US2473032A

US2473032A - Multifilter assembly for filtering oil or liquids

Info

Publication number: US2473032A
Application number: US582883A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clair Camille Clare Sprankl Le
Original assignee: Tecalemit Ltd
Current assignee: Tecalemit Ltd
Priority date: 1944-02-17
Filing date: 1945-03-15
Publication date: 1949-06-14
Anticipated expiration: 1966-06-14

Description

June 14, 1949.

c. c. s. LE CLAIR MULTIFILTER ASSEMBLY FCR FILTERING OIL OR LIQUIDS 'Fild March 15; 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor:

TZ/LJJ? M A ttorneys June 14, 1949. c. c. 5. LE CLAIR MULTIFILTER ASSEMBLY FOR FILTERING OIL OR LIQUIDS Filed March 15, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ipvenlor viz-w a [2417" y Aadliuzk 9 Ailormzy:

June 14, 1949. c. c. 5. LE CLAIR 2,473,032

MULTIFILTER ASSEMBLY FOR FILTERING OIL OR LIQUIDS Filed March 15, 1945 5 Sheiets-Sheet s Attorney-s MULTIFILTER ASSEMBLY FOR FILTERING OIL 0R LIQUIDS Filed March 15, 1945 June 14, 1949. c. c. 5. LE CLAIR 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Attorneys FIGS.

June 14, 1949. c. c. 5. LE CLAIR 2,473,032

MUL'I'IFILTER ASSEMBLY FOR FILTERING OIL O R LIQUIDS Filed March 15, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 In ventor:

/ Attorney 6.

Patented June 14, 1949 MULTIFILTER ASSEMBLY FOR FILTERIN OIL OR LIQUIDS Camille Clare Sprankling Le Clair, Acton, London,

England, assignor to Tecalemit Limited, Brentford, England, a corporation of Great Britain Application March 15, 1945, Serial No. 582,883 In Great Britain February 17, 1944 3 Claims. (Cl. 210-168) This invention relates to duplex filter apparatus, for use in filtering or cleaning oil or liquid, of the type in which each filter unit comprises a filter element contained within a container which is detachably attached to a head provided with inlet and outlet connections.

Where filter apparatus is fitted in an oil or liquid system designed for continuous operation over long periods, it becomes necessary to provide means whereby soiled filtering elements may be removed and replaced by clean ones while the apparatus of which it forms a part is still in operation.

To accomplish this it is known to fit two or more filters in parallel and to connect them'up with control valves in such a way that any one or more may be isolated from the system for cleaning while the others remain in operation.

In practice it is not usual to fit more than two filters but even with only two filters the operations necessary to change over from one filter to the other are not simple and it is essential that they should be performed in their correct sequence because otherwise accidents or defective performance might occur. For instance, assuming that one filter is in use and the other filter is standing ready to be put into operation, it is necessary: to open the inlet to the filter not in use; toopen the outlet from that filter; to close the inlet to the filter in use; to close the outlet from the filter in use; to remove the container and the used filter element from the filter previously in use; to clean out and fit a new filter element; to replace and secure the container in position and to prime the filter which is now empty, for which purpose it is necessary to vent the air entrapped to atmosphere so that it does not get into the oil or liquid system and thus cause trouble.

One object of the present invention therefore is to provide means whereby the above operations may be simplified, a second object being to provide locking means whereby it becomes impossible to open inadvertently any filter or filters which is or are in the working circuit.

For simplicity, oil and liquid will be referred to hereinafter as liquid.

One constructional formof the invention is shown, by way of example, on the accompanying drawings, whereon:

Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section of the filter assembly;

Fig. 2 is a plan view:- I

Fig. 3 is a section on the line x-x in Fig. 2;

Fig. 41s a plan view of the underside of the valve cover;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the control valve;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the valve plate;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the underside of the valve plate;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the carrier;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the underside of the carrier;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan'view of the valve cover and shows the locking plate; and

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary enlarged view of th control valve operating handle.

