Air cleaning device

An air cleaning device for use in connection with clean air usage such as with internal combustion engines or to provide cleaned air for ventilation purposes, the air cleaner device comprising a directional hood having a substantially unrestricted air intake and a short throat directional separation chamber into which incoming air is drawn and in which incoming contaminants and moisture are centrifuged by a multiplicity of directional vanes onto and along an adjacent baffle member leading to an annular discharge chamber through which a driven spinner assembly ejects contaminants and moisture through rearward facing ports and creating a relatively low to high pressure gradient into and through the discharge chamber with the pressure gradient increasing to accelerate the movement of the contaminants and moisture through the discharge chamber and through the discharge ports with the pressure of ejection being greater than the external ambient air pressure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of Invention 
This invention relates to an air cleaning device. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The device herein relates to a directional air cleaning device to provide 
air for clean air usage and the embodiment thereof described herein is 
adapted to be mounted upon the stack of an air inlet such as of an 
internal combustion engine or of a compressor and the like. 
Directional hoods are known in the prior art. However, such devices tend to 
have restrictive screened air inlets which are subject to clogging. Such 
devices also have not combined a capability to separate both contaminants 
and moisture from the intake air stream along with the partial recovery of 
the energy of the moving air due to the directional orientation of the 
hood. 
The structure of the device disclosed herein is particularly arranged to 
provide a substantially non-clogging air inlet, a relatively wide area 
throat portion permitting free movement of air through the separation 
chamber and providing for centrifuging the air stream flowing through and 
the discharge of contaminants and moisture therefrom in a downstream wind 
direction combined with the partial recovery of the energy of the moving 
air. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an air cleaning device such as to be mounted upon 
the air inlet passage leading to the air intake of the proposed use of the 
cleaned air such as for consumption by an internal combustion engine, an 
air compressor or as for ventilation purposes. 
It is an object herein to provide an air cleaning device arranged and 
constructed to be relatively free of restriction for the passage of air 
thereinto and through the air cleaning chamber therein. 
It is another object herein to provide an air cleaning device having an 
annular exhaust chamber having downstream exhaust ports and providing a 
relatively low gradient pressure into and a higher pressure gradient out 
of the exhaust or discharge chamber which accelerates the passage of 
contaminants and moisture into and through the chamber. 
It is a further object to provide an annular exhaust arrangement which 
effectively prevents the passage of contaminants and moisture into the 
clean air inlet passage. 
It is also an object herein to provide a cap member in connection with the 
exhaust arrangement which prevents the passage of contaminants or moisture 
into the clean air inlet and diverts incoming air into centrifuging vanes. 
More specifically it is an object herein to provide an air cleaner having a 
substantially restriction free air inlet, a wide area short throated 
structure to pass the incoming air through centrifuging vanes onto and 
along a baffle member having a downwardly reducing transverse dimension 
which tends to accelerate the passage of air therethrough and reduces the 
critical radial separation distance for contaminants and moisture and 
divert the same into a discharge passage having downstream discharge ports 
and providing for confinement of turbulence which may result from such 
passage. 
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth 
in the following description made in connection with the accompanying 
drawings in which like reference characters refer to similar parts 
throughout the several views.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The invention herein comprising an air cleaning device is indicated 
generally by the reference numeral 10. The embodiment described herein for 
purpose of illustration relates particularly to the device for use to 
provide relatively clean air to an internal combustion engine. The device 
will be understood to have a more general application for clean air usage. 
The embodiment of the invention described herein is shown being mounted by 
means of a sleeve or inlet pipe 11 upon a stack 12, said sleeve is shown 
having circumferentially spaced vertical slots 13 for diametrical 
adjustment and a conventional type of clamp 17 secures said sleeve. Said 
stack is the air intake pipe of an internal combustion engine and which by 
way of concept may represent the air inlet for any proposed use of cleaned 
air. 
The device herein comprises a cylindrical housing body portion 20 having an 
annular side wall 21 forming a relatively short wide throat having an 
inwardly turned bottom wall 23 formed as a channel and having the inner 
side of said channel upturned to form a boundary wall 24 of short height, 
the same extending horizontally to form a fairly wide annular flange 26. 
Said flange terminates in an upturned wall 29 having at its top a small 
radial outward projection forming a shoulder 29a and said projection being 
turned inward horizontally to form an annular flange 29b. 
