Abstract:
The present invention describes a fuel filter assembly useful in the purification of fuels such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, heating oil and similar liquids. The fuel filter assembled herein described separates solids and semisolids particulates such as algae, microbial growth, fungi and the like from fuel, providing a much cleaner fuel to secondary fuel system, engine and fuel consuming devices. The said fuel filtering assembly comprises a removable lid mounted at the top of an upright vertical housing, a non-disposable removable filter unit enclosed in the internal cavity of the said housing and a multi-purpose base comprising fuel inlet and fuel outlet as internal passages within the said base.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a filter assembly and method of separation of organic and inorganic particulates from liquids. More particularly, the invention is directed to a filter assembly and methods of using the said assembly in the purification of organic liquids such as fuels from solids and semisolids particulates such as algae, fungus, microbial growth, rust and the like. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    It is well known that the presence of particulates or contaminants in stored fuel liquids such as diesel, jet fuel, kerosene, gasoline, heating oil and similar liquids represents a real problematic situation affecting negatively the quality of the fuel and the performance of engines requiring the said fuel for its intended functioning. Many of the said contaminants are generated by the presence of water in the fuel. Once water is condensed in the fuel container, it provides a rich environment for the bacterial, fungus, algae and other microbial growth. Similarly, water promotes the oxidation of the container producing rust and similar solids. These fuel contaminants may be transported together with the fuel flow to the fuel filtration conduits, engines and fuel consuming devices producing expensive damages to the said filtration lines engines and devices. Marine transportation devices such as boats and ships, automobiles and trucks, airplanes and statutory generators are examples of machinery that are negatively affected by the said particulate or fuel contaminants. The said particulates or contaminants produce fuel degradation, clogging of filters and even they may induce the engine failure. As possible solutions to this problem, multiple sophisticated and expensive solutions have been presented by the prior art. A variety of filters equipped with cartridges of multiple designs, magnetic devices, water filters and chemical compositions have been proposed and currently used. However, these alternatives do not avoid the constant water condensation in the tank or fuel container and thus, the proposed alternatives cannot eliminate the constant generation of the said contaminants. 
         [0003]    Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an economical, simple fuel filter assembly, capable of avoiding the clogging of fuel engines. It would also be desirable to provided a fuel flow assembly able to extend the productive life of the remaining filtering media the engine and simultaneously reducing dramatically the maintenance, reparations and filters change costs while improving significantly the performance of machinery that are negatively affected by the said particulate or fuel contaminants. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel filter assembly capable to separate solid and semisolid contaminants such as algae, fungus, microbial growth and similar organic growth or particulate matter such as rust from fuel in order to avoid the clogging of filtering lines and engines. Another object of the invention is to provide an efficient fuel filter assembly able to separates solid or semisolid contaminants from fuels such as diesel, jet fuel, kerosene, gasoline, heating oil and similar liquids in order to improve the functioning of machines requiring the said fuels. 
         [0005]    A further object of the invention is to provide an economical, easy to use and easy to clean fuel filter assembly having a non-disposable but easy removable filtering unit. Still another further object of the instant invention is to provide a fuel filter assembly, easy to install and that may be use in the fuel flow system line that transfers the fuel from the fuel tank to the engine; a fuel filter assembly that is also useful in cleaning fuel contained in the tank or in any suitable fuel container by returning the clean fuel to the said tank or container once the filtration process has been performed. 
         [0006]    Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a fuel filter assembly that provides a visual way to indicate the proper time to clean its filter unit and able to reduce the maintenance cost of fuel engines and disposable filters by providing a cleaner fuel through the fuel flow systems and to engines. 
