Method of and apparatus for purifying oil

July 9, 1940. _M gaertner 2,207,399

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING OIL

Filed Sept. 25. 1937 ' 5 Sheets-Sheet 1

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INVENTOR.

MORITZ GAERTNER

<img file="US2207399A_D0002.tif" />

ATTORNEY.

July 9, 1940.

M. GAERTNER

2,207,399

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING OIL

Filed Sept. 25, 1937

Sheets-Sheet 2

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INVENTOR /WO/V/SED GHm>77V£m

ΒΎ >->. c —\ _

ATTORNEY.

July 9, 1940. m. gaertner 2,207,399

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING OIL Filed Sept. 25, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 3

<img file="US2207399A_D0004.tif" />

July 9, 1940.

M. GAERTNER

2,207,399

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING OIL

Tiled Sept. 25. 1937

Sheets-Sheet 4

<img file="US2207399A_D0005.tif" />

ATTORNEY.

July 9, 1940.

M. GAERTNER

2,207,399

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING OIL

Filed Sept. 25, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5

<img file="US2207399A_D0006.tif" />

Patented July 9,1940

2,207,399

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,207,399 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING OIL

Moritz Gaertaer, New York, N. Y.

Application September 25,1937, Serial No. 165,658

Claims.

The present invention relates to the art of purifying oil, and, more particularly, to an improved process of and apparatus for purifying lubricating oil.

As those skilled in the art know, it is one of the most important requirements in the construction and operation of machinery, to provide adequate lubrication and an adequate supply of lubricants to all surfaces having a sliding dis10 placement with respect to each other. In engineering practice it was customary to provide a substantially closed circulation of the liquid lubricants such as oil through the various parts of the machinery requiring lubrication, the cir15 culation being maintained by means of a pump.

If the circulatory system was properly designed and operated, the parts to be lubricated have been continuously provided with a satisfactory and sufficient supply of liquid lubricants.

Although a system of the described character operated satisfactorily for a certain length of time, gradually various impurities found their way into the oil stream and contaminated the same. These impurities generally referred to as 25 sludge have been found to gradually form in the oil, decreasing its lubricating value, to increase the wear of cooperating parts and to generally detrimentally influence the operation of the machine. This disadvantage was particularly ³⁰ strongly felt in the operation of internal combustion engines, such as automotive engines where the problem was greatly aggravated by the high temperatures and pressures to which the lubricating oil was subjected during the Operation of the engine.

Experiments have shown that the composition of the sludge accumulating in oil circulating systems of various internal combustion engines 40 is subjected to very wide variations. In addition to this, all sludges consist of complex mixtures of various substances finding their way into the lubricating system or produced from the oil during the conditions of operation, such as ^a road dust and other impurities contained in the air delivered to the combustion chambers, moisture, metallic particles of the sliding surfaces, and the like. Thus, a typical sludge obtained 50 from the average of 225 samples taken from the

Dilution—___________________________

Insolubles —__________________________

Asphaltenes__:________________________

Carbon_____;_______________________-—

Ash___________________________:----Iron oxide___________________________

Copper oxide—________________________

Tin oxide___________;__________________

Lead oxide____________________________

Metals___________:____________________

Silica________________________________

Silica from iron_______________________

Other compounds____________________(Cl. 210—43) crank cases of automotive engines was found to contain the following substances:

14.6000 .4840 .0640 5 .2740 .1515 .1075 .0035 .0051 ³⁰.0012 .1178 .0167 .0122 .0169 is

This table clearly indicates that the average . sludge found in contaminated lubricating oils is of a highly complex character and contains a wide variety of harmful ingredients. In addition to the above impurities, sulphur-containing ²⁰. acids can generally be found in all crank-case drainings. This can come from traces of sulphur remaining in the finished oil or the finished gasoline, which may form gums and other detri- _2gmental impurities. Fatty acids found in oil drainings are the result apparently of oxidation and while they are greasy and improve the adhesive quality or oiliness of the oil, they combine very rapidly with the water and oil to form soaps ₃θ and emulsions. The fatty acids contained in the sludge consist largely of oleic acid with additions of formic, acetic and butyric acids. The complexity of the average sludge makes it easily understood why the purification of lubricating 35 oil is connected with such great difficulties.