Said annular flange 26 forms therein a circular opening 27 which receives 
therethrough said sleeve 11. An upper portion 11b of said sleeve extends 
above said opening to abut or engage said shoulder 29a for a sealing 
engagement therewith. Said sleeve is suitably secured to the adjacent 
portions of said wall 29. 
The passage 11a through said sleeve 11 forms the clean air inlet into the 
air intake stack 12. 
Mounted upon said housing 20 is a hood 30. Said hood is of unitary 
construction formed to have side walls 31 and 32, a back wall 34 and a top 
wall 36. 
As shown, said hood is fairly squat having formed in said front wall a 
substantially full height and full width inlet opening 40, said inlet 
opening having a width greater than the width of said body 20 and is here 
shown to be substantially rectangular in front elevation having an upward 
forward slope as indicated by the leading edge 31a of the side wall 31. 
Said side walls taper and curve downwardly rearwardly to form the back 
wall 34 which conforms downwardly to the adjacent transverse curvature of 
said body portion 20. 
Said top wall 36 extends from said front opening sloping downwardly 
rearwardly to merge with said side walls 31 and 32 in forming the back 
wall. A short bottom wall 42 is formed under the front opening 40, which 
bottom wall and the adjacent depending portions of said side walls and 
rear wall are formed into a short sleeve 43 which is slipped or disposed 
within the upper portion of said annular side wall 21. Said sleeve in 
effect extends downwardly tapered inwardly to define a frustrum forming a 
deflection member or baffle 45. Said baffle has a vertical annular 
depending portion 48 spaced radially outwardly of said flange 29b. 
On the downstream side of said housing 20 with the hood facing into the 
incoming air stream, there are formed in the side wall 21 by a punched out 
projecting offset, vertical slots 65 and 66 forming exhaust or discharge 
ports in the downstream direction of the passing windstream and compatible 
with normal air flow and spinner rotation within said device. 
Said ports extend down to and somewhat into the channel 23 in the bottom of 
the discharge passage. Formed in said channel 23 diametrically opposed to 
said slots 65 and 66 are drains or drain holes 67 and 68. Thus there will 
be no residue build-up within said channel. 
Said baffle or deflection member 45 and its depending portion 48 taken with 
said side wall 21, the channel member 23 and the ports 65, 66 and the 
drain holes 67 and 68 defines a discharge passage 47. 
Said depending sleeve 43 of said hood and baffle 45 are suitably removably 
secured to the upper edge portion of said side wall 21 as by metal screws 
49. 
Disposed within said inlet opening 40 and suitably secured to the wall 
edges thereabout as by metal screws is a louvered member 50 comprised of 
full inlet height vertical louvers 52 which are angled in horizontal 
section sufficiently to form effective deflective surfaces to cause 
spinning motion of the incoming air stream. 
The area confined by said hood 30 forms the air inlet chamber 54. 
Overlying said baffle 45 in vertically spaced relation is a circular 
deflection member 57 stamped out of a single piece of metal and consisting 
of a central or core portion 58 forming a bonnet which serves as a barrier 
to prevent the central vertical or axial passage of contaminants and 
moisture (hereinafter collectively referred to as material) and spaced 
about the periphery thereof are vanes 59 which are in substantially a 
parallel relation with each other as indicated at 59a and 59b, said vanes 
being angled on the order of 35.degree. from the horizontal and are tilted 
or pitched outwardly to deflect material away from said inlet passage 11a 
and toward and onto the surface of said baffle 45 and from there said 
material passes into the discharge passage 47 for discharge through the 
ports 65 and 66. The depending baffle member 45 and its depending vertical 
wall portion 48 extend downwardly sufficiently to avoid any tendency for 
discharged materials to enter said clean air passage 11a. 
Said vanes 59 are suitably welded to the adjacent surface portions of said 
sleeve 43. 