         [0007]    These and other objectives have been achieved in accordance with the instant invention by providing a fuel filter assembly suitable to separate solid and semisolid particulate or contaminants from fuels and similar liquids; wherein the said fuel filter assembly comprises a vertical upright housing that may be made of transparent material, having an upper end and a lower end; a removable lid located in the upper end of the said vertical upright housing; means for tightly secure the said removable lid to the said housing and simultaneously sealing the pass of the fuel outside of the said housing; a base located at the lower end of the said vertical upright housing, said base comprising a fuel flow inlet and a fuel flow outlet; wherein the said fuel inlet and fuel outlet communicate with the internal cavity of the said housing; means for tightly secure the said base to the said housing and simultaneously sealing the pass of the fuel outside the housing and thus only allowing the pass of the fuel flow outside the said housing via the fuel flow outlet; a removable non-disposable filtering unit enclosed in the interior section of the said housing, said filtering unit having a lower end and an upper end and a fuel delivering unit for delivering the unfiltered fuel flow from the said fuel flow inlet to the said upper part of the said filtering unit. 
         [0008]    The filter assembly allows the fuel flow to pass from the tank directly to the top of the removable easy to clean filtering unit, whereby the solid and semisolid contaminants are trap on the inside area of the filter unit. After filtration, the fuel flow may be redirected to the tank if the filter is installed to clean the tank fuel or alternatively, it may be directed to the engine if the filter device has been installed between the tank and the engine fuel filtering system. When used in the tank-engine line, the herein disclosed fuel filter assembly is able to filter contaminants such as algae, fungus, microbial growth, rust and similar ones that would degrade the fuel and would also decrease the performance of the engine if left within the fuel. The said fuel filter assembly increases the productive life of the engine and the fuel filtering line system, reducing the maintenance cost of the engine system of the vehicle. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The invention will be described in further detail herein after with reference to the illustrative preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying following drawings, which are included for illustrative purposes without limiting the invention in any manner. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1A  is the schematic representation of a circular or continuous purification of fuel within a container or tank, wherein once the fuel is filtered it is returned to the said container. 
           [0011]      FIG. 1B  is the schematic representation of one of the preferred location of the fuel filter assembly when installed in the filtering line wherein the fuel flow is transferred from the fuel tank to the engine of a given vehicle or machine or to a fuel consuming device. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the prototype of the individual parts comprising the fuel filter in the order they are assembled. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  illustrates a side view of a prototype of the removable lid or cap.  FIG. 3A  is a top view of the said lid.  FIG. 3B  is an upside down view of the said lid. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4A  is a perspective view of the front side of the prototype of the base of the fuel filter assembly.  FIG. 4B  is a perspective view of the back side of the said base. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of the base unit illustrated in  FIGS. 4A and 4B  with the fuel delivering unit already assembled. 
           [0016]      FIG. 6A  illustrates a bottom side of the prototype base and  FIG. 6B  shows the optional stand wherein the device may be firmly secured via fastening of both parts. 
           [0017]      FIG. 7A  illustrates a prototype of the filter subunit. It has multiple mesh-type openings on its surface and a bottom flat surface with an aperture at substantially the center of the said flat surface and its lateral borders are folded in a zigzag or star pattern. The mesh type surface is illustrated only partially in the said filtering unit in order to illustrate other structural elements of the said filtering subunit, nonetheless it is intended that the complete surface of the lateral sides of the said filtering unit is a mesh type surface.  FIG. 7B  is a detail of the mesh type surrounding the all lateral sides of the said filter subunit surface. 
           [0018]      FIG. 8A  and  FIG. 8B  illustrate the top view and the bottom view of the filtering subunit illustrated in  FIG. 7A , respectively. 
           [0019]      FIG. 9A  illustrates a prototype of the optional internal filtering subunit. It is represented as a cylindrical, hollow element having a mesh-type surface, which is illustrated only partially in order to illustrate other structural elements of the said filtering subunit. Nonetheless, it is intended that the complete lateral annular surface of the said filtering subunit has a mesh type surface. The said mesh-type surface is illustrated in detail in  FIG. 9B . This filtering subunit maybe nested in the interior area of the filtering subunit illustrated in  FIG. 7A . 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  shows a cross sectional view of the assembled filter device. The fuel flow is illustrated by arrows. Connecting line from the fuel tank to the fuel filter assembly and line receiving the filtered fuel from the fuel filter assembly to the desired destination from the fuel outlet are not illustrated. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]    Detailed embodiments of the instant invention are disclosed herein, however it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are only examples and that the disclosed invention may be embodied in alternative forms and/or in other possible variations. The particular structural and functional details disclosed herein should not be interpreted as limiting, since they are presented as a basis for the claims and with the main objective of teaching those skilled in the art to make and use the instant invention. Particularly, shapes of the required units comprising the fuel filter assembly disclosed herein may be substituted by other alternative shapes without departing from the scope of the instant invention. Relative size of the fuel filter assembly and its units may vary depending of the volume of the flow requiring filtration and/or the amount of contaminants containing in the fuel. It is understood that the filter assembly may be use to separate solid material from non-fuel liquids. 
