Oil filter assembly for an internal combustion engine

Abstract

An oil filter assembly includes a filter housing, an oil filter unit, and a drain valve unit. The filter housing is provided with an oil inflow passageway through which oil is supplied into the filter housing from an oil pan, an oil exhaust passageway communicating with a main oil gallery, and an oil drain passageway through which oil is drained to the oil pan. The oil filter unit is disposed within the filter housing to filter the oil flowing into the filter housing. The drain valve unit is configured to selectively close the oil exhaust passageway and the oil drain passageway in response to whether the oil filter unit is disposed within the filter housing or whether the oil filter is removed from the filter housing.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of Korean Application No. 10-2003-0068377, filed on Oct. 1, 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporated fully herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a lubrication system for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly, to an oil filter assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, an internal combustion engine is provided with a lubrication system for lubricating and cooling, and the lubrication system circulates oil through various parts of the engine. While oil circulates in the engine, it gathers impurities. To remove such impurities, an oil filter assembly is provided within the lubrication system.

A convention oil filter assembly includes a filter housing and an oil filter that is disposed within the filter housing. If too many impurities are accumulated in the oil filter, the oil filter cannot operate normally. Therefore, the oil filter must be exchanged.

Generally, the filter housing is configured to drain oil existing therein to an oil pan when the oil filter is being exchanged. An oil exhaust passageway communicating with a main oil gallery is formed in a lower portion of the filter housing, and an oil drain hole is branched from the oil exhaust passageway. The oil drain hole communicates with the oil pan.

In a state that the oil filter is mounted, a lower portion of a filter stand that supports the oil filter is inserted into the oil drain hole, and a sealing ring is coupled to an outer circumference of the filter stand, so that the oil drain hole is closed.

The oil filter stand is also exchanged when the oil filter is exchanged. Therefore, when the oil filter is removed from the filter housing, the oil drain hole is opened, so that oil in the oil filter housing moves into the oil pan through the oil drain hole.

At this time, oil also flows into the main oil gallery through the oil exhaust passageway. Therefore, unfiltered oil flows into the engine. That is, while the oil filter is exchanged, unfiltered oil may flow into the main oil gallery, and this can cause engine troubles.

Furthermore, the filter stand must be extended to the oil drain hole in order to close the oil drain hole when the oil filter is mounted. Therefore, the filter stand is long so that there are difficulties in mounting the oil filter.

The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide an oil filter assembly in which unfiltered oil is prevented from flowing to a main gallery while an oil filter is being exchanged.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the oil filter assembly comprises a filter housing, an oil filter unit, and a drain valve unit. The filter housing is provided with an oil inflow passageway through which oil is supplied into the filter housing from an oil pan, an oil exhaust passageway communicating with a main oil gallery, and an oil drain passageway through which oil is drained to the oil pan. The oil filter unit is disposed within the filter housing to filter the oil flowing into the filter housing. The drain valve unit is configured to selectively close the oil exhaust passageway and the oil drain passageway in response to whether the oil filter unit is disposed within the filter housing or whether the oil filter is removed from the filter housing.

It is preferable that the drain valve unit opens the oil exhaust passageway and closes the oil drain passageway when the oil filter unit is disposed within the filter housing, and wherein the drain valve unit closes the oil exhaust passageway and opens the oil drain passageway when the oil filter unit is removed from the filter housing.

Preferably, the drain valve unit comprises a valve housing, a plunger, and an elastic member. The valve housing is disposed in the oil exhaust passageway and in the oil drain passageway, and it is provided with a first through hole communicating with the oil exhaust passageway and a second through hole communicating with the oil drain passageway. The plunger is slidably disposed within the valve housing, and it is able to move between a first position where the plunger closes the first through hole and a second position where the plunger closes the second through hole. The elastic member elastically supports the plunger against the valve housing. The oil filter unit comprises a filter stand disposed within the filter housing and an oil filter fixedly coupled to the filter stand. The filter stand presses the plunger such that the plunger is positioned to a first position where the plunger closes the second through hole when the filter unit is disposed within the filter housing, and the elastic member urges the plunger such that the plunger is positioned to a second position where the plunger closes the first through hole when the filter unit is removed from the filter housing.

