Patent ID: 8029587

Claim:
A strainer for insertion into a refrigerant piping of an air conditioning device through which refrigerant flows, the strainer comprising: a cylindrical shell disposed in the refrigerant piping; a cage-shaped filter disposed in the cylindrical shell and formed with a mesh at a portion or the entire periphery thereof, the filter having an opening at one end and a bottom at the other end facing with each other relative to the flowing direction of the refrigerant and a meshed circumferential portion between the opening and the bottom for allowing the refrigerant to pass through but preventing sludge to pass through; an annular passage provided between an outer circumferential portion of the filter and an inner circumferential portion of the cylindrical shell for the refrigerant to flow through; and a leading pipe inserted into the refrigerant piping for letting the refrigerant and sludge and having an opening disposed in the cylindrical shell adjacent and opposing to the bottom of the filter and an inner circumferential wall along which sludge flows, wherein the leadingpipe is inserted into the cage type filter through the opening of the filter and the opening of the filter is in close opposition to an inside surface of the bottom of the filter, and wherein an intermediate passage is defined between an inner circumferential portion of the filter and an outer surface of the leading pipe for allowing the refrigerant to pass through the filter from the end of the leading pipe to the annular passage.