Air drying device

Abstract

To provide an air drying device capable of performing a purge operation with a simpler configuration and without contaminating the external environment.SOLUTION: An air drying device 1 comprises: a second chamber R2 that communicates with a first chamber R1 and houses an oil content removal unit 90 that removes an oil content from compressed air; and a third chamber R3 that communicates with both the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2 and houses a water content removal unit 100 that removes a water content from the compressed air having passed through the oil content removal unit 90. A first control valve 40 allows the inflow of the compressed air from the first chamber R1 to the second chamber R2 and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the second chamber R2 to the first chamber R1. A second control valve 50 allows the inflow of the compressed air from the second chamber R2 to the third chamber R3 and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the third chamber R3 to the second chamber R2. A third control valve 60 allows the inflow of the compressed air from the third chamber R3 to the first chamber R1 and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the first chamber R1 to the third chamber R3.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an air drying device.

Background Art

[0002] There are vehicles that use compressed air for brakes, suspensions, etc. (for example, air brake vehicles that use compressed air for brakes). Such vehicles are equipped with an air compressor. The compressed air compressed by the air compressor contains oil (specifically, the lubricating oil of the air compressor) and moisture derived from the atmosphere. If such oil and moisture enter the air equipment that uses compressed air, there is a risk of causing problems in the air equipment.

[0003] Therefore, vehicles that use compressed air are equipped with an air drying device (hereinafter also referred to as an air dryer) that houses a desiccant, like the compressed air drying system described in Patent Document 1. For example, in the compressed air drying system of Patent Document 1, compressed air is supplied to the air dryer, and a dehumidifying action of removing moisture from the compressed air is performed.

[0004] Also, as described in the same document, the air dryer performs a regeneration action (hereinafter also referred to as a purge operation) of removing the moisture adsorbed on the desiccant by reversing a part of the compressed air. As a result, moisture can be periodically desorbed from the desiccant housed inside the air dryer, and the performance of the desiccant can be maintained above a certain level.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] However, in a conventional air door dryer, during the charging operation of sending compressed air from an air compressor to air equipment, oil components such as the lubricating oil of the air compressor are adsorbed by the desiccant. During the purge operation, not only moisture but also oil components are discharged into the atmosphere, and the discharged oil components may cause contamination of the vehicle body and an increase in environmental load. In contrast, in the compressed air drying system of Patent Document 1, an oil separator is provided to recover the oil components discharged from the air door dryer during the purge operation. However, providing such an oil separator has a problem that the number of parts increases and the configuration of the compressed air drying system becomes complicated.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an air drying device capable of performing a purge operation with a simpler configuration without contaminating the external environment.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] The present invention has been made to solve at least a part of the above-described problems and can be realized as the following aspects or application examples.

[0009] The air drying device according to this application example communicates with a supply source of compressed air and has a first chamber having an outlet for discharging the compressed air, a second chamber communicating with the first chamber and housing an oil removal section for removing the oil content of the compressed air, a third chamber communicating with the first chamber and the second chamber and housing a moisture removal section for removing the moisture of the compressed air that has passed through the oil removal section, a fourth chamber communicating with the third chamber and an air device that uses the compressed air and storing the compressed air that has passed through the moisture removal section, and a first control valve provided at a communication portion between the first chamber and the second chamber, a second control valve provided at a communication portion between the second chamber and the third chamber, a third control valve provided at a communication portion between the third chamber and the first chamber, a fourth control valve provided at a communication portion between the fourth chamber and the air device, and a fifth control valve for opening and closing the outlet, for controlling the flow of the compressed air. The first control valve allows the inflow of the compressed air from the first chamber to the second chamber and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the second chamber to the first chamber. The second control valve allows the inflow of the compressed air from the second chamber to the third chamber and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the third chamber to the second chamber. The third control valve allows the inflow of the compressed air from the third chamber to the first chamber and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the first chamber to the third chamber. The fourth control valve allows the inflow of the compressed air from the fourth chamber to the air device and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the air device to the fourth chamber. The fifth control valve closes the outlet during a charging operation of sending the compressed air to the air device and opens the outlet during a purge operation of removing the moisture of the moisture removal section with the compressed air stored in the fourth chamber. An air drying device characterized by the above is provided.

