Title of Invention

SUCTION FILTER FOR AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE OF A MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

The invention relates to a suction filter for an internal combustion engine pertaining to a motor vehicle. Said filter consists of a raw air suction region, a filter medium and a pure air tube, the raw air suction region being arranged beneath the engine bonnet of the vehicle and connected to the engine bonnet. The filter medium consists of a tubular body with a porosity that ensures sufficient filtration of the suction air for the internal combustion engine.

Full Text

FORM 2 THE PATENT ACT 1970 (39 of 1970) & The Patents Rules, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10, and rule 13) 1.TITLE OF INVENTION SUCTION FILTER FOR AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE OF A MOTOR VEHICLE 2. APPLICANT(S) a) Name b) Nationality c) Address MANN+HUMMEL GMBH GERMAN Company HINDENBURGSTR. 45, 7163 8 LUDWIGSBURG, GERMANY 3.PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed : - Description Prior Art The invention relates to an intake filter for an internal combustion engine of a vehicle comprising a dirty air intake area, a filter medium and a clean air pipe, wherein the dirty air intake area is disposed on the underside of the engine hood of the vehicle and is connected thereto. U.S. Patent No. 4,932,490 discloses a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. To supply the intake air for the internal combustion engine, a dirty air passage is provided on the engine hood to receive the air flowing in from the front of the vehicle. This dirty air passage leads to a filter housing in which is disposed a filter element for filtering the dirty air. The clean air flows through a clean air passage disposed on the engine hood side to a transfer unit from where it is guided to the internal combustion engine through a flexible hose. When the engine hood is opened, the flexible hose is separated from the clean air passage. The air filter is mounted to the engine hood and can be replaced as needed. To mount the air filter, a corresponding housing is provided, which can be opened. A drawback in this device is that the housing of the air filter is a rigid structure. Similarly, the clean-air and dirty-air-carrying members are specially configured sheet metal parts that are mounted to the engine hood. They cause a stiffening of the engine hood in an area, that should be relatively flexible for safety reasons. In addition, a special housing is required for the air filter element, which adds a not inconsiderable amount of weight to the engine hood. The object of the invention is to provide an intake filter for an internal combustion engine which is mounted to the engine hood and does not impair the function of the engine hood or require a special housing. -2- This object is attained, based on the preamble of independent claim 1, in that the Filter medium is formed of a tubular body that has a porosity sufficient to ensure adequate filtering of The intake air for the internal combustion engine. The essential advantage of the invention is that the filter system can be accommodated in a space-saving manner within the engine compartment of a vehicle. Particularly the engine hood of the vehicle and the space between the engine hood and the engine can advantageously be used to mount the relatively soft element or elements of a tubular filter body. Due to the relatively large size of the area available, a plurality of tubular elements may be disposed in parallel. The configuration can be adapted to the engine hood structure. In one embodiment of the invention the tubular body proposed consists of a tubular filter with a diameter ranging from 40-80 mm. Such a tubular filter is formed of, for example, a nonwoven body, the nonwoven material of which has filtering properties. It is of course also possible, according to a further embodiment of the invention, to provide the tubular body with a pleated geometry to enable a curved installation- The filter element is pleated, for example, by forming a plurality of parallel folds arranged side by side, which extend perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the filter. Another embodiment of the invention provides that the filter medium be equipped with an elastic support means on the clean-air side. This support means is, in particular, a helically extending support wire or a correspondingly configured support grid. A support wire can of course also be formed of polymer material as well as of metal. To prevent the intake of hot engine exhaust, the tubular body, in one advantageous embodiment of the invention, is provided with a cover. This cover ensures that the fresh air to be sucked in flows in at defined points, as for example in the upper area of the radiator grille, and is fed lo the intake filter. The cover also has -3- acoustic properties, i.e., it helps reduce the intake noise of the internal combustion engine. According to another embodiment, the tubular body is a wrap-arouiid filter, which has a plurality of groove-like spaces. Such wrap-around filters have the advantage that they have a very short overall length and a large effective filter surface, They are also compact and easy to replace. These and other features of preferred further refinements of the invention are set forth in the claims as well as in the description and the drawings, The individual features may be implemented either alone or in combination in the embodiment of the invention or in other fields of application and may represent advantageous embodiments that are protectable per se, for which protection is hereby claimed. Drawings Further details will now be described, by way of example, with reference to schematic embodiments depicted in the drawings, in which: FIG 1 is a schematic view of the engine compartment of an automobile with hood open, FIG 2 shows the construction depicted in FIG 1 with a modified filter variant, F[G 3 shows a wrap-around filter for installation in an engine hood, FIG 4 shows a variant of a wrap-around filter for optimal adjustment to the structure of an engine hood, -4- FIG 5 is a schematic representation of an engine compartment of a vehicle, FIG 6 shows a pleated filter element, and FIG 7 is a detail view, in a front elevation, of the representation shown in FIG 5. