JP3426367B2 - Filter media support device for oil filter - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an oil filter mainly used for lubricating an engine of an automobile or a motorcycle, and more particularly to an improvement of a spring member used for fixing a filter medium inside a filter container. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an oil filter 10 of this type is used.
As shown in FIG. 5, has a filter container 11 formed in a downward cup shape, and a cylindrical filter medium 12 having one end closed is housed inside the filter container 11. The filter medium 12 has one end supported by the bottom of the filter container 11 and the other end supported by a lid member 13 that closes the opening. A plate-shaped spring member 120 is interposed in a compressed state between the bottom of the filter container 11 and the filter medium 12, whereby the filter medium 12 is pressed and fixed to the lid member 13.

The cross-sectional shape of the spring member 120 is, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), in the shape of a dish with its central portion shallowly protruding to one side. As shown in FIG. 6 (b), the planar shape is two straight line portions 121 and 121 formed by cutting the edges of the disc in parallel from both sides and two peripheral edges left in an arc shape. It is composed of parts 22 and 22. The spring member 120 configured as described above is sandwiched between the bottom of the filter container 11 and the filter medium 12 in a slightly compressed state, and the collar portion 1 thereof is provided.
20a is deformed, and its elastic force presses the filter medium 12 against the lid member 13 to hold it immovably. In addition, such a thing is, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-53606.
It is also described in the official gazette.

On the other hand, the oil filter 10 having such a structure is assembled as follows. That is, on a conveyor belt (not shown), the filter container 11 is placed with the opening on the upper side, and the plate-shaped spring member 120 and the filter medium 12 are sequentially placed therein, and the positional relationship between them is properly maintained. , From the outside with the lid member 13,
The filter container 1 by means of the metal fittings 14 welded to the filter container 1
The opening of No. 1 is tightened and combined to complete.

[0005]

However, when assembling the oil filter 10 in such a process, there were the following problems. That is, the filter container 11
Is deeper than the diameter and has a shallow dish-shaped bottom, so that the spring member 12 is inserted into the filter container 11.
The front and back of the spring member 120 may be reversed due to vibration or some other momentum when or after the insertion of 0. And because the inside is hard to see,
Without being aware of it, the assembly was erroneous, resulting in a defective product in which the filter medium 12 rattles inside after assembly.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an oil filter in which a spring member is interposed between the bottom of a cup-shaped filter container and the end of a cylindrical filter medium. If the spring member is composed of a plate-shaped central portion and elastic tongues that extend outward from the peripheral portion thereof, the elastic tongues are provided by alternately bending from the central portion to the front and back sides. The elastic tongue on one side is attached to the filter container and the elastic tongue on the other side is brought into contact with each other in a compressed state to be assembled.

[0007] Specifically, the elastic tongue is divided into a plurality of slits extending from the central portion thereof in substantially parallel. Further, the elastic tongue is bent from the root portion toward one side, is bent in the opposite direction from the middle thereof, and is formed into a substantially "V" shape, and the bent portions are arranged on the same arc,
Engages with the inner surface of the filter container.

[0008]

The elastic tongue is formed by folding the main body in the front and back directions, so that the front and back of the spring member have the same shape. Even if the front and back surfaces are reversed during assembly, the position where the spring member contacts the filter container and the filter medium does not change, and the correct positional relationship is maintained.

[0009]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. The same structures as those of the conventional oil filter 10 described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted or simplified. In the figure, the filter container 11 is made by press forming a steel plate, and the bottom portion thereof projects outward in a shallow arc shape. A polygonal engaging portion 11a for engaging a detachable tool (not shown) is formed on the outer peripheral surface near the bottom portion.

The structure of the cylindrical filter medium 12 is not so different from the conventional one. That is, the filter medium 12 has many ventilation holes 12b.
Is covered with a star-shaped filter paper 12e formed by alternately bending the outer surface of a central cylinder 12a formed in the opposite direction, and its end is covered with an upper end plate 12c and a lower end plate 12d. . A relief valve 25, which will be described later, is provided on the upper end plate 12c. Also, the lower end plate 12d
The inner end of the lid projects downward in a tubular shape, and the projecting portion is sealed from the outside by an annular body 16 made of a rubber-like material and sealed on the outer surface of a screw cylinder 13a formed in the central portion of the lid member 13. It is fitted and attached by.

