US3127259A - Unit filter assembly - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1964 R. J. BOYLAN 3,127,259

UNIT FILTER ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 28, 1960 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIA 2 26 $1614 24 l h h Ii 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIII ROBERT J BOYLAN ATTORNEY United States Patent Filed Sept. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 58,978 1 Claim. (Cl. 55-511) The present invention relates to filter apparatus and more particularly to unit filter apparatus including removable gas cleaning filter medium.

In accordance with the present invention, an improved unit filter structure is provided which is economical and efficient to construct and maintain and which permits ready, secure installation and ready removal of the filter medium from its supporting frame. In addition, the improved unit filter structure of the present invention can be conveniently and efiiciently adapted to unit filter arrangements which include either disposable or renewable filter medium.

Various other features of the present invention will become obvious to one skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure set forth hereinafter.

More particularly, the present invention provides a filter assembly comprising an open-ended border frame member having an upstream gas inlet and a downstream gas outlet, a pad of filter medium sized to fit within the border frame member, a first tape member mounted to the border frame member, the first tape member being provided with a first series of fastener elements mounted thereon, a second tape member mounted to the pad of filter medium, and a second series of fastening elements mounted to the second tape member removably engageable with the first series of fastening elements whereby the filter medium and pad can be removably mounted in the border frame member.

It is to be understood that various changes can be made by one skilled in the art in the arrangement, form and construction of the apparatus disclosed herein without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing which discloses two advantageous embodiments of the present invention:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of an open-ended border frame member disclosing a first tape member mounted to the side flange thereof;

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of a pad of filter medium sized to be mounted in the border frame member of FIGURE 1 and including a second tape member arranged to cooperate with the first tape member in the frame member of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the pad and frame members of FIGURES 1 and 2 in assembled position;

FIGURE 4 is a greatly enlarged cross-sectional view taken in a plane passing through line 44 of FIGURE 3, disclosing hook and eye-shaped pile threads on facing tape members in interlocking engagement; and,

FIGURE 5 is an isometric view of a corner portion of an open-ended border frame member, disclosing a modified structure for fastening the filter pad to the border frame member.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, open-ended border frame member 2 having upstream gas inlet 3 and downstream gas outlet 4 is disclosed. Frame member 2 3,127,259 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 includes side wall members 6 and side flange members 7, which define a gas passage opening. It is to be understood that the frame member can be made from any one of a number of suitable rigid materials, such as metal or cardboard, and, as can be seen in FIGURE 3 of the drawing, frame member 2 serves to accommodate a filter pad such as at 8 (FIGURE 2), sized to fit into the frame member so that the edges thereof extend substantially adjacent the side wall members 6 of the frame. Flter pad 8 can be made from any one of a number of suitable filter materials known in the art. For example, a pad made from a suitable foam polyurethane or fiber glass material can be used.

To hold pad 8 in securely fastened position in frame 2 and to permit ready removal thereof for purposes of renewal or replacement, a novel arrangement is disclosed. This arrangement includes a first tape member 12 fixedly motmted to the inner face of side flanges 7 of border member 2 by some suitable means such as gluing or stapling (FIGURE 1). A second tape member 13 is fixedly mounted by some equally suitable means to pad 8 along the periphery of the upstream face thereof (FIG- URE 2). The tape members 12 and 13 are sized to cooperatively contact each other in facing relationship when pad 8 is inserted in frame 2. The tape members 12 and 13 includes a series of hook and eye- shaped pile threads 24, 26, respectively (FIGURE 4). In this connection, attention is directed to US. Patent No. 2,717,437, issued to G. De Mestral on September 13, 1955, which suggests hook-shaped pile thread tape similar to that abovedescribed. It is to be noted that when tapes 12, 13 are placed in facing contact, the hooks 24 and eyes 26 of the tapes interlock to maintain filter pad 8 in securely fastened position in border frame member 2. Thus, in a simple, straightforward manner, a filter pad can be readily installed in its border frame member with a minimum of parts and with a minimum of operating steps. Further, the pad can be readily removed for purposes of replacement or renewal, the particular tape arrangement including the hook and eye-shaped pile threads, as disclosed in FIGURES 1-4, lending itself readily to cleaning operations in the event the pad is of the renewable type.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific fastening arrangement. as disclosed in FIGURES 1-4. In this connection, attention is directed to the structure disclosed in FIGURE 5 wherein male portion 31 of a conventional zipper is fixedly attached to border frame member 32 and female portion 33 of such conventional zipper is attached to a pad of filter medium 34, the male and female portions of the zippers being interlocked and disengaged by means of a conventional slider 36. Thus, pad 34 can be securely fastened in its border frame member in a simple, straightward operation and removed in an equally simple, straightforward manner.

The invention claimed is:

A filter assembly comprising a set of connected side Wall members having side flanges extending normal thereto and along an edge thereof to define an open-ended border frame member having an upstream gas inlet and a downstream gas outlet, said side flanges extending inwardly from said side wall members and adjacent said downstream gas outlet, a pad of filter medium including an upstream and downstream face and sized to fit within said border frame member with the edges thereof extending substantially adjacent the inner face of said side Wall members, a first tape member mounted-to the in ner face of said side flanges of said border frame member, said first tape member being provided with a first series of fastener elements mounted thereto and extending toward said upstream gas inlet, a second tape member mounted to said pad of filter medium along the periphery of said downstream face thereof, and a second series of fastener elements mounted to said second tape member and extending outwardly therefrom away from said downstream face of saidpad offilter medium, said first and second series of fastener elements being in the form of interlockably engageable and disengageable pile threads, said pad of filter medium being located within said border frame member with said pile threads of said tape members interlockably engaged, said interlockably engageable and disengageable pile threads constituting 4': means removably mounting said filter pad in said border frame member with said filter pad upstream of said side flanges whereby said tape members are urged into fast engagement with each other by the gas stream during gas treating operations to further retain said pad in said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Miller Mar. 28, 1961

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