Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D29/00—Filters with filtering elements stationary during filtration, e.g. pressure or suction filters, not covered by groups B01D24/00 - B01D27/00; Filtering elements therefor
  • B01D29/01—Filters with filtering elements stationary during filtration, e.g. pressure or suction filters, not covered by groups B01D24/00 - B01D27/00; Filtering elements therefor with flat filtering elements
  • B01D29/016—Filters with filtering elements stationary during filtration, e.g. pressure or suction filters, not covered by groups B01D24/00 - B01D27/00; Filtering elements therefor with flat filtering elements with corrugated, folded or wound filtering elements
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D25/00—Filters formed by clamping together several filtering elements or parts of such elements
  • B01D25/22—Cell-type filters
  • B01D25/24—Cell-type roll filters
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D27/00—Cartridge filters of the throw-away type
  • B01D27/04—Cartridge filters of the throw-away type with cartridges made of a piece of unitary material, e.g. filter paper
  • B01D27/06—Cartridge filters of the throw-away type with cartridges made of a piece of unitary material, e.g. filter paper with corrugated, folded or wound material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D29/00—Filters with filtering elements stationary during filtration, e.g. pressure or suction filters, not covered by groups B01D24/00 - B01D27/00; Filtering elements therefor
  • B01D29/11—Filters with filtering elements stationary during filtration, e.g. pressure or suction filters, not covered by groups B01D24/00 - B01D27/00; Filtering elements therefor with bag, cage, hose, tube, sleeve or like filtering elements
  • B01D29/13—Supported filter elements
  • B01D29/15—Supported filter elements arranged for inward flow filtration
  • B01D29/21—Supported filter elements arranged for inward flow filtration with corrugated, folded or wound sheets
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D29/00—Filters with filtering elements stationary during filtration, e.g. pressure or suction filters, not covered by groups B01D24/00 - B01D27/00; Filtering elements therefor
  • B01D29/11—Filters with filtering elements stationary during filtration, e.g. pressure or suction filters, not covered by groups B01D24/00 - B01D27/00; Filtering elements therefor with bag, cage, hose, tube, sleeve or like filtering elements
  • B01D29/13—Supported filter elements
  • B01D29/15—Supported filter elements arranged for inward flow filtration
  • B01D29/21—Supported filter elements arranged for inward flow filtration with corrugated, folded or wound sheets
  • B01D29/216—Supported filter elements arranged for inward flow filtration with corrugated, folded or wound sheets with wound sheets
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2201/00—Details relating to filtering apparatus
  • B01D2201/18—Filters characterised by the openings or pores
  • B01D2201/188—Multiple filtering elements having filtering areas of different size

