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EP-4741037-A2 - FILTER ELEMENTS AND ASSEMBLIES

EP4741037A2EP 4741037 A2EP4741037 A2EP 4741037A2EP-4741037-A2

Abstract

A filter element comprising a media pack and a seal, the seal being directly or indirectly connected to the media pack in a sealing manner, the filter element comprising a longitudinal axis, wherein the seal extends along a closed loop trajectory; and wherein the seal defines a predetermined sealing direction with respect to the longitudinal axis along the closed loop trajectory; wherein the predetermined sealing direction is not constant along the loop trajectory and wherein said filter element comprises a first seal portion along the closed loop trajectory wherein the predetermined sealing direction is radially inward towards the longitudinal axis and a second seal portion along the loop trajectory wherein the predetermined sealing direction is axial; and a filter assembly comprising the filter element.

Inventors

  • CATOOR, Bart
  • VERSTRAETE, Mathijs
  • DECOSTER, KRISTOF

Assignees

  • Donaldson Company, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20230421

Claims (15)

  1. A filter element (1) comprising a media pack (2) and a seal (3), the seal (3) being directly or indirectly connected to the media pack (2) in a sealing manner, the filter element (1) comprising a longitudinal axis, wherein the seal (3) extends along a closed loop trajectory; and wherein the seal (3) defines a predetermined sealing direction with respect to the longitudinal axis along the closed loop trajectory; wherein the predetermined sealing direction is not constant along the loop trajectory and wherein said filter element (1) comprises a first seal portion (32) along the closed loop trajectory wherein the predetermined sealing direction is radially inward towards the longitudinal axis and a second seal portion (31) along the loop trajectory wherein the predetermined sealing direction is axial.
  2. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, wherein the seal (3) is at least partially circumferential to a longitudinal axis of the media pack (2).
  3. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, wherein the seal (3) is at least partially circumferential to the media pack (2).
  4. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, further comprising a support structure (4) attached to the media pack (2) in a sealing manner, wherein the seal (3) is at least partially (or completely) supported by the support structure (4).
  5. A filter element according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined seal direction is defined as the normal direction of a respective portion of the support structure supporting the corresponding seal portion.
  6. A filter element according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the support structure comprises a smooth, continuous, band surface that follows the seal, the band surface preferably corresponding to the closed loop trajectory of the seal, such that for each section or portion of the seal, there is a corresponding portion of the band surface supporting it.
  7. A filter element according to claim 6, wherein the band surface comprises a first portion and a different second portion along the closed loop trajectory (longitudinal sections), defining a first and a second normal direction respectively, the angle between the first normal direction and the axial direction of the filter element is different from the angle between the second normal direction and the axial direction of the filter element.
  8. A filter element according to claim 7, wherein each of the band portions preferably extends over a length of the closed loop trajectory that is longer than 5%, preferably longer than 10%, preferably longer than 20% or longer than 25% of the length of the loop trajectory.
  9. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, comprising a further first seal portion (30) along the loop trajectory wherein the predetermined sealing direction is radially outward from the longitudinal axis.
  10. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, wherein the seal is a polyurethane (PU) seal.
  11. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, wherein a first seal portion or the first seal portion (30,31,32) along the loop trajectory is provided at an axial end of the media pack (2) and wherein a second seal portion or the second seal (30,31,32) portion along the loop trajectory is provided at a radially outwardly oriented portion of the media pack (2).
  12. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, wherein a first seal portion or the first seal portion (30,31,32) along the loop trajectory is provided at an axial end of the media pack (2) and wherein a second seal portion or the second seal portion (30,31,32) along the loop trajectory is provided at the axial end of the media pack (2).
  13. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, wherein a first seal portion or the first seal portion (30,31,32) along the loop trajectory is provided at a radially outwardly oriented portion of the media pack (2) and wherein a second seal portion or the second loop trajectory portion (30,31,32) of the loop trajectory is provided at the radially outwardly oriented portion of the media pack (2).
  14. A filter element according to any of the previous claims, wherein a first seal portion or the first seal portion and a second seal portion or the second seal (3) portion extend over a length of the closed loop trajectory that is longer than 5% of the length of the closed loop trajectory.
  15. A filter assembly comprising a housing (100) and a filter element (1) according to any of the previous claims operably held within the housing (100), wherein the housing (100) comprises a predetermined sealing surface for receiving the seal (3) along the closed loop trajectory, the sealing surface being complementary to the seal (3) having a non-constant predetermined sealing direction, wherein preferably a distance between the predetermined sealing surface of the housing for receiving the seal along the closed loop trajectory and the smooth, continuous, band surface of the support structure that follows the seal is kept constant along the closed loop trajectory, and wherein said seal is preferably a polyurethane seal.

