Oil reclamation device

An oil reclamation device comprises a housing, filter, evaporator plate and heating assembly. The housing has a longitudinal axis and includes an oil inlet to receive oil to be reclaimed and an oil outlet to discharge reconditioned oil. Features of this invention include an improved filter assembly, an inside sealing mechanism for flow control, a wall guide mechanism to maintain proper flow control, an improved heat transmitting element, an oil inlet metering assembly and an improved evaporator plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to oil reclamation devices which are used with 
engines using lubricating oils and hydraulic systems to remove solid 
contaminates and water or other volatile contaminates from the lubricating 
oils or hydraulic fluids. More particularly, the invention relates to a 
unique evaporation plate and cover assembly and an improved filter 
assembly. 
Oil reclamation devices of the type disclosed and described herein are 
generally well known. These devices are used to remove both solid and 
liquid contaminates from the lubricating oil. It is well known that oil in 
and of itself does not "wear out". Once the solid and volatile 
contaminates are removed therefrom, the oil is substantially reconditioned 
and remains in a most useful state. 
The following patents disclose the general state of the art: U.S. Pat. Nos. 
2,839,196, 3,616,885, 3,915,860, 4,006,084, 4,115,201 and Peru Patent No. 
13849 dated Feb. 28, 1975. 
Numerous disadvantages are associated with these known devices. For 
example, oil passes directly between the outer periphery of the evaporator 
plates and the inside of the containers due to the manner in which the 
evaporator plate is secured therein. Thus, oil containing unvolitalized 
contaminates will pass directly out of the oil outlet means of the 
container because it will not be included in any thin film traveling over 
the vaporizing surface on the upper side of the evaporator plate. 
It is extremely important that the oil passing across the vaporizing 
surface be maintained in as thin a film as possible. With the known 
devices, if the longitudinal axis is angularly disposed more than 
5.degree. from the vertical while installed, the oil will all flow to one 
side of the evaporator plate. Consequently, the effectiveness of the 
device will be virtually destroyed because of the depth of the oil from 
which the volatile contaminates can be volatilized. 
None of the prior art devices are designed to effect the greatest 
efficiency of removing the contaminates and maintaining the operation of 
the device. Prior art metering jets frequently clog causing a shut-down. 
Positioning of the cover member is fixed with respect to the container. 
Pressure build-up within the container causes shifting of the filter 
medium during operation. Disposition of the heating element directly in 
the evaporation chamber increases the chances of explosion. Inefficient 
transfer of heat from the heating surface to the thin film of oil is 
encountered. Finally, the use of the known devices in marine conditions is 
questionable because of the open electrical connections. 
PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION 
The primary object of the invention is to provide a highly efficient and 
easily maintainable structure for an oil reclamation device having a 
filter assembly and an evaporation chamber for removing solid and liquid 
contaminates from lubricating oils. 
Another object of the invention is to provide an evaporation chamber in an 
oil reclamation device which results in a significantly controlled flow of 
oil being treated. 
A further object of the invention is to expose substantially all of the oil 
to substantially uniform mechanical filtration and evaporation treatment. 
A still further object of the invention is to provide an evaporator plate 
and a heat transmitting member having interacting portions which 
contribute to establish a uniformity in heating and a uniformity with 
respect to the fluid flow through the evaporation chamber. 
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a filter assembly 
which will obviate problems associated with the disposition of fibrous 
material as it is provided in prior art oil reclamation devices. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The oil reclamation device comprises a housing means having a container, a 
cover means, an oil inlet means and an oil outlet means. Filter means and 
evaporator plate means are disposed in the container and heating means is 
attached to the cover means. The evaporator plate means includes an upper 
and a lower side with the upper side having a vaporizing surface along 
which oil passes in a thin film. The lower side faces downwardly toward 
the filter means. The cover means includes a heat transmitting member and 
defines an evaporation chamber between the cover means and the evaporation 
plate means. Passageway means extend from the filter means through the 
evaporator plate means and open onto the upper side of the evaporator 
plate means to deliver oil into the evaporation chamber in a thin film 
along the vaporizing surface. 
