OIL SEPARATOR

Abstract

An oil separator 10 includes: a case 11 having an inlet 12 and outlet 13; and an oil removal member 30 which is installed in the case 11 and separates and removes oil from passing compressed air. The compressed air flowing from the inlet 12 into the case 11 passes through the oil removal member 30 and flows out from the outlet 13. The oil separator 10 is configured to have an oil detector 20 that provides instructions in accordance with an amount of oil included in the compressed air passing through the oil removal member 30.

Claims

1-7. (canceled)

8. An oil separator comprising: a case having an inlet and outlet; and an oil removal member, which is installed in the case, and separates and removes oil from the passing compressed air; the oil separator being configured such that the compressed air flowing from the inlet into the case passes through the oil removal member and flows out from the outlet, wherein the oil separator further comprising: a pipe extending in such a way that a tip of the pipe is located inside the oil removal member in the case; an elongated-shaped detection pipe providing instructions in accordance with the quantity of the oil included in the passing compressed air; and a holding member which is formed with a channel, fixed to the case such that the pipe and channel are communicated with each other, and detachably holds said detection pipe such that the compressed air passing through the pipe and channel is introduced from the oil removal member to the detection pipe.

9. The oil separator according to claim 8, wherein the holding member comprises a valve mechanism to perform opening or closing of the channel.

10. The oil separator according to claim 8, wherein the holding member comprises: a detection pipe holder detachably holding one end of the detection pipe; and a coupling block that couples the detection pipe holder and the pipe.

11. The oil separator according to claim 9, wherein the holding member comprises: a detection pipe holder detachably holding one end of the detection pipe; and a coupling block that couples the detection pipe holder and the pipe.

12. The oil separator according to claim 10, comprising a detection pipe cover, detachably connected to the detection pipe holder at one end portion, and formed with a through hole in another end portion, the detection pipe cover covering the detection pipe in the state where the detection pipe can be seen from the outside.

13. The oil separator according to claim 11, comprising a detection pipe cover, detachably connected to the detection pipe holder at one end portion, and formed with a through hole in another end portion, the detection pipe cover covering the detection pipe in the state where the detection pipe can be seen from the outside.

14. The oil separator according to claim 8, wherein the outlet is located above the inlet in a height direction of the case, the pipe extends in the height direction of the case, and a tip of said pipe is located between the inlet and outlet in the height direction of the case.

15. The oil separator according to claim 14, wherein the outlet is provided at an upper end part of the case.

16. The oil separator according to claim 14, wherein the inlet is provided at a lower end part of the case.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an oil separator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an area E in FIG. 1, enlarged and partially exploded.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an oil separator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an oil detector that is used in an oil separator.

[0027] FIG. 5 is a front view showing a detection pipe that is used in the oil detector.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

[0029] The oil separator according to one aspect of the present invention is constituted as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the oil separator. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an area E in FIG. 1, enlarged and partially exploded. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the oil separator.

[0030] In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the oil separator 10 has a case 11. The case 11 includes, a cylindrical case body 11a, an upper lid 11b that covers an upper surface of the case body 11a, a lower lid 11c that covers a lower surface of the case body 11a, and a leg part 11d that is fixed to the lower lid 11c. The upper lid 11b (upper end part of the case 11) is provided with an outlet 13 that is connected from the inside of the case body 11a, and the lower lid 11b (lower end part of the case 11) is provided with an inlet 12 that is connected into the case body 11a.

[0031] The inside of the case body 11a is filled with an adsorption member 30 (oil removal member: polypropylene fiber for example), which absorbs oil in the passing compressed air to separate and remove oil from said compressed air. The oil separator 10 is connected to a compressed air circuit (not shown), so that the compressed air flown from the inlet 12 in the lower end part to the case body 11a is passed through the adsorption member 30 and flown out from the outlet 13 in the upper end part.

[0032] The oil separator 10 has an oil detector 20 that provides instructions in accordance with an amount of oil included in the compressed air passing through the adsorption member 30. The oil detector 20 is constituted such that a pipe 22, a holding member 25, and a detection pipe 21 are connected to extend in series in the vertical direction (height direction). The tip of the pipe 22 is located between the inlet 12 and the outlet 13 in the height direction of the case 11, that is, at a predetermined position in the height direction in the adsorption member 30 filling the case body 11a.

