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EP0520737A1 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Filter assembly with a spin welded end cap

Assignee: Pall Corp
•
Filing: 1992-06-23
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Granted: —
•
Expires: 2012-06-23
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Abstract

Abstract The filter assembly includes a filter element (10) having an end surface and an end cap (20) connected to the end surface by spin welding. The end cap (20) has an outer diameter that need be no larger than the outer diameter of the end surface of the filter element. Prior to spin welding, the end cap (20) may have a surface with a sacrificial ridge extending from the surface. The end cap (20) is spin welded to the end surface of the filter element (10) by rotating the filter element (10) and the end cap (20) with respect to one another while contacting the sacrificial ridge with the end surface of the filter element, melting the sacrificial ridge by the contact with the filter element (10) to form a molten plastic, and joining the surface of the end cap (20) to the end surface of the filter element (10) with the molten plastic. Also disclosed is a method of spin welding a filter pack (11) to an end cap (20) without a sacrificial ridge.

Inventors

  • 👤 Clayton Lew Reed
  • 👤 John E. Ryan, Jr.
  • 👤 Bruce R. German

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-06 00:39
CPC Classifications
B; B01; B01D; B01D29/00; B01D27/00; B01D27/005; B01D27/04; B01D27/06; B01D27/08; B01D29/11; B01D29/111; B01D29/13; B01D29/15; B01D29/21; B01D29/88; B01D29/90; B01D29/902; B01D2201/00; B01D2201/04; B01D2201/0407

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim 47 words
A filter assembly comprising: a cylindrical filter element having an end; an end cap having an end surface spin welded to the end of the filter element and having an outer diameter that is no larger than the outer diameter of the end of the filter element.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 44 words
A filter assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the filter element comprises a cylindrical filter pack and a cylindrical filter core coaxially disposed inside the filter pack, wherein the end surface of the end cap is connected to the core by spin welding.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 51 words
A filter assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the end cap has an outer periphery and an axis, and the end surface of the end cap slopes with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis from the outer periphery towards the axis of the end cap.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 18 words
A filter assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 3 wherein the filter element has no core.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 35 words
A filter assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 - 4 wherein the filter element comprises a corrugated filter pack having pleats which increase in denseness towards the end of the filter element.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 24 words
A filter assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein the pleats of the filter pack are twisted at the end of the filter element.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 50 words
A filter assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 - 6 wherein the filter element has a hollow center and the end cap has a projection with a cylindrical outer surface extending from the end surface of the end cap into the hollow center of the filter element.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 60 words
An end cap for spin welding to a cylindrical filter element having a hollow center, the end cap comprising: a base having an outer periphery and a first surface for connection to an end surface of a filter element; and a generally annular sacrificial ridge extending from the first surface and located inward from the outer periphery of the base.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 42 words
An end cap as claimed in claim 8 wherein the base has an axis and the first surface slopes with respect to a plane perpendicular to an axis of the base from the outer periphery of the base towards the sacrificial ridge.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 27 words
An end cap as claimed in claim 9 wherein the angle of the first surface with respect to the plane is no greater than about 4 degrees.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 38 words
An end cap as claimed in any one of claims 8 - 10 wherein the sacrificial ridge is higher than any portion of the first surface when the end cap is disposed with the first surface facing upwards.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 35 words
An end cap as claimed in any one of claims 8 - 11 wherein the sacrificial ridge has an inner diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the hollow center of the filter element.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 41 words
An end cap as claimed in any one of claims 8 - 12 wherein the base includes a cylindrical sleeve extending from the first surface, and the sacrificial ridge is coaxially disposed with respect to the sleeve and radially outward therefrom.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 17 words
An end cap as claimed in claim 13 wherein the sacrificial ridge is integral with the sleeve.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 31 words
An end cap as claimed in any one of claims 8 - 14 further comprising connecting means for connecting the end cap to a spin head of a spin welding system.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 48 words
An end cap as claimed in claim 15 wherein the base has a second surface and the connecting means comprises a hole, ridge or slot formed in the second surface of the end cap for engaging a mating member of a spin head of a spin welding system.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 71 words
An end cap adapted to be spin welded to an end of a filter element, the end cap comprising: a base having an axis, an outer periphery, and a first surface, wherein the first surface slopes with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the base such that the outer periphery of the base would first contact the plane when the plane approaches the first surface of the base.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 27 words
An end cap as claimed in claim 17 wherein the angle of the first surface with respect to the plane is no greater than about 4 degrees.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 50 words
A housing for a cylindrical filter element, the housing comprising: a cylindrical housing body having an inner surface; and one or more projections extending inward from the inner surface of the housing body and defining a cylinder having substantially the same diameter as the outer diameter of the filter element.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 20 words
A housing as claimed in claim 19 wherein each projection extends helically along the inner surface of the housing body.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 41 words
A housing as claimed in claim 19 or claim 20 wherein the housing body has an outer surface having at least one helical groove formed therein and wherein the projections comprise the inner surface of the groove inside the housing body.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 96 words
A filter arrangement comprising: a filter assembly comprising a cylindrical filter element having first and second ends, an outer peripheral surface, and first and second end caps spin welded to the first and second ends, respectively, each of the end caps having an outer diameter that is no larger than the outer diameter of the corresponding end of the filter element; and a housing comprising a cylindrical housing body having an inner surface and a helical projection that projects inward from the inner surface of the housing body for supporting the filter element against reverse pressure.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 20 words
A filter arrangement as claimed in claim 22 wherein the projection contacts the outer peripheral surface of the filter element.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 70 words
A spin welding method for attaching an end cap to a filter element, the method comprising: contacting a sacrificial ridge of an end cap with an end surface of a filter element core while the filter element and the end cap are undergoing relative rotation to melt at least a portion of the sacrificial ridge by friction; and pressing the end cap against the end surface of the filter element.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 78 words
A spin welding method for attaching an end cap to a filter element to form a filter assembly, the spin welding method comprising: contacting an end cap with an end surface of a filter element while the filter element and the end cap are undergoing relative rotation inside a cylindrical retainer to melt at least a portion of the end cap or the filter element; and pressing the end cap against the end surface of the filter element.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 135 words
A spin welding system for connecting an end cap to a filter element, the spin welding system comprising: an inner retainer having a cylindrical surface; a filter element holder comprising an outer retainer having a cylindrical surface and defining with the inner retainer an annular space, and a clamp for holding a filter element in the annular space with the inner and outer retainers overlapping an end of a filter element held by the clamp; an end cap holder for holding an end cap in a position confronting an end surface of a filter element held by the clamp; means for producing relative rotation of the filter element holder and the end cap holder; and means for pressing an end cap held by the end cap holder against a filter element held by the clamp.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 27 words
A spin welding system of claim 26 which provides for spin welding of the end cap to the filter element when the filter element contains no core.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 18 words
A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the inner retainer is secured to the end cap holder.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim 21 words
A system as claimed in claim 26 or claim 27 wherein the inner retainer is secured to the filter element holder.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim 114 words
A filter assembly comprising: a cylindrical filter element having an end surface; and an end cap comprising a base with an end surface and having had a sacrificial ridge projecting from the end surface of the base, the end cap being spin welded to the end surface of the filter element by rotating the filter element and the end cap with respect to one another while contacting the sacrificial ridge with the end surface of the filter element, melting the sacrificial ridge by the contact with the filter element to form a molten plastic, and joining the end surface of the base to the end surface of the filter element with the molten plastic.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

CA824484A Cited
US3547719A Cited
US3850813A Cited
DE3837423A1 Cited
GB2230472A Cited

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