A first feature of the invention is directed to a system for effecting 
sealing between the evaporator plate means and the inside of the container 
to control the flow of substantially all of the oil through the center of 
the device. The lower side of the evaporator plate means includes an 
annularly disposed outer peripheral seat for receiving sealing means 
disposed between the evaporator plate means and the filter means. The 
sealing means is located along the entire periphery of the evaporator 
plate means to prohibit bypassing of the fluids between the plate means 
and the container. With this system fastening of the cover to the top of 
the container is effected externally of the device. A portion of the 
inside of the cover means is in contact with a portion of the upper side 
of the evaporator plate means to sealingly urge the evaporator plate means 
against the filter means with the sealing means therebetween. This 
configuration necessarily controls the flow of the oil to be treated in 
the evaporation chamber from the underside of the evaporator plate to the 
upper side thereof for introducing the oil along one edge of the 
vaporizing surface. 
Another feature of the invention is directed to the use of wall guide means 
which control the flow across the vaporizing surface of any evaporator 
plate means. This includes a plurality of radially extending wall members 
disposed across the vaporizing surface to form subdivided sections 
therealong. The outwardly extending wall guide means maintain the 
direction of movement of the oil being treated along the vaporizing 
surface when the longitudinal axis of the device is angularly disposed 
with respect to the vertical. With this particular feature of the 
invention, the longitudinal axis may be angularly disposed up to 
20.degree. with respect to the vertical without adversely affecting the 
efficiency of the device. This feature of the invention is clearly 
applicable to some of the prior art devices thereby overcoming a serious 
problem associated therewith. 
A further feature of the invention is directed to the oil inlet assembly 
which has a metering element to control the rate of oil flow into the 
container. The problem of the frequent clogging of metering jets is 
obviated through the use of a circumferential groove which enables the 
cross-section opening of the groove to be larger than in the straight bore 
openings of the prior art. It has been found that the use of the 
circumferential groove in the metering element will provide the same flow 
rate into the container with a cross-sectional opening that is 
substantially twice the size of the prior art metering jet. This enables 
the contaminated oil to flow through the system without clogging the 
metering jet of the present application. 
Another feature of the invention is the use of J-bolts which may be placed 
in contact with the outwardly rolled peripheral edge at the top of the 
container. This enables the cover to be disposed at any desired 
displacement on the top of the peripheral edge of the container to be 
universally adaptable to the place in which the reclamation device is to 
be installed. 
When there is pressure buildup within the container as the oil enters into 
the oil inlet means, the filter medium tends to rise upwardly against the 
bottom portion of the evaporator plate means. This potentially causes 
shifting of the elements within the container and could cause damage to 
the filter medium and ultimately stop the flow of material through the 
device. The evaporator plate of this invention includes a downward 
projection that is laterally displaced inwardly from the outer periphery 
of the evaporator plate means for the purpose of holding the filter medium 
in place as disposed around the oil inlet means of the container. 
The heating element of the present invention is designed to fit into the 
cavity on the side of the heat transmitting member opposite the heating 
surface. A solid heat conducting particulate material is disposed in the 
cavity with the heating element. A further feature of the invention 
incorporates the use of an epoxy adhesive material to cement the 
electrical leads directly to the electrical resistance unit inside the 
heating element casing. The casing includes an opening through which the 
electrical leads extend. The same epoxy adhesive material is used to fix a 
flexible protective conduit in the opening and dispose the conduit around 
the electrical leads thereby providing a complete waterproofing of the 
system. 