Referring to the drawings:

This filter assembly comprises two spaced filters which, for the purpose of description, will be called filter A and filter B. The duplex filter includes a common head which, for manufacturing reasons, is built up of three castings, namely a carrier I, a valve cover 2 and a valve plate 3 between the carrier and cover, these 'parts being bolted together. Pressure-tight joints are formed between the adjacent faces of the carrier and the valve plate and between the adjacent faces of the valve plate and the valve cover by means of gaskets. The carrier is adapted to support two filter container bodies 4 and 4A of equal capacity, each of which is attached to the common head by means of a central holding bolt 5, the bottom end of which is screwed into a boss 6 projecting upwardly from the bottom of the container body. Hand knobs 1 are attached to the top end of the bolts 5 and bear against the top of the valve cover 2 when the bolts are tightened up. Pressure-tight Joints are formed between the top edges of the container body and the carrier l by means of joint washers 8 fitted in spaced annular recesses formed in the bottom face of the carrier l. Flter elements 9 of known construction (for instance, of the fabric type) are arranged in the container bodies between top pressure plates I0, fitted on hollow bosses l l which project downwardly from thecarrier i, into thecontainerbodies and the filter elements, and bottom pressure plates l2 which are pressed upwardly by springs l 2A. The

bosses I I are bored to'form oil outlet ports l3, see

Figs. 1, 8 and' 9, surrounding the bolts 5 from the interior of the respective filter elements 9. The

holding bolts 5 pass upwardly through holes l4 and MA in the valve'plate, see Figs. 6 and '7, and

also through hollow bosses I5 and 15A projecting downwardly from the valve cover 2. The carrier I is also formed with two spaced ports l6 and ll, of which the port l6 forms an oil inlet which com municates with the annular space l8, Fig. 1, be-

tween the filter element and container body of filter B, while the other port i1 forms an oil inlet which communicates with the equivalent annular space (not shown) between the filter element and container body of filter A.

The upper or valve cover part 2 of the head forms a chest and a cover for a disc type control valve l9, Figs. 3 and 5, which will be described hereinafter. The valve cover is formed with an oil inlet connection which communicates with a large oil main inlet chamber 2| formed in the cover and surrounding the boss |5A, through which the holding bolt 5 of filter B is passed, and a central boss 22 which will be referred to hereinafter. Spaced from the said main inlet chamber 2| an arcuate oil outlet passage 23 is also formed in the valve cover and communicates with a main oil outlet connection v24 leading from the cover. Between the main outlet connection and the main inlet chamber there is a hole 25 in a boss I5 through which the holding bolt 5 of the filter A passes. As mentioned above, the valve cover 2 is superimposed upon the valve plate 3. The lat ter is formed on its upper surface with a shallow circular boss 25 which registers with the circular wall 25A of the main inlet chamber 2| in the valve cover, Figs. 3, 4 and 6. The top surface of the boss 25 is machined to form a fiat valve face. Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, as viewed in plan, the boss 25 may be considered to be divided into seven equal sectors, and it is formed with a set of three adjacent sector-

shaped outlet ports

21, 28 and 29, each occupying one sector, and a set of two adjacent sector-

shaped inlet ports

35 and 3|, each also occupying one sector, the two remaining sectors being left blank or unperforatecl. The outlet port 21 is adapted to communicate with the oil outlet i3 from filter A, the centralport 25 of the set is adapted to communicate with the outlet passage 23 and the main outlet connection 24 from the valve cover 2, and the other port 29 is adapted to communicate with the oil outlet l3 from filter B. These ports are arranged alongside one another and are separated by ribs. The inlet port 30 is. adapted to communicate with the said oil inlet IT to filter A and the other inlet port 3| is adapted to communicate with the oil inlet Hi to filter B. These two inlet ports are also separated by a rib. The set of three outlet ports is separated from the set of two inlet ports by the two blank or unperforated sectors of the valve face, one sector being on either side. The inlet port in the valve face communicates with the oil inlet port H to the filter A through a passage 33 formed in the underside of the valve plate 3. The inlet port 3| in the valve face communicates with the inlet port l5 to filter B through a similar passage 34 formed in the underside of the valve plate 3. Similarly, the

outlet ports

21 and 29 in the valve face 25 communicate, respectively, with the outlets |3 from filter A and filter B via the

passages

35 and 35 formed in the underside of the valve plate. The central or main outlet port 28 in the valve face 25 communicates with a peripheral passage 31 in the underside of the valve plate 3 which surrounds the aforesaid passages and is substantially of oval formation. This main outlet or peripheral passage 31 communicates at one end with an arcuate port 38 which registers with the aforesaid arcuate passage 23 in the valve cover 2 and,

4 separated from each other by ribs as shown in Fig. '7.