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The representation according to FIG 1 schematically shows the engine 10 of a motor vehicle. On this engine, there is an opening 11 through which the intake air flows in and from where it is distributed to the individual cylinders of the engine. An engine hood 13 is disposed above the engine compartment 12. In the representation shown here the engine hood is open, On the underside of the engine hood 13, which is visible here, is a plenum chamber 14 with a clean air opening 15. This plenum chamber in turn has openings to the outside, which communicate with tubular filter elements (tubular filters 16, 17, 18, 19, 20). The tubular filters have a round or oval cross section and are likewise indicated only schematically. In addition to the tubular filters, resonance chambers 21, 22 are provided, which communicate with the plenum chamber 14 through openings and which dampen the intake air noise with a corresponding configuration. The tubular filters and the resonance chambers are covered relative to the engine by a substantially airtight cover 23. In the drawing the cover is merely indicated by a dashed line. Relative to the front Of the vehicle and relative to the front of the engine hood, this cover is open, so that fresh air can flow into the filter area from the Front, i.e., from the front of the vehicle, as indicated by arrows 24. This fresh air is cleaned by the tubular fitters and made available to the internal combustion engine. The connection between the clean air opening 15 and the opening 11 for the intake air on the engine 10 is established by closing the engine hood. Both openings may be permanently coupled by an elastic connection hose 25. It is also possible to use suitable connecting members to produce the elastic -5- connection, which is released when the engine hood is opened, but this requires that the opening 1 \ be closed when the engine hood is open. This is accomplished, for example, by a suitable diaphragm or flap. FIG 2 shows a variant using an elastic tubular filter 26 connected to the intake plenum 14 in place of the static tubular filters. In this figure, like components are provided with the same reference numbers. The tubular filter 26 is formed of a nonwoven or paper material with filtering properties. The filter medium itself has a plurality of parallel pleats arranged side by side and extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the filter. This makes possible a flexible installation of the filter medium adaptable to the structure of the engine hood. Of course, many different types of installation are feasible here. For high volume engines, in particular, it is possible to provide a correspondingly large active filtering surface. FIG 3 shows the filter medium as a wrap-around filter, This wrap-around filter consists of a first filler web 27 onto which is placed a corrugated web 28. The web 28 is glued to the filter web 27 by means of a bead of adhesive 29 on one side of the filter element. During winding, a bead of adhesive 30 is applied to the opposite side to Join the corrugated web 28 to the previously wound filter web 27, This creates open channels 31 on one side through which the air can flow in. The air cannot escape on the opposite side, however, but penetrates the corrugated filtering web and exits clean on the opposite side. Such a wrap-around filter can of course also he shaped like an oval or a cube —as shown in FIG 4. FIG 4 illustrates the alternately closed openings of the individual channels. The duly air enters the channels in the direction indicated by arrows 32, flows through the channels as indicated by arrows 33 and leaves the filter element clean as indicated by arrows 34. -6- FIG 5 is a schematic view of the front end of a vehicle, including the internal combustion engine 40, which is mounted above a floor panel 41. A cooling system 42 is provided in front of the internal combustion engine. The bumper 43 is located in front of the cooling system 42. The engine compartment is closed by the engine hood 44. A plenum chamber 45 is mounted to the underside of the engine hood. An intake manifold 47 extends from this plenum chamber 45 through a connecting flange 46 to the internal combustion engine 40. The plenum chamber 45 is assigned at least one intake air passage 48. This intake air passage is likewise disposed directly on the underside of the engine hood 44 and extends to the air inlet 49. The air inlet 49 is disposed in the area of the front end of the internal combustion engine. A tubular filter 50 is located within the intake air passage 48 and extends from the air inlet 49 over a specific length of the intake air passage 48. To reduce intake noise at the air inlet 49, an orifice flap 51 may be provided in the intake air passage 48. This reduces the cross-section of the passage depending on the required air volume and thus prevents sound radiation of the intake noise of me internal combustion engine. It is also possible to dispose this orifice flap directly at the air inlet 49, possibly in front of the tubular filter 50, Below the intake air passage 48, a sound absorbing insulating mat 52 is provided, which simultaneously acts as the lining for a plurality of intake air passages, If the engine hood 44 can be opened, the intake manifold 47 is a pipe that is flexible over its length. This flexibility is obtained, for example, by plealing or by a telescopic construction. If the engine hood can be removed only for maintenance purposes, the intake manifold 47 can be made rigid. In this case, the intake manifold 47 must be detached at the connecting flange 46. In these cases, the connection between intake manifold 47 and connecting flange 46 can be a plug-in connection. FIG 6 is a detail view of a tubular filter 50 which is pleated in longitudinal direction and disposed in a closed intake air passage 48. -7- The dirty air flows into the interior of the tubular filter 50. This of course requires the hatched area 52 to be sealed, which is accomplished by a correspondingly configured flange. The