APPARATUS FOR FILTERING A FLUID, IN PARTICULAR A PLASTIC MELT HAVING IMPURITIES, AND A VALVE ARRANGEMENT FOR SUCH A FLUID

Abstract

In one example, an apparatus for filtering a fluid (e.g., a plastic melt having impurities) includes a housing which has at least one inlet for introduction of the fluid and an outlet for delivery of the fluid and a cavity formed in the housing by wall portions of the housing for receiving a sieve support, and a sieve support which is arranged moveably in the cavity of the housing and has a longitudinal axis for receiving at least one filter element for filtering the fluid. The sieve support externally has a plurality of integrally formed raised portions and/or raised portions and/or recesses are formed at wall portions of the housing, that delimit the cavity, such that provided between the wall portion and the sieve support are a plurality of gaps/cavities, by means of which a slight fluid flow is enabled in operation. Another example concerns a valve arrangement.

Claims

1. A filtering apparatus (2) for filtering a fluid, in particular a plastic melt having impurities, comprising a housing (4) which has at least one inlet for introduction of the fluid and an outlet for delivery of the fluid and a cavity (8) formed in the housing (4) by wall portions (6) of the housing (4) for receiving a sieve support (10, 10′), and a sieve support (10, 10′) which is arranged moveably in the cavity (6) of the housing (4) and has a longitudinal axis (12) for receiving at least one filter element (14) for filtering the fluid, wherein the sieve support (10, 10′) externally has a plurality of integrally formed raised portions (16) and/or a non-rotationally symmetrical cross-section (22), and/or raised portions and/or recesses are formed at wall portions (6) of the housing (4), that delimit the cavity (6), in such a way that provided between the wall portion (6) and the sieve support (10′) are a plurality of gaps/cavities (18), by means of which a slight fluid flow is enabled in operation.

2. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the sieve support (10, 10′) externally has at least three and preferably four raised portions (16) and/or provided at wall portions (6) of the housing (4), that delimit the cavity (8) are raised portions and/or recesses which are arranged distributed along the periphery of the sieve support (10, 10′) in such a way that the sieve support (10, 10′) is arranged substantially centred within the cavity (8) of the housing (4) in such a way that provided between the wall portion (6) and the sieve support (10′) are a plurality of gaps/cavities (18), by means of which a slight fluid flow is enabled in operation.

3. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the raised portions (16) extend substantially in the direction of the longitudinal axis (12) of the sieve support (10, 10′) and rectilinearly.

4. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the raised portions (16) are arranged uniformly spaced in the direction of the periphery of the sieve support (10, 10′).

5. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the raised portions (16) are of a height (h) in the region of about 0.05 to 3 mm, preferably in the region of about 0.1 to 0.2 mm, in relation to the otherwise diameter of the sieve support (10).

6. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the raised portions (16) are formed from a low-wear material, in particular metal or plastic.

7. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the sieve support (10) perpendicularly to the sieve support longitudinal axis (12) and/or the wall portion (6) of the housing (4) that delimits the cavity (8), is of a cross-section (22) of equal thickness, said cross-section providing the raised portions (16) of the sieve support (10) and/or the raised portions and/or recesses of the wall portions (6).

8. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 7 wherein the cross-section (22) of equal thickness is in the form of a triangular or quadrangular equal-thickness cross-section (22).

9. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 7 wherein the equal-thickness cross-section (22) is in the form of a Reuleaux triangle.

10. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the sieve support (10, 10′) perpendicularly to the sieve support longitudinal axis (12) and/or the wall portion (6) of the housing (4), that delimits the cavity (8), is of a polygonal cross-section, the cross-section in particular having three, four, five or more corners, wherein the corners are preferably rounded.

11. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the sieve support (10, 10′) perpendicularly to the sieve support longitudinal axis (12) and/or the wall portion (6) of the housing (4), that delimits the cavity (8), is of a elliptical cross-section.

12. A filtering apparatus (2) according to claim 1 wherein the sieve support (10, 10′) is arranged radially and/or axially moveably in the cavity (8).

