Contoured Filter Cartridge Seal for Reconfigurable Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current filter cartridges and assemblies face challenges in maintaining a positive seal and easy servicing across various engine compartments, particularly due to complexity and size constraints, which affects their installation and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The development of filter cartridges with contoured end members featuring axially undulating wave profiles and radially directed seal surfaces, combined with reconfigurable filter housing assemblies that include snap-in connections and pivotable cover members, ensures proper alignment and sealing while allowing for flexible installation and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single filter system design is used across different engine compartments, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but the system may not fit all locations and proper sealing may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The filter housing assembly is designed with a reconfigurable fluid port component that can be attached to different openings (first or second opening) of the housing body, allowing the same filter system to adapt to various engine compartment configurations while maintaining proper sealing and functionality
2Volume of moving object
If the filter housing is made compact to reduce size, then space efficiency is improved, but servicing and installation become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The filter housing assembly is divided into separable components: a housing body and a reconfigurable fluid port component that can be attached or detached. This segmentation allows the compact housing to be serviced easily by removing the fluid port component, while still maintaining a space-efficient design when assembled
3Reliability
If the seal surface is made complex to ensure positive sealing, then sealing reliability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The seal surface is designed with a contoured (curved) profile that mates with a corresponding contoured surface on the filter cartridge. This curved geometry ensures positive sealing through surface conformity while being manufacturable using standard molding or machining processes, avoiding excessive complexity
Data Source
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AI summary
A filter cartridge and filter assembly using the filter cartridge is provided. The filter cartridge having a contoured end member to angularly orient and/or axially orient the filter cartridge, and particularly a seal thereof, relative to a filter housing. The filter housing is reconfigurable to allow it to be used in different locations having different spatial configurations.