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US4516993A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Carbon particulates cleaning device

Assignee: Denso Corp
•
Filing: 1983-05-31
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Granted: 1985-05-14
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Expires: 2003-05-31
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Abstract

Abstract A carbon particulates cleaning device for collecting carbon particulates in exhaust gases discharged from an internal combustion engine and burning off the collected carbon particulates, is disclosed. The carbon particulates cleaning device comprises a heat resistant filter member, an electric heater which is provided on the upstream end surface of the filter member for regenerating the filter member, and an electric power source for supplying electric current to the electric heater. The electric heater is composed of at least two kinds of heating resistors, each of which applies different electric power to a unit area of the upstream end surface of the filter member. At the filter member regenerating time, electric current is supplied to the heating resistors successively in the order of from one providing the maximum electric power density to one providing the minimum electric power density.

Inventors

  • 👤 Yukihisa Takeuchi
  • 👤 Masahiro Tomita

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-27 11:55
CPC Classifications
F; F01; F01N; F01N3/00; F01N3/02; F01N3/021; F01N3/023; F01N3/027; B; B01; B01D; B01D46/00; B01D46/66; B01D46/80; B01D46/84; B01D2279/00; B01D2279/30; F01N2390/00; F01N2390/02; F02; F02B; F02B1/00; F02B1/02; F02B1/04; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S55/00; Y10S55/10; Y10S55/30

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim 256 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device for collecting carbon particulates in exhaust gases discharged from an engine and burning off the collected carbon particulates, comprising: a casing having an inlet port and a discharge port for introducing and discharging said exhaust gases; a filter member for collecting carbon particulates in said exhaust gases which is disposed within said casing between said inlet port and said discharge port; said filter member being made of heat resistant material and being provided with a large number of open passages through which said exhaust gases flow; an electric heater means for heating and igniting the carbon particulates collected by said filter member; said electric heater means being composed of at least two kinds of heating resistors which are constructed so as to provide different electric power densities to be applied to said filter member, said at least two kinds of heating resistors being adhered to the upstream end surface of said filter member so as to be distributed thereon uniformly; an electric current supplying means connected to said heater means for supplying electric current from an electric power source to said at least two kinds of heating resistors in succession in the order of from one providing the maximum electric power density to one providing the minimum electric power density at predetermined time intervals; and means connected to said electric current supplying means for detecting when the amount of the carbon particulates collected by said filter member reaches a predetermined level and for initiating operation of said electric current supplying means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 256 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device for collecting carbon particulates in exhaust gases discharged from an engine and burning off the collected carbon particulates, comprising: a casing having an inlet port and a discharge port for introducing and discharging said exhaust gases; a filter member for collecting carbon particulates in said exhaust gases which is disposed within said casing between said inlet port and said discharge port; said filter member being made of heat resistant material and being provided with a large number of open passages through which said exhaust gases flow; an electric heater means for heating and igniting the carbon particulates collected by said filter member; said electric heater means being composed of at least two kinds of heating resistors which are constructed so as to provide different electric power densities to be applied to said filter member, said at least two kinds of heating resistors being adhered to the upstream end surface of said filter member so as to be distributed thereon uniformly; an electric current supplying means connected to said heater means for supplying electric current from an electric power source to said at least two kinds of heating resistors in succession in the order of from one providing the maximum electric power density to one providing the minimum electric power density at predetermined time intervals; and means connected to said electric current supplying means for detecting when the amount of the carbon particulates collected by said filter member reaches a predetermined level and for initiating operation of said electric current supplying means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 21 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein: said filter member is made of porous ceramic or metal fiber.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 44 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein: each of said heating resistors is made of a material selected from the group consisting of nichrome alloy, platinum, molybdenum-manganese alloy, tungsten, gold, silver-paradium alloy, titanium nitride, titanium carbide, silicon carbide and molybdenum silicate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 34 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein: each of said heating resistors has the form of a wave-shaped wire which is adhered to said upstream end surface of said filter member.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 59 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein: said wave-shaped heating resistors are made of the same material as one another and have the same wire length and wire diameter as one another; and the distance between adjacent waves of at least one of said wave-shaped heating resistors is smaller than that of the other heating resistors.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 56 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein: said wave-shaped heating resistors are made of the same material as one another and have the same shape and wire length as one another; and the wire diameter of at least one of said wave-shaped heating resistors is larger than that of the other heating resistors.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 50 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein: said wave-shaped heating resistors have the same shape, wire length, and wire diameter as one another; and at least one of said heating resistors is made of the material having a resistivity smaller than that of the other heating resistors.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 53 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein: said wave-shaped heating resistors are made of the same material as one another and have the same wire diameter as one another; and the wire length of at least one of said heating resistors is smaller than that of the other heating resistors.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 55 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 4, wherein: said wave-shaped heating resistors are made of the same material as one another and have the same shape, wire length, wire diameter as one another; and a resistor is connected to each of said heating resistors except for at least one heating resistor in series.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 41 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein: each of said heating resistors had the form of a film which is formed on said upstream end surface of said filter member so as to be separated from one another.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 53 words
An exhaust gas cleaning device according to claim 5, wherein: said film-shaped heating resistors are made of the same material as one another and have the same thickness as one another; the surface area of at least one of said film-shaped heating resistors is smaller than that of the other film-shaped heating resistors.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4105530A Cited
US4276066A Cited
US4427418A Cited
JPS57195814A Cited
JPS57203812A Cited
JPS57203813A Cited
US4373330A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1988-05-13 1988-11-12 1989-05-14 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1992-05-13 1992-11-12 1993-05-14 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1996-05-13 1996-11-12 1997-05-14 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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