[0010] According to this application example, during the charging operation of sending compressed air to the air equipment, the compressed air flowing into the first chamber passes through the second chamber having an oil removal section (for example, an oil filter) to remove the oil content, and then flows into the third chamber having a moisture removal section (for example, a desiccant) to remove the moisture, and is supplied to the air equipment through the fourth chamber. On the other hand, during the purge operation of removing moisture from the moisture removal section, the compressed air stored in the fourth chamber flows directly into the first chamber after passing through the moisture removal section in the third chamber, so that it does not pass through the oil removal section in the second chamber. Therefore, according to this application example, compressed air containing moisture with almost no oil content can be discharged from the first chamber to the atmosphere through the discharge port, so that pollution of the external environment (for example, the vehicle body and the road surface, etc.) by the compressed air discharged into the atmosphere can be suppressed without providing an oil separator separately.

[0011] Thus, according to the present invention, an air drying device capable of performing a purge operation with a simpler configuration without polluting the external environment can be provided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Embodiment for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Next, a first embodiment of the air dryer according to the present invention will be described with appropriate reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. In the following, a compressed air circulation system (compressed air circulation system 1000 shown in FIG. 1) including the air dryer (air dryer 1 shown in FIG. 1) according to the first embodiment will be described as an example. Further, in the following description, the charging operation is an operation for supplying compressed air to air equipment after removing moisture, and the purge operation is an operation for removing and regenerating moisture from the moisture removal unit used for the moisture removal.

[0014] First, the configuration of the compressed air circulation system 1000 will be described. The compressed air circulation system 1000 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on a truck including air equipment 3 such as an air tank and an air brake, and includes an air compressor 2 which is a supply source of compressed air A1, an air dryer 1 which generates compressed air A2 from which oil and moisture are removed from the compressed air A1 supplied from the air compressor 2, and air equipment 3 which stores or uses the compressed air A2 discharged from the air dryer 1.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, the air dryer 1 includes an introduction part 10, a processing part 20, a guide part 30, a first control valve 40, a second control valve 50, a third control valve 60, a fourth control valve 70, a fifth control valve 80, an oil filter (oil removal part) 90, and a desiccant (moisture removal part) 100. Further, the processing part 20 includes a first wall part 21, a second wall part 22, and a third wall part 23. The guide part 30 includes a fourth wall part 31, a fifth wall part 32, and a sixth wall part 33. The air dryer 1 has a so-called bullet shape as a whole, and in the processing part 20, a double structure is formed in which a second wall part 22 having the same bullet-shaped outer shape is arranged inside the first wall part 21 having the bullet-shaped outer shape.

[0016] Inside the hair dryer 1, a first chamber R1, a second chamber R2, a third chamber R3, a fourth chamber R4, and a fifth chamber R5 are formed.

[0017] The first chamber R1 is a thin cylindrical space formed by the bottom surface 21a of the first wall portion 21 and the entire inner surface (bottom surface 31a and side surface 31b) of the fourth wall portion 31. The first chamber R1 has a discharge port e (see FIG. 2) that communicates with a fifth communication portion h5 described later.

[0018] The second chamber R2 and the third chamber R3 are formed by being partitioned by the third wall portion 23 in a bullet-shaped space formed by the bottom surface 21a of the first wall portion 21 and the side surface 22b and the upper surface 22c of the second wall portion 22. The second chamber R2 is located on one side of the lower half of the third chamber R3 and is a semi-cylindrical space partitioned by the third wall portion 23. The third chamber R3 is the space in the bullet-shaped space excluding the second chamber R2.

