Patent Grant
9931640
The present disclosure relates to filtering, and in particular to magnetic approaches for improved filtration of particulates.
Filtration devices, such as oil filters, are utilized on a wide variety of machinery, fluid delivery equipment, and the like. The filter is utilized to capture particulates, for example metal particulates arising from engine shedding. In this manner, wear is reduced, device lifetime is extended, fluid quality is improved, and so forth.
However, typical filters utilize a porous material with small openings. Particulates smaller than the porous material openings, for example smaller than about 20 microns, pass through the filter and remain in the fluid stream, where they can continue to cause damage and/or impair fluid quality. Additionally, decreasing filter pore size increases the power needed to pump a fluid. Attendant consequences can include: increased fluid heating, increased cost of fluid system to generate and contain the pressure, and increased charge production in the fluid as it flows through the filter element. Accordingly, improved filtration approaches and systems are desirable, particularly filtration approaches capable of filtering particulates of sizes smaller than the size of openings in porous filter materials.
In an exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter assembly comprises a structural frame having a mounting cavity, a flux return plate disposed within the mounting cavity, and a plurality of permanent magnets mounted against the flux return plate within the mounting cavity and forming the shape of a partial cylinder. The plurality of permanent magnets are oriented such that a magnetic axis of each permanent magnet is perpendicular to the flux return plate, and arranged in an array such that each magnet in the array is adjacent another magnet of opposite polarity. Each magnet of the plurality of permanent magnets is characterized by a magnet length dimensioned along the longitudinal axis of the partial cylinder, a magnet inner width dimensioned along the circular arc of the partial cylinder, and a magnet height dimensioned parallel to the magnetic axis of each permanent magnet. The ratio of the magnet inner width to the radius of the circular arc is between 0.3 and 0.5, and the ratio of the magnet height to the magnet inner width is between 0.3 and 0.6.
In another exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter assembly comprises a structural frame having a mounting cavity, a flux return plate disposed within the mounting cavity, and a plurality of permanent magnets mounted against the flux return plate within the mounting cavity and forming the shape of a partial cylinder. The plurality of permanent magnets are oriented such that a magnetic axis of each permanent magnet is perpendicular to the flux return plate. The plurality of permanent magnets includes a first set of permanent magnets arranged along a first spiral path that begins proximate a first end of magnetic filter assembly, extends at least partially around the magnetic filter assembly in an azimuthal direction of the partial cylinder, and terminates proximate a second end of the magnetic filter assembly.
In another exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter system comprises a first magnetic array comprising a series of interleaved magnets of opposite polarity, and a second magnetic array comprising a series of interleaved magnets of opposite polarity. The first magnetic array and the second magnetic array are configured to couple to an oil filter to achieve a magnetic filtered fluid flow ratio of 100% in the oil filter.
The contents of this summary section are provided only as a simplified introduction to the disclosure, and are not intended to be used to limit the scope of the appended claims.
With reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings:
The following description is of various exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the present disclosure in any way. Rather, the following description is intended to provide a convenient illustration for implementing various embodiments including the best mode. As will become apparent, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described in these embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims.
For the sake of brevity, conventional techniques for magnetic flux utilization, concentration, direction, configuration, control, and/or management, may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown in various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical couplings between various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships or physical connections may be present in a practical magnetic system, for example a magnetic filter system.
Various shortcomings of prior filters, including magnetic filters, can be addressed by utilizing magnetic filter systems configured in accordance with principles of the present disclosure. As used herein, a “magnetic filter system” may be any system whereby magnetic force is utilized to capture particulate matter and remove it from a carrier fluid. A magnetic filter system may have integrated magnetic components. Alternatively, a magnetic filter system may comprise magnetic components and be configured to add-on and/or couple to a conventional filter system, for example an engine oil filter, fuel filter, hydraulic fluid filter, turbine oil filter, drilling mud filter, gearbox lube filter, and/or the like. Additionally, a magnetic filter system may be utilized in place of a membrane filter, for example while attached to a pipe or wide section of tubing (either pre-existing, or added for filtering or decreasing flow velocity to improve filtering). It will be appreciated that principles of the present disclosure are applicable to a wide variety of fluid handling and/or delivery systems, for example foodstuff fluid handling systems, industrial chemical processing systems, resin processing systems, water treatment systems, lubrication systems, machine tool coolant systems, and/or the like. Additionally, magnetic filter systems configured in accordance with principles of the present disclosure may be suitable to retrofit and/or supplement existing filtration approaches, improving overall filtration effectiveness and/or reducing wear.