         [0022]      FIGS. 1A and 1B  are provided to schematically illustrate the preferred installation of the fuel filter assembly in order to achieve the purification of fuels. Regarding  FIG. 1A , the fuel filter assembly  20  is schematically shown in an continuous filtration system, wherein it is installed in order to separate particulate such as rust, algae, fungus and similar microbial growth from the fuel tank  10  and the purified fuel is continuously returned to the said container  10 . In another feasible embodiment, the purified fuel may be deposited in any other container not illustrated. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1B  illustrates schematically a preferred location of the fuel filter assembly  20  in the fuel filtering system of a given vehicle or fuel consuming device. The fuel filter assembly  20  is located after fuel tank  10  and before the rest of the filtering systems  12  in such a way that fuel supply not containing solid or semisolid particulates or contaminants is provided to secondary filtration systems  12 , the engine or any fuel consuming device  14 . The said position may be alternate or even combine by installing more than one assembly  20  on different position of the said fuel filtering route. 
         [0024]    In cold environments, fuel flow may be heated with a resistance heating unit or element (not illustrated) previous to entering into the fuel filtering assembly  20 , in order to melt paraffin and waxes that may be present in the fuel due to the low temperatures. In other embodiments, the said resistance heating element or unit may be adapted in any place of the instant fuel filtering unit  20 . 
         [0025]    In the preferred embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , fuel filter assembly  20  comprises a T-shape handle  26 , a lid or cap  40 ; a solid and rigid vertical upright housing or casing  21 ; a multi purpose base  50  providing inlet and outlet fuel conduits; an easily removable and non disposable filtering unit having at least two subunits  23  and  24 ; a pressing element  49  and a fuel delivering unit  25 . 
         [0026]    Housing  21  may be made of a transparent, pressure resistant, non-fuel reactant suitable material such as plastic. It also may be made of metal such as stainless steel, aluminum, bronze, copper, or any similar suitable metal or combination thereof. Similarly, T-shape handle  26 , lid  40 , base  50 , filtering units  23  and  24  and fuel delivering unit  25  may be made of any pressure resistant, non-fuel reactant, suitable materials such as plastic or any suitable metal, for example stainless steel, aluminum, bronze, copper, any similar metal or combination thereof. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  show a perspective views of lid  40 .  FIG. 3A  shows external surface  41  of the said lid having opening  42  substantially at the middle of lid  40  and an inner circumference  43 . On the other hand,  FIG. 3B  shows inner surface  46  and annular sealing element  44  helping to prevent fuel leaking from the top section of the fuel filter assembly. 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , lid or cap  40  is mounted or assembled in the upper section of housing  21 , forming a sealed environment between the housing  21  and the said cap  40 . As the means for securing and sealing the said cap  40  to the upper end of the housing  21 , the T-shape screw  26  having its lower section  22  threaded and an annular sealing element  15  around it, is inserted through opening  42 , and further threading end section  22  into the internal threaded section of fuel delivering unit  25 . However, any means for tightly securing the cap  40  to the housing  21  and simultaneously avoiding the fuel leak out of the upper section of the fuel filter assembly  20 , such as the use of grasping units, rings, clamps, or the like may be used to practice the invention, since any other detachable connection between lid  40  and upper section of housing  21  are feasible. 
