An automotive air dryer

Abstract

The present invention provides an automotive air dryer, which includes: a dryer housing; an annular pipeline externally connected below the dryer housing; an intake valve disposed at the connection of one end of the annular pipeline and the dryer housing; a filtering chamber connected to the intake valve through an intake passage, the filtering chamber including a perforated plate, a support plate, and a solid particle discharge groove, wherein the support plate is perpendicular to the top wall of the dryer housing, and wherein the solid particle discharge groove communicates with the intake passage; a filter screen disposed in the upper part of the filtering chamber, the filter screen being attached to the perforated plate, wherein there is a gap between the filter screen and the top of the perforated plate; a filter screen support for supporting the filter screen, the filter screen support being fixed on the support plate; a drying chamber disposed between the filtering chamber and the dryer housing; a top baffle disposed above the filtering chamber; and an exhaust three-way valve disposed at the connection of the other end of the annular pipeline and the dryer housing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of automotive engineering, and particularly to an automotive air dryer. Background Art

[0002] Automotive air dryers are used to remove impurities such as moisture and oil droplets in compressed air. They began to be applied in air brake pipelines in the 1980s and are one of the important components of air brake systems. Currently, they are quite commonly used in large trucks, buses and other vehicle models. In China, air dryers have only been widely used in recent years. There is currently no national or industry-wide product quality inspection standard. The previously promulgated air dryer standards are not applicable to automotive regenerative air dryers. Air dryer manufacturers only conduct simple tests and lack automated and highly efficient performance detection devices. Internationally, the main inspection standard for automotive air dryers is J2384 of the American SAE, and no other country has formulated a unified national or industry standard. It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China issued the "Performance Requirements and Bench Test Methods for Air Dryers" (draft for comments) in 2010, which stipulates the test methods and test parameters for automotive air dryers, but no unified domestic standard has been formed yet.

[0003] The information disclosed in this background art section is only intended to enhance the overall understanding of the present invention and should not be regarded as an admission or any form of suggestion that this information constitutes prior art already known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide an automotive air dryer, thereby overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art.

[0005] The present invention provides an automotive air dryer, characterized in that: the air dryer includes: a dryer housing; an annular pipeline, the annular pipeline is externally connected below the dryer housing; an intake valve, the intake valve is arranged at the connection of one end of the annular pipeline and the dryer housing; a filter chamber, the filter chamber is connected to the intake valve through an intake passage, the filter chamber includes a perforated plate, a support plate and a solid particle discharge groove, wherein, the support plate is perpendicular to the top wall of the dryer housing, and wherein, the solid particle discharge groove is communicated with the intake passage; a filter screen, the filter screen is arranged on the upper part of the filter chamber, the filter screen fits on the perforated plate, wherein, there is a gap between the filter screen and the top of the perforated plate; a filter screen support, the filter screen support is used to support the filter screen, and the filter screen support is fixed on the support plate; a drying chamber, the drying chamber is arranged between the filter chamber and the dryer housing; a top baffle, the top baffle is arranged above the filter chamber; an exhaust three-way valve, the exhaust three-way valve is arranged at the connection of the other end of the annular pipeline and the dryer housing.

[0006] Preferably, in the above technical solution, the annular pipeline further includes: an intake branch provided with an air pump; and a heating wire disposed inside the pipe of the annular pipeline.

[0007] Preferably, in the above technical solution, a slag discharge port and a total solid particle sensor are provided in the solid particle discharge tank.

[0008] Preferably, in the above technical solution, the drying chamber includes a plurality of baffles, and the plurality of baffles at least include: a first special-shaped baffle fixed in the middle of the porous plate; a first horizontal baffle fixed on the upper part of the porous plate; a second special-shaped baffle fixed on the top of the support plate; and a second horizontal baffle fixed on the dryer housing and facing the middle of the support plate.

[0009] Preferably, in the above technical solution, the air dryer includes: a purge gas pipe disposed at the top end of the dryer housing, wherein the purge gas pipe is communicated with the dryer housing through a first pipe and a second pipe; and a first air valve and a second air valve for controlling the ventilation states of the first pipe and the second pipe respectively.

[0010] Preferably, in the above technical solution, the air dryer includes: a cleaning substance adsorption medium disposed between the top baffle and the top wall of the dryer housing, and the cleaning substance adsorption medium stores a cleaning substance.