The prior art devices place the electrical resistance element directly in 
contact with the oil being heated for evaporation. In other embodiments, a 
simple shield is placed over the heating element located inside the 
evaporation chamber. In both of these instances, there is a significant 
danger of explosion. It is known to heat the inside of the evaporation 
chamber via an indirect method incorporating the use of a heat 
transmitting member. In these known devices, however, there has been 
discovered a need to increase the efficiency of heat transfer from the 
heating surface to the thin film of oil passing over the vaporizing 
surface. The present invention contemplates the use of a centerpost member 
having a plurality of fins outwardly directed toward a vaporizing surface 
which extends upwardly toward the inner surface of the cover means. The 
disposition of these fin members adjacent the vaporizing surface has been 
found to greatly enhance the efficiency of removing the volatile 
contaminates from the thin oil film passing downwardly over the vaporizing 
surface. 
Finally, the filter assembly of the present application constitutes a 
significant improvement in control of the flow of oil through an oil 
impervious canister means. A baffle member is disposed intermediate the 
two ends of the canister to cause the oil to necessarily pass from the 
inlet means outwardly to the periphery of the baffle member disposed 
within the filter medium. The oil then must necessarily flow back to the 
center of the canister and out of the opening located in the upper end 
portion. The specific disposition of compressed cotton fiber filter medium 
and filter pads between the filter medium and the inside surface of the 
end portions greatly benefit the filtering function of the device.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS 
The reclamation device, generally designated 10, has a housing container 11 
having an inlet assembly at the bottom portion thereof and an oil outlet 
nozzle 14. The oil inlet assembly includes a channel insert element 12 
which receives a fitting 16 at one end and a flow nozzle metering element 
13 at the other end thereof. The straight bore through element 13 is about 
1/32 inch in diameter. The outer end of the insert element 12 is conically 
shaped to receive the frusto-conical bushing 15 which serves to seal off 
fluid flow laterally away from the oil inlet opening. All of the oil 
received is introduced directly into the filter assembly. 
The filter assembly is disposed at one end of the housing container 11 and 
defines a mechanical filtration zone which receives all of the oil coming 
into the reclamation device 10. The filter assembly includes compressed 
fibrous filter material 52 contained within a canister 50. Various 
conventional filter mediums and assemblies may be used in combination with 
other features of the invention as disclosed with respect to the oil 
reclamation device 10. 
Evaporator plate 18 is disposed within housing 11 adjacent the mechanical 
filtration zone defined by the filtering mechanism. Plate 18 includes a 
plurality of upwardly projecting evaporation walls 20, 22, and 24 which 
define a plurality of curved vaporizing surfaces laterally displaced 
radially with respect to each other. An upwardly directed vaporizing 
surface on the innermost annular wall 20 faces inwardly toward the center 
of the device. A fluid traveling surface 32 is formed between the spaced 
vaporizing surfaces of walls 20, 22 and 24. 
A sealing member 19 having a U-shaped channel cross-section envelopes the 
outer peripheral edge of plate 18. The resilient annular seal 19 is 
composed of Buna-N which is an oil resistant rubber. This is an extremely 
important aspect of the invention since it has been found that in prior 
art reclamation devices of this type, a considerable amount of the oil to 
be treated will pass between the inside surface of the housing and the 
outer peripheral edge of the plate. It is extremely important that all of 
the oil being treated be brought to the centermost portion of the plate 
member 18. 
The fluid traveling surfaces 32 defined between wall members 20, 22 and 24 
are annular. The wall members 20, 22 and 24 have fluid flow openings 21, 
23 and 25, respectively, located along the fluid traveling surface 32. 
Thus, the longest possible traveling time for the oil from the centermost 
portion of plate 18 to the oil outlet 14 is attained. 
The innermost annular evaporation wall member 20 has a single delimited 
fluid flow opening 21 at a first location. The next adjacent annular 
evaporation wall member 22 has a single delimited fluid flow opening 23 at 
a second location on the plate 18, 180.degree. from the first opening 21 
at the first location. The size of the fluid flow opening is effective to 
provide a channeled flow while avoiding build up of oil along surface 32. 
As further shown in this embodiment, the fluid traveling surface 32 is 
defined along an incline extending downwardly from the centermost portion 
of the plate 18 toward the housing container 11. 