Mounted within the upper portion or throat of said sleeve 11 is a spinner 
assembly 70. The mounting within the specific embodiment here illustrated 
comprises a spider 72 having upwardly angled arms 75 which here are three 
in number, the same being suitably secured as by welding to the upper 
adjacent portions of said sleeve 11 and flange 29b. The base 78 of said 
spider has mounted thereon an upstanding shaft 82 secured by lock nuts 80 
and 81 disposed above and below said base. Journaled onto said shaft in a 
suitable manner is a hub 87 which has disposed thereabout at spaced 
intervals, such as at 90.degree. intervals, upright substantially 
rectangular blades indicated at 88-91. Extending outwardly of said blades 
are arms 93-96 in the form of rods and carried at the ends thereof are 
vertically disposed blade members 98-101 shown here to be rectangular in 
form having in the present embodiment convex forward facing surfaces shown 
by the blade 99 in FIG. 6. 
Said arms are of such length that said blades are positioned to be driven 
through a path through the discharge passage 47 in close proximity to the 
adjacent surface of said side wall 21 and said ports 65 and 66. Said arms 
are positioned vertically to just clear the planar surface of said flange 
29b. 
The angled arms of said spider serve to form stops in seating said sleeve 
upon a stack 12 thus accommodating stacks of various sized diameters or 
throats. Said sleeve in view of its vertical slots is readily drawn up by 
a clamp member onto a stack and it may be expanded if required. 
In accommodating as a stop member various sized stacks, said spider 
foreshortens the height of the entire structure and particularly of the 
separation chamber 105 formed within the body 30. Said spider further 
provides for the positioning of the spinner assembly in a very effective 
operating position relative to the discharge passage 47. Thus there 
results a relatively short passage for the incoming air stream both as to 
having material separated therefrom and having cleaned air pass into the 
clean air passage 11a. 
A salient element in the structure of said hood is the full width of the 
inlet 40 and the vertically louvered screen disposed therein. The wide 
expanse of the inlet chamber 54 coupled with the relatively short length 
of the separation or baffle chamber 105 provides a relatively unrestricted 
passage for the inlet air stream to be processed for passage into said air 
inlet 11a of said sleeve 11. 
The incoming air upon passing through the louvered screen 50 is immediately 
deflected to become a rotary stream and is drawn directly through the 
pitched or angled vanes 59 into a curvilinear spin and is thrust onto and 
along the baffle member 45. The baffle member in having a downwardly 
reducing diameter accelerates the incoming air stream as it passes 
downwardly of the baffle or separation chamber 105. The centrifuged 
portion of the air stream is guided to pass into the discharge passage 47. 
The spinner assembly driven by the suction upon the incoming air stream 
with its forwardly facing convexely curved blades 98-101 drives the 
centrifuged portion of the incoming air stream and the material therein 
onto the adjacent surface of the wall 21 and through the ports 65 and 66. 
The inlet chamber 54 and the separation chamber 105 are of such an expanse 
that there is a gradual directional change of the incoming air stream 
through a 90.degree. path which avoids restriction and allows a partial 
recovery and use of the energy of the moving air when the hood is directed 
to face into a moving air stream. 
The material in the incoming air stream by its inertial energy is thrust 
upon the inner back wall of the hood and thence down into the discharge 
passage aided by air flow and gravitational forces. 
The baffle 45 confines to the discharge passage 47 any turbulence caused by 
the action of the spinner assembly, preventing any backwash of turbulence 
from entering the separation chamber 105. 
There is an increase in pressure gradient in the travel of incoming air 
from the inner diameter or area of entrance into said discharge passage in 
the direction of discharge of material therefrom. There is in effect a 
suction of air into said discharge passage between the bottom of the 
baffle 45 and the adjacent edge of the flange 29b. This flange deters 
material from being deflected out into the cleaned air inlet passage 11a. 
The blades 98-101 in the discharge passage are caused to rotate at such a 
rate that material is forcefully discharged through. 
The device in operation preferably will be faced into the incoming air 
stream of the forward motion of the vehicle to receive the energy or force 
of such incoming air stream. The vertical louvers very successfully avoid 
becoming congested by air borne particles by eliminating horizontal 
surfaces, intersections, and broad faces perpendicular to the air flow on 
which congestion can form. 
The device herein has proved to be very efficient in handling and cleaning 
relatively large volumes of air. 
The device is readily separated for repair or maintenance. The hood and 
screen are both removed by removal of sheet metal screws, the vane 
structure is lifted off with it which in turn exposes the entire spinner 
assembly. 
It will of course be understood that various changes may be made in form, 
details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from 
the scope of the invention herein which, generally stated, consists in an 
apparatus capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in the 
parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended 
claims.