[0011] Preferably, in the above technical solution, the air dryer includes: a temperature sensor disposed below the top baffle; a wireless communication module communicatively connected to the temperature sensor for sending the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor to a central control unit; wherein the central control unit controls the current passing through the heating wire based on a preset temperature and the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: In the existing dryers, generally, the air inlet is at the bottom of the dryer and the air outlet is at the top of the dryer. The defect of this design pattern is that the compressed gas to be dried flows from the bottom of the dryer to the upper part of the dryer and then flows out. In this case, the distance that the compressed gas flows through the drying medium is equal to the height of the dryer. In order to improve the drying effect, it is necessary to increase the height of the dryer. Increasing the height of the dryer will inevitably lead to an increase in the weight and volume of the dryer, which is a fatal defect for automotive design. At the same time, due to the addition of the filtering medium, the gas to be dried will evenly disperse from the surface of the filtering medium. Some positions of the filtering medium are close to the top of the dryer, while some positions are far from the top of the dryer, resulting in different drying degrees of the gas to be dried. In some cases, due to being too close to the top of the dryer, some gases cannot be fully dried. At this time, in order to fully dry the gas, it is still necessary to increase the height of the dryer. To solve the problems in the prior art, the present application designs a more reasonable gas path. First, both the air inlet and the air outlet are designed at the bottom of the dryer. The gas to be dried needs to enter from the left side at the bottom of the dryer, then pass through the filtering medium and the perforated plate (the support plate is airtight), enter the left drying chamber of the dryer, then flow along the gas path to the right side of the drying chamber, and then flow out from the outlet three-way valve. The present invention makes full use of the internal space of the dryer, and the flow distance of the gas to be dried in the drying chamber is increased by at least two times compared with the traditional dryer, improving the drying efficiency. Description of the Drawings

[0013] By reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, various other advantages and benefits will become clear to those of ordinary skill in the art. The drawings are only for the purpose of showing the preferred embodiments and are not considered as limiting the present invention. Moreover, throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to represent the same components. In the drawings:

[0014] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an automotive air dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0015] Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. Although the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure can be more thoroughly understood and the scope of the present disclosure can be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art.

[0016] Figure 1It is a schematic structural diagram of an automotive air dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the air dryer of the present invention includes: a dryer housing 101; an annular pipeline 102, which is externally connected below the dryer housing; an intake valve 103, which is arranged at the connection between one end of the annular pipeline and the dryer housing; a filtration chamber, which is connected to the intake valve 103 through an intake passage 108. The filtration chamber includes a perforated plate 104, a support plate 105, and a solid particle discharge groove 106. Among them, the support plate 105 is perpendicular to the top wall 107 of the dryer housing, and the solid particle discharge groove communicates with the intake passage; a filter screen 109, which is arranged in the upper part of the filtration chamber and fits on the perforated plate. There is a gap between the filter screen 109 and the top of the perforated plate; a filter screen support 110, which is used to support the filter screen, and the filter screen support is fixed on the support plate; a drying chamber, which is arranged between the filtration chamber and the dryer housing; a top baffle 111, which is arranged above the filtration chamber; an exhaust three-way valve 112, which is arranged at the connection 113 between the other end of the annular pipeline and the dryer housing.

[0017] Existing dryers generally have a design pattern where air enters from the bottom of the dryer and exits from the top of the dryer. The defect of this design pattern is that the compressed gas to be dried flows from the bottom of the dryer to the top of the dryer and then exits. In this case, the distance that the compressed gas flows through the drying medium is equal to the height of the dryer. To increase the drying effect, the height of the dryer must be increased, and increasing the height of the dryer will inevitably lead to an increase in the weight and volume of the dryer, which is a fatal defect for automotive design. At the same time, due to the addition of the filtering medium, the gas to be dried will evenly disperse from the surface of the filtering medium. Some positions of the filtering medium are close to the top of the dryer, and some positions are far from the top of the dryer, which results in different degrees of drying of the gas to be dried. In some cases, some gases cannot be fully dried because they are too close to the top of the dryer. At this time, to fully dry the gas, the height of the dryer still needs to be increased. To solve the problems in the prior art, this application designs a more reasonable gas path. First, both the intake port and the exhaust port of this application are designed at the bottom of the dryer. The gas to be dried needs to enter from the left side at the bottom of the dryer, then pass through the filtering medium and the perforated plate (the support plate is airtight), enter the drying chamber on the left side of the dryer, then flow along the gas path to the right side of the drying chamber, and then flow out from the outlet three-way valve. The present invention makes full use of the internal space of the dryer, and the flow distance of the gas to be dried in the drying chamber is increased by at least twice compared with the traditional dryer. The drying efficiency is improved.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, the annular pipeline further includes: an intake branch 114, on which an air pump 118 is provided; a heating wire 115, which is arranged inside the pipe of the annular pipeline. A slag discharge port 117 and a total solid particle sensor 116 are arranged in the solid particle discharge tank. The drying chamber includes a plurality of baffles, and the plurality of baffles at least include: a first special-shaped baffle 119, which is fixed in the middle of the porous plate; a first horizontal baffle 120, which is fixed above the porous plate; a second special-shaped baffle 121, which is fixed at the top of the support plate; a second horizontal baffle 122, which is fixed on the drying chamber housing and is opposite to the middle of the support plate.