The accumulation of sludge and of water in the circulatory lubricating system of various engines was soon recognized to be the principal reason of excessive wear on the various rotat- 40 ing and reciprocating parts. The customary procedure was to pass the impure or contaminated oil through a mass of foraminous material; such as fabric, cotton fiber, paper pulp, fuller’s earth, etc., etc. These foraminous materials were con- 45 tamed in a filter which was connected in series with all or with a portion of the oil· stream. These conventional Alters generally comprised one or sometimes a plurality of such foraminous members or material having openings, pores, 50

2,207,399 a substantial portion of the total operating cost of the engine. However, the cost and trouble involved in the frequent changing of the oil did, not constitute all of the disadvantages of this conventional procedure. It has been found by ® experiments of various lubricating experts, that the oil which has been employed and circulated in the lubricating system of an engine for a considable length of time, if the impurities and sludge gradually collected therein are continu- ¹⁰ously removed, actually increases its lubricating power and efficiency in that certain chemical and physical changes are taking part therein and the portions subject to ready chemical decomposition under high temperatures and pressures have 1® been already converted to sludge. By removing all of these impurities in a positive and satisfactory way, a stable lubricating oil of superior quality and efficiency is obtained which is capable of reducing friction and engine wear to a mini- ²⁰mum never obtained heretofore On a practical scale.

From the foregoing considerations, the importance, the gravity and the vexatious character of the problem will readily be appreciated. 25 Although from time to time various suggestions and proposals have been made to solve the outstanding problem, none, as far as I am aware, of these suggestions and proposals was completely satisfactory and successful when carried into 30 practice on a practical and commercial scale.

I have discovered that the problem may be solved in a remarkably simple manner.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of purifying oil which is free from 3® the disadvantages and inconveniences of conventional oil treating methods. .

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel and improved method of purifying lubricating oils which dispenses with the inef- 40 flcient, expensive, and detrimental foramlnous elements of conventional filtering methods and which employs a novel physical principle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel and improved purifying method for 45 viscous liquids .which involves the application of acceleration, decderation, selective friction, constriction, expansion and change of direction of a stream of liquid for separating sludge and other impurities therefrom. ®°

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel purifying, desludging and improving method for the treatment of lubricating oil in which not the difference in size between the oil and sludge particles but the difference in other K5 of their physical properties such as particularly mass, molecular attraction and frictional coef-* ficient are relied upon for the separation.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to split a liquid stream into an upper and a lower 80 layer by means of differential and selective fric- ,. tion and acceleration, the upper layer being constituted of liquid of increasing purity-flowing above the lower layer of accumulated impurities ' which due to their different acceleration, surface 8® attraction and higher specific gravity will gradually drop through downward passages provided for this purpose into a sump chamber and are permanently withdrawn from the stream.

The invention also contemplates a hovel oil 70 purifier capable of carrying the method of the present invention into practice.

It is also within contemplation of the present invention to provide a novel and improved oil purifying apparatus capable of handling a 7® fissures and the like, sufficiently small to retain the impurities without blocking the passage of the pure oil. Filters of this type have become an integral part of most engines and particularly of internal combustion engines. However, the conventional filters did not provide a satisfactory solution of the problem. First of all, the very ability of the filter surfaces or foramina to retain small particles of impurities caused these 10 particles to be permanently retained therein, to clog the openings and to soon completely stop the operation and the efficiency of the filter. In most of the conventional filters in which a socalled filter cartridge was provided constituted of 15 porous cellulosic material, waste cotton and the like, the cartridge became practically useless after a short period of operation or after a few hundred miles. Of course, the filter cartridges were too expensive for being discarded every few hun20 dred miles, and have generally been retained for at least 5 to 10,000 miles. Now, it has been ascertained that a filter cartridge which has been in use for such a length of time, did not only completely outlive its usefulness, but in fact pro25 vided an added danger to the fefflciency of lubrication in that the pressure of oil has made a relatively wide passage through which the oil would stream unfiltered or clogging up the filter increased the pressure of oil circulation whereby 30 at times even particles previously caught and retained in the filter element were freed and returned into the oil circulation where they caused a substantial danger to the machinery. Moreover, the operation of conventional foramlnous 8® filters was very slow in view of the restricted foramlnous passages, so that a long time was required to pass all of the oil of the circulatory system through the filter. In the meantime the various impurities had ample time to be circu40 lated in the oil stream and to be in contact with the various parts of the engine frequently with disastrous results. In most cases tile structure of this foramlnous material had a different resistance at different points to the pressure uni45 formly exerted over its whole area, and craters and fissures were formed at the points where the resistance was lower Frequently, even after a very short period of use, all or most ol^- the oil went without the slightest resistance through a 50 single large or a few-smaller channels, which, of course, ended the usefulness of the filter. Conventional filters were also incapable of removing water from the oil and to break up emulsions of water and oil. Although the various oil filters have become a standard part of almost all auto- motive equipment, and frequently excessive assertions have been made for this or that type of filtering element, the fact remains that up to the present day It was found to be practically im00 possible to obtain positive and satisfactory removal of the impurities from the lubricating oil circulation of engines by means of filtering. This is demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt by the circumstance that the only possible .way 05 up-to-now to maintain an engine in fair operating condition was to drain the oil at frequent regular intervals and to replace the drained and polluted oil with fresh and pure oil substantially free from impurities. Zis a rule, it was 70 recommended to carry out this oil change at every 1000 miles or less. This procedure, of course, entailed considerable expense and has caused inconvenience and loss of time. As a matter of fact, the expense involved in frequently changing the oil was as high as to constitute