[0033] Furthermore, referring to FIG. 4 along with FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the holding member 25 of the oil detector 20 includes: a detection pipe holder 24 detachably holding one end of a detection pipe 21; and a coupling block 23 fixed to an upper lid 11b of the case 11. The coupling block 23 couples the detection pipe holder 24 and the pipe 22 that extends inside the case body 11a (adsorption member 30). In the holding member 25 consisting of the coupling block 23 and the detection pipe holder 24, a channel 25a extending throughout them is formed. The channel 25a communicates with the pipe 22, and introduces the compressed air passing through the pipe 22 into the detection pipe 21 held by the detection pipe holder 24. A narrow channel 24a for introducing an appropriate amount of the compressed air into the detection pipe 21 is included in a part of the channel 25a which is formed in the detection pipe holder 24. An O-ring 28 for keeping airtightness is provided in a part of the detection pipe holder 24 that helds one end of the detection pipe 21.

[0034] A valve mechanism (not shown) for opening or closing the channel 25a is provided in the coupling block 23 of the holding member 25. The valve mechanism performs opening or closing of the channel 25a in accordance with an operation of a lever 26. The oil detector 20 further includes a detection pipe cover 27 that covers the detection pipe 21 held by the detection pipe holder 24 in the state where the detection pipe 21 can be seen from the outside. The detection pipe cover 27 is constituted such that a connection part 27a detachably coupling with the detection pipe holder 24; a tube body 27b formed of transparent materials (glass, resin, etc.); a cap 27c an end surface of which is formed with a through hole 27d; are coupled in series in the respective longitudinal directions.

[0035] The elongated-shaped detection pipe 21 has an appearance as shown in FIG. 5, and provides instructions in accordance with the amount of the oil included in the compressed air passing through the pipe. As the dedetection pipe 21 for example, No. 109AD manufactured by Airtech can be used. In FIG. 5, a peripheral surface of the detection pipe 21 has a scale 21a (numerical value) that indicates the amount of the oil (0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 mg/m.sup.3) in the compressed air passing through inside of the detection pipe 21. The detection pipe 21 includes a reagent discolored by the oil included in the compressed air passing therethrough. The numerical value of the scale 21a corresponding to a boundary between different colors caused by discoloration indicates (represents) the amount of the oil included in the compressed air. As the amount of the oil included in the passing compressed air increases, a discolored area extends to a downstream side of a flow F of the compressed air, and the boundary between different colors corresponds to a greater value (indicating a larger amount of oil) of the scale 21a.

[0036] The oil separator 10 having the above mentioned structure is generally in the state where the channel 25a of the holding member 25 (coupling block 23, detection pipe holder 24) is closed by the lever 26. In this state, the compressed air flowing through the compressed air circuit to flow in the case body 11a from the inlet 12 passes through the adsorption member 30 to flow out from the outlet 13. When the compressed air passes through the adsorption member 30, oil components in said compressed air is absorbed to be removed by the adsorption member 30. As a result, clean compressed air, from which oil components are removed, flows in the compressed air circuit from the outlet 13.

[0037] When determining oil adsorption performance (oil removal performance) of the adsorption member 30, the channel 25a of the holding member 25 (coupling block 23, detection pipe holder 24) is opened by the lever 26. In this state, the compressed air flowing in the case body 11a from the inlet 12 passes through the adsorption member 30 to flow out from the outlet 13, and part of the compressed air passing through the adsorption member 30 is introduced in the oil detector 20. Specifically, part of the compressed air passing through the adsorption member 30 is introduced in the pipe 22, and the compressed air introduced in the pipe 22 passes through the channel 25a of the holding member 25 (coupling block 23, detection pipe holder 24) to be introduced in the detection pipe 21 held by the holding member 25 (detection pipe holder 24). Then, the flow F of the compressed air passing through the detection pipe 21 and escaping from the through hole 27d of the detection pipe cover 27 (cap 27) is formed (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 5).

[0038] A state where the flow F of the compressed air passing through the detection pipe 21 and escaping from the through hole 27d of the detection pipe cover 27 is formed in this way, is continued for a predetermined time (about 20 to 40 minutes, for example). Then, in the detection pipe 21, an area of a length corresponding to the amount of oil included in the compressed air passing through said detection pipe 21, that is, the amount of oil in the compressed air passing through the adsorption member 30, is discolored. The numerical value of the scale 21a corresponding to the boundary between the different colors caused by discoloration in the detection pipe 21 is shown to represent the amount of the oil included in the compressed air passing through the adsorption member 30. A user of the oil separator 10 can visually recognize the numerical value of the scale 21a corresponding to the boundary between different colors in the detection pipe 21 via the peripheral surface of the tube body 27b of the detection pipe cover 27.