[0019] The fourth chamber R4 is a hollow bullet-shaped space formed between the first wall portion 21 and the second wall portion 22.

[0020] The fifth chamber R5 is a two-stage cylindrical space formed by a hollow cylindrical fifth wall portion 32 and a cylindrical sixth wall portion 33 having a diameter larger than that of the fifth wall portion 32 and having openings in the upper surface 33c and the lower surface 33a. The opening in the lower surface 33a is a discharge hole d for discharging the compressed air A3 shown in FIG. 1.

[0021] The first chamber R1 communicates with an air compressor 2, which is a supply source of compressed air, via a connecting pipe and an introduction portion 10, and communicates with the second chamber R2 and the third chamber R3 in parallel via a first communication portion h1 and a third communication portion h3, respectively. The second chamber R2 communicates with the third chamber R3 via a second communication portion h2. The third chamber R3 communicates with the fourth chamber R4 via a communication portion c. The fourth chamber R4 communicates with the inside of an air device 3 shown in FIG. 1 via a fourth communication portion h4 and a connecting pipe (not shown). The fifth chamber R5 communicates with the first chamber R1 via a fifth communication portion h5. Note that the first communication portion h1 to the fifth communication portion h5 and the communication portion c are, for example, through holes.

[0022] The introduction part 10 is a member with an opening formed to communicate with the compressed air supply port (not shown) of the air compressor 2 shown in FIG. 1 via a connecting pipe, and is a location where the compressed air A1 supplied from the air compressor 2 is introduced. The inside of the introduction part 10 communicates with the first chamber R1.

[0023] The first wall part 21, the second wall part 22, and the third wall part 23 of the processing part 20, and the fourth wall part 31, the fifth wall part 32, and the sixth wall part 33 of the guide part 30 are for forming the first chamber R1 to the fifth chamber R5.

[0024] The first control valve 40 is provided at the first communication part h1 that communicates the first chamber R1 and the second chamber R2, and is a check valve that opens and closes the first communication part h1. The first control valve 40 allows the inflow of compressed air from the first chamber R1 to the second chamber R2 and prohibits the inflow of compressed air from the second chamber R2 to the first chamber R1. That is, the first control valve 40 opens when the pressure in the first chamber R1 is higher than the pressure in the second chamber R2, and closes when the pressure in the first chamber R1 is equal to or lower than the pressure in the second chamber R2.

[0025] The second control valve 50 is provided at the second communication part h2 that communicates the second chamber R2 and the third chamber R3, and is a check valve that opens and closes the second communication part h2. The second control valve 50 allows the inflow of compressed air from the second chamber R2 to the third chamber R3 and prohibits the inflow of compressed air from the third chamber R3 to the second chamber R2. That is, the second control valve 50 opens when the pressure in the second chamber R2 is higher than the pressure in the third chamber R3, and closes when the pressure in the second chamber R2 is equal to or lower than the pressure in the third chamber R3.

[0026] The third control valve 60 is provided at the third communication part h3 that communicates the third chamber R3 and the first chamber R1, and is a check valve that opens and closes the third communication part h3. The third control valve 60 allows the inflow of compressed air from the third chamber R3 to the first chamber R1 and prohibits the inflow of compressed air from the first chamber R1 to the third chamber R3. That is, the third control valve 60 opens when the pressure in the third chamber R3 is higher than the pressure in the first chamber R1, and closes when the pressure in the third chamber R3 is equal to or lower than the pressure in the first chamber R1.

[0027] The fourth control valve 70 is provided at a fourth communication portion h4 that communicates the fourth chamber R4 with a connecting pipe leading to the air device 3 shown in FIG. 1, and is a check valve that opens and closes the fourth communication portion h4. The fourth control valve 70 allows the inflow of compressed air from the fourth chamber R4 to the air device 3 and prohibits the inflow of compressed air from the air device 3 to the fourth chamber R4. That is, the fourth control valve 70 opens when the pressure in the fourth chamber R4 is higher than the internal pressure of the air device 3, and closes when the pressure in the fourth chamber R4 is equal to or lower than the internal pressure of the air device 3.