Ferromagnetic particles are attracted by a vector product of magnetic field and magnetic gradient multiplied by a term that varies with the volume of a particle along with appropriate constants. Therefore, larger particles are greatly more probable to be magnetically removed from a fluid flow than smaller particles. Exemplary magnetic filter systems configured in accordance with principles of the present disclosure employ techniques to enable removal of many particles smaller than those usually passed by conventional membrane filtration. Exemplary magnetic filter systems also capture more particles than present magnetic filter designs while being more efficient with magnetic material.
Additionally, in accordance with principles of the present disclosure, a magnetic filter system may be configured to achieve an improved filtered fluid flow ratio. Most filter operations are “full flow” in that the total flow, for example of the lubrication or hydraulic system, passes through a common filter. This filter is in place to (i) remove particles from the fluid, and (ii) protect the equipment from catastrophic wear failure in that it provides time for shut down without complete destruction of the bearing surfaces.
Typical filters usually pass particles up to about 20-30 microns in diameter. A finer filter would require significant increases in pumping power, resulting in increased heat, fluid charging and system inefficiency.
As used herein, a “magnetic filtered fluid flow ratio” represents the portion of full fluid flow in a filter (for example, between a filter outer wall and filter media in an oil filter) wherein ferromagnetic particulates are subjected to a magnetic energy product sufficient to attract the size and type of ferromagnetic particles expected to be present in the fluid. Once at the filter wall, the particles are held in place until disposed of with the filter or cleaned from the inner wall of a cartridge filter. Particles attracted to the filtration can wall become arranged in a close packed geometry to minimize packing energy. This packed geometry becomes fixed in place by weakly magnetizing the particles and can also become further fixed in place over time by cementing the particles with high molecular weight components from the fluid, for example oil. In this manner, the number of particulates in a fluid stream may be reduced, reducing device wear and improving fluid quality.
Yet further, in accordance with principles of the present disclosure, a magnetic filter system may be configured to achieve magnetic energy penetration, for example a magnetic field penetration of sufficient magnitude to capture particles and move them to the can wall over the radial distance range between the outer wall and the outer beginning of the filter media. Principles of the present disclosure contemplate using one or more parameters such as flow rate, can length, can wall material, can wall thickness, operating temperature range, particle size, particle material, flow injection geometry, filter media geometry, fluid viscosity, and fluid additive parameters in order to configure an exemplary magnetic filter system.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, and with reference now to
As used herein, a “partial cylinder” may be considered to be the shape formed by extending a circular arc along a line segment containing the center point of the circular arc. The line segment lies along the longitudinal axis of the partial cylinder, and the distance between the line segment and the circular arc is the radius of the circular arc (and thus, the radius of the corresponding partial cylinder). With respect to a partial cylinder, a distance along (or parallel to) the longitudinal axis may be referred to herein as a distance in the “longitudinal direction”; a distance along a line extending radially outward from the longitudinal axis and intersecting the partial cylinder at a perpendicular angle may be referred to herein as a distance in the “radial direction”; and a distance along the circular arc may be referred to herein as a distance in the “azimuthal direction.”
Turning now to
In an exemplary embodiment, magnetic filter system 1200 results in a magnetic field gradient and a magnetic field existing in at least a portion of the region between a filter outer wall and the outer part of the inner filter media. Principles of the present disclosure conclude that it is desirable to achieve a high magnetic field*magnetic gradient vector product. In response to the magnetic field gradient and magnetic field vector product, ferromagnetic particulates suspended in the fluid are attracted to the filter can wall and are bound thereto by the magnetic field. In this manner, ferromagnetic particulates, and specifically ferromagnetic particulates that may be too small to be captured by the filter media, may be effectively removed from the fluid stream. Moreover, multiple magnetic components 1200 may be employed to increase the radial and/or axial surface area of a filter to attempt to expose the total flow to an effective force field whose intensity is proportional to the magnetic field*magnetic gradient vector product.
With reference now to
Additionally, in various exemplary embodiments, magnets 2000/2010 are configured with an inner width IW of between about 20% of the diameter of a filter and about 70% of the diameter of a filter. In certain exemplary embodiments, magnets 2000/2010 are configured with an inner width IW of between about 40% of the diameter of a filter and about 50% of the diameter of a filter. It will be appreciated that wider magnetic structures extend significant magnetic field gradient product deeper into the interior of a filter. Moreover, magnets in various exemplary magnetic filter systems disclosed herein may be configured with inner widths having a defined relationship to the diameter of a corresponding filter and/or pipe.