Passageways 26 extend through plate 18 and deliver substantially all of the 
oil from the filter zone to a centermost portion of plate 18. Passageways 
26 extend from the mechanical filtration zone and open outwardly along the 
upwardly directed oil introducing surface 27. Oil introducing surface 27 
is inclined inwardly with respect to the centermost portion of plate 18 to 
direct all of the oil in a thin film downwardly over the vaporizing 
surface toward the longitudinal axis of the device 10. 
The heating assembly includes a heat transmitting member 34 disposed at the 
outer end or open end of housing container 11. Heat transmitting member 34 
is disposed adjacent the evaporator plate 18 to define an evaporation 
chamber therebetween. Heat transmitting member 34 has downwardly 
projecting heating wall members 40, 42 and 44 which define a plurality of 
curved heating surfaces located between the curved vaporizing surfaces of 
evaporator plate 18. 
When fitted in place, as shown in FIG. 1, the heating wall members 40, 42, 
and 44 and the evaporation wall members 20, 22 and 24 define a plurality 
of curved paths along the fluid traveling surface 32 from the longitudinal 
axis outwardly along the evaporator plate 18. Thus, the evaporator wall 
means 20, 22 and 24 and the heating wall members 40, 42, and 44 provide a 
structural configuration effective to guide the oil from the centermost 
portion of plate 18 outwardly along the curved paths to the oil outlet 14. 
Fluid flow gates 45 allow the fluid to travel as shown by the arrows in 
FIGS. 5 and 6. 
In this specific embodiment, the heating assembly includes the heat 
transmitting member 34 with the heating wall members 40, 42 and 44, on one 
side thereof, and a cavity 35 on the other side to receive the heating 
element 36. The heating element 36 is connected directly to the battery 
cable of the vehicle by the electrical leads as shown. A heat conducting 
fluid is contained in the cavity 35 with the heating element 36. 
Otherwise, it is virtually impossible to get a suitable surface-to-surface 
contact between the heating element 36 and inside wall of the cavity 35 
for conducting heat through the heat transmitting member 34. 
Heat transmitting member 34 defines a closure member for the outer end of 
the housing container 11. Nut and bolt assemblies 39 are used to 
interconnect the closure and the container in a well known fashion. An 
appropriate seal 37 is placed between the butting parts to accomplish the 
desired sealing results. A vent assembly having a fitting 38 is used to 
allow vapors to escape from the evaporation chamber during the operation 
of the device 10. 
The heat transmitting centerpost member 40 extends downwardly within the 
innermost annular evaporation wall member 20. Centerpost member 40 defines 
a heating surface located adjacent and facing outwardly toward the 
inwardly facing vaporizing surface of wall member 20. Centerpost member 40 
contacts the evaporator plate 18 where it is fixedly attached by bolt 30 
projecting through the opening 29 as shown. The remaining heat 
transmitting walls 42 and 44 are also in contact with the heat fluid 
traveling surface 32. By this configuration, heat is transmitted via 
convection and conduction within the evaporation zone. 
Heat transmitting member 34 also includes an upper ceiling surface 47 from 
which the annular walls 42 and 44 extend. Ceiling surface 47 extends along 
an incline directed upwardly and outwardly from the longitudinal axis of 
device 10. 
Canister 50 has a bottom end portion, a side wall portion, and an upper end 
portion as shown. It is composed of a material that is impervious to 
fluids. Canister 50 has a single inlet opening in an indentation 54 
specifically fitted over the shaped bushing 15. The oil discharging 
mechanism is located in the upper end portion of canister 50. A depression 
56, in the upper end portion, is effective to make room for the handle 55 
and the disposition of the nut 30 immediately above the mechanical 
filtration zone. Openings 53 located in the upper end portion of canister 
50 enable substantially all of the oil to be directed toward the center 
longitudinal axis of device 10. Handle 55 facilitates the handling of 
canister 50 into and out of housing 11. A felt pad 51 disposed around the 
outer periphery of canister 50 helps to control fluid flow and prevent 
displacement of canister 50 within housing 11. 