[0028] The fifth control valve 80 is provided at a fifth communication portion h5 (discharge hole) that communicates the first chamber R1 and the fifth chamber R5, and is an on-off valve for opening and closing the fifth communication portion h5. The fifth control valve 80 is, for example, a mechanical valve or an electromagnetic valve, and operates to open and close according to an instruction from a control device (so-called ECU) not shown mounted on the vehicle or the internal pressure of the air device 3. Specifically, the fifth control valve 80 closes the fifth communication portion h5 during the charging operation of sending compressed air to the air device 3, and allows the inflow of compressed air from the first chamber R1 to the second chamber R2 when the first communication portion h1 of the first control valve 40 opens. During the purge operation of removing moisture from the desiccant 100, the third communication portion h3 and the fifth communication portion h5 are opened by the compressed air stored in the fourth chamber R4. That is, the fifth control valve 80 receives a closing instruction from the ECU during the charging operation, closes the fifth communication portion h5 according to the internal pressure of the air device 3, receives an opening instruction from the ECU during the purge operation, and opens the fifth communication portion h5 according to the internal pressure of the air device 3.

[0029] The oil filter 90 is attached to the second wall portion 22 and the third wall portion 23 of the processing unit 20 and is disposed and stored in the second chamber R2. The oil filter 90 has a function of removing oil contained in the compressed air A1 supplied from the air compressor 2 shown in FIG. 1.

[0030] The desiccant 100 is attached to the second wall portion 22 of the processing unit 20 and is disposed and stored in the third chamber R3. The desiccant 100 has a function of removing moisture contained in the compressed air that has passed through the oil filter 90 during the charging operation.

[0031] Next, the operation of the compressed air flow system 1000 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, the charging operation will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the air compressor 2 generates compressed air A1 by inhaling and compressing the air in the atmosphere, and supplies the generated compressed air A1 toward the introduction part 10 (see FIG. 2) of the air dryer 1.

[0032] During the charging operation shown in FIG. 3, the compressed air A1 flows into the first chamber R1 after flowing into the inside of the introduction part 10, and flows to the second chamber R2 while pressing the first control valve 40. Further, when the compressed air flowing into the second chamber R2 passes through the oil filter 90, the oil filter 90 removes the oil component from the compressed air. Further, the compressed air that has passed through the oil filter 90 presses the second control valve 50 and flows into the third chamber R3, and the moisture is removed by passing through the desiccant 100. The compressed air that has passed through the desiccant 100 flows into the fourth chamber R4 through the communication part c, and is supplied from the fourth chamber R4 to the inside of the air device 3 shown in FIG. 1 by pressing the fourth control valve 70.

[0033] Next, the purge operation will be described. During the purge operation shown in FIG. 4, the compressed air in the fourth chamber R4 flows from the communication part c into the third chamber R3 and passes through the desiccant 100. Thereby, the moisture adsorbed on the desiccant 100 is removed and contained in the compressed air. The compressed air that has passed through the desiccant 100 presses the third control valve 60 from the third chamber R3, and is discharged to the outside (atmosphere) from the discharge hole d through the fifth communication part h5 and the fifth chamber R5 from the first chamber R1.

[0034] According to this embodiment, during the charging operation of sending compressed air A1 to the air device 3, the compressed air flowing into the first chamber R1 is passed through the second chamber R2 having the oil filter 90 to remove the oil content, and then flows into the third chamber R3 having the desiccant 100 to remove the moisture, and is supplied to the air device 3 through the fourth chamber R4. On the other hand, during the purge operation of removing moisture from the desiccant 100, the compressed air stored in the fourth chamber R4 flows directly into the first chamber R1 after passing through the desiccant 100 in the third chamber R3, so that it does not pass through the oil filter 90 in the second chamber R2. Therefore, compressed air containing moisture with little oil content can be discharged from the first chamber R1 to the atmosphere through the discharge port e, so that the external environment (such as the vehicle body and the road surface, etc.) can be suppressed from being contaminated by the compressed air discharged into the atmosphere without providing an oil separator separately. In this way, the purge operation can be executed with a simpler configuration without contaminating the external environment.

