U.S. patent application number 17/555548 was filed with the patent office on 2022-06-23 for air dryer cartridge.
This patent application is currently assigned to SEMYUNGTECH CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is SEMYUNGTECH CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Seong-won MOON, Sang-sun PARK.
Application Number | 20220193602 17/555548 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000006388522 |
Filed Date | 2022-06-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220193602 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MOON; Seong-won ; et
al. |
June 23, 2022 |
AIR DRYER CARTRIDGE
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a drier cartridge that can
improve the effect of cleaning compressed air by filtering out
water, oil, and foreign substances, which are contained in
compressed air, through several steps therein. In particular, when
a narrow compressed air channel is formed between a cartridge body
and a cartridge housing, a collision member that is a pre-filtering
member that can primarily filter out oil, etc. is formed between
the cartridge body and the housing, whereby it is possible to
improve the performance of removing oil and water from a filter
cartridge.
Inventors: |
MOON; Seong-won; (Asan-si,
KR) ; PARK; Sang-sun; (Iksan-si, KR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SEMYUNGTECH CO., LTD. |
Seoul |
|
KR |
|
|
Assignee: |
SEMYUNGTECH CO., LTD.
Seoul
KR
|
Family ID: |
1000006388522 |
Appl. No.: |
17/555548 |
Filed: |
December 20, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/KR2020/018833 |
Dec 21, 2020 |
|
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17555548 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01D 2257/80 20130101;
B01D 53/0446 20130101; B01D 45/08 20130101; B01D 53/261 20130101;
B01D 2257/702 20130101; B01D 2259/4566 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B01D 53/26 20060101
B01D053/26; B01D 45/08 20060101 B01D045/08; B01D 53/04 20060101
B01D053/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 18, 2020 |
KR |
10-2020-0178404 |
Claims
1. An air drier cartridge for a compressed air processing system
for a commercial vehicle, the air drier cartridge comprising: a
cartridge container having a drying agent in an internal space
thereof; a housing for accommodating the cartridge container; a
spring member installed in the housing to press the cartridge
container; and a base configured to close an open side of the
housing and having an intake port and a discharge port so that air
can move into the housing, wherein a gap for movement of compressed
air is formed between an outer surface of the cartridge container
and an inner wall of the housing, and a collision member is formed
in the gap to filter out oil when air moving in the gap bumps
against the collision member--before reaching an oil adsorption
filter.
2. The air drier cartridge of claim 1, wherein the cartridge
container includes a cartridge body comprised of a cylindrical body
part forming the gap between the housing and the cylindrical body
part, and a frustoconical body part formed at the upper portion of
the cylindrical body part.
3. The air drier cartridge of claim 2, wherein several ribs
radially extending from the center of the cartridge container are
formed at the frustoconical body part, and the oil adsorption
filter is an annular oil adsorption filter installed at the
ribs.
4. The air drier cartridge of claim 3, wherein several openings are
formed along a conical surface at the upper end of the
frustoconical body part so that air that has passed through the oil
adsorption filter can flow into the cartridge container, and a
blocking region for blocking airflow is formed at the lower
end.
5. The air drier cartridge of claim 1, wherein the collision member
protrudes from the outer surface of the cartridge container or the
inner wall of the housing, and is comprised of at least one blade
type protrusion continuously extending to be able to guide air to
the upper portion of the gap from the lower portion of the gap.
6. The air drier cartridge of claim 5, wherein the collision member
is a spiral blade type protrusion.
7. The air drier cartridge of claim 5, wherein the collision member
a blade type protrusion in which a horizontal section parallel with
a horizontal plane perpendicular to a central axis of the cartridge
container and an inclined section inclined at a predetermined angle
with respect to the horizontal plane are alternately disposed.
8. The air drier cartridge of claim 7, wherein several flow holes
are formed in the direction of the central axis at the horizontal
section of the blade type protrusion.
9. The air drier cartridge of claim 5, wherein the collision member
has: several horizontal blade protrusions spaced apart from each
other and extending in parallel with the horizontal plane
perpendicular to the central axis of the cartridge container; and
several flow holes formed at the horizontal blade protrusions so
that air can move between the upstream side and the downstream side
of the gap.
10. The air drier cartridge of claim 1, wherein the collision
member is comprised of several protrusions protruding from the
outer surface of the cartridge container or the inner wall of the
housing and spaced apart from each other to interfere with flow of
air between the upstream side and the downstream side of the
gap.
11. The air drier cartridge of claim 10, wherein the protrusions
include a first group comprised of several protrusions spaced apart
from each other with regular intervals in parallel with the
horizontal plane perpendicular to the central axis of the cartridge
container, and a second group comprised of several protrusions
alternately disposed with the protrusions of the first group and
spaced apart from each other with regular intervals in parallel
with the horizontal plane; and the protrusions of the first group
and the protrusions of the second group are alternately disposed in
the direction of the central axis.