         [0029]    Regarding  FIGS. 4A and 4B , it show details of the prototype base  50 , which comprises a first flat surface  54  resting under a larger second flat surface  58  and lower lateral side  59  having an upper lateral side  57 . Annular sealing element  56  is located substantially in the center of the said upper lateral side  57  in order to prevent fuel leaking from the housing cavity. Housing  21  internal diameter is slightly larger that the circumference of surface  54 , thus allowing the insertion of the lower end of housing  21  in base  50  and in such a way that the upper lateral side  57  tightly fits inside the lower end of housing  21  and upper flat surface  54  becomes the internal floor of the filtering cavity of the fuel filter assembly  20 . The said connection provides a fuel seal environment from where no fuel spills out the housing through or drain out from the surroundings of the lower end housing-base connection. Base  50  and housing  21  may also be connected by other means known in the art. For example by threading the corresponding parts of base  50  and housing  21  or by inserting housing  21  in base  50  and holding them together with a ring or similar grasping mechanism. 
         [0030]    Base  50  physically integrates fuel flow inlet conduit as well as the fuel flow outlet conduit. On the first flat surface  54 , aperture  53  communicates with aperture  55  on the lower lateral side  59 , forming an internal conduit or fuel passage defining the fuel flow outlet conduit from where the filtered fuel is delivered out of the fuel filter assembly  20 . Aperture  55  is internally threaded and it may be connected to any external line to move the filtered fuel to its desirable destination. 
         [0031]    On the other hand, substantially at the opposite side of opening  55  at the lower lateral side  59 , aperture  51  is in direct communication with the centered opening  52 , forming a conduit or passage from where the fuel flow is allow to enter to the fuel filter assembly  20 . Aperture  51  is internally threaded, in such a way that a fuel flow line may be connected to base  50  via the aperture  51 . Similarly, aperture  52  is internally threaded, allowing that lower end  38  of fuel delivering unit  25  to be threaded to base  50  as it is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0032]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  illustrate a practical manner to properly secure fuel filter assembly  20 . It may optionally be secured in support  70  via inserting fastening means into holes  61 - 64  in bottom side  60  of base  50  and the corresponding holes  65 - 68  in top flat surface  71  of support  70 , in such a way that the whole fuel filter assembly  20  may rest safely. 
         [0033]    The easy removable, non-disposable filter unit preferably comprises at least two filtering subunits  23  and  24  having a mesh type lateral surface. The sizes of the mesh openings may be variable in size or shape. The said filtering subunits may be made of any suitable material which is pressure resistant and non-fuel reactant for instance plastic, ceramic or metal. The said filtering units may also be made of knitted wire made of stainless steel, copper, aluminum, bronze, any other similar metal or combination thereof as long as the materials are non-fuel reactant and pressure resistant. 
         [0034]      FIG. 7A  illustrates a prototype of the outside filter subunit  23 , which is a non-disposable, basket-type structure, having its sides pleated or in zigzag pattern  33 , and having a substantially flat bottom surface at its lower end  30  and multiple mesh openings  32  showed in detailed in  FIG. 7A . The mesh type surface is illustrated only partially in the said filtering unit  23  in order to illustrate other structural elements of the said filtering subunit, nonetheless it is intended that the complete surface of the lateral sides of the said filtering unit is a mesh type surface. Filtering unit  23  comprises upper end section  19  and lower end section  30  illustrates in  FIG. 7A . Lower end  30  comprises a flat surface having opening  31  at substantially the center of the said surface.  FIGS. 8A and 8B  show top views of the upper end  19  and lower end  30 , respectively. 
         [0035]    The second filtering unit  24 , is illustrated in  FIG. 9A , a mesh type hollow cylinder having an upper end  34  and a lower end  35 . It is non-disposable and easy removable. It has a smaller diameter than filter subunit  23 , thus it may be nested inside the said filter subunit  23 . The said filter subunit  24  has multiple mesh openings around its complete surface. The said mesh type surface,  28  is illustrated in detail in  FIG. 9B . The use of the second filtering unit  24  may be optional. In other embodiments, similar filtering subunits in addition to the two filtering units described herein may optionally be nested, one within the others when practicing the invention. 