9,207,898 substantial quantity of oil in a continuous flow which is simple in construction, satisfactory and fool-proof in operation and which can be manufactured and sold on a practical.aqd commercial 5 scale at a low price.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanylilg drawings, in which;

Fig. 1 illustrates a vertical sectional view of an oil purifier and desludger embodying the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 depicts a fragmentary and perspective view having parts in section of one of the conical IS desludging members employed in the purifier shown in Fig. 1; ^Λ

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectioiial view, also fragmentary, of a portion of the conical desludging members indicating the flow of oil therein;

Fig. 4 illustrates a similar view of a conical desludging member of a modified form;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modified oil purifier embodying the invention;

Fig. 6 shows a vertical section through angg other modified embodiment of the present invention into a combined desludger, dehydrator and filter;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7—7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 illustrates a detail of a filter pad; and 80 Fig. 9 depicts a section through a further modi- . fled form of the combined desludger and dehydrator.

Broadly stated, according to the principles of my invention I establish a flow of the oil to be 35 purified. I subject this flow to changes in the magnitude and the direction of its velocity. In view of the fact that the flow of impure oil may be considered as a mixture of lighter and heavier ' particles such as particles of pure oil, particles 40 of water, of oil and water emulsion, particles of sludge of the most different character, changes in the velocity of the flow and in its direction will affect these particles of different specific weight and of different frictional coefficient in a different 45 manner. Clearly, a greater force is necessary to start a heavier body or particle into an accelerated motion and it will take longer to retard its velocity than a lighter particle.- In addition to this, of course, also the difference of the coeffi50 cient of friction between the particles and the walls within which the flow is confined will be widely different for oil, which has a very low coefficient of friction, for water which has a considerably higher coefficient of friction and the 55 various types of sludges which generally possess an extremely high coefficient of friction and therefore greater surface attraction. The result will be separation of the mass of impure oil into its different constituents. The impurities having 60 a greater specific weight and a greater frictional resistance than the pure oil will be generally retarded in their flow and may be gradually trapped and removed from the flow, as this will be explained hereinafter.

I have discovered that the change in the velocity of the flow is best accomplished by providing one or a plurality of channels for the flow of impure oil and by constricting and expanding said channels at predetermined and preferably regu70 lar intervals. Constriction of the flow will cause increase in the velocity thereof while expansion of the flow will decrease the velocity of the flow. In addition to the variations in the cross section of the flow, excellent results are obtained by 75 changing the direction of the flow by providing curves, undulating or corrugated channels for the flow at predetermined intervals including complete reversal of the direction of the flow at other, wider, intervals. The changes in the direction of the flow will affect the velocity of the flow and “5 in addition to this will greatly increase the selective effect of friction upon the sludge and oil particles. Obviously, a flow which is constantly changing its direction is subjected to great frictional resistance by the walls of the channel in 10 which the flow is retained. Moreover, the change in direction and particularly the complete reversal of the flow will cause deflection, reflection and impact of the particles with consequent selective action and precipitation in accordance with 15 their mass, elasticity and frictional resistance. I have also found that the impact of the particles of impure oil on the reversing and deflecting surfaces of the flow will have the additional and highly important effect of setting up eddy cur- 20 rents and of breaking up the emulsions of water and oil.

In practical operation, I prefer to provide the channels in which the oil stream to be treated is to flow, in the form of conical surfaces of parti- 25 tion walls between which the flow is confined. A plurality of such partition walls may be provided and the flow may be conducted inbetween successively. I have found that by providing flutings and corrugations of a concentric circular form in 30 said conical partition walls, the desired periodical constriction and expansion of the flow will be readily obtained, while by alternately carrying the flow upwards and downwards along consecutive partition walls of the described character, 35 the desired reversing action of the flow is accomplished in a simple manner. The impurities contained in the oil will be separated from the oil flow due to its different mass and frictional characteristics and are removed to a sludge chamber 40 located in the lower portion of the apparatus wherefrom they can be removed at distant intervals.

Although the described structure provides the great advantages of great simplicity and facility 45 to manufacture, and also requires but little space for the treatment of a predetermined quantity of oil, it is also possible to provide other practical forms of apparatus for the desired constriction, expansion and reversal of the flow for ex- 50 ample, · by providing inclined parallel channels of a substantial length and constituted of a plurality of smooth and inclined partition walls between which the flow is directed alternately in upward and downward direction. The principle 55 of operation remains the same, so long the basic concept and conditions of my invention, to wit: the periodical change in the velocity and direction of the flow with its associated differential and selective effects to the oil and the impuri- 60 ties are fulfilled.