The oil reclamation device 60 in FIG. 8 has several unique features 
constituting improvements over the prior art. Cover member 63 is disposed 
on the upper edge of the container 62 and includes a centerpost 64 having 
radially extending fin members 66 directed outwardly therefrom. The 
downwardly extending annular wall 90 prevents the condensation of 
vaporized material inside the evaporation chamber. All of the vaporized 
contaminates are forced through the single aperture located adjacent the 
vapor vent outlet. Annular wall 90 is sufficiently long to prevent the 
vaporized volatiles from flowing downwardly and through the outlet means 
back into the engine. Wall 90 is also sufficiently short to maintain the 
fluid flow of oil down the evaporation wall members of the evaporator 
plate 91. 
Evaporator plate 91 has an upper side with a vaporizing surface 88 disposed 
upwardly and facing inwardly toward centerpost 64. Oil moves through 
passageways 94 and flows in a thin film downwardly along vaporizing 
surface 88 toward the fluid traveling surface located between the radially 
disposed annular walls as shown. While the oil is in the thin film, the 
heat transmitted from centerpost 64 and fin members 66 vaporizes the 
volatile contaminates such as water and fuel which have become entrapped 
in the lubricating oil during its use. 
The lower side evaporator plate 91 includes an annularly disposed outer 
peripheral seat 84 for receiving a sealing member 83 disposed between 
evaporator plate 91 and the filter assembly. Sealing member 83 is located 
along the entire periphery of evaporator plate 91 to prohibit the 
bypassing of fluids between plate 91 and the inside of container 62. An 
abutment wall 85 is annularly disposed as a further portion of the outer 
peripheral seat for fixing the disposition of sealing member 83. 
An annular projection 86 is directed downwardly from the lower side of 
evaporator plate 91 toward the filter assembly. Annular projection 86 is 
spaced inwardly from the outer periphery of plate 91 and is effective to 
prevent upward movement of the filter assembly when oil is moving upwardly 
through the device. 
The unique filter assembly of this embodiment includes a canister 68 in 
which fibrous filter material such as long strand cotton fiber material is 
compressed under pressure of up to 7000 pounds per square inch. Canister 
68 has a bottom end portion 76, a side wall portion 77 and an upper end 
portion 78. Filter pads 79 and 80 composed of felt or other fibrous 
material are disposed between the compressed fibrous filter material and 
the respective end portions 76 and 78. Canister 68 is composed of fluid 
impervious material and has a single opening in the bottom thereof which 
fits over the end of the oil inlet assembly 70. Washers 75 composed of 
rubber material are disposed around the end of the inlet assembly 70 and 
thereby provide a resilient sealing contact between the inlet opening of 
canister 68 to receive the entire flow of oil into the device. 
Filter canister 68 includes a baffle member 69 disposed at a location 
intermediate the end portions 76 and 78 to further maintain control of the 
flow of oil through the filter material. Baffle member 69 is a planar 
sheet having an outer profile effective to fit inside canister 68 and is 
further effective to provide a passage of oil from one side of the sheet 
baffle member 69 to the other side thereof. In this specific embodiment, 
the outer profile of baffle member 69 is conformed to the cross-sectional 
shape of the inside of canister 68. The planar sheet member 69 has 
circumferentially spaced openings disposed along the periphery thereof to 
allow the passage of oil from one side thereof to the other. 
Oil inlet assembly 70 includes a metering element 72 with a circumferential 
groove through which oil is directed. A bush 73 is used to maintain the 
position of the element 72 within the inlet fitting 71. Further, elbow 74 
is used to connect the inlet assembly to the line directing oil into the 
device under pressure. The circumferential groove is approximately 1.5 
inches long and 1/16 inch in diameter. With this particular configuration, 
it is possible to establish the same flow rate through device 60 as with 
the metering device used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. Where the 
earlier embodiment may have had a tendency to clog during operation, this 
problem has been unexpectedly solved through the use of the larger 
diameter circumferential bore while maintaining the same flow rate of from 
about 5 to 6 quarts per hour. 
