US3315446A - Filter cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Filter cleaning apparatus Download PDF

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US3315446A
US3315446A US294880A US29488063A US3315446A US 3315446 A US3315446 A US 3315446A US 294880 A US294880 A US 294880A US 29488063 A US29488063 A US 29488063A US 3315446 A US3315446 A US 3315446A
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wall
suction
air
stripper tube
filter
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US294880A
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Jr James F King
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Bahnson Co
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Bahnson Co
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    • DTEXTILES; PAPER
    • D01NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
    • D01HSPINNING OR TWISTING
    • D01H11/00Arrangements for confining or removing dust, fly or the like
    • D01H11/005Arrangements for confining or removing dust, fly or the like with blowing and/or suction devices

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  • the present invention relates in general to filter apparatus, and more particularly to automatically cleaned filter apparatus for removing selected types of solid foreign matter from a fluid medium.
  • This invention has particular application to the removal of lint fibers from lint-laden air and will be described in connection with that specific application, although it will be understood that the invention will provide advantageous operating characteristics in many other applications.
  • the common practice is to provide a facility for conditioning and recirculation of the air in the processing space, such as an apparatus room adjoining the textile processing room into which air from the rocessing room is withdrawn for cleaning and conditioning and then circulated back to the processing room.
  • Several types of filter mechanisms have been heretofore employed to remove lint from the air Withdrawn into the apparatus room or to remove lint from the air at selected zones in the processing room.
  • One of these types of filter apparatus heretofore employed has been the brush and wiper dotted rotary drum, wherein a drum shaped screen was rotated past a brush structure which served to mechanically sweep the lint fibers from the surface of the screen drum and effect discharge of the fibers to a suitable collection zone.
  • Such devices had undesirable characteristics as they released great quantities of fine dust into the return air which would impede or interfere with further processing of the air, and involved rotation of the greatest mass part of the apparatus, namely the screen. Further, such apparatus, wherein one end of the drum was open, required a circumferential seal which absorbed a great amount of power and required more flexibility than could be easily achieved because the open end of the drum could not be kept precisely round when produced by mass production methods.
  • Another type of automatically cleaned filted developed for such processes involved a flat screen of large area appropriate to the volume of air to be handled wherein a wiping blade spanning the small dimension of the screen was scanned back and forth along the length of the long dimension of the screen by a chain drive to dislodge the lint from the clean surface and effect its discharge to a collection point below the screen.
  • An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel filter apparatus having an automatically cleaned screen, which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages of prior art filter apparatus.
  • Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel filter apparatus wherein large area screen capacity is provided in a small space and wherein the screen is pneumatically stripped of lint fibers or similar foreign matter in a manner minimizing release of dust into the air and which attains substantially complete stripping of the screen in one pass over the screen surface.
  • Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel filter apparatus having an automatically pneumatically doffed screen, wherein the screen is not subject to deformation from air loads, and may be used with many different types of filter fabrics.
  • Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel filter apparatus for removing lint fibers from lint-laden air, and similar applications, wherein the filter apparatus may be constructed in standardized modules of selected capacity by mass production techniques, to be adaptable for use as single filter units located at selected zones in or associated with an area to be served or in a multiple unit installation of varying numbers of units for a central station return air filtering application, and wherein substantially no more suction system is required to handle a large number of such units or central station bank of the filters than would be required to operate one filter unit.
  • Such a standardized module filter unit suitable for such varied installation situations has great flexibility, permitting the units to be assembled in central station groups of large air handling capacity or to be installed in spaced single unit arrangements, for example over inlets to ducts leading from selected locations about a room where lint fly problems are encountered, or in building wall openings leading from such a room to other rooms or to outside air, or in hoods overlying certain types of machinery responsible for producing such lint fly problems, such as high speed carding engines and the like.
  • FIGURE 2 is an elevation view of such a central station bank of filter units as viewed from the line 22 of FIGURE 1;
  • FIGURE 3 is a rear elevation view to enlarged scale
  • FIGURE 4 is a vertical section'view of the filter apparatus module, taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 3;
  • FIGURE 5 is an enlarged section view illustrating the FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary section view illustrating the action of the stop mechanism for the suction stripper tube, taken along the line 77 of FIGURE 4;
  • FIGURE 8 is a' diagrammatic view of an exemplary control system for a plurality of filter modules of the present invention.
  • FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary section view of a modified filter unit construction taken from a position corresponding to the line 44 of FIGURE'3, with part of the atmospheric valve broken away;
  • FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary rear elevation view of a the structure shown in FIGURE 9.
  • FIGURE 11 is a vertical section view taken along the line 11 11 of FIGURE 10.
  • FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrating an exemplary installation involving the present invention to remove lint fibers from lint-laden return air in a textile spinning room air conditioning system
  • the reference character 12 designates a textile spinning room containing, forexample, a large number of textile spinning frames (not shown), the surrounding air of which is to be continuously conditioned during operation of the spinning frame to maintain desired temperature and humidity conditions.
  • an apparatus room 13 adjoins the spinning room 12 and contains the usual air treating and conditioning apparatus, indicated generally at 13a, and an air circulating fan 13b which effects return of air through suitable return ducts of a return grill 14 from the spinning room 12 into the apparatus room 13 and through treating and conditioning apparatus 13a, and discharges the treated and conditioned air through suitable ducting or a supply opening 15 in the illustrated installation.
  • a central station filter bank is provided at 16 in the form of a partition spanning the apparatus'room 13 from side to side and from top to bottom in the path of the return air from the spinning room 12 to the air treating and conditioning apparatus 13. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the filter bank 16, which is made up of a selected number of modular filter units 17 constructed in accord-' ance with the present invention will not necessarily have its total area occupied by such modular filter units 17,
  • the modular filter 'units 17 may conveniently be arranged in four vertically extending tiers of four modular units each, arranged in sideby side relation in the central portion of the partition between vertical channel posts 18, with the remaining portion of the partition closed by blank plates 19 flanking the group of filter units 17 and extending to the opposite walls of the apparatus room 11.
  • Each modular filter unit 17 is constructed with a rectangular base 20, formed for example, of sixteen gauge steel having a square periphery and an angle flange 21 at each of the four edges thereof.
  • a large diameter hole 22 bounded by a circular flange 23, to which is spot welded a screen drum generally I indicated by 24 having a perforated cylindrical wall 25 whose downstream edge lies radially outwardly of the circular flange 23 and laps the same.
  • a drum head 26 formed, for example, of 22 gauge. sheet metal having radially extending stiffening.
  • the screen wall 25 is formed at one circumferential location thereon with a locking channel 29 which spans the axial length of the screen wall 25 to facilitate removeable locking'of a filter medium in a outwardly covering relation to the screen wall 25 as will i be later described.
  • This locking channel 29 may be conventionally formed by a U-shaped channel member 30 having opposite projecting flanges 31 at the ends of the. channel sides adjoining the channel opening which arespot welded to the opposite edges of the rolled screen wall 7 25 as shown more clearly in FIGURE 6. 1
  • the base 20 may be formed as a 41" square having a 36" diameter hole 22 therein, and the screen wall 25 may be rolled into a 26" diameter screen having a 15" wide open area with /2" selvedge on each side, the perforations in the screen wall 25 having a diameter of for example, /2" with the perforations ar-.
  • the bearing housing 34 includes a mounting Wall 35 which lies flatagainst the filter'drum.
  • each of the walls 35 and 37 have axially aligned hearing assemblies for journalling a rotating stripper tube unit 38 and include openings 39, 40 surrounded by, bosses having axially elongated cylindrical surfaces against which sleeve bearings 41 and 42 are seated.
  • the sleeve bearing 41 ro-- tates freely against the surface of opening 39 and is suitably held, as by a retaining washer 43 and split ring 43 on a bearing seat of one arm 44 of a cast aluminum elbow 45 forming part of the stripper tube unit 38.
  • the elbow includes an arm 46 extending at right angles to the arm 44 and a bore 47 extending entirely therethrough.