Description

Related Application This application is being filed on April 21, 2023, as an International Patent Application and claims the benefit of and priority to European Patent Office Application Serial Number European Patent Application No. 22169582.8, filed April 22, 2022, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference. Technical field The present disclosure relates to filter constructions for filtering fluids, such as liquids or gases, such as for instance air. Background art Fluid streams can carry contaminant material such as dust and liquid particulate therein. In many instances, it is desired to filter some or all of the contaminant material from the fluid stream. For example, air flow streams to engines (for example combustion air streams) for motorized vehicles or for power generation equipment, gas streams to gas turbine systems and air streams to various combustion furnaces, carry particulate contaminant therein that should be filtered. It is preferred, for such systems, that selected contaminant material be removed from (or have its level reduced in) the air. A variety of fluid filter arrangements have been developed for contaminant removal. Typical fluids to be filtered are gases as for instance air, or liquids such as fuel or oil. Fluid filter arrangements typically comprise a filter housing and a replaceable filter element or filter cartridge arranged operatively therein. An air filter element typically comprises an inflow face and an outflow face for inflow of dirty and outflow of cleaned air respectively, and comprises a seal arranged and adapted for sealing against an inner surface of the filter housing to thereby separate a dirty side comprising unfiltered or less filtered air from a clean side comprising filtered or more filtered air in the filter housing. Often filter housings comprise or should preferably comprise reinforcement structures, flow guiding structures or other structures on the inner sidewall of the housing, which form obstacles for a straightforward sealing configuration. In other words, such obstacles reduce design freedom for the filter element, for instance for the one or more seals of the filter element. Improvements are sought. Summary of the disclosure It is an objective of the present disclosure to provide a filter element according to claim 1, and to provide a filter assembly according to the second independent claim. In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a filter element is disclosed comprising a media pack and a seal, preferably for separating a filtered and unfiltered area in a fluid cleaner, for instance an air cleaner, the seal being directly or indirectly connected to the media pack in a sealing manner, the filter element comprising a longitudinal axis, wherein the seal extends along a closed loop trajectory (i.e., it defines a single loop or band); andwherein the seal defines a predetermined sealing direction with respect to the longitudinal axis along the closed loop trajectory;and wherein the predetermined sealing direction is not constant along the loop trajectory. The seal structure is preferably path-connected, which means that a path can be drawn in the seal structure between every two points of the seal structure. Preferably the seal can comprise a single material or can be a composite seal made of different materials. The media pack can for instance be a fluted media (also called z-type) media pack or a pleated media pack. A fluted media pack typically comprises a plurality of flutes arranged between an inflow face and an outflow face of the media pack, wherein adjacent flutes are alternatingly closed at their inlet and outlet. An incoming air stream enters an open flute at the inflow face, which is closed at the outflow face, and is forced to pass through the filtration media of the wall separating the adjacent flutes. The filtered air then leaves the adjacent flute, which is closed at the inlet face, at the open side thereof, at the outflow face. A pleated media pack comprises a sheet of filtration media which is pleated to increase its filtration surface. It typically defines a virtual inflow and outflow face defined by the peaks and valleys of the pleats. A pleated media pack can for instance also be configured to replace an equivalent fluted media pack by arranging one or more pleated media sheets in a corresponding volume in a suitable manner. In such case the pleated media pack defines a virtual inflow and outflow face of the filter element. It will be appreciated that for any filter element having a seal, a skilled person can determine a (preferential or intrinsic) seal direction of that seal for that element. The seal direction can thus be predetermined. It can be determined at any location along the closed loop trajectory. A seal direction can for instance be defined or recognized by the configuration of the filter element. It can at least partially or completely be derived from the relative location of the seal with respect to the media