It is preferable that the elastic member is a coil spring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention, where:

FIG. 1 schematically shows the oil filter assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the oil filter unit is removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Oil filter assembly 100 according to an embodiment of the present is a device for filtering oil of an internal combustion engine. As shown in FIG. 1, oil stored in an oil pan 201 is supplied to an oil filter housing 101 of the oil filter assembly 100 by an operation of an oil pump 203. The oil supplied from the oil pan 201 enters the housing 101 through an oil inflow passageway 103.

An oil filter unit 105 is disposed within the oil filter housing 101, and the oil filter unit 105 filters the oil flowing into the oil filter housing 101. The oil filter unit 105 is disposed within the oil filter housing 101 such that the oil filter unit 105 can be separated from the oil filter housing 101. The oil filter unit 105 comprises an oil filter 107 and a filter stand 109 to which the oil filter 107 is coupled. As an example, the oil filter 107 can be coupled to the filter stand by a coupling member 111. The oil filter 107 can be a conventional oil filter. It is preferable that the filter stand 109 has a shape of a pillar extending in a vertical direction.

Oil is filtered by the oil filter 107, and the filtered oil is exhausted from the filter housing 101. Then, the oil flows into a main oil gallery 205 through an oil exhaust passageway 113. The oil supplied to the main oil gallery 205 passes through various lubricated/cooled portions 207 and enters the oil pan 201.

An oil drain passageway 115 is formed in the oil filter housing 101. The oil drain passageway 115 communicates with the oil pan 201. The oil drain passageway 115 is formed in a lower portion of the oil filter housing 101, so that the oil can be drained to the oil pan 201 through the oil drain passageway 115 when the oil filter unit 105 is removed.

The oil filter assembly 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention has a drain valve unit 117 that is configured to selectively close the oil exhaust passageway 113 and the oil drain passageway 115 in response to a mounting or a dismounting of the oil filter unit 105.

As shown in FIG. 1, while the oil filter unit 105 is mounted, the drain valve unit 117 operates such that the oil exhaust passageway 113 is opened and the oil drain passageway 115 is closed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, while the oil filter unit 105 is dismounted (removed), the drain valve unit 117 operates such that the oil exhaust passageway 113 is closed and the oil drain passageway 115 is opened.

Therefore, in a state that the oil filter unit 105 is mounted, the oil passing through the oil filter 107 flows into the main oil gallery 205, and in a state that the oil filter 105 is dismounted, the oil does not flow into the main oil gallery 205 but is drained to the oil pan 201.

The drain valve unit 117 includes a valve housing 119 that is disposed simultaneously in the oil exhaust passageway 113 and the oil drain passageway 115. The valve housing 119 has a cylindrical shape, and an upper end thereof is opened to communicate with an inside portion of the oil filter 107. The valve housing 119 is disposed in the oil filter housing 101.

A first through hole 121 communicating with the oil exhaust passageway 113 is formed in the valve housing 119, and second through holes 123a and 123b communicating with the oil drain passageway 115 are formed in the valve housing 119. A plunger 125 is vertically slidably disposed in the valve housing 119. The plunger 125 has a cylindrical shape, and a lower end thereof is opened.

A coil spring 127 is disposed between the valve housing 119 and the coil spring 127. That is, the plunger is elastically supported by the coil spring against the valve housing 119. Instead of the coil spring 127, any arbitrary elastic member can be used which can elastically support the plunger 125. The coil spring 127 vertically upwardly supports the plunger 125 against the valve housing 119.

As shown in FIG. 1, while the oil filter unit 105 is mounted, the filter stand 109 presses the plunger 125 downwardly, and the coil spring 127 is thereby compressed. Consequently, the plunger 125 is positioned at its lowest position where the plunger 125 closes the second through hole 123a. At this time, the first through hole 121 is opened. Therefore, the oil flows in a dotted arrow direction in FIG. 1.

