Title of Invention

AIR CLEANER

Abstract motor vehicle engine and in which an element assembly (AS) formed by retaining a cleaner element (30) in a retaining frame (Fh) is housed within a cleaner case (1), the interior of the cleaner case (1) is divided into a dirty side (9) and a clean side (10), and uncleaned air flowing into the dirty side (9) is passed through the cleaner element (30) so as to be cleaned and is then made to flow into the clean side (10), wherein the cleaner element (30) and the retaining frame (Fh) of the element assembly (AS) are formed as separate bodies, and the cleaner element (30) is replaceable separately from the retaining frame (Fh). The cleaner element can thus be An air cleaner is provided which is connected to an intake system of a two- wheeled replaced separately, thereby reducing its maintenance cost and contributing to a saving of resources.
Full Text

DESCRIPTION
AIR CLEANER FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air cleaner, and an air cleaner mainly applied to an intake system of an engine of a vehicle such as a two-wheeled motor vehicle. BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, with regard to an air cleaner connected to an intake system of a two-wheeled motor vehicle engine, an arrangement in which a cleaner element assembly formed integrally from a cleaner element and a retaining frame for
4
retaining the cleaner element is detachably mounted within a dividable cleaner case is generally known (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-39627).
However, in such a conventional air cleaner, since the cleaner element and the retaining frame therefor are joined integrally in a non-separable manner, when the cleaner element, which is a replacement part, is replaced, the retaining frame, which is still usable, must be replaced together with the cleaner element. As a result, the number of parts that have to be disposed of increases, which is undesirable in terms of the effective use of resources, and there is also the problem that an extra economic burden will be put on the user.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is an object thereof to provide a novel air cleaner that allows a cleaner element to be replaced separately from a retaining frame therefor, thereby solving the above-mentioned problems. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve this object, in accordance with the present invention, there is proposed an air cleaner in which an element assembly formed by retaining a

cleaner element in a retaining frame is housed within a cleaner case, the interior of the cleaner case is divided into a dirty side and a clean side, and uncleaned air flowing into the dirty side is passed through the cleaner element so as to be cleaned and is then made to flow into the clean side, characterized in that the cleaner element and the retaining frame of the element assembly are formed as separate bodies, and the cleaner element is replaceable separately from the retaining frame.
In accordance with this arrangement, the cleaner element can be replaced separately from the retaining frame, its replacement cost can be greatly reduced, and the retaining frame, which has conventionally been disposed of, can be reused, thus contributing to an effective utilization of resources.
Furthermore, in addition to the above-mentioned arrangement, there is proposed an air cleaner wherein the retaining frame comprises a first retaining frame that is fixed to the cleaner case, and a second retaining frame that retains the cleaner element and is detachably mounted in the cleaner case, and the cleaner element is pressed against the first retaining frame and held between the first retaining frame and the second retaining frame.
In accordance with this arrangement, the cleaner element can be replaced separately from the retaining frame, its replacement cost can be greatly reduced, and the retaining frame, which has conventionally been disposed of, can be reused, thus contributing to an effective utilization of resources. Moreover, mounting the cleaner element in the cleaner case is easy.
Moreover, in addition to the above-mentioned arrangement, by integrally fixing a seal around the outer periphery of the cleaner element, the cleaner element can be replaced separately from the retaining frame, thereby greatly reducing the cost of replacement, and the retaining frame, which has conventionally been disposed of, can be reused, thus contributing to an effective utilization of resources.

Moreover, mounting the cleaner element in the cleaner case is easy, and it is easy for the cleaner element to retain its shape.
Furthermore, in addition to the above-mentioned arrangement, by providing the first retaining frame, which is positioned on the clean side, with a flame trap for protecting the cleaner element from backfiring, the cleaner element can be replaced separately from the retaining frame, thereby greatly reducing the cost of replacement, and the retaining frame, which has conventionally been disposed of, can be reused, thus contributing to an effective utilization of resources. Moreover, mounting the cleaner element in the cleaner case is easy, it is easy for the cleaner element to retain its shape, and the cleaner element can be protected from backfiring.
Moreover, in addition to the above-mentioned arrangement, by supporting the first retaining frame between joining faces of a case main body and a cover of the cleaner case, the cleaner element can be replaced separately from the retaining frame, thereby greatly reducing the cost of replacement, and the retaining frame, which has conventionally been disposed of, can be reused, thus contributing to an effective utilization of resources. Moreover, mounting the cleaner element in the cleaner case is easy, it is easy for the cleaner element to retain its shape, the cleaner element can be protected from backfiring, and mounting the cleaner element, the case main body, and the cover is easy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway overall side view of an air cleaner of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view from arrow 2 in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part surround by a phantom line shown by arrow 3 in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a part surrounded by a phantom line shown by arrow 4 in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is an exploded cross-sectional view of a cleaner element retaining part of the air cleaner,

