pipes

40 and 42 connected through three-way valve 41 to pump. 20. Pump. 2!): draws flushing oil from tank It forcing it; through: pipe.

46m filter'elements

23 and 24,pipe 41 and heater 28. The flushing oil flows through pipe 48, through three-way valve 49 which is set to connect into flexible tubing 50. Flushing oil is delivered to machinery, such as crankcase from tank [5 until it is full or measured at correct level after which the flushing oil starts returning through flexible tubing 52 and fills tubing 52. When the flushing oil is observed in flexible tubing 52 by looking at sight glass 53, or measured in the crankcase, the unit and crankcase 5| are then full of flushing oil and everything is in readiness to re-circulate the flushing oil through the unit and crankcase 5|.

Three-way valve 4| is then turned to join the flexible tubing 52 and pipe 42 and close oif flow from the tank I5 as shown in Figure 5. Flow continues from the pump 25 to the

filter elements

23 and 24 to filter any contaminating substances out of the flushing oil and return clean flushing oil to crankcase 5!. The circulation continues through crankcase 5! until observation at sightglass 53 shows that the flushing oil is returning from crankcase 5| clean, an indication that all the contaminating matter has been cleansed from the machinery or laboratory tests may be made of the returning flushing oil.

When the flushing oil returns clean, it is time to stop the cycling operation and return the flushing oil to storage in tank 15. 'Ihree-way valve 49 is then turned to disconnect pipe 3-3 and flexible tubing 55 and connect pipe 68 with pipe 54 leading to tank I5. Flow is then from crank case 5], flexible tubing 52, pipe 42, pump 29, pipe 46, filter elements 23 and 2t, pipe 47, heater 28, pipe 48, pipe 54 and into storage tank 45 until all flushing oil is removed. from the crankcase and the unit. It is noted that the flushing oil should be returned to tank 15 cleaned and ready for reuse, hence it should be sent through

filter elements

23 and 24 and not through by-pass pipe 35 when being returned to tank l5.

While the invention has been described for several uses, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than of limitation, and that practice of the invention within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to Without departing from the true scope of the invention in all its aspects.

I claim:

1.A compact flushing and filtering unit for flushing oil used to clean machinery comprising a base member having front and rear portions, a tank on the rear of the base member for flushing oil, a pump and pump actuating means mounted on the front of the base member, a filter element connected by a conduit with the pump, a second conduit formed by two branch pipes connected by a three-way valve running from the filter element to the machinery, a branch pipe running from the three-way valve to the tank connecting the filter element into the tank when the three-way valve is operated to close the conduit between the filter element and the machincry, a conduit formed by two branch pipes connected by a second three-way valve connecting the pump and tank, and a return conduit from the machinery connected into the second mentioned three-way valve connecting the return conduit to the pump or the tank with the pump depending upon the setting of the second mentioned three-way valve.

2. A compact flushing and filtering unit for flushing oil used to clean machinery comprising a base member having front and rear portions,

a tank on the rear of the base member for flush ing oil, a pump and pump actuating means mounted on the front of the base member, a filter element mounted on the front of the tank and above the pump and pump actuating means, a conduit connecting the pump and filter element, a second conduit formed by two branch pipes connected by a three-way valve running from the filter element to the machinery, a branch pipe running from the three-way valve to the tank connecting the filter element into the tank when the three-way valve is operated to close the conduit between the filter element and the machincry, a conduit formed by two branch pipes connected by a second three-way valve connecting the pump and tank, and a return conduit from the machinery connected into the second mentioned three-way valve connecting the return conduit to the pump or the tank with the pump depending upon the setting of the second mentioned three-way valve.

3. A portable and compact flushing and filtering unit for flushing oil used to clean machinery comprising a base member having front and rear portions, wheels mounted on the back portion of the base member for rolling the filtering unit from place to place when change of position is desired, a support on the front of the base member, said support and wheels supporting the filtering unit in a vertical position when the filtering unit is stationary, a tank on the rear of the base member for flushing oil, handles mounted on the tank to serve as hand grips in rolling the filtering unit from place to place on the wheels, a pump and pump actuating means mounted on the front of the base member, a filter element mounted on the front of the tank and above the pump and pump actuating means, a conduit connecting the pump and filter element, a second conduit formed by two branch pipes connected by a three-way valve running from the filter element to the machinery, a branch pipe running from the three-way valve to the tank connecting the filter element into the tank when the threeway valve is operated to close the conduit between the filter element and the machinery, a conduit formed by two branch pipes connected by a second three-way valve connecting the pump and tank, and a return conduit from the machinery connected into the second mentioned three-way valve connecting the return conduit to the pump or the tank with the pump depending upon the setting of the second mentioned three-way valve.

l. A compact flushing and filtering unit for flushing oil used to clean machinery comprising a base member having front and rear portions, a tank on the rear of the base member for flushing oil, a pump and pump actuating means mounted on the front of the base member, a filter element mounted on the front of the tank and above the pump and pump actuating means, a conduit connecting the pump and filter element, a second conduit formed by two branch pipes connected by a three-way valve running from the filter element to the machinery, a heater element mounted in and forming part of the second conduit, a branch pipe running from the three-way valve to the tank connecting the filter element into the tank when the three-way valve is operated to close the conduit between the filter element and th machinery, a conduit formed by two branch pipes connected by a second three-way valve connecting the pump and tank, and a return conduit from the machinery connected into the second mentioned three-Way valve connecting the return conduit to the pump or the tank with the pump depending upon the setting of the second mentioned three-Way valve.

5. A compact flushing and filtering unit for flushing oil used to clean machinery comprising a base member having front and rear portions, a tank on the rear of the base member for flushing oil, a pump and pump actuating means mounted on the front of the base member, a filter element connected by a conduit with the pump, a second conduit running from the filter element to machinery, a branch pipe running from the second conduit to the tank, valve means operable to connect the second conduit and branch pipe to direct fioW from the filter into the tank or from the filter to the machinery depending upon the setting of the valve means, a conduit connecting the pump and tank, a return conduit from the machinery connecting into the conduit between the pump and tank and valve means operable to REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,065,384. Lomax Dec. 22, 1936 1,652,423 Belke Dec. 13, 1927 1,870,885 Alsop Aug. 9, 1932 2,325,169 Alsop July 27, 1943 1,951,809 Renfrew Mar. 20, 1934 1,305,735 Morris June 3, 1919 2,217,329 Bentley Oct. 8, 1940 2,068,394 Burckhalter et a1. Jan. 19, 1937 2,073,026 Renfrew et a1 Mar. 9, 1937