  • a short journal tube 48 having a length corresponding substantially to the axial length of the bearing housing 34 has one end 48a tightly fitted and suitably fixed in the bore 47 of the elbow arm 44 and is rotatably journalled at its other end in the sleeve bearing 42.
  • a suitable felt seal 49 in the bearing housing 34 and adjoining the sleeve bearing 42 is in sealing engagement with the exterior of the journal tube 48.
  • a fixed elbow 50 having a bore 51 in registry with the end 48b of the tube 48 and a suction tube 52 fixed in the opposite end of the bore 51 extends from the elbow 50 to suitable suction sources.
  • the arm 46 of the rotating elbow 45 which lies externally of the screen drum 24 adjacent the drum head 26 supports a radial tubular leg 54 fixed to the elbow arm 46 in communication with the bore 47, the outer end of Which is joined to a pneumatic stripping tube 55 lying immediately externally of the screen wall 25 in parallelism with the axis of the screen wall and adapted to travel circumferencially one complete turn about the screen wall surface.
  • the stripping tube 55 is also in the form of a hollow tube which is closed at its end adjacent the base and has an intake slot 56 extending subtsantially the length thereof facing toward the screen Wall flanked by suitable lips, formed for example by a plastic stripper tube nozzle 57. ably counterbalanced by a counterweight 58 carried by the rotating elbow 45.
  • a suction seal and filter medium retainer 59 is designed to co-act with the locking channel 29 to seal the stripper tube nozzle 57 against ambient air pressure when the stripper tube is at its normal or quiescent position, and to this end is formed of a suitable resiliently deformable material, such as vinyl plastic extrusion, shaped as illustrated in FIGURE 6 to provide a locking tongue portion 60 having, for example, saw-tooth cross sectioned ribs on the opposite sides thereof and a hollow sealing head portion 61 provided with a thin upwardly arching top web 61a.
  • the tongue 60 of the retainer 59 is pressed into the opening of the channel member 30 and acts to draw the filter medium taut over the surface of the screen wall 25 and locks the same within the channel member 30.
  • this retainer 59 serves to seal the stripper tube nozzle 57 closed when the stripper tube 55 overlies the retainer 59, as the suction conditions at the nozzle 57 draw the upwardly arched web 61a of the retainer head 61 into intimate sealing contact with the suction nozzle lips along the entire length thereof.
  • the rotating stripper unit 38 is driven by means of a small air cylinder 65 fixedly supported by the bearing housing 34 and having, for example, a 6" stroke.
  • the air cylinder 65 is of the type having a through piston rod wherein piston rod sections 66a and 66b project externally from the opposite ends of the air cylinder 65.
  • the outer ends of the piston rod sections 66a, 66b are fixed to the de pending to legs 67a, 67a of a drive yoke 68 whose web 69 slides in a suitable guideway in the bearing housing 34.
  • a drive cable 70 having a full turn about the exterior of the tubular section 48 extends between the depending legs 67 of the drive yoke 68 and is suitably anchored thereto by spring anchors 71 maintaining proper tension on the drive cable 70.
  • the spring anchor 71 may, for example, comprise a spring stop washer 71 fitted over the adjacent end of the drive cable 70 having a circumferential rabbet for receiving the outermost turn of a coil spring 72 and a suitable cable clamping bushing or sleeve 71" backing up the washer 71'.
  • a stop mechanism illustrated in detail in FIGURE 7 and located on the drum head 26 is provided adjacent the end of the retainer 59 and locking channel 29 to accurately locate the stripper tube 55 over the retainer 59 at the rest position and provide a full 360 range of rotation for the stripper tube 55.
  • This stop mechanism comprises a stop lever 73 pivotally secured, as indicated at 74, to the drum head 26 and having a body portion 73a overlying the drum head 26 and an ofiset terminal portion 73b lying
  • the rotating stripper tube unit 38 is suitin a plane parallelling the plane of the body portion 73a and spaced toward the base 20, which is connected to the body portion 73a by a connecting Web 730 forming a shoulder to abut against the periphery of the drum head.
  • the offset terminal portion 73b of the stop lever 73 projects into the path of the stripper tube 55 to be engaged by the latter and shifted to either the solid line position or the broken line position illustrated in FIG- URE 7.
  • the shoulder formed by the connecting web 73c is so located relative to the pivot 74 that the stop lever 73 will be stopped by engagement of the shoulder with the drum head periphery when the stripper tube 55 is properly centered over the retainer 59, regardless of the direction of travel of the stripper tube 55.
  • a suitable hanger bracket 75 illustrated as having an L-shaped configuration, is fixed to the air cylinder 65 and has a depending leg 75a carrying a normally closed threeway air valve 76 which is actuated by contact button 76:: positioned to be engaged by one of the depending legs 67a of the drive yoke 68.
  • the arrangement is such that the valve 76 is in a closed position relative to its upstream port and vents its downstream port to atmospheric pressure at all times except when the drive yoke 68 is at its limit of travel illustrated in FIGURE 3 wherein the depending leg 67a of the drive yoke engages and forces inwardly the valve contact button 76a.
  • FIG- URE 8 An exemplary control layout for a plurality of filter units of the foregoing construction is illustrated in FIG- URE 8, wherein three filter units are indicated generally by broken lines and designated by the reference characters 17a, 17b, 17c, each including an air cylinder 65 having chambers 65:: and 65b at the opposite sides of the piston, and having an air valve 76.
  • the cylinder 65 and air valve 76 of each filter unit are shown in solid lines for clarity of illustration.
  • Fluid supply lines to the left hand filter chamber 651) of each filter unit 17a, 17b, 170 are indicated by the reference character 80a, 80b, 80c and connect in parallel with a fluid supply manifold line 81 extending to one port of a four-way valve 82, for example, a solenoid valve controlled by a suitable timer 83 of conventional construction.
  • the four-way valve 82 as is the conventional practice, has an exhaust port 84, a main fluid supply port 85 connected with a suitable source of fluid under pressure, and a fourth port connected to a fluid supply line 86 communicating with and forming the supply to the right hand cylinder chamber 65a of cylinder 65 in the filter unit 17a.
  • the timer 83 causes suction to be applied to the suction tubes 52 in a conventional manner and applies pressure to the port 85.
  • Application of fluid pressure, for example air pressure, to the main inlet port 85 of the four-way valve 82 routes air pressure to the fluid line 86 connected to the drive cylinder chamber 65a of the first filter unit 17a, while the other drive cylinder chamber 65b is connected through line 80a, 81 and the solenoid valve 82 to the exhaust port 64.
  • the piston of drive cylinder 65 of the first filter unit 17a will be activated to shift the drive yoke 68 through a full advance stroke toward the left, as viewed in FIGURE 3, carrying therewith the drive cable 70 and rotating the stripper unit 38 so as to sweep the stripper tube 55 through a 360 path along the exterior surface of the screen wall 25 and filter medium 62 thereon to pneumatically clean lint and dust from the exterior surface of the filter medium and withdraw the same by pneumatic suction through the suction tube 52.
  • the air cylinder 65 of the second filter unit 17 will be activated in similar manner to the air cylinder of the first filter unit 170, and upon completion of the advance stroke of the associated drive yoke 68, the normally closed air valve 76 of the second filter unit 1717 will be opened admitting pneumatic pressure through line 88 to the cylinder chamber 65a of the third filter unit 170, producing a similar cycle of operation.
  • the timer 83 shifts the four-way valve 82 the timermay cut 011 the suction supply to suction tubes 52 by suitable conventional valve means or the suction to the suction tubes 52 may be left on during the return strokes of tubes 52, as desired.
  • valve 76 returns by internal spring bias to closed condition venting the downstream port connected to branch 87 to atmosphere, and thus permitting the pressure through line 80b to chamber 65b of filter unit 17b to drive the latter in return direction.
  • the cylinder 65 01 the third filter unit 170 and any subsequent units are activated through their return cycle in like manner.Thus, the stripper tube units 38 of all of the filter units are rotated through their return strokes in substantially concurrent manner, although there is a slight time staggering of the initiation of return of the successive filter units.
  • the pneumatic doffing suction system connected to the suction tubes 52 of the plurality of filter units does not have to provide any greater suction than would be needed for a single filter unit.