12. The air drier cartridge of claim 11, wherein the protrusions
are V-shaped protrusions.
13. The air drier cartridge of claim 11, wherein the protrusions
are circular protrusions.
14. The air drier cartridge of claim 11, wherein the protrusions of
the first group are plate-shaped protrusions formed to have a
predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal plane, and the
protrusions of the second group are plate-shaped protrusions
extending perpendicular to the protrusions of the first group.
15. The air drier cartridge of claim 1, wherein the collision
member is a mesh net.
16. The air drier cartridge of claim 5, wherein the protrusions are
formed on the outer surface of the cartridge container, and are
formed to face down such that an angle .theta. made between the
bottom of the protrusion and the outer surface of the cartridge
container is in the range of
0.degree.<.theta..ltoreq.90.degree..
17. The air drier cartridge of claim 10, wherein the protrusions
are formed on the outer surface of the cartridge container, and are
formed to face down such that an angle .theta. made between the
bottom of the protrusion and the outer surface of the cartridge
container is in the range of
0.degree.<.theta..ltoreq.90.degree..
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a Continuation Application of
International Application No. PCT/KR2020/018833 filed on Dec. 21,
2020, which claims priority to Korean Application No.
10-2020-0178404 filed on Dec. 18, 2020, the entire contents of each
of the above-identified applications are hereby incorporated by
reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates to an air drier cartridge
that is applied to a compressed air processing system and, more
particularly, to a filter cartridge of an air drier that is applied
to a compressed air processing system for a commercial vehicle.
BACKGROUND ART
[0003] Commercial vehicles are equipped with various operation
systems that use air pressure to control the operation of the large
and heavy commercial vehicles. For example, a service brake system,
a pneumatic suspension system, a parking brake system, etc. are
such pneumatic systems. Compressed air at high pressure is required
to drive such pneumatic systems. Such compressed air is produced
through a compressor, which is driven by an engine or a driving
motor, and then sent to the reservoirs of systems that use the
compressed air.
[0004] The compressed air that is supplied through a compressor
contains foreign substances including oil and water. Foreign
substances such as oil and water in compressed air have a bad
influence on systems such as causing breakdown or deteriorating
durability of pneumatic systems.
[0005] Accordingly, systems that supply compressed air are equipped
with a drier unit including a filter cartridge to produce dry air
by filtering out foreign substances, such as oil, and absorbing
water from the compressed air.
[0006] FIG. 1 shows an example of a compressed air processing
system equipped with a drier unit in the related art.
[0007] As shown in FIG. 1, while high-pressure compressed air
produced by a compressor 10 passes through a drier unit 20, oil and
water are removed. In particular, the compressed air flowing in the
drier unit 20 is processed through a filter cartridge 21, and the
processed compressed air is supplied to each consumption circuit
through a valve assembly 22.
[0008] Meanwhile, when sufficient dehumidifying performance is not
achieved, such as when the drier unit fully filled with a drying
agent, a regeneration process for recovering the drying agent
performance by returning dry compressed air to the drier unit may
be performed, in which the compressed air substantially flows in
the opposite direction to that when it is supplied.
[0009] In compressed air processing systems, not only contaminant
particles contained in suctioned air, but oil and carbon black
particles introduced in compressed air from a compressor during a
compression process are removed from the compressed air. In
addition, water existing in the compressed air is also removed. To
this end, an air drier cartridge that can dehumidify compressed
air, and preferably, can absorb even oil and contaminant particles
is provided for compressed air processing systems for a commercial
vehicle.
[0010] In relation to this, examples of a filter cartridge of the
related art are disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-2018-0118715 and
Korean Patent No. 10-2079405.
[0011] Air drier units of the related art are generally configured
such that dehumidifying performance is secured by filling the drier
unit with a drying agent and an oil adsorption filter is installed
around the inlet of compressed air to be able to remove oil.
However, the structures of the cartridges for driers of the related
art have limitation in sufficiently adsorbing and removing oil
using only the oil adsorption filter. Further, a check valve is
installed adjacent to the adsorption filter such that compressed
air goes around the oil adsorption filter in regeneration. However,
there is a problem that since the check valve is additionally
installed, the manufacturing cost is increased and complete sealing
cannot be achieved around the check valve.
[0012] Accordingly, it is required to further improve the
performance of removing oil and water of a filter cartridge in
order to improve the fuel efficiency of commercial vehicles and
durability of systems. Further, there is a need for an air drier
cartridge that enables a filter cartridge can be easily installed
and replaced when it is periodically replaced and that can reduce
the replacement cost by designing a filter cartridge that can be
manufactured at a lower cost.