In an exemplary embodiment, magnets 2000/2010 are configured with an inner width IW of about 22 mm and a height H of about 11 mm. This geometry is approximately optimum for a can inner wall to outer extent of the filter media spacing of between about 6 mm and about 7 mm and a medium steel can wall of between about 0.5 mm and about 0.75 mm thickness. It will be appreciated that exemplary magnetic filter systems configured for use with other filter designs will utilize differing magnetic package parameters. For example, a magnetic filter system configured for use in connection with a large filter or pipe (i.e., structures having a comparatively thick wall of about 6.3 mm and/or having no filter material in the interior thereof) may be configured with magnets 2000/2010 having a height H of between about 25 mm and about 45 mm and an inner width IW of between about 45 mm and about 75 mm depending on can/tube diameter. In this manner, magnets 2000/2010 may adequately saturate the thick wall and/or project a suitable magnetic field*gradient product into the middle of the filter or pipe. In various exemplary embodiments, magnets 2000/2010 are configured with an inner width IW of between about 15 mm and about 50 mm. In various exemplary embodiments, magnets 2000/2010 are configured with a height H of between about 8 mm and about 25 mm. Moreover, magnets 2000/2010 may be sized in any suitable manner to achieve a desired magnetic field penetration and/or magnetic field strength in a fluid volume between a filter media and a filter outer wall.
It will be appreciated that magnets 2000/2010 may be configured with an inner width IW smaller than an outer width OW, for example to facilitate disposition of magnets 2000/2010 about a curved surface such as a filter outer wall. Moreover, magnets 2000/2010 may be tapered, angled, and/or otherwise configured to couple to one another and/or to a structural component/flux return path. In certain exemplary embodiments, magnets 2000/2010 are configured to be curved and/or angled in order to closely align with and/or couple to a filter outer wall, in these exemplary embodiments, the curvature of the inner side of magnets 2000/2010 corresponds closely to the curvature of a filter outer wall. Additionally, magnets 2000/2010 may be configured with edge magnet features which reduce flux loss to adjacent magnets. Moreover, the edge features may provide interlocking of magnets 2000/2010 in a flexible manner, improving the fit between the face of magnets 2000/2010 and the filter can wall. The edge features can also enable radial and/or axial linking of sections of magnets 2000/2010.
In various exemplary embodiments, individual magnets 2000 and 2010 are configured with 2000 having north field on the outer surface (i.e., the larger curved surface) and 2010 having south field on the outer surface. Magnetic arrays may be comprised of the magnet 2000/2010 building blocks.
In various exemplary embodiments, magnets 2000/2010 have a hole 2020, for example in the middle, for use in attachment to a support/return flux assembly and/or for handling.
Continuing to reference
Turning now to
In various exemplary embodiments, the boundary between magnets of opposite polarity, for example the boundary between axial rings illustrated in
In various exemplary embodiments, magnetic filter system configurations with more magnetic border length have a higher filter particulate storage capacity, which is to say a magnetic filter system with larger magnetic border length will store more ferrous material on the filter walls before the hold on that material becomes tenuous and further particles are swept away in the flow stream. Moreover, in various exemplary embodiments magnetic arrays are designed to increase and/or maximize (i) the number of magnetic borders traversed by a particulate moving through the fluid volume in a filter, (ii) the distance a particulate moves laterally along a magnetic border while moving through the fluid volume in a filter, and/or both (i) and (ii). As used herein, to “traverse” a magnetic border means to pass through a region wherein the magnetic field, as measured at the interior filter can wall, has a first polarity into a region where the magnetic field has a second, opposite polarity.
With reference now to
In various exemplary embodiments, ring structures in magnetic array 2300 may extend any suitable distance around a filter, for example 30 degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees, 120 degrees, 180 degrees, and/or 360 degrees. In some exemplary embodiments, magnet array 2300 covers up to 100% of the radial surface area of a filter outer wall. Moreover, multiple magnetic arrays 2300 may be utilized with a single conventional filter. For example, two exemplary magnetic filter systems, each extending approximately 180 degrees around a conventional filter, may be utilized to achieve nearly 360 degree coverage of the conventional filter. It will be appreciated that the number of rings is a degree of freedom for the designer, for example to adjust the force of an individual sub assembly of the magnetic array to ease attachment and removal, miss areas of close tolerance in the region/vicinity of the filter mounting, allow areas for finger holds to ease mounting and removal, and the like. Additionally, it will be appreciated that each magnetic array 2300 may be sized and/or configured to be removable by a user, for example via snapping on and sliding off an oil filter.