Referring to Fig. 5, the disc type control valve I9 is circular and, as shown in Fig. 3, is formed with a flat face 39 which is turnably mounted upon the valve face 25 of the valve plate 3. Like the valve face, the control valve may be considered to be divided into seven sectors, of which one 40 is left blank or unperforated and is flanked on one side by a sector-shaped inlet port 4| which is adapted to communicate with the inlet l1 to the filter A through the inlet port 35 and the passage 33 in the valve plate. On its opposite side. the blank sector is flanked by another sectorshaped inlet port 42, which is adapted to communicate with the inlet I5 to the filter B through the inlet port 3| and the passage 34 in the valve plate. Two of the other remaining four sectors of the control valve are apertured, connected, and enclosed by a housing 43 so as to form a transfer passage 44, which is flanked by, and is separated from, the said inlet ports by two further blank or

unperforated sectors

45 and 45, one on either side.

Means are provided for turning the control valve through an angle of about 51, i. e., through one of the aforesaid sectors. These means comprise a key having a spindle part 41, Fig. 3, which is turnably arranged in a hole 41A formed in the central boss 22 in the valve cover 2. The spindle part 41 of the key is integral with a flange 48 in which are formed two holes (not shown) into which two driving pins 49, Fig. 5, projecting upwards from the control valve i9, engage. A coil spring 50 housed in a recess 5| in the control valve reacts between the latter and the flange 48 of the key and thus acts to press the valve down upon its valve face 25 and also to press the flange into pressure-tight contact with a sealing washer 52 surrounding the spindle part of the key in the boss 22 in the valve cover 2.

The control valve is actuated by means of a hand lever 53 formed with a circular enlargement or heel at its inner end which, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, is provided with a T-shaped opening 54, the metal of the stem part of which is turned upwards to form a lug 55. The upper end 413 of the spindle part 41 of the key is flatted on two sides leaving a tongue like projection which engages in the cross part of the T-shaped opening formed in the heel of the hand lever 53 which heel is turnably arranged on the outside of the valve cover 2 upon a sealing washer 51 and in a recess formed in a sliding bolt plate and cover plate about to be described. The hand lever is secured in position laterally by its engagement with the top end of the spindle as explained above.

Immediately above the heel of the hand lever 53 a bolt plate 50, see particularly Fig. 10, is slidably mounted. The bolt plate comprises a central part 5| and two

lugs

52 and 53 projecting from its opposite ends. A T-shaped aperture 54, see also Fig. 11, through which the top end of the key-spindle 41 projects is cut centrally in the central part. The cross part of the T lies longitudinally of the bolt and is sufllciently long to permit the bolt to move through its designed stroke without fouling the spindle, while the stem part 55 of the T lies transversely of the bolt and engages the lug 55 of the hand lever. The bolt plate 5| is held in position and guided by a cover plate 55 which is fixed to the valve cover 2 by screws 51 arranged on opposite sides of the bolt plate clear of the circular heel of the hand lever. At its front end, the hand lever 53 is formed with a 5 curved actuating handle part "A which cooperates with two spaced

stops

63 and 39 on the valve cover designed to limit the range of the turning movement of the hand lever 33 and, thereby, that of the control valve I9 to the aforesaid 51 approximately. The lug 62 on the bolt plate is adapted to engage in any one of a series of spaced recesses 10 formed in a flange 'II integral with the hand knob I attached to the holding bolt 5 of the filter A and the lug 63 on the bolt plate is adapted to engage in any one of a series of spaced recesses I2 formed in a flange I3 integral with the hand knob I attached to the holding bolt 3 of the filter B.