         [0036]    The openings around the surfaces of the said filtering units  23  and  24  may be variable in shape and size, however is preferred that the mesh on both subunits has the same size and shapes. Particularly, considering a mesh as a unit or number of openings in a linear inch, the preferred mesh sizes in the filters subunits may be from 30 to 170, even more preferably from 40 to 150. Regarding the relative sizes, it is even more preferably is that opening in the mesh of the external filtering subunit  23  are relatively smaller than the opening in the mesh of the internal filtering subunit  24 . Among the factors determining the particular mesh size of the said filter subunits are the amount of contaminants present in the fuel, the physical characteristics of the said contaminants such as density, the physical and chemical characteristic of the fuel subjected to filtration and the particular use of the fuel filter assembly  20 . 
         [0037]    A pressure element  49  as illustrated in  FIG. 2  may optionally be use to facilitates removing the filtering units. The said pressure element  49  is represented as a short spring around the fuel delivering unit  25 . When the fuel filter assembly  20  is closed, the said pressure element is push backward, and it is under pressure against flat surface  30  of filtering subunit  23  and flat surface  54  of base  50 . However, once the filter lid  40  is opened, the said pressure element pushes the filtering elements forward, in such a way that the upper parts of the said filtering units  23  and  24  come out of the housing cavity  21 . 
         [0038]    The fuel filter assembly  20  also comprises fuel delivering unit  25  as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 5 . It is a hollow cylinder having its lower end  38  externally threaded and its upper end  37  internally threaded. Fuel delivering unit  25  also comprises opening  36  in its upper section.  FIG. 5  shows delivering unit  25  already assembled to base  50 . The said delivering unit  25  may be inserted through opening  31  of the filtering subunit  23  in such a way that the fuel delivering unit is at substantially the center of the internal cavity of the filtering subunits  23  and  24 . 
         [0039]    Therefore, the fuel filtering unit assembly  20  is assembled by threading fuel delivering unit  25  in opening  52  of base  50 ; optionally inserting the pressing element  49  into the fuel delivering unit  25 , following by inserting the said fuel delivering unit through opening  31  of filtering unit  23  and optionally inserting the filtering subunit  24  inside the cavity of filtering subunit  23 ; mounting lower end of housing  21  to base  50  and upper end of the said housing  21  to lid  40 ; and inserting T-shape screw  26  through opening  42  on lid  40  and subsequently threading  26  with upper end  37  of fuel delivering unit  25 . 
         [0040]    Regarding  FIG. 10 , it illustrates a cross sectional view of the fuel filter assembled  20 . In operative terms, fuel flows enter the system via the conduit  51  at base  50  and moves internally through the base  50  via the passage defined by apertures  51  and  52 . Thus, it comes out of the said base  50  through opening  52 , from where the said fuel flow is transported to the fuel delivering unit  25  and from there it is delivered to the top of the filtering units via opening  36  on the upper section of the said fuel delivering unit  25 . 
         [0041]    Once delivered, the fuel flow pass through the mesh openings  28  of the filtering units  24  to the housing interface  29  between filtering units, subsequently, the fuel flow pass through mesh openings  32  of the second filtering unit  23  from where it drains out to  27 , a non-filter section of housing  21 . The fuel flow comes out of housing  21  via opening  53  on surface  54  of base  50  from where it comes out of the fuel filter assembly  20  via opening  55 . Once filtered, the fuel flow may be directed to the desirable destination. For instance, it may be directed to a tank or it may be directed to the engine or any other fuel consuming device via the engine filtration system. Solid and semisolid particulates such as algae, fungus, rust and similar fuel contaminants remain trapped inside the filter units. 
         [0042]    Since the housing  21  may transparent, the user may determine the right time to clean the filter unit by external observation. The filter units are easily clean by opening unscrewing screw  26 , separating lid  40  from the upper end of the housing  21  and taking out the filter units  23  and  24 . Once contaminants are properly disposed and the filter units  23  and  24  have been washed, it can be readily reinstalled by reinserting the filter unit  23  and  24  within the cavity of housing  21  and further closing the housing upper side as described previously with lid  40 . 
         [0043]    While the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications, particularly in shape or size may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.