13. A valve arrangement (102, 202), in particular for a plastic melt having impurities, comprising a housing (104, 204) which has at least one inlet for introduction of the fluid and at least one outlet for delivery of the fluid and a cavity (108, 208) formed in the housing (104, 204) by wall portions (106, 206) of the housing (104, 204) for receiving a valve bolt (110, 210), and a valve bolt (110, 210) which is arranged moveably in the cavity (108, 208) of the housing (104, 204) for selectively enabling, distributing and/or blocking the fluid flow through the housing (104, 204), wherein the valve bolt (110, 210) externally has a plurality of integrally formed raised portions (116, 216) and/or a non-rotationally symmetrical cross-section and/or raised portions and/or recesses are formed at wall portions (106, 206) of the housing (104, 204), that delimit the cavity (108, 208), in such a way that provided between the wall portion (106, 206) and the valve bolt (110, 210) are a plurality of gaps/cavities (118, 218), by means of which a slight fluid flow is enabled in operation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter by means of preferred embodiments by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures in which:

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of a filtering apparatus according to the invention,

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the embodiment of the filtering apparatus according to the invention as shown in FIG. 1,

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the embodiment of the filtering apparatus according to the invention as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,

[0045] FIGS. 4 and 5 show further views of the filtering apparatus according to the invention as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3,

[0046] FIGS. 6 and 7 show a perspective view and a side view of a sieve support according to the invention,

[0047] FIG. 8a shows a cross-sectional view of the sieve support according to the invention,

[0048] FIG. 8b shows a sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a sieve support according to the invention, and

[0049] FIGS. 9 to 13 show various views and operating states of an embodiment of a shut-off valve according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a filtering apparatus 2 having a housing 4 with a receiving cavity 8 in which a sieve support 10 is received. The sieve support 10 is arranged moveably with respect to the cavity 8 in the direction of a sieve support longitudinal axis 12. The housing 4 in per se known manner has an inlet for introduction of a fluid to be filtered and an outlet for delivery of the filtered fluid (not shown).

[0051] At its outside the sieve support 10 has a plurality of integral sieve support raised portions 16. The receiving cavity 8 of the housing 4 is cylindrical. The consequence of this is that gaps or cavities 18 are formed between the receiving cavity 8 and the sieve support 10 in the region of housing wall portions 6, by means of which gaps or cavities a slight fluid flow is possible in operation. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the filtering apparatus.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows the structural configuration of the sieve support 10 by means of a sectional view, in section along the plane A-A in FIG. 2. The sieve support 10 has filter elements 14, by means of which the fluid is filtered. In the present case the sieve support 10 has a total of four sieve support raised portions 16 arranged uniformly spaced around the periphery of the sieve support 10. Besides centring the sieve support in the receiving cavity 8, the arrangement of the sieve support raised portions 16 provides that a plurality of gaps or cavities 18 are formed between the wall portion and the sieve support 10, wherein a fluid flow is made possible in operation within those gaps or cavities 18.

[0053] FIG. 4 shows the filtering apparatus 2 in a so-called sieve change position. The sieve support 10 is moved out of the housing 4 to such an extent that one of the filter elements 14 is accessible from outside the housing 4 and can be replaced or subjected to a maintenance procedure. In FIG. 5 the filtering apparatus 2 is in an operating position in which fluid can be filtered by means of the filter elements 14. The filter elements 14 are not accessible from outside the filtering apparatus 2 in the filtering position.

[0054] FIGS. 6 and 7 show a sieve support 10 without filter elements 14 fitted into the filter element mountings 20. The sieve support raised portions 16 in the present case are arranged spaced uniformly around the periphery of the sieve support 10 and extend in the direction of the longitudinal axis 12 of the sieve support 10 and rectilinearly.

[0055] The cross-section of the sieve support 10 is shown in FIG. 8a. Once again the Figure shows the arrangement of the sieve support raised portions 16, spaced uniformly around the periphery. In the present case the sieve support 10 has four sieve support raised portions, the invention however not being restricted to that arrangement. Rather, it is also possible to arrange three sieve support raised portions 16 on the sieve support 10 or even a larger number of raised portions 16. The raised portions 16 extend in the direction of the longitudinal axis 12 of the sieve support 10 and in particular rectilinearly. The raised portions 16 are of a height h in the region of about 0.05 to 3 mm, preferably in the region of about 0.1 to 0.2 mm, in relation to the otherwise diameter of the sieve support 10. In the present case the raised portions 16 are formed from metal but can also be formed from another, preferably low-wear material like in particular plastic.