The purpose of the bolt plate 30 is to prevent either filter being opened when in operation. Thus, when the hand lever 53 is turned to the left as shown in Figs. 2, 10 and 11, the bolt plate is moved to the right by the engagement of the lug 36 with the slot 35, and the lug 33engages in one of the recesses I2 in the flange 13, thereby preventing the filter B being opened. If the hand lever is moved to the right, the bolt plate 60 is moved to the left and the lug 62 is engaged in one of the recesses I in the flange II, thereby preventing the filter A being opened.

Figs. 3 and 9 illustrate the means for priming the filters. These means comprise a priming valve having a fiat valve face I4 .of rubber or like material attached to a flange "I5 provided with a stem I6 of metal or plastic material. The valve is slidably arranged in a hole formed in a boss I1 projecting forwards from the carrier I between the two container bodies 4 and 4A. This hole is closed by a hollow valve cover I8 which is screwed into the hole and is formed with a hole through which the valve stem I6 is slidable. The stem projects out of the cover and its outer end is attached to a hollow knurled knob I9 whereby the valve may be pulled off its port face "A in opposition to a spring 80 which reacts between the cover and the flange I5 of the valve. The said port face is connected by two spaced right angled ports 8| and 82 to the two passages 33 and M, Fig. 7, in the underside of the valve plate 3, which communicate respectively with the liquid system at the inlets I I and It to the filters A and B.

Any air entrapped in the two filters A and B can be vented therefrom by means of two vent valves 84, Fig. 1, which allow air to escape from annular spaces 85 surrounding the holding bolts 5 within the aforesaid bosses I5 and I 5A in the valve cover 2 through which the bolts pass. Each of the air vent valves is urged by a spring 86 onto its seat, which latter is formed at the bottom of a hollow valve body 81 screwed into the top of the hand knob I on the holding bolt 5. The valve body is provided with ports 88 communicating with atmosphere, and the said annular space 85 around the holding bolt 5 communicates with the hollow space 89 in the hand knob 1 below the valve 84 through a lateral port 90 and an axial passage 9| formed at the top end of the holding bolt. The valve stem 92 projects out of the valve body and thus provides a press button by which the valve may be opened. I

The filter A is isolated from the system by pulling the handle end 53A of the control valve lever 53 in the direction of filter A against the stop 68 on that side of the valve cover. In these circumstances, the inlet port 30 in the valve face 25, which communicates through the passage 33 in'the valve plate 3 with the port I! in the carrier leading to filter A is masked by the blank or unperiorated sector to of the control valve It,

which lies between the two inlet ports 4| and 42 in the latter. The main oil inlet chamber 2| in the valve cover is, therefore, cut of! from the inlet which was previously masked by the blank or' unperforated sector 40 of the control valve, now registers with the corresponding port 42 in the valve. Oil can then flow from the oil inlet chamber 2| in the valve cover 2 through the port 42, port 3| in the valve plate, passage 34 in the latter into the inlet to the filter B in the carrier I. Further, the transfer passage 44 in the control valve I9, which, by spanning the main outlet port 28 and the port 21 in the valve face, previously provided communication between the main outlet port 28 and the\ outlet port 21 which communicates through the passage 35 in the valve plate with the outlet I3 from filter A in the carrier I, is now moved so that, by spanning the main outlet port 28 and the outlet port 29 in the valve face, it provides communication between the said main outlet port 28 and the port 29 in the valve face communicating through the passage 36 in the valve plate with the outlet I3, from the filter B in the carrier I. At the same time the blank segment 45 of the valve is moved into a position where it masks the outlet port 21 in the valve face thus cutting ofi the flow of outlet oil from filter A out of the passage 35 in the valve plate. In these circumstances, therefore, oil can pass as above described through the inlet and outlet passages of filter B which is thereby placed in operation, while on the other hand the inlet and outlet passages of filter A being masked, the latter is isolated from the system and ceases to operate. When the control valve I9 is turned in the direction indicated above, the lug 63 on the bolt plate 60 engages in one of the recesses I2 in the flange I3 of the hand knob I attached to the holding bolt 5 of the filter-B and thus prevents that filter being opened inadvertently.

