U.S. patent number 3,710,560 [Application Number 05/075,357] was granted by the patent office on 1973-01-16 for air cleaner.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Fram Corporation. Invention is credited to Gerald E. Maddocks.
United States Patent |
3,710,560 |
Maddocks |
January 16, 1973 |
AIR CLEANER
Abstract
Air cleaner with supplementary air inlet in housing cover, and
second cover adjacent the first and movable between first position
in which air is allowed to pass through the supplementary inlet,
and second position in which such supplementary air flow is
impeded.
Inventors: |
Maddocks; Gerald E. (Chatham,
Ontario, CA) |
Assignee: |
Fram Corporation (East
Providence, RI)
|
Family
ID: |
22125171 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/075,357 |
Filed: |
September 25, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
55/419; 55/502;
251/63; 55/510 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01D
46/2411 (20130101); B01D 46/0043 (20130101); F02M
35/04 (20130101); B01D 2271/022 (20130101); B01D
2279/60 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B01D
46/24 (20060101); F02M 35/02 (20060101); F02M
35/04 (20060101); B01d 027/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;55/418,419,498,510,276,502 ;123/119D,127 ;210/120 ;251/147,63 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Nozick; Bernard
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In an air cleaner for a carburetor, having a filter mounted in a
housing, a cover for the housing clamping means for securing the
cover to the housing, a main air inlet into the housing upstream of
said filter, and an outlet downstream of said filter, that
improvement comprising
a portion of said cover having a supplementary air inlet into said
housing upstream of said filter,
a second cover overlying said first-mentioned cover adjacent said
supplementary inlet, said covers being sealed to each other at
radially spaced seal zones, said zones defining a vacuum
compartment between said covers, said second cover having a valving
portion extending radially outward of the radially outermost of
said seal zones to overlie said supplementary inlet, and
a resilient gasket adhered to said covers at said outermost zone,
to allow said second cover to approach and withdraw from said
first-mentioned cover,
said compartment being connected to and communicating with a vacuum
source to control the spacing between said covers and hence the
position of said valving portion relative to said supplementary
inlets.
2. The device of claim 1 further comprising a sealing gasket
mounted radially outward of said secondary inlet and providing a
valve seat for said valving portion of said second cover, to seal
between said covers when high vacuum conditions in said vacuum
compartment draw down said second cover, thereby shutting of all
air supply to said supplementary inlet.
3. The device of claim 5 wherein
said first-mentioned cover has inner and outer downwardly and
outwardly sloping portions separated by an outwardly and upwardly
sloping portion and a horizontal portion,
said second cover is sealed at its inner periphery to said
first-mentioned cover and has portions extending generally parallel
to said portions of said first-mentioned cover, but spaced
therefrom, said second cover having a horizontal portion, aligned
above said first-mentioned horizontal portion,
said resilient gasket between said covers is adhered to said
horizontal portions to define said radially outermost sealing
zone,
said supplementary inlet is a ring of openings in the radially
outermost of said downwardly and outwardly sloping portions of said
first-mentioned cover, and
said second cover has an outside diameter less than that of said
first mentioned cover.
Description
This invention relates to varying the restriction to air flow
through an air cleaner for an automotive vehicle.
Objects of the invention are to provide for restriction variation
in an improved manner, with simple, reliable, inexpensive structure
easily adapted to existing air cleaner design.
The invention features a supplementary air inlet through the air
cleaner cover, and a second cover adjacent the first and arranged
to move between a first position in which air is allowed to pass
through the supplementary inlet and a second position in which the
second cover impedes such supplementary air flow. In preferred
embodiments the second cover is annular, is sealed to the main
cover at radially spaced zones to define a vacuum compartment, and
has a valving portion extending radially outward of the outermost
seal zone to overlie a ring of supplementary inlet holes; a vacuum
source is connected to the vacuum compartment to control the
spacing between the two covers; and a sealing gasket is mounted
radially outward of the secondary inlets to act as a valve seat for
said valving portion and hence to seal between the covers when high
vacuum conditions in the compartment draw down the second cover,
thereby shutting off all air supply to the supplementary
inlets.
Other objects, advantages, and features will be apparent from the
following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,
taken together with the drawings thereof, in which
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an air cleaner, partially broken away;
and
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along 2--2 of FIG. 1.
Referring to the drawings, carburetor air cleaner 10 is of
conventional design to the extent that it includes cylindrical
filter 12 supported around perforated center-tube 14 in housing 16
having a main air inlet tube 18 and an axial outlet 20.
Cover 22 is held on threaded shaft 24 by wing nut 26, and has
downwardly and outwardly sloping portions 28 and 30 between which
are horizontal portion 32 and upwardly sloping portion 33. Gasket
34 is fixed in the outer rim 36 of the cover and seals against
outer wall 38 when the cover is tightly in place.
A ring of supplementary air inlet holes 40 is provided in sloping
cover portion 30.
A second generally annular cover 50, of outside diameter less than
that of cover 22, is mounted on top of cover 30, with its inner
periphery 52 adhesively sealed to cover 30, and with a resilient
gasket 54 adhesively sealed between cover portion 32 and
corresponding horizontal portion 56 of cover 50. A sealed
compartment 60 is thus formed between the two covers, and is
connected to the engine manifold vacuum source (shown schematically
at 61) by tube 62. Radially outward of gasket 54 cover 50 extends
generally parallel to cover portion 30, over inlets 40, to above
sealing gasket 64 fixed between rim 36 and openings 40.
In operation, engine vacuum manifold pressure determines the
pressure in vacuum compartment 60. At low pressures (i.e., high
suction) cover 50 will be drawn toward cover 22 (see phantom
position in FIG. 2) until cover 50 seals against gasket 64,
preventing any air flow through inlets 40. At high pressures (i.e.,
low suction) cover 50 moves away from gasket 64 to allow air to
flow through inlets 40, supplementing and mixing with the air flow
through inlet 18, thereby decreasing the total restriction to
carburetor air flow provided by the air cleaner.
Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art and are
within the following claims.
* * * * *