Patent ID: 6068762
Filing Date: 2000-05-30
Classification: B01D,Y10S

Abstract:
A filter assembly, comprising:a housing having a cylindrical sidewall and first and second end walls at either end of said cylindrical sidewall, said first end wall having a fluid inlet port for receiving fluid to be filtered and a fluid outlet port for discharging filtered fluid, said second end wall being removably attached to said sidewall,first and second tubular filter elements mounted inside the housing in co-axial relation to one another and extending axially between said first and second end walls, each of said elements including an inlet surface and an outlet surface, with the outlet surface of the first filter element adjacent the inlet surface of the second filter element, a first fluid flow path defined through said first and second filter elements from the inlet port to said fluid outlet port, anda pressure-activated sensing device for sensing the pressure across the first filter element to determine when the first filter element becomes clogged, a second fluid flow path defined from said inlet port directly to said sensing device, and a third flow path defined from said inlet port through said first filter element and between said first and second filter elements to said sensing device, said sensing device sensing the pressure difference between the fluid in the second flow path at the inlet surface of the first filter element and the fluid in the third flow path between the outlet surface of the first filter element and the inlet surface of the second filter element, and including a signaling device providing a remote signal when said pressure difference increases above a predetermined level indicating that the first filter element is clogged, said sensing device being disposed centrally within and substantially surrounded by said first and second filter elements and being integrally attached to said second end wall such that said sensing device is removed from said housing when said second end wall is removed.