air to be cleaned flows outwardly within the intake air passage 48 into the clean air area and then flows through the intake air passage to the plenum chamber 45. FIG 7 is a detail view, in froni elevation, of a vehicle with the individual intake air passages 48a-d disposed in the area of the air inlet. It may be seen here that four individual intake air passages run to ihe plenum chamber- The advantage of individual intake air passages is that they can take different paths and can also avoid structures of the engine hood if necessary. At the entry of the intake air passages into the plenum chamber, the cross section abruptly changes. Tins abrupt change in cross section is necessary to improve the intake acoustics, i.e., to reflect sound waves. If the intake air passages are disposed on the underside of the engine hood it is advantageous to seal the openings relative to the engine compartment so that no hot air is sucked in but fresh air from the area of the front end can be supplied in any case. -8- WE CLAIM : 1. Intake filter for an internal combustion engine of a vehicle comprising a dirty air intake area, a filter medium and a clean air pipe, wherein the dirty air intake area is disposed on the underside of the engine hood of the vehicle and is connected to the engine hood, characterized in that the filter medium consists of a tubular body, wherein this tubular body has a porosity such that adequate filtering of the intake air for the internal combustion engine is ensured. 2. Intake filter for an internal combustion engine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the tubular body is a tubular filter having a diameter ranging frum 40-80 nun, 3. Intake filter as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the tubular body has a pleated geometry that enables a curved installation. 4. Intake filter for an internal combustion engine as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the filter medium has a plurality of pleats arranged parallel to each other and placed side by side, which extend perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the filter. 5. Intake filter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the filter medium has an elastic support means on the clean-air side or the dirty-air side, particularly a helically extending support wire. -9- 6. Intake filter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular body is provided with an elastic, substantially airtight cover on the side opposite the engine hood. 7. Intake filter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the filter medium has a pleated configuration wherein the pleats extend along the tubular body. 8. Intake filter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least two intake air passages are provided in which the filter medium is arranged, wherein the intake air passages extend directly under the engine hood and open into a common plenum chamber, 9. Intake filter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the intake air passages are each provided with a filler medium consisting of a tubular body. 10. Intake filter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an orifice flap is located in the intake air passage in the area of the air inlet and opens or closes depending on the air throughput. 11. Intake filter as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that an intake manifold for supplying the filtered air is provided from the plenum chamber to the internal combustion engine, wherein the intake -10- manifold is connected to the plenum chamber by a connecting piece or by a flexible or tclescopically movable line. 12. Intake filter as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the tubular body is a wrap-around filter, which has a plurality of groove-shaped hollow spaces, wherein each hollow space is closed on at least one side and adjacent hollow spaces separated by a wall are alternately closed, such that the dirty air entering into the hollow spaces flows through adjacent walls, and the wall has filtering properties. Dated this 18th day of September, 2006

Documents:

1112-MUMNP-2006-CANCELLED PAGES(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-CLAIMS(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-claims(granted)-(18-04-2005).doc

1112-mumnp-2006-claims(granted)-(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-claims.doc

1112-mumnp-2006-claims.pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-CORRESPONDENCE(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-correspondence(ipo)-(5-9-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-correspondence-received.pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-description (complete).pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-DESCRIPTION(COMPLETE)-(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-DRAWING(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-drawings.pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form 1(20-9-2006).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form 18(20-9-2006).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form 2(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form 2(granted)-(18-04-2005).doc

1112-mumnp-2006-form 2(granted)-(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-FORM 2(TITLE PAGE)-(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form 26(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form 3(18-9-2006).pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-FORM 3(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-FORM 5(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form-1.pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form-2.doc

1112-mumnp-2006-form-2.pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form-3.pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form-5.pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-form-pct-isa-210(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-other document-(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-mumnp-2006-pct search report.pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-PCT-IB-373(8-8-2008).pdf

1112-MUMNP-2006-PCT-ISA-237(8-8-2008).pdf

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