The lid member 13 is provided with a large number of oil-filled holes 13c on the outside of the screw cylinder 13a. The oil-filled holes 13c are made of a rubber-like elastic body made of a diaphragm. Is covered by. The valve body 16a is formed in a film shape protruding outward from the annular body 16, and a seal portion 16c is formed at the outer end thereof. In the assembled state, the valve body 16a is configured such that the seal portion 16c is pressed against the lid member 13 by the elastic force of the valve body 16a itself, is closed so that the inside and outside thereof do not communicate with each other, and opens when hydraulic pressure acts on the lower surface.

Reference numeral 14 is a metal fitting which is attached to the lower surface of the lid member 13 by spot welding. The restraint fitting 14 is made of a substantially annular plate material, the inner peripheral portion of which is curled downward so as to project, and the outer end of which extends outwardly, and is wound around the opening of the filter container 11 as described above. The inside and outside are connected in a sealed state. Reference numeral 17 denotes a seal ring fitted to the inner peripheral portion of the holding metal fitting 14, and the oil filter 1
0 is attached to the engine-side seal surface when it is attached to the engine (not shown) to prevent the engine oil flowing to the oil filter from leaking to the outside, and the seal ring 17 itself is not new. .

Reference numeral 25 is a relief valve supported by the upper end plate 12c. The relief valve 25 opens to protect the engine when the filter paper 12e is clogged due to long-term use and the amount of oil passing is reduced, so that the lubricating oil is removed from the filter paper 12e.
It is constructed so as to circulate by bypassing. That is, the relief valve 25 has a valve plate 25e formed on the upper end plate 12c and a slide valve 25 which is seated by being pressed by a valve spring 25b on the rear surface against a valve seat 25f formed on the valve plate 25e.
with c and. 25h is the valve spring 25b and the sliding valve 2
5c, which is a valve box that supports 5c and is connected to the end plate 12c by a rivet 12f. Thus, in the relief valve 25, when the pressure difference between the front and back sides of the filter paper 12e exceeds a predetermined value, the sliding valve 25c retreats against the elasticity of the valve spring 25b, and the side provided on the valve port 25a and the central cylinder 12a. The filter paper 12e is caused to flow in the oil to be filtered by communicating with the mouth 25d.

The spring member 20 according to the present invention, which is used in place of the conventional spring member 120, will now be described in detail. The spring member 20 is made by press-forming a steel plate, and is interposed between the bottom of the filter container 11 and the filter medium 12 to press the filter medium 12 toward the ring-shaped retaining member 14 and also to press the filter medium 12 together. The filter container 11 is supported substantially coaxially so that the upper end of the filter does not shake. Spring member 20
4 is formed of a substantially oval plate material shown in FIG.
It is considered that the disk is formed in the shape of a star disk, as shown in.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described here, and only the differences from FIG. 4 will be individually described. In the figure, the spring member 20 is composed of a central portion 20a which forms a shallow dish-shaped disc, and a peripheral portion 22 which is located on the outer periphery of the central portion 20a and is constituted by an elastic tongue piece 24 described later. Here, the spring member 20 extends from the central portion 20a to the peripheral portion 2
A circular edge is cut parallel to both sides from two sides to form two linear portions 21 and 21, and two peripheral portions 22 and 22 are left in an arc shape. That is, those 2
The straight portions 21 and 21 and the two peripheral edge portions 22 and 22 left in an arc shape are formed into a substantially oval shape. The linear member 21 includes the spring member 20 and the filter container 11
When assembled in the interior of the spring, a thin semi-cylindrical space is formed, and the space acts as an oil passage, and the spring member 2
Weight reduction of 0 is achieved. Reference numeral 20b is an oil passage hole provided in the central portion 20a so as to penetrate the front and back.

The peripheral portion 22 is set to have a radius and a curvature that substantially match the shape of the inner surface of the filter container 11, and the plurality of slits 2 provided in parallel with the straight portion 21 are provided.
It is divided into several elastic tongues 24 by 3, 23. The elastic tongue 24 has its root portion, that is, the central portion 20a.
Alternately bent from the outer edge to the front side and the back side to form a front side tongue piece 24a and a back side tongue piece 24b, and they are gently folded back again near the free end. As a result, the vicinity of the end portion is formed into a substantially "V" shape, and the folding positions of both tongue pieces 24a and 24b are arranged on the arc 24c so as to be the same distance from the center C of the spring member 20. Twenty-four has been given strength considerations.

In the structure of the present invention, it is not essential to make the outer shape of the spring member 20 oval like this. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the spring member 20 is formed in a substantially circular shape or a star shape. However, there is no problem in terms of function. Further, the form of the slit 23 is not limited to this embodiment, and it is needless to say that the slit 23 may be formed in a centripetal direction from the circumferential direction toward the center C, as shown in FIG. The spring force in the directions can be equalized.