The purifier, dehydrator and desludger embodying my invention satisfactorily removes all of the solid impurities such as the various forms of sludge, breaks up the undesirable emulsions, and 65 . separates the water from the oil to be treated. It is advisable in some cases to supplement the desludging action of the novel oil purifier with a filter which removes the very finest remaining solid particles which have not been removed by 70 the effect of the differential and selective acceleration and friction. In view of the fact that the oil introduced into the filter proper is already of a substantial purity and contains only a rather insignificant. amount of residual impurities, it 75

4, 9,907,899 may be of relatively small dimensions and may tie operated satisfactorily for a considerable length of time without being subjected to clogging and tp the other common defects of conventional oil 5. filters. Moreover, since practically all of the water and of the sludge and particularly the most dangerous abrasive impurities such as carbon and metallic particles are immediately and positively removed from the oil flow by the desludger or 10 purifier, it is not necessary to pass all of the oil flow through the filter but only a part thereof, as those skilled in the art will readily understand.

The invention will now be more fully described to those skilled in the art, reference being had to 15 the accompanying drawings.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the invention is Illustrated. Reference character I denotes a tank, or container preferably in20 tegrally formed of metal. Tank I is closed at the top by means of a cover or head 2 held in position by means of a clamping yoke J. In the lower portion of tank' I, I provide a conical partition wall 4 which separates the tank into an 25 _Upper flow chamber and a lower sludge chamber.

Conical partition wall 4 is provided with a central opening S at the apex thereof. This opening 5 is provided with a vertically depending flange 6 downwardly projecting from an ’ upwardly ex30 tending conical member or partition wall 7. At the upper end of the conical member, I provide an upwardly protruding flange S having a shoulder 9 therein adapted to receive and to hold another conical member of similar character. As ³⁵ it will be readily observed from the drawing, a plurality of such conical members is disposed in superimposed relation. Openings 10 and II are provided in the upper and the lower peripheral portions of alternate conical members, re40 spectively, providing a channel or conical form between each two successive conical members through which the oil may flow in an alternating upward and downward direction, all of these channels of conical form being connected in 45 series. The conipal members are provided with corrugations or flutings 12 arranged concentrically at regular intervals so that they provide a channel between said members, the cross sectional area of which is subjected to periodical 50 variations thereby presenting a continuously and periodically variable resistance to the flow of the oil. Alternate corrugated conical members are provided with depending funnel-like extensions 13 opening one into another, the lower55 most of said funnels protruding into a vertical tube 14 connected to the center portion of the partition wall 4. Each of said funnels may be provided with an annular Insert or member 15 which provides a greatly restricted portion or 60 throat in said funnel. This throat is capable of offering a relatively low resistance against the downward flow of a liquid whereas it offers a very substantial resistance to the upward flow of a liquid substance. A perforated partition wall 65 16 is provided above the set of conical members and is covered with a light filter material IT. Ports it and 19 are provided in the tank for the introduction of oil to be purified and for the discharge of purified and clean oil there70 from, respectively. At the bottom of sludge chamber 29, a port 21 is provided having a threaded stopper 22 inserted therein which may be readily removed for the discharge of sludge and of water accumulated in the sludge chain25 ber.

