Spray-Fiber Filter Web Structures for Mechanical Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing filter elements face challenges in manufacturing efficiency, material consumption, and ensuring optimal filter functionality, particularly in maintaining high stability and quality while providing adequate protection against mechanical damage and ensuring defined pre-filtering effects.
Innovation Solution
The filter element employs a sprayed-fiber application process to form structures of varying contour and density on the filter jacket, allowing for controlled fiber incorporation and simultaneous formation of the filter jacket and structures, enabling regions of increased strength, specific fluid-routing properties, and appearance features, thus optimizing manufacturing time and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If protective devices such as wire mesh or fabric bands are applied around the filter element, then mechanical protection is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the filter web and protective structures into a single integrated component manufactured through spray application. Instead of separately applying wire mesh or fabric bands around the filter element, the protective function is merged directly into the filter web structure itself, eliminating additional assembly steps and reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining mechanical protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite material structure where the filter web is formed with regions of different densities - lighter regions for filtration and denser, more rigid regions for mechanical protection. This composite approach within the single material system provides both filtration and protective functions without requiring separate protective layers or assemblies.
2Strength
If additional protective devices are applied around the filter element, then mechanical protection is improved, but production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The filter web and protective structures are manufactured as one integrated component in a single spray application process. This merging eliminates the sequential steps of first manufacturing the filter element and then separately applying protective devices, thereby significantly reducing production time while maintaining mechanical protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective structures are formed simultaneously with the filter web during the initial spray application process, rather than being added as a subsequent step. This preliminary formation of protective regions integrated into the manufacturing process itself reduces overall production time.
3Ease of manufacture
If uniform filter web structure is used throughout, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but localized functionality such as pre-filtering and structural reinforcement cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by varying the density and structure of the filter web in different regions. The spray application process deposits material with different characteristics in different zones - creating lighter regions optimized for filtration and denser, more rigid regions providing pre-filtering and mechanical reinforcement. This localized variation in material properties enables multiple functions within a single uniform manufacturing process.
4Reliability
If separate components are used for filter web and protective structures, then functional optimization is improved, but material consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the filter web and protective structures into a single integrated component manufactured in one spray application process. This eliminates the need for separate materials and assembly, reducing overall material consumption while maintaining the functional optimization of having both filtration and protective regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structure within a single material system, where different regions of the filter web have different densities and properties. This internal composite structure provides both filtration and protective functions using one material application, avoiding the material consumption associated with multiple separate components.
Data Source
AI summary
A filter element has a mat-type or sheet-type filter web (3) forming by its outside (5) at least in part a filter jacket (7). Along the outside (5) of the filter jacket (7), a surface configuration or modification takes place with structures (11) being delimited from the remaining surface (9) of the filter web (3), being joined to the filter jacket (7) and being of presettable contour and/or thickness. The structures (11) are generated by spray-fiber application and shaping, in such a manner that in time sequence, first the structures (11) and then the filter jacket (7), or in reverse order in time sequence, first the filter jacket (7) and then the structures (11), or that simultaneously both the filter jacket (7) and the structures (11) are formed in negative or positive shape on the filter jacket (7). The production of the filter element and a shaping device used in this production process are disclosed.