FIG. 6 is a view from arrow 6 in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a view from arrow 7 in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view along line 8-8 in FIG. 6. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A mode for carrying out the present invention is explained below by reference to an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the attached drawings.
In FIGS. 1 and 2, a cleaner case 1 of an air cleaner Ac is made of a rigid synthetic resin, is divided into a case main body 2 and a cover 3, and is formed in a hermetically sealed manner by making divided open end faces of the case main body 2 and the cover 3 abut against each other and integrally joining outward flanges 2a and 3a formed on outer edges thereof by a plurality of screws 4. Formed
on the divided open end faces of the case main body 2 and the cover 3 are endless
*
fitting channels 5 and 6, which match each other. An outer edge of a first retaining frame 17 of a retaining frame Fh, which will be described later, is hermetically held and fixed in the fitting channels 5 and 6 via gaskets 7 and 8 (FIG. 3).
A cleaner element assembly AS, which will be described later, is retained within the cleaner case 1, in a section where the case main body 2 and the cover 3 are connected. A dirty side 9 on the cover 3 side and a clean side 10 on the case main body 2 side are defined within the cleaner case 1 by this cleaner element assembly AS.
Supported on the cover 3 of the cleaner case 1 is an intake passage 11, which runs through a bottom wall 3b of the cover 3. The outer end of the intake passage 11 is open to the outside air, and the inner end thereof communicates with the dirty side 9 of the cleaner case 1. Supported on the case main body 2 of the cleaner case 1 is a discharge passage 12, which runs through an end wall 2b of the case main body 2. The inner end of the discharge passage 12 communicates with the clean side 10, and the outer end thereof communicates with an intake pipe In of an engine, which is not illustrated.

Formed in an upper wall 3c of the cover 3 is an access opening 14 through which a cleaner element, which will be described later, is put into and taken out of the cleaner case 1. Formed in the vicinity of the access opening 14 is a latching hole 13 for latching an upper edge of a second retaining frame 18, which will be described later. The access opening 14 is closed by a lid 15 fixed thereto by a screw 16 so that the access opening 14 can be opened and closed.
The structure of the cleaner element assembly AS, which is the gist of the present invention, is now explained by reference to FIGS. 3 to 8 together with FIGS. 1 and 2. This cleaner element assembly AS is formed from the first and second retaining frames 17 and 18, and an element unit 19 held between these retaining frames 17 and 18, the frames 17 and 18 and the element unit 19 being mounted within the cleaner case 1. The first and second retaining frames 17 and 18 form the retaining frame Fh of the present invention.
The first retaining frame 17 is made of a rigid synthetic resin in the form of a square frame, and is provided with a flame trap 23 stretched over a window opening 22 thereof. The first retaining frame 17 has a short square tube portion 17a, an outward flange portion 17b extending outward substantially orthogonally from the outer edge of the square tube portion 17a, and an inward flange portion 17c extending inward substantially orthogonally from the inner edge of the square tube portion 17a. The window opening 22 is bordered by the inner peripheral edge of the inward flange portion 17c. Formed integrally with the outer end of the outward flange portion 17b is an outer edge portion 17d having a T-shaped cross section, the outer edge portion 17d being hermetically fitted into the mating faces of the case main body 2 and the cover 3. Furthermore, a projecting piece 17e is projectingly provided at the lower edge of the inward flange portion 17c, and two insertion holes 24, spaced in the width direction, are bored in this projecting piece 17e.