From the preceding description, the operation,, of the improved oil purifier will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. When oil is supplied under pressure to inlet port 18, for example by connecting the purifier into the cir- 5 culatory flow of lubricating oil in an internal combustion engine, the impure oil will first fill up sludge chamber 29 through openings 21'. Due to the pressure of the oil feeding means of the engine, an oil stream or flow will be established 10. between the corrugated plates 7. The oil will enter first openings 11 of the lowermost plate, will flow upwards along the upper surface of said plate up to the upper end thereof where it will enter openings 19 of the next plate 7—I ¹⁵and will flow downwards along the upper surface thereof. It will be noted that the oil will consecutively flow through all of the intervals between the adjoining plates, all of said intervals being connected in series. During this flow the ²⁰oil stream will be subjected to periodical compression and expansion due to the varying cross section provided by the corrugations. This will be best observed from Fig. 2 which is an enlarged view of ,two such corrugated plates. In ²⁵addition to this periodical compression and expansion, the direction of the flow will be completely reversed at the end of each plate, and, as. it will be best observed from Fig. 3, eddy currents will be set up and reflection and deflection ^-3° of the stream will be caused at each point where the cross section of the flow channel is suddenly changed. The cumulative effect of this frequent change in the magnitude and direction of the velocity of flow will have the result of retarding ³⁵the heavier components of the oil to be purified. Thus, as the oil works its way further and further in the device, the heavier particles, such as water, and the various forms of sludge will be retarded and will be gradually trapped in the 40 corrugations or pockets. Likewise, the particles having a higher coefficient of friction with the partition walls will be retarded and trapped. The emulsions of water and oil will be effectively broken up by the impact and frictional effect of 45 the flow and will be separated into its constituents. The eddy currents formed in the corrugations or pockr 's, assisted by the gravitational action will cause slow and gradual downward displacement of these undesirable particles along 50 the surface of plates 7 whereby these particles will finally arrive at funnels H and will be discharged through sludge tube 14 and openings 23 therein into the deep sludge chamber displacing therefrom a corresponding quantity of un- 55 treated oil which is lighter than the removed impurities. Due to the depth of the sludge chamber and the unidirectional character of the throats in funnels 13, the Impurities cannot ac- . cidentally be returned into the circulation but 60 will rema’n permanently trapped in the sludge chamber wherefrom they may be removed at remote intervals. It is to be observed that the operation of the device and the separation and downward displacement of the impunities is fur- 65 ther assisted by the normal vibrations of the purifier in case the device is mounted on an automobile or on a stationary engine. From the last of the spaces between the corrugated members or plates, the purified oil will flow by way 70 of openings 24 in the periphery thereof to a chamber 25 in the central portion of the container. From this chamber the oil will flow through a light filter cloth or felt IT and a perforated partition II into a space 26 from which ;75 δ

that it will not only permanently retain the same oil in a constant and satisfactory condition but even will improve the quality thereof, so that only small quantities of lubricating oil have to be added to the supply of oil from time to time to replace the amount which has been decomposed and used up during the normal operation of the engine.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modified embodiment of the invention embodying such foraminous filtering elements. As the lower portion of the oil treating apparatus is identical with that of the one shown in Fig. 1, and similar reference characters have been employed to denote corresponding parts, only the upper portion of the device, containing the filtering elements, will be described. From space 30 where the desludged and purified oil accumulates, most of the oil is directly discharged and is introduced into the circulation. A certain portion of the oil, however, passes upwardly through the first of a plurality of filter packs 31 and a perforated partition 32 into a chamber 33. Partition 32 slopes downwardly toward the central portion thereof and carries a depending funnel 34 which extends 25 from the lower central portion of the partition through the chamber 30 and into a tube 35 which projects downwardly into the uppermost of the funnels 13. Any sediment or fine carbon particles which tend to collect on the upper surface of the partition 32 work gradually into the mouth of the funnel 34, due to the vibration of the device during the normal operation of the engine to which it is attached, and are conveyed downwardly- to the lower portion of the sludge chamber 20. Space 33 above partition 32 is / preferably divided by a deflecting member 31 having openings 38 in the periphery thereof so that the oil passing from the first filter element must flow outwardly to the periphery of the chamber before it can pass upwardly to the next succeeding filter element. As it is illustrated in the drawing, a plurality of filter elements 31 are provided, each nested in a depending flange 39 of a succeeding filter element and each of the 45 perforated partitions slope downwardly to a central funnel similar in every respect to the funnel 34. Each of these funnels projects for some distance into the mouth of a preceding funnel so that all of the sludge and sediment from each 50 of the filters is conveyed from one funnel to the next and ultimately through the tube 35 and funnels 13 to the bottom of the chamber 20.

° The uppermost of the filter elements is provided with a suitable handle 40 by means of which all 55 of the filter elements may be easily lifted out as a unit from container I for replacement or cleaning. A lateral opening or port 41 is provided at the upper end of the container and is internally threaded to receive a suitable pipe _e0connection which conveys the filtered portion of the oil to the cross fitting 42 where it is united with the main stream of oil passing to the engine. Preferably a by-pass pipe 43 containing a spring-operated check valve 44 directly connects 55 the intake pipe 45 and the discharge pipe 46. This check valve is constituted of a helical spring 41. pressing a ball 48 against a suitable seat 49. The resistance to flow provided by the pressure of spring 41 is so much greater than the normal 70 resistance to the flow of oil tlirough the desludger that there is no flow of oil through the by-pass passage 43 unless the desludger is clogged. Tn this case, the increased pressure will open check valve 44 against the pressure 75

2,807,809 it may be removed into the oil circulation through outlet port 19.