With reference now to
Any suitable number of lines may be utilized, for example depending on the dimensions of magnets 3100/3200, the radius of a filter, space available in a filter enclosure, and/or the like. It will be appreciated that as the number of lines increases in a linear magnetic array 3000, (i) the distance a particulate in a filter may potentially travel along a magnetic border or borders is also increased, and (ii) the total magnetic border length is increased, increasing holding capacity. In accordance with principles of the present disclosure, the longer the path, the smaller a particle trapped, and the more efficiency the exemplary magnetic filter system achieves.
With reference now to
Turning now to
Turning again to
In an exemplary embodiment, magnets 5000/5010 are configured with an inner width IW of about 22 mm and a height H of about 11 mm. This geometry is approximately optimum for a can inner wall to outer extent of the filter media spacing of between about 6 mm and about 7 mm and a medium steel can wall of between about 0.5 mm and about 0.75 mm thickness. Other filter designs may utilize changes to the magnetic package parameters. In various exemplary embodiments, magnets 5000/5010 are configured with an inner width IW of about between about 15 mm and about 50 mm. In various exemplary embodiments, magnets 5000/5010 are configured with a height H of about between about 6 mm and about 30 mm. Moreover, magnets 5000/5010 may be sized in any suitable manner to achieve a desired magnetic field gradient*magnetic field strength product in the fluid volume between a filter media and a filter outer wall.
It will be appreciated that magnets 5000/5010 may be configured with an inner width IW smaller than an outer width OW, for example to facilitate disposition of magnets 5000/5010 about a curved surface such as a filter outer wall. Moreover, magnets 5000/5010 may be tapered, angled, and/or otherwise configured to couple to one another and/or to a structural component and/or flux return path component. In certain exemplary embodiments, magnets 5000/5010 are configured to be curved and/or angled in order to closely align with and/or couple a filter outer wall; in these exemplary embodiments, the curvature of the inner side of magnets 5000/5010 corresponds closely to the curvature of a filter outer wall.
In various exemplary embodiments, individual magnets 5000 and 5010 are configured with 5000 having north pole on the larger curved wall and 5010 poled so that the south field is on the larger curved surface. Magnetic arrays are comprised of the magnet 5000/5010 building blocks.
With reference now to
With reference now to
In some exemplary embodiments, magnetic component 6000 is configured with magnets 6010, 6020 in a constant spiral pattern. The spiral pattern may be configured with any suitable pitch, illustrated as angle 6030 in
With reference now to
Turning now to
In various exemplary embodiments, flux return path cylindrical parts may be generated with an array of holes 8120 aligned with the holes in the magnets, for example as illustrated in
Turning now to
In various exemplary embodiments, a return path may comprise several cylindrical sheets, for example steel plates 8210 (e.g., 8210A, 8210B, 8210C, 8210D, 8210E, 8210F) of material chosen to efficiently conduct magnetic flux. Steel plates 8210A through 8210F are configured to be flexible in order to facilitate coupling and decoupling of a magnetic array (comprising magnets 8270, 8280) to a filter, enable the filter to fit a range of filter can sizes, and/or adjust to the manufacturing tolerance of filter cans. In certain exemplary embodiments, each steel plate 8210 is configured with a thickness determined by a bending strength of the composite magnetic return flux element. Moreover, by using a suitably thin sheet material, but a larger number of sheets, a flexibility suitable to allow the magnetics to seat tightly and completely on the filter can and for the flux return path sheets to be attracted and seated to the individual magnets is achieved. The quality of seating may be evaluated by carefully measuring front magnet field strength. Flux return component 8205 may be configured with any suitable number of steel plates 8210. In various exemplary embodiments, flux return component 8205 comprises as few as two steel plates 8210 or up to as many as 24 steel plates 8210 for example. In one exemplary embodiment, flux return component 8205 comprises six steel plates 8210A through 8210F.