DISCLOSURE
Technical Problem
[0013] The present disclosure has been made in an effort to solve
the problems described above and an objective of the present
disclosure is to provide a drier cartridge that can improve the
effect of cleaning compressed air by filtering out water, oil, and
foreign substances, which are contained in compressed air, through
several filtering stage therein.
Technical Solution
[0014] In order to achieve the objectives, a preferred embodiment
of the present disclosure provides an air drier cartridge for a
compressed air processing system for a commercial vehicle, the air
drier cartridge including: a cartridge container having a drying
agent in an internal space thereof; a housing for accommodating the
cartridge container; a spring member installed in the housing to
press the cartridge container; and a base configured to close an
open side of the housing and having an intake port and a discharge
port so that air can move into the housing, in which a gap for
movement of compressed air is formed between an outer surface of
the cartridge container and an inner wall of the housing, and a
collision member is formed in the gap to filter out oil when air
flowing in the gap hits against the collision member.
[0015] In particular, when a narrow compressed air channel is
formed between a cartridge body and a cartridge housing, a
collision member that is a pre-filtering member that can primarily
filter out oil, etc. is formed between the cartridge body and the
housing, whereby it is possible to improve the performance of
removing oil and water from a filter cartridge.
[0016] Further, in the present disclosure, since compressed air
with oil, etc. primarily filtered out by the collision member
passes through the oil adsorption filter, there is an effect that
it is possible to improve the lifespan of the oil adsorption filter
by reducing the degree of contamination of the oil adsorption
filter.
Advantageous Effects
[0017] According to the present disclosure, since a collision
member that can primarily filter out oil, etc. from compressed air
before the compressed air flows into the oil adsorption filter is
disposed in the narrow channel between the cartridge body and the
housing, there is an effect that it is possible to improve the
performance of removing oil and water from a filter cartridge.
[0018] In particular, according to the present disclosure, there is
an advantage that it is possible to improve the effect of cleaning
compressed air by filtering out water, oil, and foreign substances,
which are contained in compressed air, through several steps
therein, using the collision member and the oil adsorption
filter.
[0019] Further, in the present disclosure, since oil, etc. of
compressed air are primarily filtered out by the collision member
and then the compressed air passes through the oil adsorption
filter, there is an effect that it is possible to improve the
lifespan of the oil adsorption filter by reducing the degree of
contamination of the oil adsorption filter.
[0020] Further, according to the present disclosure, since the oil
adsorption filter is formed at the upper portion of the cartridge,
there is an advantage that there is no need for a specific check
valve.
[0021] Further, according to a preferred embodiment of the preset
disclosure, since a ` ` shape gasket is installed at the valve
housing, there is an effect that the sealing ability according to
internal pressure is improved.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0022] FIG. 1 shows an example of a compressed air processing
system equipped with a drier unit in the related art.
[0023] FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of a drier cartridge according
to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0024] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the drier cartridge according
to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0025] FIG. 4 shows airflow when compressed air is supplied and
regenerated in the example of FIG. 2.
[0026] FIGS. 5A to 5D show a detailed structure of a collision
member installed on the outer wall of the drier cartridge according
to the present disclosure.
[0027] FIGS. 6A to 6F show another example of the detailed
structure of the collision member installed on the outer wall of
the drier cartridge according to the present disclosure.
[0028] FIGS. 7A and 7B show an example in which the side angle of
the collision member is changed.
BEST MODE
[0029] A preferred embodiment of the present disclosure provides an
air drier cartridge for a compressed air processing system for a
commercial vehicle, the air drier cartridge including: a cartridge
container having a drying agent in an internal space thereof; a
housing for accommodating the cartridge container; a spring member
installed in the housing to press the cartridge container; and a
base configured to close an open side of the housing and having an
intake port and a discharge port so that air can move into the
housing, in which a gap for movement of compressed air is formed
between an outer surface of the cartridge container and an inner
wall of the housing, and a collision member is formed in the gap to
filter out oil when air moving in the gap hits against the
collision member.
[0030] Further, the cartridge container includes a cartridge body
comprised of a cylindrical body part forming the gap between the
housing and the cylindrical body part, and a frustoconical body
part formed at the upper portion of the cylindrical body part,
several ribs radially extending from the center of the cartridge
container are formed at the frustoconical body part, and an annular
oil adsorption filter is installed at the ribs.
[0031] In this case, several openings are formed along a conical
surface at the upper end of the frustoconical body part so that air
that has passed through the oil adsorption filter can flow into the
cartridge container.
