The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 25, 1997
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1996
Matthew D Mitsch, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Wilmerding, PA (US);
Abstract
A desiccant canister assembly for use in an air dryer system includes a pair of concentrically disposed casings, top and bottom end caps, top and bottom porous plates and moisture absorbing material. A cylindrical opening is defined in between the casings. The top end cap affixes to the upper ends of the casings. The bottom end cap affixes to the lower ends of the casings. Each end cap features openings that allow air to flow through the cylindrical opening. The bottom porous plate is situated at a bottom of the cylindrical opening against the bottom cap. The top porous plate is slidably disposed within the cylindrical opening near the upper ends of the casings. The absorbing material is disposed within the cylindrical opening between the porous plates. The desiccant assembly also includes a mechanism for compacting the absorbing material between the porous plates. The desiccant assembly further includes a mechanism for aligning and securably retaining the desiccant canister assembly within a canister housing of the air dryer system. The latter mechanism includes a positioning bore defined within an inner one of the casings and through a center of each end cap. The positioning bore receives a threaded rod extending from a center of an upper base of the housing about which the desiccant assembly securably retains through a lock washer and a stop nut so that an outer ring portion of the top cap aligns with and seals via an o-ring against a sealing flange of the housing.