Since the oil filter 10 is constructed as described above, the oil to be filtered after circulating through the engine or the like passes through the oil-filled hole 13c, and then pushes up the valve body 16a to open the valve and passes therethrough. Then filter container 11 and filter paper 12e
Flows into the annular space formed between and. Then, in a normal state, the metal powder and the foreign matter that have passed through the filter paper 12e and are mixed therein are removed and enter the central cylinder 12a. Further, when the filter paper 12e becomes severely clogged, it directly enters the central cylinder 12a through the oil passage hole 10b and the relief valve 25 without passing through the filter paper 12e and flows back to the engine from the oil return hole 13a.

Next, a method of assembling the oil filter 10 will be described. First, the filter container 11 is placed on the conveyor belt with the opening facing upward, the spring member 20 is dropped inside the filter container 11, and the cylindrical filter medium 12 is placed thereon. Next, the lid member 13 is placed on the filter medium 12 and the filter container 1
1 is closed, and an annular holding metal member 14 is welded to the lid member 13.
And the edge of the opening of the filter container 11 are overlapped and fastened. The front and back of the spring member 20 are formed in the same shape, and it is possible to assemble either side up.

In the above embodiment, the spring member 2
Although 0 is explained by the one manufactured by the steel plate, the present invention is not limited to this, and even if it is constituted by a highly rigid synthetic resin, there is no problem in applying the present invention. Of course.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the spring member 20 is functionally free from the front and back sides, and can be installed in either direction of the front and back without any problem. Therefore, the problem of erroneous assembly does not occur. . Further, since the structure change to the conventional one is only required to change the spring member 20, it can be easily replaced with the conventional one, and the change can be easily made. Further, since the spring member itself is also composed of a single plate as a main part, there is an effect that the structure is simple and the manufacturing cost is low.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a half sectional view of an oil filter showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part thereof.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III.

FIG. 4 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a half sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a conventional oil filter.

6A and 6B are cross-sectional views corresponding to FIG. 3 and FIG. 6B is a plan view corresponding to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Oil filter 11 ··· Filter container 11a ... engaging portion 12 ... Cylindrical filter media 12a ... central tube 12b ... Vent hole 12c ... upper end plate 12d: lower end plate 12e ... Star-shaped filter paper 12f ... rivet 13 ... Lid member 13a ... Screw cylinder 13b ... oil return hole 13c ... hole with oil 14 ··· Ring-shaped retaining metal 16 ··· Annular body 16a ... Diaphragm type valve body 16c ... Seal part 17 ... Seal ring 20 (120) ... Plate-shaped spring member 20a ... central part 20b ... oil passage hole 21 (121) ・ ・ ・ ・ 2 straight parts 22 ... 23 ... Slit 24 ··· Elastic tongue 24a ... front tongue 24b: back tongue 24c ... Arc 25 ... Relief valve 25a ... valve mouth 25b ... Valve spring 25c ... Sliding valve 25d ... side opening 25e ... Valve plate 25f ... valve seat 25h ... Valve box 120a ... collar part C: Center

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B01D 27/08 B01D 35/02 F01M 11/03

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An oil filter in which a spring member is interposed between a bottom portion of a cup-shaped filter container and an end portion of a cylindrical filter medium, and a central portion in which the spring member is formed in a plate shape,
If the elastic tongue is formed of an elastic tongue extending outwardly from the peripheral portion thereof, the elastic tongue extends substantially parallel to the central portion.
The elastic tongue is divided into a plurality of pieces by a rit, and the elastic tongues are alternately bent from the center and bent from the front to the back, and the elastic tongue on one side is a filter container and the elastic tongue on the other side is a filter medium. A filter medium support device which is brought into contact with and assembled. 2. An oil filter in which a spring member is interposed between a bottom portion of a cup-shaped filter container and an end portion of a cylindrical filter medium, the spring member being a plate-shaped central portion,
The elastic tongue, which is composed of the elastic tongue extending outward from the peripheral portion of the elastic tongue, is bent from the root toward one side.
It is bent in the opposite direction from the middle, and the shape of the "he" is almost
The elastic tongues are alternately bent from the center and bent to the front and back, and the elastic tongues on one side are brought into contact with the filter container and the elastic tongues on the other side with the filter medium in a compressed state, respectively. A filter medium support device that is assembled as a unit. 3. The filter medium supporting device according to claim 2, wherein the bent portions of the elastic tongue that are bent in a substantially "V" shape are arranged on the same arc and are engaged with the inner surface of the filter container.