Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
277 words
In a conduit transporting a fluid contaminated with solid particulates between a source and a disposal point a solid particulate filtering apparatus comprising: a housing across said conduit having an inlet connected to an upstream portion of the conduit extending from said source and an outlet connected to a downstream portion of the conduit continuing to said disposal point; a plurality of honeycomb filter elements located in the housing, each element being formed by a multiplicity of interconnected thin walls defining an inlet end face and an opposing outlet end face and a multiplicity of cells extending substantially mutually parallel and longitudinally through the element between the inlet and outlet end faces, an inlet group of the cells being open at the inlet end face and closed near the outlet end face, an outlet group of the cells being closed near the inlet end face and open at the outlet end face, the thin walls having interconnected open porosity of a volume and size sufficient to enable the fluid to flow at least across the narrow dimensions of the thin walls and to prevent at least a significant portion of the solid particulates from passing across or through the thin walls in any direction; and the elements being positioned in said housing such that the inlet end faces of all of said plurality of elements generally lie in a common plane and are exposed to the contaminated fluid transported to the housing through the upstream portion of the conduit, and the cells of all of the plurality of elements commonly extend substantially mutually parallel to each other, whereby said elements act in parallel to filter said fluid.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
277 words
In a conduit transporting a fluid contaminated with solid particulates between a source and a disposal point a solid particulate filtering apparatus comprising: a housing across said conduit having an inlet connected to an upstream portion of the conduit extending from said source and an outlet connected to a downstream portion of the conduit continuing to said disposal point; a plurality of honeycomb filter elements located in the housing, each element being formed by a multiplicity of interconnected thin walls defining an inlet end face and an opposing outlet end face and a multiplicity of cells extending substantially mutually parallel and longitudinally through the element between the inlet and outlet end faces, an inlet group of the cells being open at the inlet end face and closed near the outlet end face, an outlet group of the cells being closed near the inlet end face and open at the outlet end face, the thin walls having interconnected open porosity of a volume and size sufficient to enable the fluid to flow at least across the narrow dimensions of the thin walls and to prevent at least a significant portion of the solid particulates from passing across or through the thin walls in any direction; and the elements being positioned in said housing such that the inlet end faces of all of said plurality of elements generally lie in a common plane and are exposed to the contaminated fluid transported to the housing through the upstream portion of the conduit, and the cells of all of the plurality of elements commonly extend substantially mutually parallel to each other, whereby said elements act in parallel to filter said fluid.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said plurality of filters collectively have an effective diameter D and an effective length L less than said diameter D.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 2 wherein each of said plurality of filter elements has an effective diameter d and an effective length l less than said effective diameter d of each of the elements.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said elements are formed from ceramic materials.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The filter of claim 4 wherein the interconnected open porosity is greater than about 25% of the thin wall bulk volume and is formed by pores having mean diameters greater than about 1 micron.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
242 words
A method of filtering solid particulates from fluids comprising the steps of: dividing a conduit carrying the contaminated fluid into an upstream portion and a downstream portion with a partition; positioning a plurality of honeycomb filter elements through the partition, each element being formed by a multiplicity of thin interconnected walls defining an inlet end face and an opposing outlet end face and a multiplicity of inlet and outlet cells extending between the inlet and outlet end faces, the inlet cells being open at the inlet end face and closed near the outlet end face, the outlet cells being closed near the inlet end face and open at the outlet end face, the thin walls having interconnected open porosity of a volume and size sufficient to enable the fluid to flow at least across the narrow dimensions of the thin walls between adjoining cells and to prevent at least a significant portion of the solid particulates in the exhaust gas from passing entirely across or through the thin walls in any direction, the inlet end faces of all of said plurality of elements generally lying in a common plane and communicating with the upstream portion of the conduit, the cells of all of the plurality of elements commonly extending substantially mutually parallel to each other, and the outlet end face of each element communicating with the downstream portion of the conduit; and passing the fluid through the conduit and plurality of filters.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
242 words
A method of filtering solid particulates from fluids comprising the steps of: dividing a conduit carrying the contaminated fluid into an upstream portion and a downstream portion with a partition; positioning a plurality of honeycomb filter elements through the partition, each element being formed by a multiplicity of thin interconnected walls defining an inlet end face and an opposing outlet end face and a multiplicity of inlet and outlet cells extending between the inlet and outlet end faces, the inlet cells being open at the inlet end face and closed near the outlet end face, the outlet cells being closed near the inlet end face and open at the outlet end face, the thin walls having interconnected open porosity of a volume and size sufficient to enable the fluid to flow at least across the narrow dimensions of the thin walls between adjoining cells and to prevent at least a significant portion of the solid particulates in the exhaust gas from passing entirely across or through the thin walls in any direction, the inlet end faces of all of said plurality of elements generally lying in a common plane and communicating with the upstream portion of the conduit, the cells of all of the plurality of elements commonly extending substantially mutually parallel to each other, and the outlet end face of each element communicating with the downstream portion of the conduit; and passing the fluid through the conduit and plurality of filters.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the effective diameter of the plurality of filter elements have an effective length L and an effective diameter D greater than said effective length L.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
178 words
In a diesel engine exhaust gas pipe, a plurality of honeycomb filter elements positioned in a partition dividing the pipe into an upstream portion and a downstream portion, each filter element having an effective diameter d and an effective length 1 and comprising a matrix of thin porous walls defining an outlet inlet end face and an outlet end face on opposing outer surfaces of the filter and a multiplicity of cells extending substantially longitudinally and in a substantially mutually parallel fashion through the filter between the end faces, an inlet group of the cells open at the inlet end face and closed near the outlet end face, and an outlet group of the cells open at the outlet end face and closed near the inlet end face, the improvement comprising the ratio of d to l being greater than or equal to 1.0, the inlet end faces of all of said plurality of elements generally lying in a common plane and the cells of all of the plurality of elements commonly extending substantially parallel to each other.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
178 words
In a diesel engine exhaust gas pipe, a plurality of honeycomb filter elements positioned in a partition dividing the pipe into an upstream portion and a downstream portion, each filter element having an effective diameter d and an effective length 1 and comprising a matrix of thin porous walls defining an outlet inlet end face and an outlet end face on opposing outer surfaces of the filter and a multiplicity of cells extending substantially longitudinally and in a substantially mutually parallel fashion through the filter between the end faces, an inlet group of the cells open at the inlet end face and closed near the outlet end face, and an outlet group of the cells open at the outlet end face and closed near the inlet end face, the improvement comprising the ratio of d to l being greater than or equal to 1.0, the inlet end faces of all of said plurality of elements generally lying in a common plane and the cells of all of the plurality of elements commonly extending substantially parallel to each other.