  • the stripper units may be caused to pneumatically doff the filter media of the filter units during the return stroke as well as the advance stroke.
  • FIGURES 9, 10 and 11 An alternate arrangement for conditioning the stripper units 38 to extinguish the suction currents at the nozzle 57 when the associated stripper tube 55 occupies its rest position and prevent it from loading the master suction source, is illustrated in FIGURES 9, 10 and 11.
  • the filter unit is of the same construction as that described in connection with the first embodiment, except that the thin deformable top web 61a is omitted from the filter medium retainer 59 and a valve "is associated with the suction tube 52 at the bearing Q o ber as the tongue portion is forced into the channel 29.
  • Valving of the suction pressure through suction tube 52 to stripper tube 55 is accomplished by a valve assembly which is substituted for the elbow 50 and mounted on the bearing housing 34.
  • the valve assembly 90 comprises a cast valve housing 91 provided with an internal chamber 92 with which the suction tube 52 communicates.
  • a short tube section 93 is pressed into an opening of the valve housing 91 and conforms to the journal tube 48 in the bearing housing 34 to register therewith and form a continuation thereof.
  • the end of the tube section 93 lying within the chamber 92 forms a surface on which a valve member 94 can adequately seal, the valve member 94 being formed of a disk of suitable sealing'material, such as a fiber. washer or pad, bonded onto a metal hinge panel 95 pivoted about a hinge axis 96.
  • a yoke 97 is securely fixed to hinge panel 95 and is pinned to a link 98 which is secured to a backing plate 99 supporting the free end of a bellows 101.
  • the opposite end of the bellows 101 is fixed to the valve housing 91 and is covered by a retaining cap 102 having an extension 103 aligned with the axis of the bellows 101.
  • a spring anchor 104 is attached to the backing plate 99 by a suitable fastener screw 104a and a return spring '105 is connected to the spring anchor 104 and extends through the bellows 101 An atmospheric valve.107 communicating with the in-.
  • valve 107 is mounted on the filter drum head 26 just above the web 69 of drive yoke 68 in a position to be contacted by either of two actuator pins 109, 109 fixed on the yoke 68 at proper locations to strike the valve 107 slightly before the strokes of the yoke 68 are I completed.
  • the valve 107 includes a hollow'valve body 110 fixed to the drum head 26 having an outlet 111 connected by tube 108 to the bellows interior, and a rigid extension 112 having a valve plate 113 which is normally held tightly against valve seat 114 by a spring 115. When one of the pins 109, 109 strikes the valve extension 112,
  • valve plate 113 is rocked away from its seat 114, thus venting the inside of the valve bodygllt) and of bellows 101 communicating therewith to atmosphere.
  • the pressure in the bellows then exceeds the suction pressure conditions in the valve chamber 92 established through tube 52 and the bellows 101 expands against the force of spring to the position shown in FIGURE 11,
  • the stripper tube 55 When the stripper tube 55 nears the completion of its one revolution stroke, one of the pins 109, 109 again engages the atmospheric valve extension 112 and rocks the valve 107 to open condition, to vent the bellows interior to atmosphere and shift the valve member 104 to closed condition as described above.
  • the stripper tube 55 is cut off from the suction pressure source whenever it attains its rest position until it is again displaced from the position, to attain the action and characteristics of the first described embodiment with out employing a flexible sealing member'externally of the nozzle 57, such as the top web 61a of retainer 59, to seal closed the suction nozzle 57.
  • a fan unit may be associated with each filter unit module if desired.
  • Such an association of a fan with each filter unit module may be particularly desirable where filter units are to 'be installed over air inlets to individual air flow ducts or in building wall openings for exhausting air to the exterior of a building or in hood assemblies over individual machines for reducing the amount of airborne lint in the vicinity of the machine.
  • a fan can be conveniently assembled to the filter unit by providing a fan motor and supporting wire cage on a carrier plate having planiform flanges or rim portions which lap over and may be bolted to the surface of the base 20, the carrier plate, for example, having a central opening for the fan blades bounded by a circular flange concentric with the hole 22 in the filter base 20 and integral with the carrier plate to which the cage is secured to support the fan motor and blades within the central opening.
  • Apparatus for filtering solids from a fluid stream containing the solids comprising a fluid pervious drum member having a fluid pervious cylindrical filtering wall located in the fluid stream for passage of the fluid along radially inwardly directed flow paths therethrough, the outwardly facing surface of said filtering wall being the upstream surface thereof relative to said flow paths, means for establishing pressure conditions within said drum to produce flow of said fluid along said radially inwardly directed flow paths through said wall with accumulation of said solids on the upstream surface thereof, an elongated penumatic stripper tube spanning the axial length of said wall extending parallel to said members axis radially outwardly of said Wall having an intake nozzle immediately adjacent said upstream surface facing radially inwardly toward the wall and spanning the axial length thereof, means for periodically sweeping said stripper tube through a single revolution cycle along the circumference of the wall from a selected rest position to said rest position, means for applying suction to said stripper tube to produce suction currents immediately externally of said suction nozzle during
  • said means for terminating said suction currents comprises a re siliently deformable sealing strip element supported on said filtering wall at said rest position having a portion extending the length of said nozzle located sufficiently close to said nozzle when the latter occupies said rest position to be resiliently deformed by the suction current of said nozzle into sealing engagement therewith to hold the same in closed condition.
  • said means for terminating said suction currents comprises valve means activated in coordinated relation to the position of said stripper tube for discontinuing application of suction to the stripper tube when the latter registers with said rest position.
  • said means for sweeping said stripper tube includes a rectilinearly reciprocative drive yoke, a pneumatic cylinder supported at a stationary position adjacent said axis having a reciprocative piston and piston rods connected to said drive yoke, said stripper tube having a supporting arm including a radial section and a portion aligned with said axis, cable means fixed to said drive yoke and trained about said portion of said supporting arm aligned with said axis for rotating said stripper tube and supporting arm about said axis responsive to reciprocative movement of said drive yoke and piston rods, and means for selectively valving fluid under pressure to said cylinder to produce movement of the piston and piston rods in either of two opposite directions.
  • said means for periodically sweeping said stripper tube includes drive means, a controlled source of energy for activating said drive means, main conduit means for normally directing energy from said source to said drive means to activate the drive means to sweep said stripper tube through its cycle when the source is conditioned to supply energy, branch conduit means connected to said main conduit means for connection to an external device, and means responsive to conditions denoting attainment by said stripper tube of a selected end position in its cycle to automatically direct the energy from said source to said branch conduit means.
  • Apparatus for removing lint from lint-laden air comprising a cylindrical fluid pervious wall means for supporting a cylindrical lint filtering web disposed in out wardly surrounded relation by the lint-laden air concentric to a reference axis to intercept the lint-laden air, means for drawing the air outwardly surrounding said web along radially inwardly directed paths therethrough to accumulate lint on the outwardly facing surface thereof, an elongated pneumatic stripper tube extending parallel to said axis radially outwardly of said web having an elongated intake nozzle immediately adjacent said outwardly facing surface of the web facing radially inwardly toward the wall and spanning the axial length thereof, means for periodically sweeping said stripper tube through an arcuate stroke along the circumference of the web concentric with said reference axis from a selected rest position to said rest position, means for applying suction to said stripper tube during sweeping movement thereof to produce suction currents immediately externally of said suction nozzle
  • Apparatus for removing lint from lint-laden air comprising a cylindrical fluid pervious wall means for supporting a cylindrical lint filtering web disposed in outwardly surrounded relation to the lint laden air concentric ;to a reference axis to intercept the lint-laden air, means for drawing the air outwardly surrounding said web along radially inwardly directed paths therethrough to accumulate lint on the outwardly facing surface thereof, an imperforate circular wall peripherally jointed to said screen wall at one end thereof and disposed perpendicular to said axis, an elongated pneumatic stripper tube extending parallel to said axis radially outwardly of said web having an elongated intake nozzle immediately adjacent the outwardly facing surface of the web facing radially inwardly toward the wall and spanning the axial length thereof, a cylindrical fluid pervious wall means for supporting a cylindrical lint filtering web disposed in outwardly surrounded relation to the lint laden air

Description

April 25, 1967 J. F. KING, JR 3,315,446
FILTER CLEANING APPARATUS Filed July 15, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet l fas- April 25, 1967 J. F. KING, JR
FILTER CLEANING APPARATUS Filed July 15, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 25, 1967 J. F. KING, JR
FILTER CLEANING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Shee t Filed July 15, 1963 ZNVENTOR efameslfi z lgg eh ATToRNEYs' BY J April 25, 1967 J. F. KING, JR
FILTER CLEANING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 15, 1965 INVENTOR efames I? ATTORNEYS April 25, 1967 J. F. KING, JR
FILTER CLEANING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 15, 1963 A ril 25, 1967 J. F. KING, JR 3,315,446
FILTER CLEANING APPARATUS Filed July 15, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR Jkmes I (/12 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,315,446 FILTER CLEANING APPARATUS James F. King, Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C., assignor to The Bahnson Company, Winston-Salem, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed July 15, 1963, Ser. No. 294,880 7 Claims. (Cl. 55-272) The present invention relates in general to filter apparatus, and more particularly to automatically cleaned filter apparatus for removing selected types of solid foreign matter from a fluid medium. This invention has particular application to the removal of lint fibers from lint-laden air and will be described in connection with that specific application, although it will be understood that the invention will provide advantageous operating characteristics in many other applications.
