Patent Publication Number: US-2022226759-A1

Title: Natural Gas Filter Apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to gas filter devices and more particularly pertains to a new gas filter device for preventing mercaptan buildup in appliances. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The prior art relates to gas filter devices. Existing devices require a filter with multiple components or a replaceable filtering medium. Some devices utilize a permeable media or a liquid. No devices are made of only two pieces with a baffle filter that can be easily cleaned. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a filter bottom side and a filter sidewall coupled to the filter bottom side. The filter sidewall extends perpendicularly from a bottom perimeter of the filter bottom side. A front face of the filter sidewall has an inlet aperture extending therethrough. A back face of the filter sidewall has a drain aperture and an outlet aperture extending therethrough. The inlet aperture is configured to selectively receive a gas regulator, the drain aperture is configured to selectively receive a drain hose, and the outlet aperture is configured to selectively receive a gas hose connected to an appliance. A baffle is coupled to the filter bottom side. The baffle has a front wall extending from the front face of the filter sidewall and a back wall extending from the back face of the filter sidewall between the drain aperture and the outlet aperture. A lid is coupled to the filter sidewall and conforms to an upper perimeter of the filter sidewall. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a natural gas filter apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a rear elevation view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a top plan view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a bottom plan view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 7  thereof, a new gas filter device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 7 , the natural gas filter apparatus  10  generally comprises a filter bottom side  12  and a filter sidewall  14  coupled to the filter bottom side  12 . The filter sidewall  14  extends perpendicularly from a bottom perimeter  16  of the filter bottom side. The filter sidewall  14  may have rounded corners for ease of cleaning. 
     A front face  18  of the filter sidewall has an inlet aperture  20  extending therethrough. A back face  22  of the filter sidewall has a drain aperture  24  and an outlet aperture  26  extending therethrough. The outlet aperture  26  may be larger than the drain aperture  24 . The inlet aperture  20  is configured to selectively receive a gas regulator  28 . The drain aperture  24  is configured to selectively receive a drain hose  30  and the outlet aperture  26  is configured to selectively receive a gas hose  32  connected to an appliance. 
     An inlet guard  34  may be coupled to the filter sidewall  14 . The inlet guard  34  extends perpendicularly from the front face  18  around the inlet aperture  20 . The inlet guard  34  may be rectangular prismatic with an inlet extension aperture  36  extending to the inlet aperture  20 . 
     A baffle  38  is coupled to the filter bottom side  12 . The baffle  38  has a front wall  40  extending from the front face  18  of the filter sidewall and a back wall  42  extending from the back face  22  of the filter sidewall between the drain aperture  24  and the outlet aperture  26 . The front wall  40  and the back wall  42  may be parallel and may extend at a 45° angle from the front face  18  and the back face  22  of the filter sidewall, respectively. The front wall  40  may have a pair of front wall extensions  44  extending towards the back wall  42  and the back wall  42  may have a plurality of back wall extensions  46  extending towards the front wall  40 . Each front wall extension  44  and each back wall extension  46  may be perpendicular to the front face  18  and the back face  22  of the filter sidewall. The front wall extensions  44  and the back wall extensions  46  may be evenly spaced and arranged to alternate such that the gas from the inlet aperture  20  must follow a zigzag path to reach the outlet aperture  26 . 
     A lid  48  is coupled to the filter sidewall  14 . The lid  48  conforms to an upper perimeter  50  of the filter sidewall excepting an extension portion  52  conforming to the inlet guard  34 . The lid may have a window  54  positioned proximal the drain aperture  24  to allow a user to see when mercaptan buildup needs to be cleaned out. 
     In use, gas comes through the gas regulator  28  into the inlet aperture  20  and travels through the baffle  38  and out the outlet aperture  26  to the gas hose  32 . As the gas travels through the apparatus  10 , mercaptan is captured on the filter sidewall  14  and the baffle  38  and exits through the drain aperture  24  to the drain hose  30  rather than damaging connected appliances. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.