Liquid and gas separating assembly

Claim 1

A liquid and gas separating assembly for a compressor comprising: outer shell means having end and side walls which define a storage container for the accumulation of liquid, said outer shell means being provided with a liquid-gas mixture inlet port for receiving and directing into said outer shell means the discharge from a compressor, said outer shell means further having liquid and gas discharge ports, said mixture inlet port being disposed at a level displaced vertically above said liquid discharge port and said gas discharge port being disposed at a level vertically intermediate said mixture inlet and liquid discharge ports; inner shell means having end and side walls which define a liquid impervious container, said inner shell means being mounted within said outer shell means so as to be partially submerged in liquid accumulated in said outer shell means, said inner shell means being provided with a mixture inlet communicating with the interior of said outer shell means at a vertical level above the level to which the liquid is permitted to accumulate, said inner shell means further being provided with a gas discharge port which communicates with and is sealed to said outer shell means gas discharge port; liquid-gas filter separator means disposed within said inner shell means between said inner shell means mixture inlet and gas discharge ports for separating liquid from gas and passing said gas to said gas discharge ports; and conduit means for removing liquid separated by said separator means from the mixture delivered to said inner shell means, said conduit means extending continuously from the vicinity of the vertically lowest region of said inner shell means through a wall of said outer shell means and being connected to the compressor at the suction inlet thereof whereby continuous scavenging of liquid from the inner shell means will occur when the compressor is operating.