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a filter for fluids having an improved filtering mass.
• filters are also present in the circuits that convey gas oil or Diesel fuel from tanks to internal- combustion engines or to boilers and in the gasoline circuits of the engines; moreover, there is a wide range of air filters for civil, industrial, and car-cabin conditioning systems.
• Conventional filters have various constructive embodiments, all of which, however, substantially consist of a structure for supporting and containing a filtering mass wherethrough the fluid to be filtered is made to pass between a region connected to an inlet coupling and a region connected to an outlet coupling.
• the filtering mass assumes the most disparate shapes, both in terms of the material being used and in terms of the method for treating it; the filtering medium used most frequently is in any case a sheet of paper which is inserted in the filter after being folded or rolled up according to a wide range of different types in order to give the filtering surface a large area despite being in a compact filter.
• lubricating oil filters it is noted that two kinds of filtration are very commonly provided, according to requirements, in these filters: a so-called coarse filtration, which retains for example particles having a size of more than 25 microns, and a so-called fine filtration, which retains for example particles larger than 7 microns.
• the method currently used to provide fine filtration consists in making the entire flow of oil pass through a single filter having two elements with a different filtration degree: one element provides coarse filtration and the other one provides fine filtration, and both elements are hydraulically separated so as to provide two parallel circuits.
• the oil that has been subjected to coarse filtration is sent to the motor, the oil that has undergone fine filtration, which can be quantified as being for example approximately 7% of the total flow is recirculated in the sump; in this manner, it has been ascertained that within a few minutes all the oil is subjected to fine filtration.
• a different embodiment of this method consists in adopting two separate filters having a different filtration degree.
• the described method entails some drawbacks, the first one being the fact that, since the presence of a circuit for recirculating part of the oil in the sump is required, conventional filters can be installed only on engines having adapted specific provisions, and can be adapted to a limited number of other types with a considerable increase in costs and bulk.
• the filters are constructively very complicated and therefore often unreliable and also cause a heavy ecological burden since they are made of various materials.
• the above-described lubricating oil filters are included in a closed circuit wherein the circulating mass of oil is always the same; other closed circuits are found for example in systems which continuously condition the same mass of air: in other cases, including for example the above-mentioned filters for gas oil or Diesel fuel and gasoline and many air filters, these filters are included in open circuits through which a constantly changed fluid flows, and it is observed that these filters often have shortcomings as far as filtration efficiency is concerned.
• a principal aim of the present invention is to provide a filter for fluids which allows a drastic simplification, both in the configuration of the filter and in its connections to the engine, in the case of lubricating oil filters, and in any case ensures optimization of filtering effectiveness.
• a filter for fluids having an improved filtering mass, which comprises a casing that forms a chamber connected to an inlet coupling and to an outlet coupling, said chamber containing a filtering mass through which a fluid to be filtered circulates, characterized in that said filtering mass is obtained by means of a filtering medium in the form of a sheet which comprises regions having a differentiated filtration degree.
• the resulting filtering mass is inserted in a filter of the type currently used for conventional coarse filtration, so that all the oil filtered in the various regions, from the region meant to provide fine filtration to the region adapted for coarse filtration, is conveyed into a single common portion of space, where it mixes and then flows directly towards the engine, with no further presence of any division inside the filter, and therefore in a condition providing great constructive simplification, or of any recirculation circuit, thus providing, after a few minutes of operation, the fine filtration of all the oil.
• figure 1 is a view of a lubricating oil filter
• figure 2 is a view of the filtering mass of the filter of figure 1, according to the present invention
• figure 3 is a spread-out view of the filtering medium that forms the mass of figure 2
• figure 4 is a view of a gas oil or Diesel fuel filter according to the present invention
• figure 5 is a view of the filtering mass of the filter of figure 4
• figure 6 is a spread-out view of the filtering medium that forms the mass of figure 5
• figure 7 is a view of a gasoline filter according to the present invention
• figure 8 is a view of the filtering mass of the filter of figure 7
• figure 9 is a spread-out view of the filtering medium that forms the mass of figure 8
• figure 10 is another view of a gasoline filter according to the present invention
• figure 11 is a view of the filtering mass of the filter of figure
• the reference numeral 1 generally designates a lubricating oil filter which comprises an absolutely conventional structure normally used for filters that provide only coarse filtration and being therefore very well-known and highly reliable, the structure being adapted to provide, inside the casing 2, the oil circulation illustrated by the arrows between the inlet coupling 3 and the outlet coupling 4, passing through the filtering mass 5.