Steel plates 8210 may comprise similar materials; alternatively, steel plates 8210 may differ in materials from one another. In certain exemplary embodiments, the steel plate(s) 8210 disposed closest to magnets 8270, 8280 (for example, steel plates 8210F and 8210E illustrated in
In various exemplary embodiments, magnetic filter system 8200 is configured with a sufficient number of steel plates 8210 in order to fully short the magnetic field emanating from magnets 8270, 8280 on the non-filtering side of the magnets. Moreover, steel plates 8210 may be configured to be sufficiently flexible such that, responsive to the force between of magnets 8270, 8280, steel plates 8210, and/or filter can 8295, the components may deform and/or compress to reduce and/or eliminate voids therebetween.
Turning now to
In accordance with principles of the present disclosure,
where f is the flow rate, V is the system volume, a is the efficiency of filter 9020 at the size of a particular particle of measurement, and t is time.
A common method to measure the effectiveness of a filter is usually expressed as “beta”. As used herein “beta” equals the particle density upstream of the filter divided by the particle density downstream of the filter. Efficiency (a) is related to beta in the following formula: a=1−(1/beta).
Data reduction may be accomplished by fitting the particle density measurement with time to an exponential decay.
Table 1 shows the results of a no magnets CT4.9 linear array, linear array SRW, and checkerboard SRW array of magnets comparing 340-degree magnetic coverage. “SRW” arrays are arrays designed according to principles of the present disclosure. The data is defined by methods, rather than an ISO defined particle size. In the ISO standards, the 4 micron column is all particles≥4 microns, 6 micron is all particles≥6 microns, 14 micron is all particles≥14 microns, and 21 microns is all particles≥21 microns. ISO data may be transformed into bins to aid in intuitive understanding of exemplary data as follows: The 4-6 column is defined as particles≤4 microns diameter and <6 microns diameter, the 6-14 column is defined as particles≥6 microns and <14 microns, and the 14-21 column is defined as ≥14 microns and <21 microns.
Turning now to
In various exemplary embodiments, flow streams 1040 injected near filter element 1070 have a starting distance from the can wall 1090 that is larger than the flow streams near the wall. This means that particles that enter the filter near the flow stream 1040 are the hardest to trap by the magnetic field generated by magnets 1060, and are most likely to make it through the filter untrapped. The flow stream 1050 shows a flow stream near the filter wall 1090. This leads to a particle path 1030 that is the path of the smallest particle that is trapped.
As flow stream 1050 moves down the annular region between the filter element and the filter can wall, the flow is slowing along the axial length due to flow passing through the filter element. This reduced velocity improves the trapping efficiency of the magnetic field.
In various exemplary embodiments,
Table 2 shows the particle size distribution versus axial position data of
With reference now to
In summary and, in light of the foregoing discussion, it will be appreciated that many current designs of magnetic filters are lacking in the amount of magnet material used (for example, due to cost), and/or are designed with narrow magnets that provide a magnetic force on particles that is adequate to extend the magnetic field*magnetic gradient product only a very short distance inside the filter can wall. In contrast, exemplary magnetic filter systems configured in accordance with principles of the present disclosure are capable of obtaining high efficiency capture of ferrous particles over large cross section of the filter flow.
In an exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter system comprises a magnetic component comprising a series of magnets of alternating polarity interleaved in a checkerboard pattern, and a flux return component comprising at least one flexible steel plate. The magnets in the magnetic component may be configured with a height H and an inner width IW, and each magnet in the series of magnets may be configured with the height H between 40% and 60% of the inner width IW. When an oil filter is coupled to the magnetic filter system, the magnetic component may cause a magnetic gradient*magnetic field product of at least ((0.1 Tesla/mm)*1 Tesla) to arise in a portion of the volume between the filter wall and the filter media. The magnetic component may be configured with a magnetic border length in excess of 1.25 units of length per unit of area.
In an exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter system comprises a magnetic component having an array of magnets configured with at least one of a linear pattern, ring pattern, spiral pattern, or progressive spiral pattern. The magnetic filter system may comprise at least one flexible steel plate or other flux conducting structure. The magnetic filter system may also comprise a physical structure that maintains the array of magnets. The array of magnets may comprise sections that fit together and enable assembly and/or removal, for example by reducing the attractive force on a section to enable a section to be safely moved by human hands.
