Zigzag Pleated Filter Element for Reducing Pressure Loss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing filter elements with pleated media have limited pleat heights due to stability issues, leading to suboptimal filter efficiency and increased pressure losses, while also being prone to clogging and reduced service life.
Innovation Solution
A filter element with a zigzag-folded medium design, featuring specific bend angles and adhesive sections, which reduces pressure loss and maximizes loading capacity by optimizing fluid flow and stabilizing the filter structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If pleat height is increased to improve filter efficiency, then filter efficiency is improved, but structural stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The filter medium is folded in a zigzag pattern with alternating bends (first bend towards raw side, second bend towards clean side) instead of simple straight pleats. This curved geometry distributes mechanical stresses more evenly across the structure, enabling higher pleat heights while maintaining stability. The alternating bend directions create a self-supporting configuration that prevents structural collapse.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter element combines the filter medium with adhesive material applied at specific locations (fold tips and/or fold bases). This composite construction creates a reinforced structure where the adhesive acts as a bonding agent between adjacent filter medium sections, providing additional structural support that enables higher pleat heights without compromising stability.
2Quantity of substance
If pleat height is increased to maximize loading capacity, then loading capacity is improved, but pressure losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The alternating zigzag bends create a flow path that gradually directs fluid from the raw side to the clean side, reducing flow separation and turbulence. The curved geometry of the bends optimizes fluid dynamics by maintaining attached flow throughout the pleat structure, minimizing pressure losses while accommodating higher pleat heights that increase loading capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The specific geometry parameters of the bends (first bend angle, second bend angle, spacing between bends) are optimized to balance loading capacity and pressure loss. By controlling the curvature radius and bend angles, the design achieves a compromise that maximizes the quantity of filter medium (loading capacity) while keeping pressure losses within acceptable limits.
3Loss of energy
If fold tips are sharpened to improve flow characteristics, then pressure loss is reduced, but structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Adhesive material is applied at the fold tips and/or fold bases to reinforce these structurally critical locations. This composite construction compensates for the reduced inherent strength of sharpened fold tips while maintaining the flow benefits. The adhesive creates a bonding bridge that prevents structural failure at the sharpened edges.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter medium has different properties at different locations: fold tips are sharpened for optimal flow characteristics in the bulk of the structure, while adhesive reinforcement is applied locally at critical stress points. This local differentiation allows the structure to achieve both low pressure loss and adequate strength by optimizing each region for its specific function.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a filter for filtering fluids, in particular gases, more particularly intake air, fuel, urea solution or engine oil, particularly of an internal combustion engine, particularly of a motor vehicle, or ambient air for introduction into ventilation systems of buildings or vehicles, and to a method for producing the same, comprising a filter element (1) having a filter medium (106) pleated in a zigzag manner, with a raw side (105) and a clean side (104). Filter medium sections (120), which extend on either side of the raw-side pleat tips (102a) to adjoining raw-side pleat bases (103a), comprise a first bend (552) toward the raw side (105), and behind that a second bend (554) toward the clean side (104), in each case viewed from the raw-side pleat tips (102a).