On the other hand, in a state such that the oil filter unit 105 is dismounted, as shown in FIG. 2, the plunger 125 is upwardly biased by the coil spring 127. Consequently, the plunger 125 is positioned at its highest position where the plunger 125 closes the first through hole 121. At this time, the second through holes 123a and 123b are opened.

Therefore, while the oil filter unit 105 is being exchanged, the unfiltered oil is prevented from flowing to the main oil gallery 125 and is allowed to flow to the oil pan 201 through the oil drain passageway 115. Therefore, when the oil filter unit 105 is dismounted, the oil flows in a dotted arrow direction of FIG. 2.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it should be clearly understood that many variations and/or modifications of the basic inventive concepts herein taught which may appear to those skilled in the present art will still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims.

According to the oil filter assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention, unfiltered oil is prevented from flowing to the main oil gallery while the oil filter unit is dismounted.

Claims

1-16. (Cancelled)

17. A method of storing a video data stream on a hard disk drive (HDD) for efficient, non-sequential access to the stored stream of video data, the HDD having a plurality of sectors, each sector having a first integer of user data bytes, the HDD addressable on sector boundaries for non-sequential access, the video data stream including a sequence of original transport packets, each original transport packet having a second integer of bytes, the second integer of bytes different from the first integer of user data bytes, wherein a third integer of original transport packets are storable in a fourth integer of sectors, the fourth integer being a minimum number of sectors with the same number of user data bytes as the number of bytes in the third integer of original transport packets, the method comprising: receiving the sequence of original transport packets; adding a fifth integer of bytes to each original transport packet to create a sequence of modified transport packets, each modified transport packet having a sixth integer of bytes; and storing the sequence of modified transport packets on the HDD, wherein a seventh integer of modified transport packets are stored in an eighth integer of sectors, the eighth integer being a minimum number of sectors with the same number of user data bytes as the number of bytes in the seventh integer of modified transport packets, the eighth integer of sectors smaller than the fourth integer of sectors.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the second integer of bytes is 188.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the fifth integer of bytes is four so that the sixth integer of bytes is 192.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the second integer of bytes is 188 and wherein the fifth integer of bytes is four so that each modified transport packet has a length of 192 bytes.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first integer of user data bytes is 512, and wherein the eighth integer of sectors is three.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the first integer of user data bytes is 512.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein each original transport packet includes synchronization bytes located at a beginning of each original transport packet, and wherein the fifth integer of bytes is added in front of the synchronization bytes.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein each original transport packet includes synchronization bytes located at a beginning of each original transport packet, and wherein the fifth integer of bytes is inserted behind the synchronization bytes.

25. The method of claim 17, further comprising passing each modified transport packet through a first buffer prior to storing on the HDD.

26. A system for storing video data for efficient, non-sequential access to the stored video data, the system comprising: a receiver configured to receive a stream of video data that includes a sequence of original transport packets, wherein each original transport packet has a first predetermined number of bytes; a first circuit configured to add a second predetermined number of bytes to each original transport packet to create a modified transport packet having a third predetermined number of bytes; and a hard disk drive (HDD) configured to receive and store each modified transport packet, wherein the HDD is addressable on sector boundaries, each sector having a predetermined number of user data bytes different from the first predetermined number of bytes, wherein: the first byte in an original transport packet aligns with a first user data byte in a sector after a first predetermined number of sectors following a previous alignment; and the first byte in a modified transport packet aligns with a first user data byte in a sector after a second predetermined number of sectors following a previous alignment, wherein the second predetermined number of sectors is less than the first predetermined number of sectors.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising a second circuit configured to remove the second predetermined number of bytes from each modified transport packet retrieved from the HDD.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the first predetermined number of bytes is 188 and wherein the second predetermined number of bytes is four so that the third number of bytes is 192 bytes.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the predetermined number of user data bytes is 512, and wherein the second predetermined number of sectors is three.