It is common practice in textile processing plants to provide continuous conditioning of the air in such plants so as to maintain such temperature and humidity conditions as will insure that the textile fibers being processed are in the optimum condition for the processing being performed. Such textile air conditioning involves moving of large quantities of lint-laden air, since it is an inescapable incident of high speed textile processing that lint fly is dislodged from the textile yarn or fabric and becomes entrained in the air streams moving about the building. Thus lint screening becomes necessary to remove the fibers from the air to be conditioned and thereby protect lint-vulnerable mechanical components downstream from the lint screen. Because of the high concentration of lint in textile room air, the lint accumulation on a lint screen occurs at a speed rate that requires periodic screen cleaning to prevent plugging of the air passages in the screen and resultant faulty operation. Considerable effort has therefore been devoted to the provision of automatically cleaned screens which will effectively remove the lint from the air at sufficiently frequent intervals and in an appropriate manner to maintain the air in the textile processing spaces in appropriate condition. It will be apparent that it is impractical in such textile air conditioning installations to continuously condition fresh supplies of exterior ambient air and deliver the same to the textile processing space, for example a textile spinning room, at a suflicient rate to provide rapid changing of the air in the processing space, as excessively expensive temperature conditioning, air cleaning and humidifying apparatus will be required.
The common practice, therefore, is to provide a facility for conditioning and recirculation of the air in the processing space, such as an apparatus room adjoining the textile processing room into which air from the rocessing room is withdrawn for cleaning and conditioning and then circulated back to the processing room. Several types of filter mechanisms have been heretofore employed to remove lint from the air Withdrawn into the apparatus room or to remove lint from the air at selected zones in the processing room. One of these types of filter apparatus heretofore employed has been the brush and wiper dotted rotary drum, wherein a drum shaped screen was rotated past a brush structure which served to mechanically sweep the lint fibers from the surface of the screen drum and effect discharge of the fibers to a suitable collection zone. Such devices had undesirable characteristics as they released great quantities of fine dust into the return air which would impede or interfere with further processing of the air, and involved rotation of the greatest mass part of the apparatus, namely the screen. Further, such apparatus, wherein one end of the drum was open, required a circumferential seal which absorbed a great amount of power and required more flexibility than could be easily achieved because the open end of the drum could not be kept precisely round when produced by mass production methods.
Another type of automatically cleaned filted developed for such processes involved a flat screen of large area appropriate to the volume of air to be handled wherein a wiping blade spanning the small dimension of the screen was scanned back and forth along the length of the long dimension of the screen by a chain drive to dislodge the lint from the clean surface and effect its discharge to a collection point below the screen. Such flat screen type filter mechanisms also had undesirable properties, as the long-span chain drive was subject to lint contamination and could not be effectively kept clean, the mechanical wiping of the screen disturbed the lint mass on the surface of the screen and allowed the dust which had been eifectively filtered out of the air to then pass through the screen, a very heavy screen frame was required because of the air load imposed on the surface of the screen due to the static pressure difference existing across the filter surface, and, in practice, sagging of the central portion of the screen became unavoidable and rendered exceedingly diflicult attainment of relatively uniform effective wiping action over all parts of the screen area.
To overcome these disadvantages, others have commercially offered automatically dotted screens utilizing a moving filter paper cover for the screen which is rolled across the screen and continuously or periodically changed at a sufficient rate to prevent contamination of the portion in the air stream. Such devices, however, have the drawback of high replacement cost of the paper medium.
An object of the present invention, therefore, is the provision of a novel filter apparatus having an automatically cleaned screen, which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages of prior art filter apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel filter apparatus wherein large area screen capacity is provided in a small space and wherein the screen is pneumatically stripped of lint fibers or similar foreign matter in a manner minimizing release of dust into the air and which attains substantially complete stripping of the screen in one pass over the screen surface.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel filter apparatus having an automatically pneumatically doffed screen, wherein the screen is not subject to deformation from air loads, and may be used with many different types of filter fabrics.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel filter apparatus for removing lint fibers from lint-laden air, and similar applications, wherein the filter apparatus may be constructed in standardized modules of selected capacity by mass production techniques, to be adaptable for use as single filter units located at selected zones in or associated with an area to be served or in a multiple unit installation of varying numbers of units for a central station return air filtering application, and wherein substantially no more suction system is required to handle a large number of such units or central station bank of the filters than would be required to operate one filter unit. Such a standardized module filter unit suitable for such varied installation situations has great flexibility, permitting the units to be assembled in central station groups of large air handling capacity or to be installed in spaced single unit arrangements, for example over inlets to ducts leading from selected locations about a room where lint fly problems are encountered, or in building wall openings leading from such a room to other rooms or to outside air, or in hoods overlying certain types of machinery responsible for producing such lint fly problems, such as high speed carding engines and the like.
Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following 7 ing the present invention is employed;
FIGURE 2 is an elevation view of such a central station bank of filter units as viewed from the line 22 of FIGURE 1;
FIGURE 3 is a rear elevation view to enlarged scale,
of a filter apparatus module embodying the present invention, viewed from the downstream side;
FIGURE 4 is a vertical section'view of the filter apparatus module, taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 3;
FIGURE 5 is an enlarged section view illustrating the FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary section view illustrating the action of the stop mechanism for the suction stripper tube, taken along the line 77 of FIGURE 4;
FIGURE 8 is a' diagrammatic view of an exemplary control system for a plurality of filter modules of the present invention;
FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary section view of a modified filter unit construction taken from a position corresponding to the line 44 of FIGURE'3, with part of the atmospheric valve broken away;
FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary rear elevation view of a the structure shown in FIGURE 9; and
w FIGURE 11 is a vertical section view taken along the line 11 11 of FIGURE 10.
The invention will be specifically described in connection with a central station filter bank for a textile spinning room installation, from which description an adequate understanding of the invention will be attained to enable persons skilled in the art to use the invention in the many other applications for which it is suitable. Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, and particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrating an exemplary installation involving the present invention to remove lint fibers from lint-laden return air in a textile spinning room air conditioning system, the reference character 12 designates a textile spinning room containing, forexample, a large number of textile spinning frames (not shown), the surrounding air of which is to be continuously conditioned during operation of the spinning frame to maintain desired temperature and humidity conditions. In this exemplary installation, an apparatus room 13 adjoins the spinning room 12 and contains the usual air treating and conditioning apparatus, indicated generally at 13a, and an air circulating fan 13b which effects return of air through suitable return ducts of a return grill 14 from the spinning room 12 into the apparatus room 13 and through treating and conditioning apparatus 13a, and discharges the treated and conditioned air through suitable ducting or a supply opening 15 in the illustrated installation. A central station filter bank is provided at 16 in the form of a partition spanning the apparatus'room 13 from side to side and from top to bottom in the path of the return air from the spinning room 12 to the air treating and conditioning apparatus 13. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the filter bank 16, which is made up of a selected number of modular filter units 17 constructed in accord-' ance with the present invention will not necessarily have its total area occupied by such modular filter units 17,
but will embody only an' appropriate number of such filter units 17 as will be adequate to handle the volume of air being circulated through the system. For example, if sixteen of such modular filter units 17 are required for the particular air volume rate encountered in the installation, the modular filter 'units 17 may conveniently be arranged in four vertically extending tiers of four modular units each, arranged in sideby side relation in the central portion of the partition between vertical channel posts 18, with the remaining portion of the partition closed by blank plates 19 flanking the group of filter units 17 and extending to the opposite walls of the apparatus room 11.
