Air filter for oil mist

Abstract

To provide an air filter for oil mist capable of improving filter life.SOLUTION: An air filter which is disposed at an intake port of a device that inhales oil mist, and removes oil contained in the oil mist inhaled into the device, includes: a filter medium 11 which has a fold 12 that is subjected to pleating, alternately appears on an upstream side and a downstream side of air and extends in a vertical direction, a plurality of pairs of inflow surfaces 14 through which air flows in and which continuously form V-shapes through the fold 12, and a plurality of pairs of outflow surfaces 15 through which air flows out and which continuously form V-shapes through a fold 13; and a spacing maintaining member 20 which is formed on each pair of inflow surfaces 14 along a direction orthogonal to the fold 12 and maintains a spacing between the pair of inflow surfaces 14. The spacing maintaining member 20 has drop ports 21 which are formed intermittently in the direction orthogonal to the fold 12 so that oil collected on the pair of inflow surfaces 14 or oil adhering to the spacing maintaining member 20 drops downward.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an oil mist air filter. [Background technology]

[0002] Equipment such as oil coolers, air conditioners, and ventilation fans that draw in air in an oil mist environment containing floating fine oil particles require some kind of measure to prevent the oil that is drawn in from adversely affecting the inside of the equipment.For example, a filter can be attached to the intake port of the equipment to capture the oil in the air and allow oil-free air to be drawn into the equipment.

[0003] The collected oil is viscous and tends to remain on the filter surface, causing clogging of the filter and increasing pressure loss. For this reason, filters designed to reduce clogging due to oil are known. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-64242 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the case of pleated filter media, spacing members are formed on the inlet and outlet surfaces to maintain the distance between the pair of inlet and outlet surfaces that form a V-shape. When filter media with such spacing members are used in oil mist air filters, the captured oil tends to accumulate on the spacing members. As a result, air filters using spacing members have a reduced ventilation area, increased pressure loss, and a shorter filter lifespan.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an oil mist air filter that can improve the filter life. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the oil mist air filter of the present invention is an air filter that is placed at the suction port of equipment that sucks in oil mist and removes oil contained in the oil mist that is sucked into the equipment, and is equipped with a filter material that is pleated and has vertical folds that appear alternately on the upstream and downstream sides of the air, multiple pairs of inlet surfaces that allow air to flow in and form a continuous V-shape via the folds, and multiple pairs of outlet surfaces that allow air to flow out and form a continuous V-shape via the folds, and spacing members that are formed on the pair of inlet surfaces in a direction perpendicular to the folds and that maintain the gap between the pair of inlet surfaces, and the spacing members are formed intermittently in the direction perpendicular to the folds and have drop ports through which oil captured at the pair of inlet surfaces or oil adhering to the spacing members can fall. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] In the oil mist air filter according to the present invention, the filter life can be improved. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is an external perspective view showing an air filter according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing how the air filter is attached to the oil cooler. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a part of a filter pack viewed in the direction along the folds of the pleats (viewed from above). [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the filter pack shown in FIG. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an oil mist air filter (hereinafter simply referred to as an "air filter") according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an air filter 1, which is one embodiment of the air filter of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing how the air filter 1 is attached to the oil cooler 50. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a view showing a part of the filter pack 3 as viewed in a direction along the folds 12 and 13 of the pleats (as viewed from above). FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of the filter pack 3 of FIG.

[0012] The air filter 1 is disposed at the intake port of a device that draws in oil mist and removes oil contained in the oil mist drawn into the device. The air filter 1 includes a filter pack 3 and a frame 5. The frame 5 surrounds the filter pack 3 so that folds 12 and 13 of the filter medium 11 of the filter pack 3 are located upstream and downstream in the direction of airflow (X direction) passing through the filter medium 11. In this embodiment, for convenience, the fold located upstream of the airflow (-X direction) is referred to as fold 12, and the fold located downstream of the airflow (+X direction) is referred to as fold 13. The filter pack 3 includes the filter medium 11, an inlet-side spacing member 20, and an outlet-side spacing member 30.