[0056] FIG. 8b shows an alternative embodiment of a sieve support 10′. The sieve support 10′ arranged in a cylindrical receiving cavity 8 is of an equal-thickness cross-section 22. In the present case the equal-thickness cross-section 22 is in the form of a triangular equal-thickness cross-section 22. In comparison with the embodiment of a sieve support 10 shown in FIG. 8a the sieve carrier 10′ shown in FIG. 8b has larger gaps or cavities 18 between the housing wall portion 6 and the sieve support 10′. Basically as a result the configuration of the sieve support 10′ with the equal-thickness cross-section 22 permits a greater fluid flow between the receiving cavity 8 and the sieve support 10′, with the sieve support 10′ at the same time being centred exactly in the cavity 8.

[0057] FIGS. 9 to 13 show an embodiment of a shut-off valve 102 having a housing 104 which has wall portions 106 and forms a receiving cavity 108. The shut-off valve 102 is based on the same inventive idea as the filtering apparatus 2. The housing 104 has a first inlet/outlet 120 and a second inlet/outlet 122. Arranged in the receiving cavity 108 is a valve bolt 110 which is arranged moveably axially along a valve bolt longitudinal axis 112 relative to the housing 104.

[0058] The valve bolt 110 has a continuous flow passage in the form of a preferably cylindrical bore 124 which, when it is in fluidic communication with the first inlet/outlet 120 and the second inlet/outlet 122 by virtue of appropriate positioning of the valve bolt 110 relative to the housing 104, enables a passage from the first inlet/outlet 120 to the second inlet/outlet 122 and blocks a fluid flow from the first inlet/outlet 120 to the second inlet/outlet 122, when the flow passage is in non-fluidic communication with the first inlet/outlet 120 and the second inlet/outlet 122.

[0059] In the operating state shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 the shut-off valve 102 is thus in a passage position in which a fluid flow is enabled from the first inlet/outlet 120 to the second inlet/outlet 122. When the valve bolt 110 is moved into the position shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 the valve bolt 110 blocks a fluid flow from the first inlet/outlet 120 to the second inlet/outlet 122. The shut-off valve 102 is in a blocking position in the state shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.

[0060] At its outside the valve bolt 110 has a plurality of integral valve bolt raised portions 116. The receiving cavity 108 of the housing 104 or the corresponding housing wall portions 106 form a cylindrical cavity. As also in the similar way in respect of the filtering apparatus 2, that has the result that gaps or cavities 118 are formed in the regions between the raised portions 116 and the wall portions 106, with a slight fluid flow being possible in operation in those gaps or cavities 118. Arranging the valve bolt raised portions 116 along the periphery of the valve bolt 110 also provides that it is substantially centred within the cavity 108 of the housing 104.

[0061] According to the invention in this case the valve bolt 110 can alternatively be of a rotationally symmetrical configuration and the housing wall portions 106 can have raised portions and/or recesses. In addition in accordance with the invention both the valve bolt 110 can have integral raised portions 116 and/or can be of a non-rotationally symmetrical cross-section and also the housing wall portions 106 in turn can have raised portions and/or recesses. Similarly to the view in FIG. 8a the valve bolt 110 can have a plurality of raised portions 116 which are uniformly spaced around its periphery or however, as shown in FIG. 8b, it can have an equal-thickness cross-section or a polygonal or elliptical cross-section.

LIST OF REFERENCES USED

[0062] 2 filtering apparatus [0063] 4 housing [0064] 6 housing wall portions [0065] 8 receiving cavity [0066] 10, 10′ sieve support [0067] 12 sieve support longitudinal axis [0068] 14 filter element [0069] 16 sieve support raised portions [0070] 18 gap/cavity [0071] 20 filter element mounting [0072] 22 equal-thickness cross-section (triangular) [0073] h height of the raised portions [0074] 102 shut-off valve [0075] 104 housing [0076] 106 housing wall portions [0077] 108 receiving cavity [0078] 110 valve bolt [0079] 112 valve bolt longitudinal axis [0080] 116 valve bolt raised portions [0081] 118 gap/cavity [0082] 120 first inlet/outlet [0083] 122 second inlet/outlet [0084] 124 flow passage [0085] 202 distributor valve [0086] 204 housing [0087] 206 housing wall portions [0088] 208 receiving cavity [0089] 210 valve bolt [0090] 212 valve bolt longitudinal axis [0091] 216 valve bolt raised portions [0092] 218 gap/cavity [0093] 220 first inlet/outlet [0094] 222 second inlet/outlet [0095] 224 third inlet/outlet [0096] 226 fourth inlet/outlet [0097] 228 upper inlet/outlet