As it will be readily observed from the drawing, in the passage of oil through the device from • inlet port 18 to outlet port 19 the oil meets with ’ relatively small resistance to flow as compared to the resistance to the flow offered by an effective conventional filter pack embodying foraminous elements. In this connection, it may be observed that the corrugations on members 1 and their counterparts in subsequent elements preferably vary in depth from the. central portion to the outer peripheral portion thereof, so that the passage between two opposite corruga15 tions near the peripheral portion of the conical members will be considerably less than at the central portions. For example, a cone of about 5 inches in diameter will have an approximate circumference of 16 inches so if the closest distance between two opposite corrugations is Λ of an inch at this portion, the cross section of the annular slit or opening so formed would be about 1 square inch. The diameter of the lo.wer and smallest corrugation would be about 1½ inches and the circumference would be less than 5 inches so if the same distance of Ds of an inch between the two opposite corrugations were used, the cross section of the opening so formed would amount to only twenty to twenty-five per cent 39 of the outermost restriction. The distance, therefore, between the opposite corrugations near the central portion is made sufficiently great to compensate for this difference in total cross sectional area of the opening so formed. It is 35 not necessary to have the exact cross section at the lower point equal to the cross sectional area of the opening at the upper point as the fric- tional resistance on account of this smaller circumference is much less.

Although the total resistance to flow from inlet port 18 to chamber 26 is not great and the rate of flow through this portion of the device may be relatively rapid it still will effect the function of breaking up the globules forming an , - emulsified mixture of oil, water and solid impuri⁴⁰ ties and separating the water and the non-colloidal particles from the entire oil stream.

Of course, corrugations or. flutings of different form may be employed. Thus, instead of the _r„ smooth and circular type of flutings shown in ^oU Figs. 1 to 3, it is also possible to employ flutings 21 of ihe form depicted in Fig. 4 and having sharper edges, with equal or similar results.

Although the oil purified by means of the device embodying the principles of the present invention can be directly introduced into the lubricating system of an internal combustion engine, in some cases it is preferred to employ a foraminous filter for a finishing treatment of the purified oil. In the present case this is permissible and can be carried out without the usual disadvantages of such filters ‘since the oil to be filtered is already almost completely pure and will provide satisfactory service for a relatively 65 long time, as most of the particles causing clogging of the foraminous elements have been previously removed from the oil flow. Likewise, the relatively small capacity of foraminous elements may be compensated for by connecting the fo-.

raminous filter elements only into a portion of the oil flow, which wjll not cause any trouble, since the harmful abrasives and other impurities have already been removed. The combination of the desludger with the filter will provide an oil of such purity and lubricating qualities

CO

2,307,399 β

of spring 47 so that the oil will be directly circulated without the intermediary of the desludger. The outer surface of container I is preferably provided with integral cooling fins BO 5 for the purpose of progressively cooling the oil during the course of its flow through the device. The impure oil entering at 4B is normally heated considerably above normal atmospheric temperatures due to its having been exposed to hot 10 operating parts of the engine. Its viscosity and accordingly its resistance to flow has been lowered. The conical members absorb this heat and conduct it to the cylindrical member or container I from which it is dissipated to the 16 atmosphere by the fins.

Ref erring now to Figs. 6 to 8, a further modified embodiment of the invention is illustrated. Reference character 51 indicates a cylindrical container having a lower integral end portion 52 and 20 an upper removable head 53 which may be readily secured in position by a clamping yoke 54. The lower end portion 52 is provided with a central internally threaded annular boss 55 projecting outwardly therefrom for connection with the 26 lubricating system of the engine. A similar annular boss 56 projects inwardly to accommodate a tube 57 which projects upwardly through a deep sludge chamber 58 and a central opening 59 in a partition 66 and the base member 62 of the 30 desludgier or purifier. Base member 62 is conical and both this member and partition 60 are provided with downwardly projecting ^peripheral flanges which fit snugly within a downwardly projecting peripheral flange 63 and the first de35 sludger element 64. Container I is provided with an internal shoulder 65 for supporting flange 63 and the first desludger element 64. An opening 66 is provided near the periphery of base member 62 through which oil may pass upwardly from 40 chamber 61 to the space between base member 62 and the first desludger element 64. This space is formed into a spiral passage 67 by means of a spiral strip 69 projecting downwardly from element 64 into contact with the upper surface of 45 base member 62. This structure will cause the oil to spiral upwardly and inwardly through the passage 67 until it comes to the apex of the coneshaped member 64 at which point it passes through an opening 71 to an outwardly and 50 downwardly spiraling passage 68 formed by upwardly projecting strip 70 integral with the upper surface of member 64. The oil spirals outwardly through passage 68 over the upper surface of member 64 until it reaches the outer cir55 cumference thereof.