[0032] Further, the collision member protrudes from the outer
surface of the cartridge container or the inner wall of the
housing, and is comprised of at least one blade type protrusion
continuously extending to be able to guide air to the upper portion
of the gap from the downstream side of the gap.
[0033] The collision member may be a spiral blade type protrusion
or a blade type protrusion in which a horizontal section parallel
with a horizontal plane perpendicular to a central axis of the
cartridge container and an inclined section inclined at a
predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal plane are
alternately disposed; and several flow holes may be formed in the
direction of the central axis at the horizontal section of the
blade type protrusion.
[0034] Further, the collision member may have: several horizontal
blade protrusions spaced apart from each other and extending in
parallel with the horizontal plane perpendicular to the central
axis of the cartridge container; and several flow holes formed at
the horizontal blade protrusions so that air can move between the
upstream side and the downstream side of the gap.
[0035] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure,
the collision member is comprised of several protrusions protruding
from the outer surface of the cartridge container or the inner wall
of the housing and spaced apart from each other to be able to
interfere with flow of air between the upstream side and the
downstream side of the gap. In this case, the protrusions may be
V-shaped protrusions or circular protrusions.
[0036] Further, according to a preferred embodiment of the present
disclosure, the protrusions may be formed on the outer surface of
the cartridge container, and may be formed to face down such that
an angle .theta. made between the bottom of the protrusion and the
outer surface of the cartridge container is in the range of
0.degree.<.theta..ltoreq.90.degree..
MODE FOR INVENTION
[0037] Embodiments to be described hereafter are provided only for
detailed description for those skilled in the art to be able to
easily achieve the present disclosure without limiting the
protective range of the present disclosure. Accordingly, some
components may be substituted or changed without departing from the
necessary range of the present disclosure.
[0038] When a component is `connected` with another component in
the following description, it includes not only direct connection
of them, but connection of them with another element or device
therebetween. Further, unless explicitly described otherwise,
`comprising` any components will be understood to imply the
inclusion of other components rather than the exclusion of any
other components.
[0039] An air drier cartridge described herein, similar to drier
cartridges of the related art, is configured to remove oil in
compressed air and dry and supply compressed air in one direction,
and is configured to be able to perform a process of sending the
compressed air in the opposite direction for regeneration of the
cartridge and then discharging the compressed air to the
atmosphere.
[0040] To this end, the air drier cartridge according to the
present disclosure is also configured to include an intake port
through which compressed air flows inside and a discharge port
through which compressed air is discharged. The terms `inflow` and
`discharge` are concepts that are relatively determined in
accordance with the operation state of a compressed air processing
system, and are related to the flow direction of compressed air.
However, for the convenience of description herein, `inflow` and
`discharge` are described on the basis of the state in which
compressed air is supplied, that is, the state in which air
produced by a compressor flows in the air drier cartridge and is
then discharged to a valve assembly. For reference, since airflow
is generated in the opposite direction in the cartridge in
regeneration, it would be sufficiently understood by those skilled
in the art that `inflow` and `discharge` are opposite to when
compressed air is supplied.
[0041] Further, the expression that compressed air is `processed`
herein means that oil, water, and foreign substances in compressed
air are filtered out while the compressed air passes through the
filter cartridge.
[0042] An air drier cartridge according to preferred embodiments of
the present disclosure is described hereafter with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
[0043] FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of a drier cartridge according
to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure and FIG. 3
shows disassembled components of the drier cartridge of FIG. 2.
[0044] An air drier cartridge 100 according to a preferred
embodiment of the present disclosure is formed in a substantially
rotation-symmetric shape with respect to a vertical central axis,
in which a cartridge container 120 filled with a drying agent is
accommodated in a substantially cylindrical housing 110. As shown
in FIG. 2, the cylindrical housing 110 has a structure with an open
end, and the opposite end is closed. For example, the housing 110
may be a cup shape formed by deep drawing on a thin metal
plate.
[0045] The cartridge container 120 filled with a drying agent is
positioned in the housing 110. The drying agent that is filled in
the cartridge container 120 may be a powder-type desiccant having a
dehumidifying function such as zeolite, or may be a structure
impregnated with a drying agent. The drying agent fully fills the
internal space of the cartridge container 120, and the density of
the drying agent can be sufficiently increased when the cartridge
container 120 is pressed by a spring member 142 at the upper
end.
[0046] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the
spring member 142 is positioned at the upper end of the housing
110, and accordingly, the spring member 142 presses downward the
cartridge container 120 in a downward structure. A seat groove for
seating the spring member 142 is formed on the top of the cartridge
container 120 and a head plate 127 extending along a horizontal
plane perpendicular to the central axis is formed around the seat
groove. The head plate 127 functions as a vertical support for an
oil adsorption filter 141 to be described below, and is configured
to be able to be selectively supported at the closed end of the
housing 110.