The control valve has only two operative positions, namely, one in which the hand lever 53 abuts against the stop 68, Fig. 10, in which position the filter A is isolated from the system as described above, and the other in which the hand lever abuts against the stop 69, in which position the filter B is isolated from the system.

In the latter position, the inlet port 3I in the valve plate is masked by the blank part 40 of the control valve so that oil cannot flow from the main oil inlet chamber 2I in the valve cover 2 through the inlet port 3| in the valve plate and thence to the inlet of the filter B through the port It in the carrier I. The port 4| in the control valve, however, registers with the port 30 in the valve face 26, so that oil from the main inlet chamber 2I in the valve cover can flow into the inlet to the filter A through the ports II, 30, passage 33 in the valve plate and the inlet port I I in the carrier I.

Further, as the transfer passage 43 in the control valve now spans the main outlet port 28 and the outlet port 21 in the valve face 26 oil can flow from the outlet from the filter A through the corresponding outlet port I3 in the carrier, passage 35, port 21, transfer passage 44 and port 23, in the valve plate to the main outlet passage 23 in the valve cover through the passage 31 and outlet port 38 in the valve plate.

On the other hand, in this position of the convide communication between the main outlet port 28 and the port 29, no oil from the outlet of the filter B can flow out of the passage 35 in the valve plate, the port 29 being masked by the blank part 46 of the valve.

While I have described and illustrated but one embodiment of my invention, it will be appreciated that numerous variations thereof can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and, therefore, I desire to be lim-- 7 ited only by the appended claims.

I claim: 1

1. A duplex filter of the class described, comprising a multi-unit common head, a carrier forming one of said head units, two spaced separate containers supported by said carrier, each container housing a filter element, said carrier being provided with spaced outlet ports communicating with the filter element outlets and with spaced inlet ports communicating with the filter element inlets, a valve plate forming a second of said head units and superimposed upon said carrier, said valve plate being provided with spaced outlet ports each of which communicates with one of said carrier outlet ports, said valve plate being provided with a main outlet port isolated from said first mentioned outlet ports and which communicates with an outlet passage formed in said valve plate, said valve plate being provided with spaced inlet ports each of which communicates with one of said carrier inlet ports, a valve cover forming a third of said head units and superimposed on said valve plate, said cover being formed with an inlet connection and a main inlet chamber in communication therewith and with said valve plate inlet ports, said cover being .formed with an outlet passage in communication with said valve plate outlet passage, and a control valve turnably mounted on said valve plate controlling the flow of liquid through said valve plate 'ports, said control valve being provided with spaced inlet ports separated by an unperforated sector in face-to-face contact with said valve plate, said spacing being such that when one of said control valve inlet ports registers with one of said valve plate inlet ports, the other valve plate inlet port is masked by said unperforated sector,

.said control valve also being provided with a transfer passage in constant communication with said main outlet port in the valve plate and with one of said first mentioned valve plate outlet ports depending upon the position of the control valve, the arrangement being such that the inlet and outlet of a single filter element are Operatively said head. each of said bolts being detachable from its associated container, a securing knob threaded on each of said bolts and in contact with said head to draw the associated container against said head, said securing knob having a part forming a locking element, a main inlet formed in said head, a main outlet formed in said head, valve means enclosed within said head and arranged to place the inlet and the outlet of one of said filter elements into communication with said main inlet and said main outlet, respectively, means projecting from said head and connnec ed to said valve means to shift said valve means to place one or the other of said filter elements into operative condition, and a bolt plate associated with said valve shifting means and adapted to engage said locking elements, said bolt plate being operated to engage the locking element for the container which encloses the filter element in operative condition thereby preventing removal of this container, said bolt plate being simultaneously disengaged from the locking element for the other container thereby permitting removal of this latter container.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2, including means for releasing air entrapped in either filter element, said means comprising an air vent valve mounted in said securing knob, means proiecting from said knob to open said vent valve, and a passage through said holding bolt and said head to the interior of said filter element through which the entrapped air may pass. CAMILLE CLARE SPRANKLING LE CLAIR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Sept. 8, 193a