[0019] In the present invention, a plurality of baffles are arranged in the drying chamber, and these baffles further increase the flow distance of the gas in the drying chamber, further increase the drying efficiency of the dryer, improve the drying effect, and reduce the volume of the dryer.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment, the air dryer includes: a purge gas pipe 127, which is arranged at the top end of the drying chamber housing, wherein the purge gas pipe is communicated with the drying chamber housing through a first pipe 123 and a second pipe 124; a first air valve 125 and a second air valve 126, which respectively control the ventilation states of the first pipe and the second pipe. The air dryer includes: a cleaning substance adsorption medium 128, which is arranged between the top baffle and the top wall of the drying chamber housing, and the cleaning substance adsorption medium stores a cleaning substance. The air dryer includes: a temperature sensor 129, which is arranged below the top baffle; a wireless communication module (not shown in the figure), which is communicatively connected with the temperature sensor, and the wireless communication module is used to send the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor to a central control unit (not shown in the figure); wherein, the central control unit controls the current passing through the heating wire based on a preset temperature and the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor.

[0021] Working principle: In the normal working mode, the gas to be dried enters the annular pipeline from the intake branch 114, then enters the filtration chamber through the intake valve 103. After being filtered by the filtration medium, the tiny solid particles in the gas are removed, and the heavier solid particles will directly settle into the solid particle discharge chamber. The gas that has been preliminarily filtered enters the drying chamber and flows from the left half of the drying chamber to the right half along the gas path in the drying chamber. Finally, it flows out through the three-way valve. The temperature sensor continuously detects the gas temperature in the drying chamber and sends the gas temperature to the central control unit through the wireless communication module. If the gas temperature is too low, the central control unit will control the heating wire to start heating the pipeline. Since the pipeline is made of metal, the pipeline quickly transfers the heat to the gas in the outlet gas pipe. After the gas is heated, some of the unremoved organic substances in it evaporate and will not condense, thus preventing the problem of brake failure. In the cleaning working mode, high-pressure gas will be injected into the dryer cavity from the first pipeline 123 and the second pipeline 124. The high-pressure gas flows through the cleaning substance adsorption medium 128 and brings out the cleaning substances in it. When these gases flow into the dryer cavity, the gases will clean the drying medium through high flow rate and cleaning substances. Subsequently, the waste gas will be discharged from the annular pipeline. If further cleaning is desired, the three-way valve can be adjusted, and then high-pressure gas is flushed into the annular pipeline, and then the gas flows through the drying chamber at high speed and is discharged from the first pipeline 123 and the second pipeline 124 to realize the positive and negative cleaning of the dryer.

[0022] The above are only the preferred specific embodiments of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An automotive air dryer, characterized in that: The air dryer includes: A dryer housing; An annular pipeline, which is externally connected below the dryer housing; An intake valve, which is arranged at the connection between one end of the annular pipeline and the dryer housing; A filter chamber, which is connected to the intake valve through an intake duct. The filter chamber includes a perforated plate, a support plate, and a solid particle discharge groove. Among them, the support plate is perpendicular to the top wall of the dryer housing, and among them, the solid particle discharge groove is communicated with the intake duct; A filter screen, which is arranged in the upper part of the filter chamber. The filter screen is attached to the perforated plate. Among them, there is a gap between the filter screen and the top of the perforated plate; A filter screen support, which is used to support the filter screen. The filter screen support is fixed on the support plate; A drying chamber, which is arranged between the filter chamber and the dryer housing; A top baffle, which is arranged above the filter chamber; An exhaust three-way valve, which is arranged at the connection between the other end of the annular pipeline and the dryer housing, The annular pipeline further includes: An intake branch, on which an air pump is arranged; A heating wire, which is arranged inside the pipe of the annular pipeline, A slag discharge port and a total solid particle sensor are arranged in the solid particle discharge groove, The drying chamber includes a plurality of baffles, and the plurality of baffles at least include: A first special-shaped baffle, which is fixed in the middle of the perforated plate; A first horizontal baffle, which is fixed on the upper part of the perforated plate; A second special-shaped baffle, which is fixed on the top of the support plate; A second horizontal baffle, which is fixed on the dryer housing. The second horizontal baffle is opposite to the middle of the support plate, The air dryer includes: A purge air pipe, which is arranged at the top of the dryer housing. Among them, the purge air pipe is communicated with the dryer housing through a first pipe and a second pipe; A first air valve and a second air valve, which respectively control the ventilation states of the first pipe and the second pipe, The air dryer includes: A cleaning substance adsorption medium, which is arranged between the top baffle and the top wall of the dryer housing. The cleaning substance adsorption medium stores a cleaning substance; The perforated plate and the support plate form the wall of the filter chamber; A drying medium is arranged in the drying chamber. The drying chamber is divided into a left drying chamber and a right drying chamber by the filter chamber; There is a gap between the top baffle and the filter chamber for communicating the left drying chamber and the right drying chamber.

2. The automotive air dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air dryer includes: A temperature sensor, which is arranged below the top baffle; A wireless communication module, which is communicatively connected to the temperature sensor. The wireless communication module is used to send the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor to a central control unit; Wherein, the central control unit controls the current passing through the heating wire based on a preset temperature and the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor.

Images