The flame trap 23 is made of a plain-woven wire mesh in a square shape, and has a flat middle portion 23a, an angled upper edge portion 23b extending from the upper edge of the flat middle portion 23a, and an angled lower edge portion 23c extending from the lower edge thereof as shown in FIG 5. The angled lower edge portion 23c is longer in the vertical direction than the angled upper edge portion 23b and the angle of the angled lower edge portion 23c is more gentle than that of the angled upper edge portion 23b. This flame trap 23 has its vertical cross section formed in a convex shape toward the element unit 19, which will be described later. The upper and lower edges of the flame trap 23 are Integrally bound to the upper and lower inner edges of the window opening 22 of the first retaining frame 17 by binding means 25 such as hot upsetting.
The second retaining frame 18 is made of a rigid synthetic resin in the form of a square frame with a window opening 27, and has an element retaining portion 18a formed from a square tube having a trapezoidal cross section with a taper opening out in a divergent shape toward the element unit 19, which will be described later, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7. A stepped fitting portion 18g, into which the element unit 19 is fitted, is formed on one side face of the element retaining portion 18a on the element unit 19 side. This element retaining portion 18a has integrally two latching portions 18b, 18b on an upper side thereof and two insertion portions 18c, 18c on a lower side thereof. These two latching portions 18b, 18b are projectingly and upwardly provided from the upper side of the element retaining portion 18a in a horn shape, and are bent into a U-shaped cross section from the inner end of the outer peripheral edge of the element retaining portion 18a. The free ends of the retaining portions 18b are on the outside of the element retaining portion 18a, and a latching hook 18d is formed integrally on the inner side of the free end of the latching portion 18b. This latching hook 18d detachably engages with a latching hole 13 opening in the cover 3 when mounted in the cleaner case 1 as described in detail later. The

two insertion portions 18c, 18c are projectingly and downwardly provided integrally with the lower edge of the element retaining portion 18a, and these insertion portions 18c, 18c are removably inserted into the two insertion holes 24, 24 of the first retaining frame 17. As clearly shown in FIG. 6, a pair of inverted-V shaped projecting portions 18e, 18e are projectingly formed on opposite sides of a vertically intermediate section of the square tubular element retaining portion 18a, and an erroneous assembly-preventing piece 18f is formed integrally so as to bridge these projecting pieces 18e, 18e. This erroneous assembly-preventing piece 18f is inserted into a channel of a cleaner element 30, which will be described later, thereby preventing the element unit 19 from being erroneously assembled.
The element unit 19 held between the first and second retaining frames 17 and 18 is formed from the cleaner element 30 and a seal 31 molded integrally with the outer peripheral edge of the cleaner element 30 with an allowance for tightening. The cleaner element 30 is formed into a shape that is square when viewed from the front by folding a thin dry filter paper into a zigzag shape in the vertical direction with a folding pitch of 2.5 to 4 mm. The seal 31 is made of a coated foamed urethane resin in an endless square shape, an element retaining portion 31 a being formed integrally on the inner peripheral face of the seal 31 as a fitting step portion into which the corners of the cleaner element 30 are fitted. The corners of the cleaner element 30 on the clean side are fitted into and molded integrally with the element retaining portion 31a with an allowance for tightening of 1.5 mm, thus ensuring that the cleaner element 30 retains its shape on its own and thereby forming the element unit 19.
Fitting the stepped fitting portion 18g of the second retaining frame 18 onto the element retaining portion 31a of the seal 31 of the element unit 19 enables the element unit 19 to be mounted so as to overlap the inner side of the second retaining frame 18 in the radial direction. The assembly of the element unit 19 and

the second retaining frame 18 is inserted into the cleaner case 1 though the access opening 14 that opens in the cleaner case 1, and mounted in the first retaining frame 17 held integrally between the joining faces of the case main body 2 and the cover 3. That is, after inserting the two insertion portions 18c, 18c at the lower edge of the second retaining frame 18 into the two insertion holes 24, 24 at the lower edge of the first retaining frame 17, while making the seal 31 abut against the side face of the first retaining frame 17, the latching hooks 18d, 18d of the second retaining frame 18 are engaged with the latching hole 13 at the upper edge of the cover 3. At this stage, the erroneous assembly-preventing piece 18f is inserted into a channel of the cleaner element 30 in order to avoid erroneous assembly of the second retaining frame 18 to the element unit 19.
In this way, the cleaner element assembly AS formed from the first and second retaining frames 17 and 18 and the element unit 19 is mounted in a portion within the cleaner case 1 where the case main body 2 and the cover 3 are joined. The flat middle portion 23a of the flame trap 23 faces the side face of the cleaner element 30 across a slight gap.
The operation of this embodiment is now explained.
An intake negative pressure generated by operation of the engine acts on the clean side 10 of the cleaner case 1 via the intake system In and further on the dirty side 9 via the cleaner element 30, and as a result the outside air flows into the dirty side 9 through the intake passage 11. The outside air that has flowed into the dirty side 9, that is, uncleaned air, passes through the cleaner element 30 and is cleaned, enters the clean side 10, and is guided to the intake system In of the engine through the discharge passage 12.
During this process, the flame trap 23 can protect the cleaner element 30 from backfiring of the engine.

