Patent Description:
Various hydraulic systems comprise connectors such as inlet connectors arranged in the flow channel. The inlet connector may be provided between the fluid source and the main pump, and the working fluid may flow through the inlet connector. The inlet connector usually comprises a pre-filter to at least partially filter the working fluid and exclude particles or impurities in the working fluid. The filter can be placed in the channel within the inlet connector, with paper or mesh for filtering. During operation, the paper or mesh can prevent fibers or contaminants from passing through the filter, and may fail due to trapping too many impurities after a period of time.

An object of the present application is to provide an inlet connector, which aims to avoid undesired movement of the filter and improve filtration efficiency. Another object of the present application is to provide a hydraulic system including the above-mentioned inlet connector.

The purpose of this application is achieved through the following technical solutions:
An inlet connector, comprising:.

In the above inlet connector, optionally, the proximal end of the filter is removably fitted to the mounting portion, and a connecting piece is provided between the proximal end and the mounting portion, such that the proximal end is attached to the mounting portion by press-fitting.

In the above inlet connector, optionally, a plurality of spacers are evenly arranged around the outer surface of the filter and are spaced apart from each other, or the one or more spacers are arranged around the entire outer surface of the filter.

In the above inlet connector the one or more spacers are positioned adjacent to the distal end.

In the above inlet connector, optionally, the one or more spacers are positioned at the outer surface of the filter by over molding process.

In the above inlet connector, optionally, the one or more spacers are configured as an elastomer, such that press fitting is provided between the filter and the bushing.

In the above inlet connector, optionally, the filter is sized such that the body extends across <NUM>% to <NUM>% of the length of the bushing.

In the above inlet connector, optionally, the filter is sized such that: when the proximal end is fitted to the filter mounting portion, the distal end is positioned adjacent to the second end of the through hole.

In the above inlet connector, optionally, the proximal end of the filter and the mounting portion are configured to be integral, and the proximal end supports the filter such that the filter and the bushing are positioned concentrically, and the outer surface of the filter is spaced from the inner surface of the bushing.

A hydraulic system, wherein the flow path of the hydraulic system is provided with the inlet connector as mentioned above.

The application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that these drawings are drawn only for the purpose of explaining the preferred embodiments, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present application. In addition, unless particularly specified, the drawings are only intended to conceptually represent the composition or configuration of the described objects, and may contain exaggerated displaying. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that these descriptions are only descriptive and exemplary, and should not be construed as limiting the protection scope of the present application.

First of all, it should be noted that the orientation terms such as top, bottom, upward, downward, etc. mentioned in the context are defined relative to the directions in the respective drawings. These positions are relative concepts, and therefore will vary according to their position and state. Therefore, these or other orientation terms should not be construed as restrictive.

In addition, it should also be pointed out that for any single technical feature described or implied in the embodiments herein or any single technical feature shown or implied in the drawings, it is possible to continue combing these technical features (or their equivalents), so as to obtain other embodiments that are not directly mentioned in the context.

It should be noted that in different drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or substantially the same components.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of a conventional inlet connector. The inlet connector <NUM> comprises a housing <NUM>, a bushing <NUM> and a filter <NUM>.

The housing <NUM> may be configured to be substantially cylindrical and have a through hole in the axial direction A. The through hole may extend from one end of the housing <NUM> to the other end. A mounting portion <NUM> may be provided at a first end <NUM> of the through hole, and the second end <NUM> may be configured to be suitable for installing the bushing <NUM>. A protrusion may be provided on the inner surface of the through hole, so as to separate the mounting part <NUM> and the part for installing the bushing <NUM>. The outer surface of the housing <NUM> may be provided with one or more convex. For example, in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> is provided with a first convex <NUM> and a second convex <NUM>. The convex can be used to snap the inlet connector <NUM> into a structure not shown, so as to fix the inlet connector <NUM> in place. In addition, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> may also be provided with one or more recesses. For example, in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> is provided with a recess <NUM>. The recess <NUM> can be used for structural connection, or can be used for installing a sealing ring.

The bushing <NUM> may be configured to be adapted to be installed from the second end <NUM> of the housing <NUM>. The bushing <NUM> may be configured to be generally cylindrical and define a cavity <NUM> therein.