Heating element 98 has an outer heat transmitting casing 100 with a lead 
wire opening. Lead wires 104 and 105 are connected to electrical 
resistance unit 102 in casing 100 and extend through the lead wire 
opening. A flexible protective conduit 103 is connected at the lead wire 
opening and disposed around lead wires 104 and 105. An epoxy adhesive 
material 101 cements the protective conduit 103 to casing 100 and further 
provides a waterproof seal around the opening and completely seals 
resistance unit 102 within casing 100. Thus, the device may be safely used 
for marine applications as compared to devices of the prior art. Heating 
element 98 is disposed within the cavity in cover 63 along with a heat 
conducting solid particulate material for the purpose of conducting the 
heat from the element 98 to the centerpost 64 and off the fin members 66. 
Aluminum articles may be used as the solid heat conducting material. 
Container 62 includes an upper peripheral edge section against which cover 
member 63 is disposed with the downwardly extending flange 92 annularly 
disposed therealong. Seal 93 is located between the upper peripheral edge 
section of container 62 and cover member 63. The upper edge section is 
defined by an outwardly directed and downwardly rolled edge forming a 
U-shaped groove around container 62. A J-shaped bolt member has a short 
end section 65 effective to contact the inside of the groove as shown. The 
wing nut 67 threadingly engages the other end of the J-shaped bolt member 
and constitutes tightening means for urging the cover member 63 against 
the upper peripheral edge section of container 62. With this particular 
configuration of fastening means, cover 63 may be disposed at any location 
with respect to the upper edge of container 62. This is particularly 
beneficial where the place of installation is tight and otherwise 
difficult to manage. 
Wing nuts 67 hand tighten cover member 63 downwardly onto the upper 
peripheral edge of container 62. A surface portion 87 on the inside of 
cover 63 is in contact with a portion of the upper side of evaporator 
plate 91. Contact surface portion 87 between centerpost 64 and the upper 
side of evaporator plate 91 sealingly urges evaporator plate 91 against 
the top of the filter assembly canister 68 through sealing member 83 as 
shown. Once the wing nuts 67 are hand tightened, the various parts of the 
device are firmly in place and the resultant controlled flow of oil 
through the reclamation device 60 provides the greatest amount of 
filtration and evaporation of contaminates. 
Vaporator plates 106 and 110 are typically used in known prior art devices. 
Without applicant's invention, these evaporator plates become 
substantially ineffective when the known device is angularly disposed more 
than 5.degree. with respect to the vertical. It is essential that any oil 
heated to evaporate the volatile contaminates also be maintained across 
the evaporator plate in a thin film. When such angular displacement 
occurs, all of the oil will rush to one side of the prior art evaporator 
plates, thereby adversely affecting its vaporization capacity. 
It has been unexpectedly discovered that the disposition of wall guide 
means extending outwardly from the upper side of the evaporator plates 
106, 110 and 91 will maintain the direction of movement along the 
vaporizing surface when the longitudinal axis of the device is angularly 
disposed with respect to the vertical. A plurality of radially extending 
wall members 108 and 112 in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 15 and 17 are 
disposed across the vaporizing surface to form subdivided sections along 
the vaporizing surface. Wall members 108 maintain the direction of 
movement of the oil along the vaporizing surface outwardly away from the 
longitudinal axis of the device. Wall members 112 of evaporator plate 110 
maintain the direction of movement of the oil along the vaporizing surface 
inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of the particular device. In the 
embodiment of FIG. 8, wall members 89 are located between the openings of 
passageways 94 and extend inwardly along the oil introducing surface and 
vaporizing surface 88 to form subdivided sections therealong. 
While the oil reclamation device has been shown and described in detail, it 
is obvious that this invention is not to be considered as being limited to 
the exact form disclosed, and that changes in detail and construction may 
be made therein, within the scope of the invention, without departing from 
the spirit thereof.