Each modular filter unit 17 is constructed with a rectangular base 20, formed for example, of sixteen gauge steel having a square periphery and an angle flange 21 at each of the four edges thereof. In the center of the base 2!) is a large diameter hole 22 bounded by a circular flange 23, to which is spot welded a screen drum generally I indicated by 24 having a perforated cylindrical wall 25 whose downstream edge lies radially outwardly of the circular flange 23 and laps the same. To the opposite edge of the cylindrical screen wall 25 is welded a drum head 26 formed, for example, of 22 gauge. sheet metal having radially extending stiffening. spokes 27 pressed therein and a formed angle flange 28 around its outer edge which is pressed over the cylindrical screen wall 25 and spot welded thereto. The screen wall 25 is formed at one circumferential location thereon with a locking channel 29 which spans the axial length of the screen wall 25 to facilitate removeable locking'of a filter medium in a outwardly covering relation to the screen wall 25 as will i be later described. This locking channel 29 may be conventionally formed by a U-shaped channel member 30 having opposite projecting flanges 31 at the ends of the. channel sides adjoining the channel opening which arespot welded to the opposite edges of the rolled screen wall 7 25 as shown more clearly in FIGURE 6. 1
In one practical example, the base 20 may be formed as a 41" square having a 36" diameter hole 22 therein, and the screen wall 25 may be rolled into a 26" diameter screen having a 15" wide open area with /2" selvedge on each side, the perforations in the screen wall 25 having a diameter of for example, /2" with the perforations ar-.
ranged in staggered rows so that the open area of the clearly shown in FIGURE 5 into which a circular extru- I sion'33 of a bearing housing 34, for example of cast aluminium, extends. The bearing housing 34 includes a mounting Wall 35 which lies flatagainst the filter'drum.
head 26 and is suitably fixed thereto and axially projecting body portion 36 extending toward the base 20 and terminating in an outwardly spaced wall portion 37generally parallelling the plane of the mounting wall 35. Each of the walls 35 and 37 have axially aligned hearing assemblies for journalling a rotating stripper tube unit 38 and include openings 39, 40 surrounded by, bosses having axially elongated cylindrical surfaces against which sleeve bearings 41 and 42 are seated. The sleeve bearing 41 ro-- tates freely against the surface of opening 39 and is suitably held, as by a retaining washer 43 and split ring 43 on a bearing seat of one arm 44 of a cast aluminum elbow 45 forming part of the stripper tube unit 38. The elbow includes an arm 46 extending at right angles to the arm 44 and a bore 47 extending entirely therethrough. A short journal tube 48 having a length corresponding substantially to the axial length of the bearing housing 34 has one end 48a tightly fitted and suitably fixed in the bore 47 of the elbow arm 44 and is rotatably journalled at its other end in the sleeve bearing 42. A suitable felt seal 49 in the bearing housing 34 and adjoining the sleeve bearing 42 is in sealing engagement with the exterior of the journal tube 48. A fixed elbow 50 having a bore 51 in registry with the end 48b of the tube 48 and a suction tube 52 fixed in the opposite end of the bore 51 extends from the elbow 50 to suitable suction sources.
The arm 46 of the rotating elbow 45 which lies externally of the screen drum 24 adjacent the drum head 26 supports a radial tubular leg 54 fixed to the elbow arm 46 in communication with the bore 47, the outer end of Which is joined to a pneumatic stripping tube 55 lying immediately externally of the screen wall 25 in parallelism with the axis of the screen wall and adapted to travel circumferencially one complete turn about the screen wall surface. The stripping tube 55 is also in the form of a hollow tube which is closed at its end adjacent the base and has an intake slot 56 extending subtsantially the length thereof facing toward the screen Wall flanked by suitable lips, formed for example by a plastic stripper tube nozzle 57. ably counterbalanced by a counterweight 58 carried by the rotating elbow 45.
A suction seal and filter medium retainer 59 is designed to co-act with the locking channel 29 to seal the stripper tube nozzle 57 against ambient air pressure when the stripper tube is at its normal or quiescent position, and to this end is formed of a suitable resiliently deformable material, such as vinyl plastic extrusion, shaped as illustrated in FIGURE 6 to provide a locking tongue portion 60 having, for example, saw-tooth cross sectioned ribs on the opposite sides thereof and a hollow sealing head portion 61 provided with a thin upwardly arching top web 61a. When an endless strip of filter medium, indicated by the reference character 62, or the opposite edge portions of a cut strip of filter medium, is pressed into the channel member 30 after the filter medium has been placed about the screen wall 25, the tongue 60 of the retainer 59 is pressed into the opening of the channel member 30 and acts to draw the filter medium taut over the surface of the screen wall 25 and locks the same within the channel member 30. Also, this retainer 59 serves to seal the stripper tube nozzle 57 closed when the stripper tube 55 overlies the retainer 59, as the suction conditions at the nozzle 57 draw the upwardly arched web 61a of the retainer head 61 into intimate sealing contact with the suction nozzle lips along the entire length thereof.
The rotating stripper unit 38, is driven by means of a small air cylinder 65 fixedly supported by the bearing housing 34 and having, for example, a 6" stroke. The air cylinder 65 is of the type having a through piston rod wherein piston rod sections 66a and 66b project externally from the opposite ends of the air cylinder 65. The outer ends of the piston rod sections 66a, 66b are fixed to the de pending to legs 67a, 67a of a drive yoke 68 whose web 69 slides in a suitable guideway in the bearing housing 34. Also, a drive cable 70 having a full turn about the exterior of the tubular section 48 extends between the depending legs 67 of the drive yoke 68 and is suitably anchored thereto by spring anchors 71 maintaining proper tension on the drive cable 70. The spring anchor 71 may, for example, comprise a spring stop washer 71 fitted over the adjacent end of the drive cable 70 having a circumferential rabbet for receiving the outermost turn of a coil spring 72 and a suitable cable clamping bushing or sleeve 71" backing up the washer 71'.
A stop mechanism illustrated in detail in FIGURE 7 and located on the drum head 26 is provided adjacent the end of the retainer 59 and locking channel 29 to accurately locate the stripper tube 55 over the retainer 59 at the rest position and provide a full 360 range of rotation for the stripper tube 55. This stop mechanism comprises a stop lever 73 pivotally secured, as indicated at 74, to the drum head 26 and having a body portion 73a overlying the drum head 26 and an ofiset terminal portion 73b lying The rotating stripper tube unit 38 is suitin a plane parallelling the plane of the body portion 73a and spaced toward the base 20, which is connected to the body portion 73a by a connecting Web 730 forming a shoulder to abut against the periphery of the drum head. The offset terminal portion 73b of the stop lever 73 projects into the path of the stripper tube 55 to be engaged by the latter and shifted to either the solid line position or the broken line position illustrated in FIG- URE 7. The shoulder formed by the connecting web 73c is so located relative to the pivot 74 that the stop lever 73 will be stopped by engagement of the shoulder with the drum head periphery when the stripper tube 55 is properly centered over the retainer 59, regardless of the direction of travel of the stripper tube 55.