[0035] Next, a second embodiment of the air drying device according to the present invention will be described. Among the configurations of the air dryer 1' which is the air drying device according to the second embodiment, for the configurations common to the air dryer 1 which is the air drying device according to the first embodiment, the same reference numerals as the corresponding configurations of the air dryer 1 are given and the description is omitted. Also, the description of the operations common to the air dryer 1 among the operations of the air dryer 1' is omitted. Hereinafter, a compressed air circulation system (compressed air circulation system 2000 shown in FIG. 5) including the air drying device (air dryer 1' shown in FIG. 5) according to the second embodiment will be described as an example.

[0036] The air circulation system 2000 shown in FIG. 5 includes an air dryer 1' instead of the air dryer 1 shown in FIG. 1. The air dryer 1' includes a base 1'a and a storage portion 1'b. As shown in FIG. 6, the air dryer 1' has a so-called bullet shape as a whole, but the processing portion 20' which replaces the processing portion 20 of the air dryer 1 has a single structure.

[0037] As shown in Fig. 6, the processing unit 20' of the base 1'a includes a first wall portion 21' instead of the first wall portion 21 of the processing unit 20, and does not include a member corresponding to the second wall portion 22 of the processing unit 20. A communication portion c' is formed in the first wall portion 21' instead of the fourth communication portion h4 formed in the first wall portion 21.

[0038] The storage portion 1'b of the air dryer 1' includes a tank 71 and a fourth control valve 70' that replaces the fourth control valve 70 of the air dryer 1. The fourth control valve 70' is provided in a fourth communication portion h4' that communicates with the internal space of the tank 71 (a fourth chamber R4' to be described later) and the inside of a connecting pipe connected to the air device 3 shown in Fig. 5, respectively. Note that the fourth communication portion h4' corresponds to the fourth communication portion h4 in the air dryer 1.

[0039] Inside the air dryer 1', instead of the first chamber R1, the second chamber R2, the third chamber R3, and the fourth chamber R4 inside the air dryer 1, a first chamber R1', a second chamber R2', a third chamber R3', and a fourth chamber R4' are formed, respectively.

[0040] The first chamber R1' is a thin cylindrical space formed by the bottom surface 21'a of the first wall portion 21' and the entire inner surface (bottom surface 31a and side surface 31b) of the fourth wall portion 31. The second chamber R2' and the third chamber R3' are formed by being partitioned by the third wall portion 23 in a bullet-shaped space inside the first wall portion 21'. The third chamber R3' communicates with the fourth chamber R4' through a communication portion c' formed in the first wall portion 21' and a connecting pipe (not shown). The fourth chamber R4' is the internal space of the tank 71 and communicates with the inside of the air device 3 shown in Fig. 1 through a fourth communication portion h4' (for example, a through hole) and a connecting pipe (not shown).

[0041] In the base 1'a, the oil filter 90 is attached to the first wall portion 21' and the third wall portion 23 of the processing unit 20' and is disposed and stored in the second chamber R2'. The desiccant 100 is attached to the first wall portion 21' of the processing unit 20' and is disposed and stored in the third chamber R3'.

[0042] During the charging operation shown in Fig. 7, the compressed air A1 flows into the interior of the introduction section 10 and then into the first chamber R1´, and flows into the second chamber R2´ while pressing the first control valve 40. Further, when the compressed air flowing into the second chamber R2´ passes through the oil filter 90, the oil filter 90 removes the oil component from the compressed air. Further, the compressed air passing through the oil filter 90 presses the second control valve 50 and flows into the third chamber R3´, and moisture is removed by passing through the desiccant 100. The compressed air passing through the desiccant 100 flows into the fourth chamber R4´ via the communication section c´ and the connecting pipe, and is supplied from the fourth chamber R4´ to the interior of the air device 3 shown in Fig. 5 by pressing the fourth control valve 70´.