In another exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter system comprises a magnetic component comprising a series of magnets of alternating polarity interleaved in a spiral pattern, and a flux return component comprising at least one flexible steel plate. The spiral may have a pitch of between about 90 degrees over the axial length of the filter to about n*360 degrees over the axial length of the filter. The spiral pattern may continuously increase in pitch with axial length of the magnetic filter system. The spiral pattern may be configured with piecewise pitch changes, for example with a first pitch over a first portion of the magnetic filter system and with a second, greater pitch over a second portion of the magnetic filter system. The flux return component may comprise a first steel plate and a second steel plate, and the first steel plate may be disposed between the series of magnets and the second steel plate. The first steel plate may have a higher saturation than the second steel plate. The second steel plate may have a higher relative permeability than the first steel plate. When an oil filter is coupled to the magnetic filter system, the spiral pattern may cause a ferromagnetic particulate in the oil filter to travel a distance along a magnetic border, wherein the distance is greater than the axial length of the oil filter.
In another exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter system comprises a magnetic component comprising a first section and a second section. In the first section, a first series of alternating polarity magnets are interleaved in a first pattern, and in the second section, a second series of alternating polarity magnets are interleaved in a second pattern different than the first pattern. The magnetic filter system may comprise a flux return component comprising at least one flexible steel plate.
In another exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter system comprises a magnetic component comprising an interleaved series of magnets of alternating polarity, and a flux return component comprising at least one flexible steel plate. When the magnetic filter system is coupled to an oil filter, the interleaved series of magnets extends along 100% of the axial length of the oil filter, and a magnetic border in the magnetic component extends continuously along the axial length of the oil filter.
In yet another exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter system comprises a magnetic component comprising a series of magnets of alternating polarity, the magnetic component configured in an arctuate shape to facilitate coupling to an oil filter, and a flux return component comprising at least one flexible steel plate, the flux return component coupled to the magnetic component along the outer side of the arc. When the magnetic filter system is coupled to an oil filter, the magnetic component results in a flow coverage ratio of at least 50% in the oil filter. The magnetic component may result in a flow coverage ratio of 100% in a ring-shaped volume within the oil filter element.
In yet another exemplary embodiment, a magnetic filter system comprises an arctuate magnetic component comprising a series of magnets of alternating polarity, and a flux return component comprising at least one flexible steel plate, the flux return component coupled to the magnetic component along the outer side of the arc. When the magnetic filter system is coupled to an oil filter, the magnetic component results in a magnetic field gradient of 0.1 Tesla/mm and a magnetic field density in excess of 0.5 Tesla at location in the oil along a magnetic border and 3 mm away from the filter wall.
In yet another exemplary embodiment, a method of using a magnetic filter system comprises coupling a magnetic filter system to an oil filter, wherein the magnetic filter system comprises a series of magnets of alternating polarity interleaved in a checkerboard pattern, and a flux return component comprising at least one flexible steel plate. The method may further comprise operating an engine to cause oil to flow through the oil filter, wherein the oil flow delivers particulates in the oil to be deposited against the outer wall of the filter responsive to a magnetic field*magnetic gradient product generated by the magnetic filter system.
While the principles of this disclosure have been shown in various embodiments, many modifications of structure, arrangements, proportions, the elements, materials and components, used in practice, which are particularly adapted for a specific environment and operating requirements may be used without departing from the principles and scope of this disclosure. These and other changes or modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure and may be expressed in the following claims.
The present disclosure has been described with reference to various embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification is to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. Likewise, benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to various embodiments. However, benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or element of any or all the claims.
As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Also, as used herein, the terms “coupled,” “coupling,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a physical connection, an electrical connection, a magnetic connection, an optical connection, a communicative connection, a functional connection, and/or any other connection. When language similar to “at least one of A, B, or C” or “at least one of A, B, and C” is used in the claims, the phrase is intended to mean any of the following: (1) at least one of A; (2) at least one of B; (3) at least one of C; (4) at least one of A and at least one of B; (5) at least one of B and at least one of C; (6) at least one of A and at least one of C; or (7) at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.
This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 15/386,697 filed on Dec. 21, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,821,319 entitled “MAGNETIC FILTER SYSTEMS AND METHODS”. U.S. Ser. No. 15/386,697 is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 14/793,880 filed on Jul. 8, 2015, now′ U.S. Pat. No. 9,527,089 entitled “MAGNETIC FILTER SYSTEMS AND METHODS”. U.S. Ser. No. 14/793,880 claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/023,553 entitled “MAGNETIC FILTER SYSTEMS AND METHODS” and filed Jul. 11, 2014. The entire contents of all the foregoing applications are incorporated herein by reference.
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