[0047] The cartridge container 120 means the entire container that
accommodates a drying agent. The cartridge container 120 includes a
substantially cylindrical cartridge body 121 and a cartridge cover
122 covering the opening of the cartridge body 121. The cartridge
cover 122 functions as a lid that prevents the drying agent from be
discharged outside, and has an outlet at the center that function
as an outlet port 144 so that compressed air that has passed
through the drying agent in the cartridge container 120 can be
discharged. However, a porous member 129 such as a non-woven fabric
may be installed at the outlet to prevent the drying agent from
being discharged through the outlet.
[0048] A base 130 coupled to the housing 110 to fix the cartridge
container 120 inside is installed at the lower end of the cartridge
container 120. Accordingly, the base 130 is positioned at the open
side of the housing 110 and functions as a cover of the open side
of the housing 110. The base 130 partially closes the open side of
the housing 110. The fact that the open side of the housing 110 is
partially closed means that movement of flow is restricted at the
other region of the base 130 except for an intake port 143 and an
outlet port 144 for sending air into/out of the housing 110.
Accordingly, the base 130 is completely sealed so that flow cannot
be moved into the housing 110 except for the intake port 143 and
the outlet port 144.
[0049] In relation to the base 130, according to a preferred
embodiment of the present disclosure, the base 130, as in FIG. 2,
may be comprised of a reinforcing plate 131 for structurally
reinforcing the bottom of the air drier cartridge 100, and a
seaming cap 132 supporting the reinforcing plate 131 under the
reinforcing plate 131 and fastened to an end of the housing 110 by
flange-type seaming, etc. Meanwhile, other than the fastening
structure of flange-type seaming, the base 130 may be completely
fixed to the housing 110 by welding, etc.
[0050] The air drier cartridge 100 is supposed to be directly
mounted on a valve assembly of an air processing system, so the air
drier cartridge 100 should have a fastening structure for mounting
on an air processing system. Accordingly, the base 130 may include
a fastening structure to be directly mounted on the valve assembly
of an air processing system, and preferably, may be configured to
be thread-fastened to a neck at the inlet of a valve assembly by
forming threads round the intake port 146 at the center of the
reinforcing plate 131.
[0051] Further, at least one intake port 143 may be formed around
the intake port 146 at the center of the reinforcing plate 131, and
a flange of the seaming cap may be inserted and fixed in the intake
port 143. In this case, a gasket 133 for hermetically keeping
compressed air may be installed outside the seaming cap, that is,
at the valve assembly, and preferably, the gasket 133 may be an
annular gasket 133 having a cross-section that is open in a ` `
shape toward the central axis. Since the gasket 133 having a `
`-shaped cross-section is applied, sealing ability according to
internal pressure is improved, so the hermetic ability of the air
drier cartridge 100 can be further improved. The upper portion of
the annular gasket 133 is inserted and fixed in a recess of the
seaming cap 132, and a protrusion that protrudes toward the central
axis of the cartridge from the outside of the recess of the seaming
cap may be formed. Accordingly, it is possible to have a ` `-shaped
cross-sectional structure, as in FIG. 2, and when a cartridge is
coupled to a valve housing (not shown) positioned under the air
drier cartridge, the sealing ability according to internal pressure
can be improved by the cross-sectional structure of the annular
gasket 133.
[0052] Further, a sealing member 135 may be inserted between
separated components, that is, between the reinforcing plate 131
and the cartridge cover 122 and between the cartridge cover 122 and
the cartridge body 121 to sufficiently keep the compressed air
channel hermetic in the housing 110. The sealing member may be an
O-ring, and a groove in which an O-ring can be fixed may be formed
on the outer side of the cartridge cover 122 and the outer side of
the reinforcing plate 131 so that the O-rings can be fixed while
achieving a sufficient sealing effect.
[0053] Meanwhile, according to a preferred embodiment of the
present disclosure, the present disclosure is characterized by
being configured to filter out oil through two filtering stages
before compressed air flowing inside from a compressor passes
through the drying agent.
[0054] In detail, the cartridge body 121 of the cartridge container
120 is comprised of a cylindrical body part formed a gap 145
between the housing and the cylindrical body part, and a
frustoconical body part formed over the cylindrical body part. As
shown in FIG. 2, the cylindrical body has a cylindrical structure
extending in the direction of the central axis and forms the gap
145 for allowing for flow of compressed air between the outer wall
of the cylindrical body and the inner wall of the housing 110.