The . action of oif in passing slowly through passages 67 and 68. is such that there is a tendency of the heavier particles and globules of sludge to be separated from the pure oil by the 00 selective effect of acceleration and deceleration and change in direction and friction, which influence in a different way the lighter particles of pure oil having a very low coefficient of friction and the considerably heavier particles of water 05 and sludge particles and globules having a very high coefficient of friction.¹ Moreover, the heavier particles and the globules of sludge will be thrown against the metallic surfaces particularly at the points where the direction of the flow is suddenly 70 changed or even reversed, and broken by friction with these surfaces and by friction of one portion of the oil with another. Generally speaking, the flow through these passages is such that the oil adjacent any metallic wall will flow at a 75 slower rate than oil remote from one of the walls. Thus, thin sheets or laminae of oil will be set up in the flowing liquid which will flow at progressievly increasing velocity from the metallic wall surfaces to the central portion of the. passages and the slipping of these laminae over g each other will tend to further break up the emulsions of water and oil into their constituents. The heavier portions, such as water, solid particles and asphaltenes will gradually sink to the outer lower wall of the passage and on reaching io the circumference of member 64 are drained off through downwardly extending funnel-shaped portions 73 which are integral with member 64. Funnels 73 extend through openings 66 with sufficient clearance to permit oil to flow therearound, 15 and also project through partition 60 so that the impurities will not be admixed with the incoming oil in chamber 61. From the ends of funnels 73, the Impurities are conveyed by a tube 74 to the lower portion of a deep sludge chamber 58. 20

As it will be readily observed from Fig. 7, each of members 64 is provided with two diametrically opposite funnel portions 73.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, a plurality of desludger elements 64 is provided each of which has 25 a deep flange 63 projecting downwardly from the peripheral edge thereof and shouldered intermediate its length as indicated at 76, so that the elements may be nested one in the other and maintained.in proper spacial relationship. Be- 30 tween each of the members 64 and also nested within the depending flanges thereof, are partitions 77, each of which is similar in structure to the base member 62, each being provided with openings 66 spaced diametrically opposite in the 85 peripheral edges thereof through which the funnels 73 of any superimposed element 64 may project with sufficient clearance to permit the oil to pass upwardly therearound. Smaller peripheral openings 75 may be provided in these partitions 40 between openings 66 to permit the free flow of oil through this portion of the partitions.

The uppermost of the desludger elements 64 is nested m a depending flange 79 of a conical cover member 78 which depending flange is pro- 45 vided with a pair of internal shoulders 80 and 81 upon the first of which the last of the elements 64 abuts and upon the last of which a conical partition 82 is tightly held. Partition 82 is similar in all respects to the base member 62 except that 50 the openings 83 in the peripheral edge thereof are smaller than the openings 66 in member 62. Since there is no funnel member such as 73 from a superimposed desludger element projecting through this opening, it is only sufficiently large « for the passage of oil therethrough. From openings 83, the oil passes upwardly through space 84 provided between conical partitions 32 and cover member 78. A large opening 35 is provided at the apex of member 78 and the opening is surrounded by an upwardly extending annular flange 86 which abuts a partition 87 adapted to close the first of a plurality of filter elements 38. Filter elements 88 are shown in the form of a. plurality of nested containers,, each comprising a perfo- r; rated metallic partition 89 having a downwardly projecting internally shouldered flange 90. In the first of these flanges, the partition 87 is nested and in each subsequent flange the immediately preceding filter element is nested. -₀

Within each of jthe filter elements there is a ' filter pack 91 provided, and as shown in the drawings, the thickness of these packs constantly increases from the first or lowermost of the elements to the last or uppermost thereof. Filter ,390 · for the displacement of oil from the upper portion of the sludge chamber to the intake chamber 105. Above partition 504 is a conical member 108 having its apex in opposition to partition 504 and in contact therewith. A down- 5 wardly projecting flange 109 surrounds an opening at the apex of conical member 108 and projects through a similar central opening in partition 104. A tube 15 0 extends through the bottom wall of container 55 and projects upwardly 10 through sludge chamber 103 into the downward y projecting flange 509. Tube 110 is provided with large slots or openings· ί fi I at the bottom of chamber (03 but is otherwise closed except at its upper open end. Openings 152 are provided at dia- ¹⁸metrically opposite points near the circumference of conical member 108 for the admission of oil from intake chamber 105 to the space 113 immediately above this member. This space is divided into a continuous spiral passage similar 20 to the spiral passages 67 and 68 described in connection with Fig. 6. The spiral passages are formed by downwardly projecting strips 118 which are x preferably integral with a conical member 1(4 which member is spaced from and 25 extends parallel to member 508. The oil spirals downwardly through the passages so formed and there is a tendency of breaking up the globules containing the impurities by means of the selective and differential effect of the acceleration and change of direction and due to the difference of frictional coefficient of pure oil and sludge, as this has been described in the foregoing. As the oil reaches the center of space 113, the heavier impurities that have been broken up drain off “ through the open end of the tube 5 5 0 while the remainder of the oil flows upwardly through a central opening (19 in member 114 and thence through.outwardly spiraling passages in the space above partition 5 54, which spiral passages are 40 formed of upwardly projecting strips integral with the upper surface thereof. From the outer peripheral portion of this space, the oil passes upwardly through openings (15 to again spiral downwardly over the upper surface of a conical 45 member 516. The apex of conical member 116 carries a funnel portion I (7 which projects downwardly through an opening at the apex of member 114 with sufficient clearance to permit oil to flow upwardly therearound and it also projects ⁵⁰with some clearance into the open upper end of tube 15 0. The separated water and other impurities drain downwardly through funnels 157 and through tube ISO to the lower portion of sludge chamber 103 without contaminating the portion 55 of oil flowing upwardly through the desludger. As illustrated, a plurality of members identical with members 114 and 115 are provided for completing the desludging and dehydrating process and their structure and operation will be obvious 60 from the portions already described. From the uppermost of the desludger elements, the partially purified oil passes to a filter, of which only a portion is shown, but which is substantially similar In structure to the one depiOted in Fig. 6. In 65 the filter, the extremely fine particles of carbon which cannot be removed in the desludger are separated from the oil, and the completely purified oil is returned into the lubricating system oi the engine to be lubricated. 70