A suitable hanger bracket 75, illustrated as having an L-shaped configuration, is fixed to the air cylinder 65 and has a depending leg 75a carrying a normally closed threeway air valve 76 which is actuated by contact button 76:: positioned to be engaged by one of the depending legs 67a of the drive yoke 68. The arrangement is such that the valve 76 is in a closed position relative to its upstream port and vents its downstream port to atmospheric pressure at all times except when the drive yoke 68 is at its limit of travel illustrated in FIGURE 3 wherein the depending leg 67a of the drive yoke engages and forces inwardly the valve contact button 76a.
An exemplary control layout for a plurality of filter units of the foregoing construction is illustrated in FIG- URE 8, wherein three filter units are indicated generally by broken lines and designated by the reference characters 17a, 17b, 17c, each including an air cylinder 65 having chambers 65:: and 65b at the opposite sides of the piston, and having an air valve 76. The cylinder 65 and air valve 76 of each filter unit are shown in solid lines for clarity of illustration. Fluid supply lines to the left hand filter chamber 651) of each filter unit 17a, 17b, 170 are indicated by the reference character 80a, 80b, 80c and connect in parallel with a fluid supply manifold line 81 extending to one port of a four-way valve 82, for example, a solenoid valve controlled by a suitable timer 83 of conventional construction. The four-way valve 82, as is the conventional practice, has an exhaust port 84, a main fluid supply port 85 connected with a suitable source of fluid under pressure, and a fourth port connected to a fluid supply line 86 communicating with and forming the supply to the right hand cylinder chamber 65a of cylinder 65 in the filter unit 17a. Assuming that all filter units 17a17c are initially at a rest position wherein the drive yoke 68 is fully thrown to the right, as viewed in FIGURE 3, with the depending yoke leg 67a spaced fartherest from the air valve 76, the timer 83 causes suction to be applied to the suction tubes 52 in a conventional manner and applies pressure to the port 85. Application of fluid pressure, for example air pressure, to the main inlet port 85 of the four-way valve 82 routes air pressure to the fluid line 86 connected to the drive cylinder chamber 65a of the first filter unit 17a, while the other drive cylinder chamber 65b is connected through line 80a, 81 and the solenoid valve 82 to the exhaust port 64. Thus the piston of drive cylinder 65 of the first filter unit 17a will be activated to shift the drive yoke 68 through a full advance stroke toward the left, as viewed in FIGURE 3, carrying therewith the drive cable 70 and rotating the stripper unit 38 so as to sweep the stripper tube 55 through a 360 path along the exterior surface of the screen wall 25 and filter medium 62 thereon to pneumatically clean lint and dust from the exterior surface of the filter medium and withdraw the same by pneumatic suction through the suction tube 52. The sweep of the stripper tube 55 will be stopped directly over the retainer 59 by the stop lever 73 as previously described, and the depending leg 67a of the drive yoke 68 at the end of the stroke will engage the contact button 76a of the valve 76 and force the same to open position. This opening of the valve 76 asso- V ciated with the first filter unit 17a connects its upstream port with its downstream port and cuts oil the external vent to atmosphere, thus admitting the pneumatic pressure from the line 86 to which the upstream port of the valve 76 is connected, through a fluid supply line 87 connected to the downstream port of valve 76 and to the corresponding drive cylinder chamber 65a of the next filter unit 17b. The air cylinder 65 of the second filter unit 17!) will be activated in similar manner to the air cylinder of the first filter unit 170, and upon completion of the advance stroke of the associated drive yoke 68, the normally closed air valve 76 of the second filter unit 1717 will be opened admitting pneumatic pressure through line 88 to the cylinder chamber 65a of the third filter unit 170, producing a similar cycle of operation.
When all of the filter units of the central station bank of filter units have been driven through their advance 7 7 stroke, the timer 83 then shifts the four-way valve 82 the timermay cut 011 the suction supply to suction tubes 52 by suitable conventional valve means or the suction to the suction tubes 52 may be left on during the return strokes of tubes 52, as desired.
As the pressure applied to cylinder chamber 65b of filter unit 17a drives the yoke arm 67a on of contact button 76a of valve 76, the valve 76 returns by internal spring bias to closed condition venting the downstream port connected to branch 87 to atmosphere, and thus permitting the pressure through line 80b to chamber 65b of filter unit 17b to drive the latter in return direction. The cylinder 65 01 the third filter unit 170 and any subsequent units are activated through their return cycle in like manner.Thus, the stripper tube units 38 of all of the filter units are rotated through their return strokes in substantially concurrent manner, although there is a slight time staggering of the initiation of return of the successive filter units. Since the stripper tube 55 of only one filter unit is displaced off of its associated suction seal and retainer 59 at any one time during the advance stroke, all of the other stripper tubes being sealed by their associated retainers 59 except during their individual sweeping cycle, the pneumatic doffing suction system connected to the suction tubes 52 of the plurality of filter units does not have to provide any greater suction than would be needed for a single filter unit.
It will be apparent, of course, that by providinga similar valve and valve actuation arrangement for regulating the return stroke as is provided for controlling the advance stroke, and maintaining full suction pressure on the stripper tubes during the return stroke, the stripper units may be caused to pneumatically doff the filter media of the filter units during the return stroke as well as the advance stroke.
An alternate arrangement for conditioning the stripper units 38 to extinguish the suction currents at the nozzle 57 when the associated stripper tube 55 occupies its rest position and prevent it from loading the master suction source, is illustrated in FIGURES 9, 10 and 11. In this modification, the filter unit is of the same construction as that described in connection with the first embodiment, except that the thin deformable top web 61a is omitted from the filter medium retainer 59 and a valve "is associated with the suction tube 52 at the bearing Q o ber as the tongue portion is forced into the channel 29. Valving of the suction pressure through suction tube 52 to stripper tube 55 is accomplished by a valve assembly which is substituted for the elbow 50 and mounted on the bearing housing 34. The valve assembly 90 comprises a cast valve housing 91 provided with an internal chamber 92 with which the suction tube 52 communicates.
A short tube section 93 is pressed into an opening of the valve housing 91 and conforms to the journal tube 48 in the bearing housing 34 to register therewith and form a continuation thereof. The end of the tube section 93 lying within the chamber 92 forms a surface on which a valve member 94 can adequately seal, the valve member 94 being formed of a disk of suitable sealing'material, such as a fiber. washer or pad, bonded onto a metal hinge panel 95 pivoted about a hinge axis 96. A yoke 97 is securely fixed to hinge panel 95 and is pinned to a link 98 which is secured to a backing plate 99 supporting the free end of a bellows 101. The opposite end of the bellows 101 is fixed to the valve housing 91 and is covered by a retaining cap 102 having an extension 103 aligned with the axis of the bellows 101. A spring anchor 104 is attached to the backing plate 99 by a suitable fastener screw 104a and a return spring '105 is connected to the spring anchor 104 and extends through the bellows 101 An atmospheric valve.107 communicating with the in-.
terior of the bellows 101 through tube 108 selectively vents the bellows interior to atmosphere or isolates the sameand permits suction pressure to build up therein through the leak port in screw 104a, in accordance with the position of the drive yoke 68 and piston rods 66a, 66b. The valve 107 is mounted on the filter drum head 26 just above the web 69 of drive yoke 68 in a position to be contacted by either of two actuator pins 109, 109 fixed on the yoke 68 at proper locations to strike the valve 107 slightly before the strokes of the yoke 68 are I completed. The valve 107 includes a hollow'valve body 110 fixed to the drum head 26 having an outlet 111 connected by tube 108 to the bellows interior, and a rigid extension 112 having a valve plate 113 which is normally held tightly against valve seat 114 by a spring 115. When one of the pins 109, 109 strikes the valve extension 112,
i the valve plate 113 is rocked away from its seat 114, thus venting the inside of the valve bodygllt) and of bellows 101 communicating therewith to atmosphere. When the a 0 interior of the bellows 101 is thus vented to asmosphere and atmospheric pressure conditions are attained therein, the pressure in the bellows then exceeds the suction pressure conditions in the valve chamber 92 established through tube 52 and the bellows 101 expands against the force of spring to the position shown in FIGURE 11,
.closing the valve hinge. panel 95 against tube 93 and preventing communication of suction pressure from tube 52 to stripper tube 55.