[0013] The filter material 11 is a member that captures fine particles of oil, dust, etc. in the gas. The filter material 11 has a particle size of 2.5 μm or less and a concentration of 0.3 mg / m 3 The filter medium 11 is used to remove the following fine particles: For example, the filter medium 11 has a collection efficiency of 80% or more by a counting method, a pressure loss of 79 to 493 Pa, and a dust holding capacity (dust amount) of 200 to 800 g / m 2 In the counting method, measurements are taken by passing air containing particles of either atmospheric dust, polyalphaolefin (PAO), or silica with a particle size of 0.3 μm. The dust holding capacity is the amount of dust that the filter can capture before it reaches a specified final pressure drop.

[0014] The filter medium 11 is a fibrous body made of, for example, glass fiber, organic fiber, or a mixture of these fibers, such as a nonwoven fabric or felt. The filter medium 11 made of glass fiber is produced, for example, by papermaking using a wet or dry method. The filter medium 11 made of organic fiber is produced, for example, by a spunbond method, meltblowing method, thermal bonding method, chemical bonding method, or the like. The filter medium 11 may also be made by laminating multiple nonwoven fabrics with different collection efficiencies. The filter medium 11 is preferably made of an oil-repellent material that repels oil mist without absorbing it.

[0015] The filter medium 11 is pleated into a generally V-shape by alternately repeating mountain folds and valley folds. The pleating is performed using a reciprocating or rotary folding machine. The pleating of the filter medium 11 results in parallel vertical folds 12 and 13 on the upstream and downstream sides of the airflow. The filter medium 11 also has multiple pairs of inlet surfaces 14 that form a V-shape via the folds 12, and multiple pairs of outlet surfaces 15 that form a V-shape via the folds 13.

[0016] The inlet side spacing member 20 and the outlet side spacing member 30 are formed on the pair of inlet surfaces 14 and outlet surfaces 15 along a direction perpendicular to the folds 12 and 13, and maintain the spacing (pleat spacing) between the pair of inlet surfaces 14 and outlet surfaces 15.

[0017] The inlet-side spacing members 20 and the outlet-side spacing members 30 are arranged in multiple rows (six rows in FIG. 1 ) along the vertical direction. The inlet-side spacing members 20 and the outlet-side spacing members 30 are made of a thermoplastic resin known as a hot melt adhesive, for example. Examples of such thermoplastic resins include polyamide-, urethane-, or olefin-based thermoplastic resins. The inlet-side spacing members 20 and the outlet-side spacing members 30 are formed, for example, by using a gun filled with softened hot melt adhesive to directly apply the hot melt adhesive to the filter medium 11 in a direction perpendicular to the folds 12 and 13. Alternatively, the inlet-side spacing members 20 and the outlet-side spacing members 30 may be formed by, for example, adhering solidified hot melt adhesive to the filter medium 11, instead of directly applying the adhesive. The inlet-side spacing members 20 and the outlet-side spacing members 30 may also be made of other materials, such as ceramic.

[0018] The inlet-side spacing members 20 (spacing members) are formed intermittently on the inlet surfaces 14, thereby providing drop openings 21. That is, the inlet-side spacing members 20 are formed with gaps that function as drop openings 21 along a direction perpendicular to the folds 12. The drop openings 21 are provided to allow oil collected by the pair of inlet surfaces 14 or oil adhering to the inlet-side spacing members 20 to drop in the vertical direction.

[0019] Furthermore, the inlet-side spacing members 20 are formed so that drop openings 21 appear alternately on one inlet surface 14 and the other inlet surface 14 of the pair of inlet surfaces 14 forming a V shape in a direction perpendicular to the fold 12. In other words, the gaps between the inlet-side spacing members 20 appearing on one inlet surface 14 and the gaps appearing on the other inlet surface 14 are formed so as not to overlap in the Y direction. Furthermore, the inlet-side spacing members 20 on one inlet surface 14 come into contact with the opposing ends 22 of the two inlet-side spacing members 20 on the other inlet surface 14 at both ends 22 in a direction perpendicular to the fold 12. As a result, the inlet-side spacing members 20 come into contact with each other over a small contact area, maintaining the spacing between the pair of inlet surfaces 14 without reducing the flow of air.

[0020] The inlet-side spacing members 20 have different heights (lengths in the approximate Y direction) depending on the pleat spacing. Specifically, in Fig. 3, the pleat spacing between the pair of inlet surfaces 14 becomes smaller from fold 12 toward fold 13, so the height of the inlet-side spacing members 20 on the fold 12 side is higher and the height of the inlet-side spacing members 20 on the fold 13 side is lower.