[0039] The user of the oil separator 10 can determine the adsorption performance (oil removal performance) of the adsorption member 30 on the basis of the numerical value of the scale 21a corresponding to the boundary between different colors in the detection pipe 21. When the numerical value is small, that is, when the amount of the oil included in the compressed air passing through the adsorption member 30 is small, it can be determined that the adsorption member 30 appropriately removes the oil and a degree of reduction in adsorption performance (oil removal performance) of the adsorption member 30 is small (or the adsorption performance is not deteriorated). On the other hand, when the numerical value is large, that is, when the amount of the oil included in the compressed air passing through the adsorption member 30 is large, it can be determined that the adsorption member 30 does not appropriately remove the oil and a degree of reduction in adsorption performance (oil removal performance) of the adsorption member 30 is large.

[0040] When the numerical value of the scale 21a indicated by the detection pipe 21 exceeds a predetermined value (when the adsorption performance of the adsorption member 30 deteriorates beyond the limit), the detection pipe cover 27 can be removed from the detection pipe holder 24 to expose the detection pipe 21 and the detection pipe 21 held by the detection pipe holder 24 can be exchanged.

[0041] According to the oil separator 10 described above, the adsorption performance (oil removal performance) of the adsorption member 30 (oil removal member) can be determined in accordance with the numerical value of the scale 21a indicated by the detection pipe 21, the adsorption member 30 thus can be replaced at a suitable timing.

[0042] The tip of the pipe 22 of the oil detector 20 is located between the inlet 12 provided at the lower end part and the outlet 13 provided at the upper end part in the height direction (vertical direction) of the case 11, that is, located at a predetermined position in the height direction (vertical direction) in the adsorption member 30 in the case 11. Therefore, the adsorption performance of the adsorption member 30 can generally be determined on the basis of the amount of the oil included in the compressed air passing through the adsorption member 30 before the oil infiltrates into the upper end of the adsorption member 30, from the lower end of which the oil infiltrates. Thus, replacement time of the adsorption member 30 can be determined at a relatively early timing.

[0043] It should be noted that the positions of the inlet 12 and the outlet 13 are not limited to those described above (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 3), the outlet 13 may be located above the inlet 12 in the height direction of the case 11. In this case, the tip of the pipe 22 is located between the inlet 12 and the outlet 13 in the height direction of the case 10.

[0044] The structure of the oil detector 20 is not limited to the one that is described above (see FIG. 2 to FIG. 4). The oil detector 20 may at least consist of the pipe 22, the detection pipe 21, and the holding member 25. The holding member 25 is not limited to the one that has the structure including the coupling block 23 and the detection pipe holder 24, the holding member 25 may have the structure where the channel 25 is formed, the pipe 22 and the channel 25a are fixed to the case 11 (upper lid 11b) such that the pipe 22 and the channel 25a are communicated with each other, and the holding member 25 detachably holds the detection pipe 21 such that the compressed air passing through the pipe 22 and channel 25a is introduced from the adsorption member 30 to the detection pipe 21.

[0045] The adsorption member 30 is used as the oil removal member, however, the oil removal member is not limited thereto. The oil removal member may be the one that can separate and remove oil from the compressed air.

[0046] The embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, however, they are presented as an example and not intended to restrict the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments described above can be implemented in various other forms, and various omission, substitution, and modification can be employed without departing from the scope of the invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0047] The present invention has an effect that makes it possible to replace an oil removal member at a suitable timing and is useful as an oil separator to separate and remove oil from compressed air.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0048] 10 oil separator [0049] 11 case [0050] 11a case body [0051] 11b upper lid [0052] 11c lower lid [0053] 11d leg part [0054] 12 inlet [0055] 13 outlet [0056] 20 oil detector [0057] 21 detection pipe [0058] 21a indication part [0059] 22 pipe [0060] 23 coupling block [0061] 24 detection pipe holder [0062] 24a orifice [0063] 25 holding member [0064] 25b channel [0065] 26 lever [0066] 27 detection pipe cover [0067] 27a connection part [0068] 27b tube body [0069] 27c cap [0070] 27d through hole [0071] 28 O-ring [0072] 30 adsorption member (oil removal member)