The filter <NUM> may comprise a body <NUM>, a proximal end <NUM> and a distal end <NUM>. The proximal end <NUM> and the distal end <NUM> may be provided at both ends of the body <NUM>, respectively. The proximal end <NUM> may be configured to be fitted to the mounting portion <NUM>. In one embodiment, the proximal end <NUM> is attached to the mounting portion <NUM> by a connecting piece <NUM>, and press fitting is provided between the proximal end <NUM>, the connecting piece <NUM>, and the mounting portion <NUM>. The main body <NUM> may be provided with mesh, paper or other filtering materials for filtering. In the illustrated embodiment, the proximal end <NUM> fixes the filter <NUM> in place, such that the body <NUM> and the distal end <NUM> are positioned in the cavity <NUM> of the bushing <NUM>, and the filter <NUM> and the bushing <NUM> are spaced apart in a radial direction. In the illustrated embodiment, the distal end <NUM> is positioned approximately in the middle of the housing <NUM>. In one embodiment, the filter <NUM> is a pre-filter.

As used herein, the axial direction refers to the direction in which the central axis of the housing <NUM>, the bushing <NUM> and the filter <NUM> are located, and the radial direction refers to the direction perpendicular to the axial direction.

During use, the working fluid firstly enters from the first end <NUM> of the through hole of the housing <NUM> in the axial direction, travels to the proximal end <NUM> of the filter <NUM>, continues to travel to the body <NUM>, and contacts the filter material to conduct filtering. The filtered working fluid passes through the distal end <NUM>, exits the filter <NUM>, and continues to travel along the cavity <NUM> through the bushing <NUM>, and finally exits the second end <NUM> of the through hole of the housing <NUM>.

However, the existing inlet connector <NUM> may have certain disadvantages. For example, the housing <NUM>, the bushing <NUM>, and the filter <NUM> are separate components, and therefore need to be manufactured or purchased separately and then assembled. Such a design increases the cost. In addition, the part of the filter <NUM> other than the proximal end <NUM> is not in contact with other components, and problems such as bending, installation misalignment, and torsion may occur in actual operation.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the inlet connector of the present application, <FIG> shows an embodiment of the B1-B1 cross section of the embodiment shown in <FIG>, and <FIG> shows the B1-B1 cross section of another embodiment shown in <FIG>.

One or more spacers <NUM> may be provided between the outer surface of the filter <NUM> and the inner surface of the bushing <NUM>. For example, the one or more spacers <NUM> may be an elastomer, and may be attached to the outer surface of the filter <NUM> by an over-molding process. In one embodiment, the one or more spacers <NUM> may be separated from the inner surface of the bushing <NUM>. In one embodiment, the one or more spacers <NUM> may be provided at the distal end <NUM>. In another embodiment, the one or more spacers <NUM> may be provided at the body <NUM>. It can be seen from the cross sections of <FIG> that the one or more spacers <NUM> can be dispersed on the outer surface of the filter <NUM>. A plurality of spacers <NUM> may be dispersedly arranged, or may be overlapped in the cross-sectional direction. In one embodiment, the outer surface of the entire cross-section of the filter <NUM> may be surrounded by the one or more spacers <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. In another embodiment, the one or more spacers <NUM> may be configured as a separate spacer <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. The one or more spacers <NUM> may be connected to the filter <NUM> by fasteners <NUM>, and may be molded on the outer surface of the filter <NUM>. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the one or more spacers <NUM> and the one or more spacers <NUM> are both located at the distal end <NUM>. It is easy to understand that the position of the one or more spacers <NUM> and the one or more spacers <NUM> are not limited to those shown in the figure, but may have other distribution.

The one or more spacers <NUM> may be sized to be positioned between the filter <NUM> and the bushing <NUM> and under pressure, so as to provide press fitting between the filter <NUM> and the bushing <NUM>.