Although the present invention has been described in connection with a few preferred embodiments thereof, variations and modifications may be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the pres- 75

2,207 packs 91 are pressed snugly against the lower surface of the perforated partitions 89 and are of such depth that oil spaces 92 are left between the lower surface of the filter pack and the upper _B surface of the immediately preceding perforated partition 89. In the lowermost of the filter elements the oil space is formed between the partition 87 and the filter pack 91. Flange 86 is provided with openings 93 for the passage of oil to the space below partition 87 and with smaller peripheral openings 94 in the partition 87 which permit the passage of oil. to the interior of the first filter element.

As this will be readily observed from Fig. 8. 15 filter packs 95 consist of one or more discs 95 of heavy fibrous material, separated by sheets of porous cloth 96 such as canvas or flannel, for insuring the spreading of oil therebetween, while a heavy woven filter cloth 97 is positioned between 20 the uppermost of the fibrous discs of each pack and the perforated partition 89.

From the last of the filter elements 88, the oil enters a chamber 98 between the uppermost of perforated partitions 89 and the head 53 of congstainer 5 9, from which it is discharged through a lateral opening 99 to the points of Use. The last of filter elements 88 is provided with a suitable handle 100 contained within chamber 98, so that the filter elements, together with the desludger 80 elements may be lifted bodily as a unit from the container 51 when head 53 is removed.

The operation of this modified embodiment will be readily understood by those skilled in the art from the preceding description and in view of 85 the similarity of construction with the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5; The device is first filled with lubricating oil and during the operation thereof oil is supplied thereto through tube 57 to chamber 61 without dis40 turbing the sludge, water and other impurities accumulated in the deeper portions of sludge Chamber 58. From chamber 61, the oil passes upwardly through openings 66 while sludge, water and the heavier of the solid particles from the 45 desludger element pass downwardly through funnels 73. As sludge accumulates in chamber 58, lubricant in the upper portion of this chamber is displaced to opening 59 into chamber 6! from whence it passes upwardly to be purified in the 50 desludger and filter in the same maimer as oil entering through tube 57. An opening 561 is provided in the base of container 55 for the drainage of sludge from time to time from the deep sludge chamber 58.

The further modified embodiment of the present invention depicted in Fig. 9 is much similar to the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 to 8. Essentially, a desludger consisting of superimposed conical elements similar to the ones shown in Fig.

6 is provided, with the difference that the cones are inverted and the sludge funnels are located centrally thereof at the apex of the cones. In this modified embodiment, the impure oil from the engine enters through a lateral opening 102 05 intermediate the end walls of the container and sufficiently far above the bottom thereof to provide a deep sludge chamber 103 in the bottom of the container. A partition 584 spaced well up from the bottom of the container separate sludge 70 chamber 103 from intake chamber 105. 'Partition 104 slopes downwardly from the central portion thereof to the periphery and is provided with small openings 106 near the circumference for the drainage of sludge to sludge chamber 503 ₇₆ and openings 107 near the central portion thereof

2,207,399 ent invention. Thus; the same principle and substantially the same structures with slight modifications can be employed for purifying and rectifying or desludging various other liquids dif5 ferent from lubricating oil, provided there is a substantial and sufficient difference between the specific weight and frictional coefficient of the substances to be separated from each other. I consider all of these variations and modifications 10 as within the true spirit and scope of the present invention as disclosed in the present specification and defined by the appended claims.

The present application is a continuation in part of my copending application Serial No. 15 140,616, filed on May 4, 1937, for “Oil filter.”