[0055] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, a
collision member 125 is installed in the gap 145. The collision
member 125 protrudes from the cartridge container 120 or the
housing 110 and is configured such that oil and foreign substances
are primarily filtered out while the air moving through the gap 145
bumps against collision member 125. The detailed configuration of
the collision member will be described below.
[0056] Further, the upper portion of the cylindrical body part is
connected to the frustoconical body part and the frustoconical body
part has a shape of which the radius decreases upward. Further,
several ribs 123 radially extending from the center of the
cartridge container 120 are formed at the frustoconical body part,
and several air inlets 124 are formed between adjacent ribs 123.
The air inlets 124 of the frustoconical body part are openings
through which air flows to the drying agent in the cartridge
container 120.
[0057] Meanwhile, the ribs 123 radially extending not only function
as reinforcing ribs that structurally reinforce the cartridge
container 120, but support the oil adsorption filter 141 to be
fixed to the front ends of the air inlets 124. The oil adsorption
filter 141 is provided to secondarily filter the compressed air
filtered by the collision member and is made of a porous material
or a non-woven fabric. In general, the oil adsorption filter 141 is
formed by wrapping a porous material or a non-woven fabric around
the ribs 123. Accordingly, the oil adsorption filter 141 is space
apart from the air inlets 124 of the frustoconical body part and
fixed in this state by the ribs 123. Preferably, the frustoconical
body part has a two steps of shoulder and the shoulder may radially
extend to a position corresponding to the head plate 127.
Accordingly, the annular oil adsorption filter 141 is completely in
close contact with the cartridge container 120 and completely
prevents airflow going around the oil adsorption filter 141,
thereby being able to maximize the filtering performance of the oil
adsorption filter 141.
[0058] Further, in FIG. 2, several air inlets 124 formed at the
rear end of the oil adsorption filter 141 are shown, and the air
inlets 124 are sufficiently formed on the conical surface of the
frustoconical body part. The air inlets 124 are directly related to
the contact area with the drying agent and air, so it is preferable
that the air inlets 124 are formed at the upper end of the conical
surface to be able to sufficiently achieve contact with the drying
agent. Further, a blocking region in which the air inlets 124 are
not formed is formed at the lower are of the conical surface,
thereby being able to prevent oil not filtered out by the oil
adsorption filter 141 from flowing into the cartridge container
120. Accordingly, it is preferable to set the area of the air
inlets that enable compressed air to flow into the cartridge
container without a loss of flow rate and to form the blocking
region at the lower portion within a range of securing the area of
the air inlets, in consideration of the flow rate of the compressed
air flowing inside from the compressor.
[0059] FIG. 4 shows airflow when compressed air is supplied and
regenerated.' In particular, in FIG. 4, the solid line arrows
indicate the case in which compressed air is supplied, and the
dotted line arrows indicate airflow in regeneration.
[0060] The case when compressed air is supplied is described. The
air flowing inside through a compressor flows inside through the
intake port 143 and moves upward from the lower portion of the
housing 110 through the gap 145 between the housing 110 and the
cartridge container 120. In this case, when the air passing through
the gap 145 hits against the collision member 125 in the gap 145,
oil, etc. separate and remain on the collision member 125. For
reference, the separated oil remains on the collision member 125 or
drops to an oil sump on the bottom of the housing 110 along the
outer wall of the housing 110 due to gravity. Thereafter,
regeneration is performed, the oil collected in the oil sump is
discharged to the atmosphere together with the regenerated air.
[0061] The compressed air that has passed through the gap 145 is
secondarily filtered through the oil adsorption filter 141, thirdly
filtered through the drying agent in the cartridge container 120
such that water is removed, and then finally discharged to the
valve assembly through an intake port 146.
[0062] Such 3-stage filtering process can provide an improved
cleaning effect to the compressed air that has passed through the
air drier cartridge 100.
[0063] FIGS. 5A to 5D show a detailed examples of the collision
member 125 installed on the outer wall of the drier cartridge
according to the present disclosure.
[0064] Each of the collision members 125 is disposed in the gap 145
between the housing 110 and the cartridge container 120, and may be
integrally formed with the cartridge container 120 through
injection molding. However, as described above, the collision
member 125 may be also formed on the inner wall of the housing 110.
For example, the collision member 125 may be formed by forming
wrinkles on the outer wall of the metallic housing 110. However,
the housing 110 should be formed to be able to resist high
pressure, so it is more preferable in terms of stress concentration
that the collision member 125 is integrally formed with the
cartridge container 120. It is exemplified that the collision
member 125 is formed on the cartridge container 120 in the
following description, and the collision member 125 formed on the
housing 110 may also have a corresponding structure.
[0065] Further, FIGS. 5A to 5D show blade type protrusion.