While using the air cleaner Ac, since the cleaner element 30 is gradually contaminated by dust, etc. in the outside air and fails to exhibit its desired function, it is necessary to replace the cleaner element 30 periodically. The element unit 19 together with the second retaining frame 18 is removed from the cleaner case 1 in a procedure that is the reverse of the above-mentioned mounting, and the element unit 19 is further separated from the second retaining frame 18. Instead of the contaminated element unit 19, a new element unit 19 is retained in the second retaining frame 18, which is still usable, and mounted within the cleaner case 1 again in the above-mentioned procedure.
As hereinbefore described, the element unit 19 can be replaced separately from the first and second retaining frames 17 and 18, and the still usable first and second retaining frames 17 and 18, that is, the retaining frame Fh, can be reused as they are, thereby greatly reducing the maintenance cost of the air cleaner and further suppressing any waste of resources.
Although an embodiment of the present invention is explained above, the present invention is not limited by the embodiment, and various embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, the air cleaner is put into practice in the intake system of the engine in the above-mentioned embodiment, but the air cleaner can be put into practice in other equipment where i cleaning of the outside air is required. Furthermore, the cleaner element is replaced together with the seal in the above-mentioned embodiment, but an arrangement in which only the cleaner element is replaced is possible, and in this case it is desirable that the cleaner element can retain its shape by itself.



CLAIMS
1. An air cleaner in which an element assembly (AS) formed by retaining a
cleaner element (30) in a retaining frame (Fh) is housed within a cleaner case (1),
the interior of the cleaner case (1) is divided into a dirty side (9) and a clean side
(10), and uncleaned air flowing into the dirty side (9) is passed through the cleaner
element (30) so as to be cleaned and is then made to flow into the clean side (10),
characterized in that the cleaner element (30) and the retaining frame (Fh) of the element assembly (AS) are formed as separate bodies, and the cleaner element (30) is replaceable separately from the retaining frame (Fh).
2. The air cleaner according to Claim 1, wherein the retaining frame (Fh) comprises a first retaining frame (17) that is fixed to the cleaner case (1), and a second retaining frame (18) that retains the cleaner element (30) and is detachably mounted in the cleaner case (1), and the cleaner element (30) is pressed against the first retaining frame (17) and held between the first retaining frame (17) and the second retaining frame (18).
3. The air cleaner according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein a seal (31) is integrally fixed around the outer periphery of the cleaner element (30).
4. The air cleaner according to Claim 2 or 3, wherein the first retaining frame (17), which is positioned on the clean side (10), is provided with a flame trap (23) for protecting the cleaner element (30) from backfiring.
5. The air cleaner according to any one of Claim 2, 3, or 4, wherein the first retaining frame (17) is supported between joining faces of a case main body (2) and a cover (3) of the cleaner case (1).

6. An air cleaner substantially as herein above described with reference to the accompanying drawings.


Documents:

1883-chenp-2003-abstract.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-claims duplicate.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-claims original.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-correspondence others.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-correspondence po.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-description complete duplicate.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-description complete original.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-drawings.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-form 1.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-form 26.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-form 3.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-form 5.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-other documents.pdf

1883-chenp-2003-pct.pdf


Patent Number 200582
Indian Patent Application Number 1883/CHENP/2003
PG Journal Number 30/2009
Publication Date 24-Jul-2009
Grant Date 29-May-2006
Date of Filing 01-Dec-2003
Name of Patentee M/S. HONDA GIKEN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Applicant Address 1-1, Minami Aoyama 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8556
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 HISADOMI, Masaru c/o Kabushiki Kaisha Honda Gijutsu Kenkyusho, 4-1, Chuo 1-chome, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0193
2 KONNO, Kenji c/o Kabushiki Kaisha Honda Gijutsu Kenkyusho, 4-1, Chuo 1-chome, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0193
3 HISADOMI, Masaru c/o Kabushiki Kaisha Honda Gijutsu Kenkyusho, 4-1, Chuo 1-chome, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0193
4 KONNO, Kenji c/o Kabushiki Kaisha Honda Gijutsu Kenkyusho, 4-1, Chuo 1-chome, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0193
5 HISADOMI, Masaru c/o Kabushiki Kaisha Honda Gijutsu Kenkyusho, 4-1, Chuo 1-chome, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0193
6 KONNO, Kenji c/o Kabushiki Kaisha Honda Gijutsu Kenkyusho, 4-1, Chuo 1-chome, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0193
PCT International Classification Number F02M 35/024
PCT International Application Number PCT/JP2001/004777
PCT International Filing date 2001-06-06
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 NA