[0021] Unlike the inflow-side spacing members 20, the outflow-side spacing members 30 are formed continuously without gaps along a direction perpendicular to the folds 13. This is because oil in the air does not adhere to the outflow surface 15, or even if it does, only a very small amount does, so there is little need to form the drop opening 21.

[0022] As shown in Figure 2, this type of air filter 1 is attached to an oil cooler 50, which is a device that cools oils such as mineral oil, cutting oil, and lubricating oil used in machine tools to an appropriate temperature. The oil cooler 50 has an intake port 51 that takes in air, and uses this air to cool the oil. The oil cooler 50 is placed near an oil tank that stores oil or a machine tool that uses oil. As a result, the air that is taken in is an oil mist containing fine oil particles.

[0023] The oil cooler 50 has a mounting frame 52 around the outer edge of the intake port 51 that houses and supports the air filter 1. The air filter 1 is attached to this mounting frame 52. The air filter 1 captures oil in addition to dust in the air. Oil is viscous and tends to remain on the filter surface, so it adheres to and aggregates on the inlet surface 14 and the inlet-side spacing member 20. When oil accumulates, it reduces the effective area of ​​the inlet surface 14 and increases pressure loss. As a result, the air filter 1 may have a shorter life than its designed life.

[0024] Here, in the air filter 1 of this embodiment, the inlet-side spacing member 20 has a drop opening 21. The drop opening 21 spatially connects the V-shaped space formed by the inlet surface 14 in the vertical direction without interrupting it. Therefore, when a certain amount of oil adhered to the inlet surface 14 accumulates, it falls vertically due to its own weight. The fallen oil gradually collects at the bottom of the air filter 1 through the drop opening 21. Furthermore, the oil adhered to the inlet-side spacing member 20 is moved to the drop opening 21 by the flow of inflowing air and falls from the drop opening 21.

[0025] In this way, the air filter 1 has drop port 21, which allows oil adhering to inlet surface 14 and inlet-side spacing member 20 to drop, preventing inlet surface 14 of air filter 1 from being blocked by oil and enabling the filter's performance to be maintained for a long period of time. This has the advantage of extending the life of air filter 1 and reducing the number of times the air filter 1 needs to be replaced.

[0026] Therefore, the air filter 1 of this embodiment can improve the filter life.

[0027] Although several embodiments have been described in this disclosure, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims.

[0028] For example, although the air filter 1 has been described as being applied to an oil cooler 50, the air filter of the present invention can be applied to any equipment used in an oil mist environment (such as an air conditioner or ventilation fan). [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1 Oil mist air filter (air filter) 3 Filter Packs 5 Frame 11 Filter media 12, 13 folds 14 Inflow surface 15 Outflow surface 20 Inlet side spacing member (spacing member) 21 Drop-in 22 End 30 Outlet side spacing member 50 Oil cooler 51 Intake port 52 Mounting frame

Claims

1. An air filter that is disposed at an intake port of a device that sucks in oil mist and that removes oil contained in the oil mist sucked into the device, The pleated airfoil has vertical folds that alternately appear on the upstream and downstream sides of the airflow; a plurality of pairs of inlet surfaces that allow the air to flow in and form a continuous V-shape via the folds; A filter medium having a plurality of pairs of outlet surfaces that allow the air to flow out and form a continuous V-shape through the folds; a spacing member formed on the pair of inflow surfaces along a direction perpendicular to the folds to maintain a gap between the pair of inflow surfaces; The spacing member is formed intermittently in a direction perpendicular to the folds, thereby having a drop port through which the oil collected at the pair of inlet surfaces or the oil adhering to the spacing member drops.

2. 2. The oil mist air filter according to claim 1, wherein the drop openings appear alternately on one pair of the inlet faces and the other pair of the inlet faces along a direction perpendicular to the folds.

3. 2. The oil mist air filter according to claim 1, further comprising an outlet-side spacing member formed continuously on the pair of outlet surfaces along a direction perpendicular to the folds, and which maintains a spacing between the pair of outlet surfaces.

4. 2. The oil mist air filter according to claim 1, wherein the spacing members are formed by coating or adhering onto the pair of inlet surfaces.

5. The oil mist air filter according to claim 1 , wherein the air filter is attached to the intake port of an oil cooler.

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