By providing the one or more spacers, the position of the filter <NUM> relative to the bushing <NUM> is fixed, and the bending or twisting of the filter <NUM> is avoided, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the filtering operation.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the inlet connector of the present application. The inlet connector <NUM> may comprise a housing <NUM>, a bushing <NUM>, and a filter <NUM>. The housing <NUM> is provided with a through hole extending in the axial direction A, and the through hole may extend from the first end <NUM> to the second end <NUM>. A mounting portion <NUM> is provided at the first end <NUM> of the through hole. The bushing <NUM> is installed into the through hole through the second end <NUM>, and the bushing <NUM> defines a cavity <NUM> therein. The filter <NUM> comprises a body <NUM>, a proximal end <NUM> and a distal end <NUM>. The proximal end <NUM> is adapted to the mounting portion <NUM>, so as to fix the filter <NUM> in place. The body <NUM> is sized such that the distal end <NUM> is adjacent to the second end <NUM>. In one embodiment, the body <NUM> is sized such that the body <NUM> extends across between <NUM>% and <NUM>% of the length of the bushing <NUM>. In another embodiment, the outer surface of the filter <NUM> may be provided with spacers similar to the embodiments shown in <FIG>.

Similarly, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> may be provided with one or more convex. For example, in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> is provided with a first convex <NUM> and a second convex <NUM>. The convex can be used to snap the inlet connector <NUM> into a structure not shown, so as to fix the inlet connector <NUM> in place. In addition, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> may also be provided with one or more recesses. For example, in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> is provided with a recess <NUM>. The recess <NUM> can be used for structural connection, or can be used for installing a sealing ring.

By setting the length dimension of the body <NUM>, the filter <NUM> provides improved filtering capacity and delays the blocking and failure of the filter.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of further embodiment of the inlet connector of the present application. The inlet connector <NUM> may comprise a housing <NUM>, a bushing <NUM>, and a filter <NUM>. The housing <NUM> comprises a through hole oriented in the axial direction A, and the through hole extends from the first end <NUM> to the second end <NUM>. The bushing <NUM> is inserted through the second end <NUM> of the through hole and defines a cavity <NUM> therein. The filter <NUM> may be configured to be integral with the housing <NUM>. For example, a mounting part <NUM> may be formed at the first end <NUM> of the through hole, and the filter <NUM> is integrally connected with the housing <NUM> at the mounting part <NUM>. Similarly, the filter <NUM> may comprise a body <NUM>, a proximal end <NUM>, and a distal end <NUM>, and may have the filtering function described above. The proximal end <NUM> supports the filter <NUM>, such that the housing <NUM>, the bushing <NUM>, and the filter <NUM> are configured to be concentric, and the outer surface of the filter <NUM> is spaced apart from the inner surface of the bushing <NUM>.

Similarly, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> may be provided with one or more convex. For example, in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> is provided with a first convex <NUM> and a second convex <NUM>. The convex can be used to snap the inlet connector <NUM> into a structure not shown, so as to fix the inlet connector <NUM> in place. In addition, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> may also be provided with one or more recesses. For example, in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the outer surface of the housing <NUM> is provided with a recess <NUM>. The recess <NUM> can be used for structural connection, or can be used for installing a sealing ring. Additionally, a second recess <NUM> might be provided near the first end <NUM> of the housing <NUM>.

By adopting the design of <FIG>, the position of the filter <NUM> can be effectively determined, preventing the body <NUM> from undesired deflection or distortion, thereby improving the filtering capacity and reliability of the filter.

The present application also relates to a hydraulic system including a flow path for working fluid. The inlet connector as mentioned above may be provided in the flow path. For example, the inlet connector can be provided between the fluid source and the main pump, so as to function as a pre-filter.

The inlet connector and hydraulic system of the present application have the advantages of being simple, reliable, easy for implementation, and convenient in using, etc., and can provide improved filtering capacity and extend service life.

Claim 1:
An inlet connector (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) , characterized in that it comprises:
a housing (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) defining a through hole extending in an axial direction (A), and a mounting portion (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is provided at a first end (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) of the through hole;
a bushing (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) being configured to be inserted from a second end (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) of the through hole, and the bushing (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) defines a cavity (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) therein; and
a filter (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising a body (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), a proximal end (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), and a distal end (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), characterized in that the proximal end (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is configured to be fitted into the mounting portion (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), such that the body (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) and the distal end (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) are positioned within the cavity (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>);
wherein, one or more spacers (<NUM>, <NUM>) are provided between the outer surface of the filter (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) and the inner surface of the bushing (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), such that the outer surface of the filter (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is spaced from the inner surfaces of the bushing (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>),
wherein the one or more spacers (<NUM>, <NUM>) are positioned adjacent to the distal end (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>).