[0043] During the purge operation shown in Fig. 8, the compressed air in the fourth chamber R4´ flows from the communication section c´ into the third chamber R3´ and passes through the desiccant 100. As a result, the moisture adsorbed by the desiccant 100 is desorbed and contained in the compressed air. The compressed air passing through the desiccant 100 presses the third control valve 60 from the third chamber R3´, passes through the fifth communication section h5 and the fifth chamber R5 from the discharge port e of the first chamber R1´, and is discharged to the outside (atmosphere) from the discharge hole d.

[0044] The air dryer 1´ according to the second embodiment can also produce the same effects as the air dryer 1 according to the first embodiment described above.

[0045] This concludes the description of the embodiments of the present invention. However, the aspects of the present invention are not limited to the above-described first embodiment and the above-described second embodiment. In particular, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 7, and 8, the present invention produces effects by the flow of compressed air in the first chamber R1, R1´ to the fourth chamber R4, R4´ in the air dryers 1, 1´. Therefore, for example, the outer shapes of the processing sections 20, 20´ and the guide sections 30 can be appropriately changed, and the guide section 30 may not be provided.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0046] 1, 1´ Air drying device 1´a Base 1´b Storage section 2 Air compressor 3 Air equipment 10 Introduction part 20 Processing part 21, 21´ First wall part 21a, 21´a Bottom surface 22 Second wall part 22b Side surface 22c Top surface 23 Third wall part 30 Guide part 31 Fourth wall part 32 Fifth wall part 33 Sixth wall part 33a Bottom surface 33c Top surface 40 First control valve 50 Second control valve 60 Third control valve 70, 70´ Fourth control valve 71 Tank 80 Fifth control valve 90 Oil filter 100 Desiccant 1000, 2000 Compressed air circulation system A1~A3 Compressed air c, c´ Communication hole d Discharge hole e Outlet h1~h5 First communication part ~ Fifth communication part h4´ Fourth communication part R1~R5, First chamber ~ Fifth chamber R1´~R4´ First chamber ~ Fourth chamber

Claims

【Claim 1】 A first chamber communicating with a supply source of compressed air and having a discharge port for discharging the compressed air; A second chamber communicating with the first chamber and housing an oil removal unit for removing the oil content of the compressed air; A third chamber communicating with the first chamber and the second chamber and housing a moisture removal unit for removing the moisture of the compressed air that has passed through the oil removal unit; A fourth chamber communicating with the third chamber and an air device using the compressed air and storing the compressed air that has passed through the moisture removal unit; For controlling the flow of the compressed air, a first control valve provided at a communication portion between the first chamber and the second chamber, a second control valve provided at a communication portion between the second chamber and the third chamber, a third control valve provided at a communication portion between the third chamber and the first chamber, a fourth control valve provided at a communication portion between the fourth chamber and the air device, and a fifth control valve for opening and closing the discharge port; The first control valve allows the inflow of the compressed air from the first chamber to the second chamber and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the second chamber to the first chamber; The second control valve allows the inflow of the compressed air from the second chamber to the third chamber and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the third chamber to the second chamber; The third control valve allows the inflow of the compressed air from the third chamber to the first chamber and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the first chamber to the third chamber; The fourth control valve allows the inflow of the compressed air from the fourth chamber to the air device and prohibits the inflow of the compressed air from the air device to the fourth chamber; The fifth control valve closes the discharge port during a charging operation of sending the compressed air to the air device, and opens the discharge port during a purge operation of removing the moisture of the moisture removal unit with the compressed air stored in the fourth chamber; An air drying device characterized by the above.

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