It will be apparent that when the piston of air cylinder 65 of the associated filter unit has completed its stroke in either direction, either pin 109 or 109 on the drive yoke 68 will have contacted theatmospheric valve extension 112 and rocked the valve plate 113 away from its seat 114, thus venting the inerior of valve body and bellows 101 to atmosphere and producing a much greater pressure in the bellows 101 than the suction pressure in valve chamber 92, so that the bellows 101 expands and closes the valve member 94 against the seat formed by the adjacent end of tube 93. This is the condition attained in valve assembly 90 when the stripper tube 55 occupies its rest position. When the air cylinder 65 is next activated to drive the yoke 68 and rotate the stripper unit, slight movement of the yoke 68 withdraws the pin 109 or 109' from contact with the valve extension 112 and permits the atmospheric valve 107 to close under the biasing force of spring115. Pressures will very quickly equalize between the inside and outside of bellows 101 due to leakage through the leak port of screw 104a, so that return spring 105 can collapse the bellows 101 and open valve member 94 to communicate suction pressure from tube 32 to stripper tube 55 and effect pneumatic dofling during the remainder of the rotary stroke of the stripper unit. When the stripper tube 55 nears the completion of its one revolution stroke, one of the pins 109, 109 again engages the atmospheric valve extension 112 and rocks the valve 107 to open condition, to vent the bellows interior to atmosphere and shift the valve member 104 to closed condition as described above. Thus, by this valving arrangement, the stripper tube 55 is cut off from the suction pressure source whenever it attains its rest position until it is again displaced from the position, to attain the action and characteristics of the first described embodiment with out employing a flexible sealing member'externally of the nozzle 57, such as the top web 61a of retainer 59, to seal closed the suction nozzle 57.
Although in the specific application herein illustrated, a single air circulating fan as an independent device spaced from the bank of filter units at another location in the air flow path is employed to effect air movement through all'of the filter units in the bank, a fan unit may be associated with each filter unit module if desired. Such an association of a fan with each filter unit module may be particularly desirable where filter units are to 'be installed over air inlets to individual air flow ducts or in building wall openings for exhausting air to the exterior of a building or in hood assemblies over individual machines for reducing the amount of airborne lint in the vicinity of the machine. Where an assembly of a fan and filter unit module is desirable a fan can be conveniently assembled to the filter unit by providing a fan motor and supporting wire cage on a carrier plate having planiform flanges or rim portions which lap over and may be bolted to the surface of the base 20, the carrier plate, for example, having a central opening for the fan blades bounded by a circular flange concentric with the hole 22 in the filter base 20 and integral with the carrier plate to which the cage is secured to support the fan motor and blades within the central opening.
While but two preferred examples of the present invention have been particularly shown and described, it is apparent that various modifications may be made therein within the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations be placed on the invention as are imposed by the prior art and set forth in the appended claims.
What is claimed is:
1. Apparatus for filtering solids from a fluid stream containing the solids comprising a fluid pervious drum member having a fluid pervious cylindrical filtering wall located in the fluid stream for passage of the fluid along radially inwardly directed flow paths therethrough, the outwardly facing surface of said filtering wall being the upstream surface thereof relative to said flow paths, means for establishing pressure conditions within said drum to produce flow of said fluid along said radially inwardly directed flow paths through said wall with accumulation of said solids on the upstream surface thereof, an elongated penumatic stripper tube spanning the axial length of said wall extending parallel to said members axis radially outwardly of said Wall having an intake nozzle immediately adjacent said upstream surface facing radially inwardly toward the wall and spanning the axial length thereof, means for periodically sweeping said stripper tube through a single revolution cycle along the circumference of the wall from a selected rest position to said rest position, means for applying suction to said stripper tube to produce suction currents immediately externally of said suction nozzle during sweeping movement thereof to pneumatically withdraw the accumulated solids from the whole working area of said upstream surface through said nozzle into said stripper tube during each single revolution cycle, and means at said rest position for closing said suction nozzle to terminate said suction currents during the period said stripper tube registers with said rest position.
2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said means for terminating said suction currents comprises a re siliently deformable sealing strip element supported on said filtering wall at said rest position having a portion extending the length of said nozzle located sufficiently close to said nozzle when the latter occupies said rest position to be resiliently deformed by the suction current of said nozzle into sealing engagement therewith to hold the same in closed condition.
3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said means for terminating said suction currents comprises valve means activated in coordinated relation to the position of said stripper tube for discontinuing application of suction to the stripper tube when the latter registers with said rest position.
4. In a filtering apparatus, the combination recited in claim 1, wherein said means for sweeping said stripper tube includes a rectilinearly reciprocative drive yoke, a pneumatic cylinder supported at a stationary position adjacent said axis having a reciprocative piston and piston rods connected to said drive yoke, said stripper tube having a supporting arm including a radial section and a portion aligned with said axis, cable means fixed to said drive yoke and trained about said portion of said supporting arm aligned with said axis for rotating said stripper tube and supporting arm about said axis responsive to reciprocative movement of said drive yoke and piston rods, and means for selectively valving fluid under pressure to said cylinder to produce movement of the piston and piston rods in either of two opposite directions.
5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said means for periodically sweeping said stripper tube includes drive means, a controlled source of energy for activating said drive means, main conduit means for normally directing energy from said source to said drive means to activate the drive means to sweep said stripper tube through its cycle when the source is conditioned to supply energy, branch conduit means connected to said main conduit means for connection to an external device, and means responsive to conditions denoting attainment by said stripper tube of a selected end position in its cycle to automatically direct the energy from said source to said branch conduit means.
6. Apparatus for removing lint from lint-laden air comprising a cylindrical fluid pervious wall means for supporting a cylindrical lint filtering web disposed in out wardly surrounded relation by the lint-laden air concentric to a reference axis to intercept the lint-laden air, means for drawing the air outwardly surrounding said web along radially inwardly directed paths therethrough to accumulate lint on the outwardly facing surface thereof, an elongated pneumatic stripper tube extending parallel to said axis radially outwardly of said web having an elongated intake nozzle immediately adjacent said outwardly facing surface of the web facing radially inwardly toward the wall and spanning the axial length thereof, means for periodically sweeping said stripper tube through an arcuate stroke along the circumference of the web concentric with said reference axis from a selected rest position to said rest position, means for applying suction to said stripper tube during sweeping movement thereof to produce suction currents immediately externally of said suction nozzle concurrently along the whole axial length of the web for pneumatically Withdrawing accumulated lint from said outwardly facing surface of said web through said nozzle into said stripper tube, and means at said rest position activated by said suction currents when said stripper tube registers with said rest position to close said nozzle along the length thereof and terminate said suction currents during the period said stripper tube occupies said rest position.
7. Apparatus for removing lint from lint-laden air comprising a cylindrical fluid pervious wall means for supporting a cylindrical lint filtering web disposed in outwardly surrounded relation to the lint laden air concentric ;to a reference axis to intercept the lint-laden air, means for drawing the air outwardly surrounding said web along radially inwardly directed paths therethrough to accumulate lint on the outwardly facing surface thereof, an imperforate circular wall peripherally jointed to said screen wall at one end thereof and disposed perpendicular to said axis, an elongated pneumatic stripper tube extending parallel to said axis radially outwardly of said web having an elongated intake nozzle immediately adjacent the outwardly facing surface of the web facing radially inwardly toward the wall and spanning the axial length thereof, a
radial suction conduit arm supporting said stripper tube stream surface of said web through sad nozzle into said stripper tube during each single revolution cycle, and means at said rest position activated by said suction currents when said stripper tube registers with said rest posi-' tion to close said nozzle along the length thereof and terminate said suction currents during the period said stripper tube occupies said rest position. 7
References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 996,860 7/1911 2,204,928 6/1940 Culver 210-404 2,406,931 9/ 1946 Troxler -294 7 2,534,171 12/1950 Kirby 55-294 2,765,048 10/1956 Hersey 55294 2,980,207 4/1961 Allen 55302 7 3,000,507 9/1961 Young 55 302 3,014,463 12/1961 Krohm' 92-437 3,147,098 9/1964 Honan et al 55294 3,166,391 1/1965 Keser 55-294 3,169,038 2/1965 Pendleton -3--- 55 294 3,197,944 8/1965 Westeren et al 55--179 P 3,204,393 9/1965 Eklund .Q 55 -467- r 3,243,940 4/1966 Larson 55-302 FOREIGN V PATENTS 343,085
2/ 1931 Great Britain.
HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner.
B. NOZICK, Assistant Examiner.
Kestner s5-294'

Claims (1)

1. APPARATUS FOR FILTERING SOLIDS FROM A FLUID STREAM CONTAINING THE SOLIDS COMPRISING A FLUID PERVIOUS DRUM MEMBER HAVING A FLUID PERVIOUS CYLINDRICAL FILTERING WALL LOCATED IN THE FLUID STREAM FOR PASSAGE OF THE FLUID ALONG RADIALLY INWARDLY DIRECTED FLOW PATHS THERETHROUGH, THE OUTWARDLY FACING SURFACE OF SAID FILTERING WALL BEING THE UPSTREAM SURFACE THEREOF RELATIVE TO SAID FLOW PATHS, MEANS FOR ESTABLISHING PRESSURE CONDITIONS WITHIN SAID DRUM TO PRODUCE FLOW OF SAID FLUID ALONG SAID RADIALLY INWARDLY DIRECTED FLOW PATHS THROUGH SAID WALL WITH ACCUMULATION OF SAID SOLIDS ON THE UPSTREAM SURFACE THEREOF, AN ELONGATED PNEUMATIC STRIPPER TUBE SPANNING THE AXIAL LENGTH OF SAID WALL EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID MEMBER''S AXIS RADIALLY OUTWARDLY OF SAID WALL HAVING AN INTAKE NOZZLE IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT SAID UPSTREAM SURFACE FACING RADIALLY INWARDLY TOWARD THE WALL AND SPANNING THE AXIAL LENGTH THEREOF, MEANS FOR PERIODICALLY SWEEPING SAID STRIPPER TUBE THROUGH A SINGLE REVOLUTION CYCLE ALONG THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE WALL FROM A SELECTED REST POSITION TO SAID REST POSITION, MEANS FOR APPLYING SUCTION TO SAID STRIPPER TUBE TO PRODUCE SUCTION CURRENTS IMMEDIATELY EXTERNALLY OF SAID SUCTION NOZZLE DURING SWEEPING MOVEMENT THEREOF TO PNEUMATICALLY WITHDRAW THE ACCUMULATED SOLIDS FROM THE WHOLE WORKING AREA OF SAID UPSTREAM SURFACE THROUGH SAID NOZZLE INTO SAID STRIPPER TUBE DURING EACH SINGLE REVOLUTION CYCLE, AND MEANS AT SAID REST POSITION FOR CLOSING SAID SUCTION NOZZLE TO TERMINATE SAID SUCTION CURRENTS DURING THE PERIOD SAID STRIPPER TUBE REGISTERS WITH SAID REST POSITION.
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US3472002A (en) * 1967-02-09 1969-10-14 North American Rockwell Self-cleaning drum type filter assembly
US3483675A (en) * 1967-01-12 1969-12-16 Bahnson Co Automatic cleaning filtering apparatus
US3757496A (en) * 1972-07-13 1973-09-11 Cambridge Filter Corp Apparatus for collecting filtered airborne
US4150959A (en) * 1976-09-16 1979-04-24 Bielak Frank A Improved elements for dust collector
US4154588A (en) * 1977-09-27 1979-05-15 Herndon Marion E Jr Cylindrical cell self-cleaning filter
US4180390A (en) * 1978-03-23 1979-12-25 Ltg Lufttechnische Gmbh Textile machine including air cleaning apparatus
US4563200A (en) * 1983-11-08 1986-01-07 Coopers Filters Limited Air filtration

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GB343085A (en) * 1929-11-13 1931-02-13 Stone J & Co Ltd Improvements in and connected with ventilating installations, particularly those adapted for use on railway and like vehicles
US2204928A (en) * 1938-05-31 1940-06-18 Oliver United Filters Inc Locking device
US2406931A (en) * 1943-10-18 1946-09-03 Hoover Co Air cleaner
US2534171A (en) * 1947-06-14 1950-12-12 James B Kirby Filter cleaner for vacuum dust collectors
US2765048A (en) * 1954-05-07 1956-10-02 Jr Henry J Hersey Rigid filter with reverse jet cleaning device
US2980207A (en) * 1957-09-26 1961-04-18 Simon Ltd Henry Air filters
US3000507A (en) * 1957-06-19 1961-09-19 Frank W Young Rotary filter
US3014463A (en) * 1959-04-06 1961-12-26 Anderson Co Fluid motor
US3147098A (en) * 1962-05-18 1964-09-01 Honan Associates Inc Filter cleaner
US3166391A (en) * 1960-04-11 1965-01-19 Ltg Lufttechnische Gmbh Filter cleaning device for air exhaust systems and the like
US3169038A (en) * 1962-08-29 1965-02-09 Vac U Max Filter cleaner for pulverized material conveying system
US3197944A (en) * 1961-08-07 1965-08-03 Hayes Inc C I Rotary adsorber having intermittent movement
US3204393A (en) * 1962-07-03 1965-09-07 Svenska Flaektfabriken Ab Apparatus for the collecting and transporting away of dust, fumes and gases in rolling mills
US3243940A (en) * 1961-10-13 1966-04-05 Phillips Petroleum Co Bag filtering process and apparatus

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US996860A (en) * 1907-02-04 1911-07-04 Paul Kestner Apparatus for cleaning air or gas filters.
GB343085A (en) * 1929-11-13 1931-02-13 Stone J & Co Ltd Improvements in and connected with ventilating installations, particularly those adapted for use on railway and like vehicles
US2204928A (en) * 1938-05-31 1940-06-18 Oliver United Filters Inc Locking device
US2406931A (en) * 1943-10-18 1946-09-03 Hoover Co Air cleaner
US2534171A (en) * 1947-06-14 1950-12-12 James B Kirby Filter cleaner for vacuum dust collectors
US2765048A (en) * 1954-05-07 1956-10-02 Jr Henry J Hersey Rigid filter with reverse jet cleaning device
US3000507A (en) * 1957-06-19 1961-09-19 Frank W Young Rotary filter
US2980207A (en) * 1957-09-26 1961-04-18 Simon Ltd Henry Air filters
US3014463A (en) * 1959-04-06 1961-12-26 Anderson Co Fluid motor
US3166391A (en) * 1960-04-11 1965-01-19 Ltg Lufttechnische Gmbh Filter cleaning device for air exhaust systems and the like
US3197944A (en) * 1961-08-07 1965-08-03 Hayes Inc C I Rotary adsorber having intermittent movement
US3243940A (en) * 1961-10-13 1966-04-05 Phillips Petroleum Co Bag filtering process and apparatus
US3147098A (en) * 1962-05-18 1964-09-01 Honan Associates Inc Filter cleaner
US3204393A (en) * 1962-07-03 1965-09-07 Svenska Flaektfabriken Ab Apparatus for the collecting and transporting away of dust, fumes and gases in rolling mills
US3169038A (en) * 1962-08-29 1965-02-09 Vac U Max Filter cleaner for pulverized material conveying system

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3483675A (en) * 1967-01-12 1969-12-16 Bahnson Co Automatic cleaning filtering apparatus
US3472002A (en) * 1967-02-09 1969-10-14 North American Rockwell Self-cleaning drum type filter assembly
US3757496A (en) * 1972-07-13 1973-09-11 Cambridge Filter Corp Apparatus for collecting filtered airborne
US4150959A (en) * 1976-09-16 1979-04-24 Bielak Frank A Improved elements for dust collector
US4154588A (en) * 1977-09-27 1979-05-15 Herndon Marion E Jr Cylindrical cell self-cleaning filter
US4180390A (en) * 1978-03-23 1979-12-25 Ltg Lufttechnische Gmbh Textile machine including air cleaning apparatus
US4563200A (en) * 1983-11-08 1986-01-07 Coopers Filters Limited Air filtration

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