Filter Cartridge End Cap With Axial Locking Against Rotation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air cleaner assemblies face challenges in ensuring proper installation and sealing of filter cartridges, preventing rotation-induced disengagement, and accommodating improper cartridges, while maintaining compactness and ease of use.
Innovation Solution
A filter cartridge design featuring a deformable end cap with a displaceable portion and a projection-receiver arrangement that locks against rotation, allowing displacement between axial positions, and a support structure for secure installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a non-deformable end cap is used to provide structural support, then the filter cartridge can be locked against rotation, but the inner volume of the filter cartridge is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The end cap transitions from a static, non-deformable structure to a dynamic, deformable structure. The deformable portion allows the end cap to change shape during installation, enabling the displaceable portion to engage with the support structure for rotation locking, while returning to its original shape to maximize inner volume when not installed.
Solution Approach 2:
The end cap's physical parameters change during installation. The deformable portion changes its shape parameter, allowing the displaceable portion to move axially between first and second positions. This parameter change enables the end cap to provide rotation locking capability only when needed during installation, rather than requiring a permanently extended non-deformable structure.
2Ease of operation
If the deformable portion is made highly flexible to allow large displacement, then installation is easier, but the structural integrity and sealing capability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Different portions of the end cap have different mechanical properties. The deformable portion is designed with specific flexibility to allow axial displacement during installation, while the displaceable portion and fixed portion maintain sufficient structural integrity for sealing and support. This local differentiation of mechanical properties allows the end cap to be flexible where needed and strong where required.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable portion provides more flexibility than strictly necessary for the displacement required, ensuring easy installation. The excess flexibility is compensated by the overall structural design of the end cap, which maintains sufficient strength through its geometry and material selection to ensure proper sealing and support functions are not compromised.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design prevents rotation-induced disengagement, allows for larger inner volume, reduces material usage, and ensures correct cartridge installation, providing tactile feedback and compact housing.
Implementation Method 1
the end cap is adapted for allowing a displacement of the displaceable portion along the longitudinal axis between at least a first axial position and a second axial position by a deformation of the deformable portion
Data Source
AI summary
A filter cartridge having a filtration media arrangement (or media pack) extending along a longitudinal axis between a first end and a second end and defining an internal volume of the filter cartridge; and a first end cap arranged at the first end of the filtration media and further delimiting the internal volume, wherein the first end cap comprises a deformable portion and a displaceable portion surrounded by the deformable portion, wherein the end cap is adapted for allowing a displacement of the displaceable portion along the longitudinal axis between at least a first axial position and a second axial position by a deformation of the deformable portion; wherein the displaceable portion comprises an inner and an outer surface and a first member of a projection-receiver arrangement arranged on the inner surface; and associated filter assembly.