[0066] In detail, the blade type protrusion may be at least one
blade type protrusion that is continuously extended to be able to
guide air from the downstream side of the gap 145 to the upper
portion of the gap 145.
[0067] In this case, the collision member 125, as shown in FIG. 5A,
may be a spiral blade type protrusion, or as shown in FIG. 5C, may
be a blade type protrusion having a horizontal section 125a and an
inclined section 125b. The forming of at least one blade type
protrusion means that only one protrusion is continuously formed
around the cartridge container 120 or several continuous
protrusions may be extended around the cartridge container 120 with
a predetermined gap therebetween.
[0068] In the example of including several protrusions, the number
of channels through which compressed air can flow is increased in
comparison to when the collision member 125 is comprised of only
one protrusion. The number and angle of the blade type protrusions
may be appropriately adjusted in accordance with the required
airflow, oil filtering performance, etc.
[0069] As shown in FIG. 5A, the spiral blade type protrusion has a
structure that extends at a predetermined angle from the horizontal
plane. The spiral blade type protrusion is configured such that
airflow is relatively smooth and oil can be separated by
centrifugal force. However, since air and the protrusion do not
sufficiently hit against each other, the oil filtering effect may
be relatively limited.
[0070] Further, FIG. 5B shows an example including several
horizontal blade protrusions. As shown in FIG. 5B, the collision
member 125 has several horizontal blade protrusions spaced apart
from each other and extending in parallel with the horizontal plane
perpendicular to the central axis of the cartridge container 120.
Several flow holes are formed at the horizontal blade protrusions
so that air can move between the upstream side and the downstream
side of the gap 145. In this example, the horizontal blade
protrusion cannot function as an air flow passage between the
upstream side and the downstream side, and functions only a chamber
for compressed air. Accordingly, air flow holes should be formed at
the horizontal blade protrusion so that compressed air can move
upward in this embodiment. The air flow holes may be formed with
regular intervals on the horizontal blade protrusions and the holes
on the adjacent horizontal blade protrusions are alternately
disposed in the vertical direction that is parallel with the
central axis, whereby it is possible to improve the oil filtering
performance according to collision of air.
[0071] Meanwhile, FIG. 5C shows an example, in which the spiral
blade of FIG. 5A and the horizontal blade of FIG. 5B are combined.
Referring to FIG. 5C, the collision member 125 in this embodiment
includes a horizontal section 125a that is parallel with the
horizontal plane perpendicular to the central axis of the cartridge
container 120, and an inclined section 125b inclined at a
predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal plane.
Preferably, the horizontal section 125a and the inclined section
125b are alternately disposed in the extension direction, so when
air rotates at a high speed, an oil filtering effect by centrifugal
force can be implemented while the air flows up. Meanwhile, since
air can sufficiently bump against the protrusion while the flow of
the air changes, an oil filtering effect by collision can also be
achieved. In this case there may be a problem that the separated
oil partially adheres to the horizontal section 125a while flowing
down along the inclined surface.
[0072] Accordingly, in a preferred embodiment of the present
disclosure, the horizontal section 125a may be inclined so that the
separated oil can be collected downward by gravity without adhering
to the blade. In this example, the horizontal section 125a is also
extended with a predetermined angle not parallel with the
horizontal plane, so the collision member 125 is configured to
include two or more protrusion groups having different angles.
[0073] Further, in order to prevent oil from adhering at the
horizontal section 125a, as in FIG. 5D, at least one flow hole may
be formed in the direction of the central axis at the horizontal
section 125a. The flow hole is substantially perpendicular to the
flow of air, so it does not influence the airflow and mainly
discharges downward the adhering oil.
[0074] FIGS. 6A to 6C show examples in which the collision member
125 is comprised of several protrusions disposed to have a
predetermined pattern.
[0075] In the examples of FIG. 6A to 6C, the collision member 125
protrudes around the outer surface of the cartridge container 120
and is comprised of several protrusions spaced apart from each
other to be able to interfere with airflow between the upstream
side and the downstream side of the gap 145.
[0076] In particular, the protrusions may include a first group
125c comprised of several protrusions spaced apart from each other
with regular intervals in parallel with the horizontal plane
perpendicular to the central axis of the cartridge container 120,
and a second group 125d comprised of several protrusions
alternately disposed with the protrusions 125c of the first group
and spaced apart from each other with regular intervals in parallel
with the horizontal plane. In this case, the protrusions of the
first group and the protrusions 125d of the second group, as in
FIGS. 6A to 6C, may be alternately disposed in the direction of the
central axis.
[0077] In detail, FIG. 6A shows that the protrusions are V-shaped
protrusion and FIG. 6D shows airflow passing through the
protrusions. According to the V-shaped protrusions, compressed air
hits against the V-shaped protrusions while moving up, as in FIG.