• the filtering mass is obtained by forming pleats in the filtering medium in sheet form, a portion whereof, designated by the reference numeral 6, is shown in figure 3 and constitutes the main characteristic of the invention.
• the sheet portion comprises the regions with differentiated filtration degree, which are shaped like longitudinal strips which alternately have the two different filtration degrees: the regions 7, 8, and 9 provide a coarse filtration degree, whilst, the regions 10 and 11 provide a fine filtration degree.
• the ratio between the areas of the different regions and the corresponding filtration degrees determines the optimum size of a filter according to the type of motor whereon it must be installed.
• the regions having a differentiated filtration degree can assume any configuration apart from the illustrated one constituted by longitudinal strips, for example transverse strips or patches, and can be formed within a single layer through the different constitution of said regions provided during the process for manufacturing said layer, but it can also be obtained by superimposing different layers, rigidly coupled for example by gluing, stitching, welding.
• the filtering medium according to the invention can obviously be made of natural or synthetic materials and can be pleated or rolled up in order to form the filtering mass to be inserted in a filter in any manner.
• the filtering medium according to the invention therefore offers numerous advantages: it can in fact be inserted in entirely conventional filters, which by now have been extensively tested and found to be reliable, are very simple, and can be installed on any engine since they do not require the presence of recirculation circuits.
• filters also have a minimal environmental impact, both because of their small size and because of their efficiency, which improves the quality of exhaust gases.
• the description of a plurality of filters follows; these filters are chosen merely by way of example and are meant to be included in open circuits; for which the efficiency of the filtering medium according to the invention resides in the fact that the fluid circulating in these circuits undergoes a better filtration than that offered by filters provided with conventional filtering masses although being included in structures which are absolutely identical to those currently in use.
• Figures 4, 5, and 6 relate to the filter 12, meant to filter gas oil or Diesel fuel, which is fed from the coupling 13, flows through the circuit designated by the arrows, passing through the filtering mass 14, and exits from the coupling 15.
• the filtering mass is obtained by rolling up the filtering medium in sheet form, a portion whereof, designated by the reference numeral 16, is shown in figure 6.
• the sheet comprises the regions 17, 18, 19, and 20 with a differentiated filtration degree, provided in the shape of longitudinal strips, which provide a coarse filtration degree, and the strips 21, 22, and 23, which provide a fine filtration degree.
• a gasoline filter 24 is illustrated in figures 7, 8, and 9, and has an inlet coupling 25, an outlet coupling 26, and a filtering mass 27.
• the filtering mass is obtained by rolling up the filtering medium in sheet form, a portion whereof, designated by the reference numeral 28, is shown in figure 9 and comprises regions having a differentiated filtration degree provided in the form of transverse strips such as 29, 30, and 31, which provide a coarse filtration degree, and such as 32, 33, and 34, which provide a fine filtration degree.
• FIG. 10 Another gasoline filter 35 is illustrated in figures 10, 11, and 12, with an inlet coupling 36, an outlet coupling 37, and a filtering mass 38.
• the filtering mass is obtained by pleating the filtering medium in sheet form, a portion whereof, designated by the reference numeral 39, is illustrated in figure 12 and comprises regions having a differentiated filtration degree which are provided in the form of transverse strips such as 40 and 41, which provide a coarse filtration degree, and such as 42 and 43, which provide a fine filtration degree.
• Figure.s 13 and 14 relate to an air filter 44 for heavy-duty applications, wherein the air enters through the coupling 45 and flows through a circuit which makes it pass through the filtering mass 46 and then exit through the coupling 47, the filtering mass 46 being obtained by pleating a filtering medium such as the one of figure 12.
• the air filter 48 of figures 15 and 16, with an inlet coupling 49 and an outlet coupling 50, comprises the filtering mass 51, which is obtained from a filtering medium such as the one of figure 3.
• the air filter 52 of figures 17 and 18, with an inlet coupling 53 and an outlet coupling 54, comprises the filtering mass 55, which is obtained from a filtering medium such as the one of figure 9.
• the filtering mass 56 for an air filter adapted for a conditioning system, illustrated in figure 19, is obtained from a filtering medium such as the one of figure 6.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Filtration Of Liquid (AREA)
• Separation Using Semi-Permeable Membranes (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11373579

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (3)

Citations (4)

• 1996
  • 1996-03-11 IT IT96MI000472A patent/IT1283228B1/it active IP Right Grant
• 1997
  • 1997-03-07 AU AU20252/97A patent/AU2025297A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1997-03-07 WO PCT/EP1997/001153 patent/WO1997033673A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (4)

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