Patent ID: 9289704
Filing Date: 2016-03-22
CPC Classification: B01D,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A modular filter assembly comprising: a filter media; a housing for receiving the filter media, the housing having an open end and a closed end; an annular collar configured for attachment to the open end of the housing to define an annular collar orifice constricting the open end of the housing; a removable locking element configured to be received in the annular collar orifice; and cooperating structure between the collar and the removable locking element for releasably engaging the removable locking element to the collar for selective access to a filter media within the housing, the cooperating structure comprising: the removable locking element having a plurality of circumferential teeth extending radially from a center axis of the removable locking element and each tooth is configured to be received in a corresponding radial notch, wherein the radial notch is in an inner surface of the annular collar adjacent the annular collar orifice, and the annular collar further defines radial cavities in an interior bottom surface of the annular collar adjacent to the annular collar orifice, wherein an upper surface of each radial cavity does not extend beyond a lip of the annular collar, and the radial cavities are radially offset along an inner diameter of the annular collar orifice from the radial notches of the annular collar orifice, wherein the circumferential teeth can be received in the radial notches to extend beyond the inner surface of the annular collar to clear the radial notches, and the removable locking element can then be rotated about the center axis of the locking element to align the circumferential teeth with the radial cavities of the annular collar and moved axially to receive the circumferential teeth in the radial cavities so that the removable locking element can only be moved axially toward the housing bottom until the circumferential teeth clear the radial cavities.