6a, whereby oil is separated. Meanwhile, though not shown, the
V-shaped protrusions may be inversed V-shaped, that is, A-shaped
protrusions. However, the A-shaped protrusions may excessively
restrict flow of compressed air and may generate unnecessarily
vortexes when the compressed air is supplied, so it is more
preferable to apply V-shaped protrusions. According to the V-shaped
protrusions, when air flows in the opposite direction, that is, in
regeneration, the flow of compressed air is restricted too.
However, unlike when the compressed air is supplied, the compressed
air is already regenerated through the drying agent and then passes
through the collision member 125, so the influence on regeneration
relatively small. Further, flow of the compressed air is restricted
by the V-shaped protrusions and the flow speed of the air is
decreased, whereby it is possible to reduce noise due to the air
that is discharged to the atmosphere in regeneration.
[0078] Meanwhile, oil may be accumulated at the grooves of the
V-shaped protrusions. In order to solve the problem that oil is
excessively accumulated, flow hole for discharging oil may be
formed at the V-shaped protrusions. However, the oil accumulated on
the V-shaped protrusions can be periodically discharged by hitting
of the compressed air that flows inside in regeneration, so the
flow hole may be omitted.
[0079] FIG. 6B shows an example in which the protrusions are
circular protrusions, as another embodiment of the present
disclosure, and FIG. 6E shows the flow of air passing through the
protrusions. According to the circular protrusions, air
substantially smoothly flows in comparison to the V-shaped
protrusions described above, but the oil filtering effect is
relatively insufficient.
[0080] FIG. 6C shows an example in which plate-shaped protrusions
are disposed in opposite directions in groups. As shown in FIG. 6C,
in this embodiment, the protrusions 125c of the first group are
plate-shaped protrusions formed to have a predetermined angle with
respect to the horizontal plane, and the protrusions 125d of the
second group are plate-shaped protrusions extending perpendicular
to the protrusions of the first group. According to the structure
of the collision member 125, air can relatively smooth flow and a
good oil filtering effect can be achieved by hitting against the
plate-shaped protrusions.
[0081] Next, FIG. 6F shows an example in which the collision member
is formed in a mesh net M. In the example of FIG. 6F, while air
passes through the meshes of the mesh net M, oil is primarily
filtered out by the mesh net. Meanwhile, when the mesh net M is
densely formed, there may be a side effect that oil excessively
adheres to the mesh net M, thereby completely blocking airflow.
Considering this problem, a low-density mesh net may be used with
any one of the collision members 125 of FIGS. 5A to 5D or any one
of the collision members 125 of FIGS. 6A to 6C described above.
[0082] Next, FIGS. 7A and 7B show an example in which the side
angle of the collision member 125 is changed. Here, the side angle
means the angle .theta. made between the bottom of the protrusion
and the outer surface of the cartridge container 120.
[0083] First, FIG. 7A shows the case in which the angle .theta.
made between the bottom of the protrusion and the outer surface of
the cartridge container 120 is 90 degrees and FIG. 7B shows the
angle .theta. is less than 90 degrees.
[0084] When the angle .theta. is set as 90 degrees, as in FIG. 7A,
there is an advantage that it is easy to integrally form the
protrusions with the cartridge 120 through injection molding.
[0085] Meanwhile, as in FIG. 7B, when the angle .theta. is less
than 90 degrees, the protrusions face down, so there is an effect
that oil naturally flows down without being accumulated.
[0086] Further, when they are combined with the blade type
protrusions, there is an effect that air smoothly flows when
compressed air is supplied and regenerated. If when compressed air
flows substantially upward from the lower portion, the flow of the
compressed air is interfered with the protrusions facing down, so
the compressed air may be partially lost in the supply process.
However, according to a preferred embodiment of the present
disclosure, since the continuous blade type protrusions including a
spiral section are substantially in close contact with the wall of
the housing 110, they can remove this defect while functioning as
channels for guiding compressed air. Accordingly, when the
continuous blade type protrusions including a spiral section are
formed, it is possible to effectively suppress accumulation of oil
by forming the protrusions at an angle less than 90 degrees, as in
FIG. 7B. Accordingly, the angle .theta. of the protrusions may in
the range of 0.degree.<.theta..ltoreq.90.degree., and more
preferably, the angle of the protrusions may be in the range of
45.degree.<.theta..ltoreq.90.degree..
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0087] The present disclosure was described above on the basis of
embodiments and the accompanying drawings. However, the range of
the present disclosure is not limited by the embodiments and
drawings and may be limited only by claims to be described
below.
* * * * *