DESC:
FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT 1970
(Act 39 of 70)
&
The Patent Rules, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(See Section 10 and rule 13)

TITLE OF INVENTION:

SUPPORT ELEMENT FOR A FILTER ELEMENT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THEREOF

APPLICANT:

1. (A) Name: Khosla Profil Pvt Ltd.
(B) Nationality: India
(C) Address: Laxmi Towers, 6th Floor, "A" Wing,
Behind ICICI Bank., Bandra Kurla Complex,
Bandra(E), Mumbai - 400 051, Maharashtra, India.

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to filter elements, and more specifically, to a supporting element for a solid-liquid separation filter element used for efficiently filtering solids and liquid and improving a life of the filter element.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Filters are provided for the filtration of solids and liquids from a mixture in various industrial processes. Many typical prior art filters for industrial processes have filter components that are made from non-metallic materials. In one prior art, a filter apparatus with a substrate is provided for storage of the filter medium, that comprises for example a foam material. The carrier elements for the substrates may also be formed from a plastics material. In another prior art, a filter apparatus comprises a filter medium, for example glycerine or glycol or mixtures of those substances.

[0003] The present invention provides a supporting element made of a fabric for a filter element for improving the efficiency of a filter apparatus and the life of the filter apparatus.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0004] It is the primary object of the present disclosure to provide a supporting element made of a fabric for improving the efficiency and life of a filter apparatus.

[0005] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a method for manufacturing a supporting element for a filter element.

SUMMARY
[0006] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a support element for a filter element is disclosed. The support element comprises an outer ring, an inner ring, at least one opening, a fabric surface between the outer ring and inner ring, a plurality of slots formed on the periphery of the inner ring along the circumference of the inner ring and the at least one opening, wherein the support element comprises a fabric material and a thin film coated on at least one side surface of the fabric material.

[0007] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing a support element for a filter element is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a fabric material made of a woven fabric material, applying a material on the on the at least one side surface of the fabric material, forming a thin film coating of the material on the at least one side surface of the fabric material by using a knife coating process, drying the thin film coating on the fabric material and forming rolls of coated fabric element using rollers, cutting the rolls of coated fabric element by using a Laser cutting process thereby forming the support element having a ring shape comprising an outer ring, an inner ring, at least one opening and a plurality of slots formed on the periphery of the inner ring along the circumference of the inner ring and the at least one opening. The support element comprises the woven fabric material in a range of 90% to 99% by weight and the coating material in a range of 0% to 10% by weight.

[0008] In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing a filter element for a filter apparatus is disclosed. The filter element comprises the support element. The method comprises the steps of providing a main filter element made of a fabric material for solid-liquid filtering and attaching the support element with the main filter element. The filter element with the support element is mounted in the filter apparatus for solid-liquid filtering.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures.
[0010] Figure 1 illustrates a support element of a filter element in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0011] Figure 2 illustrates a side view of a support element in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0012] Figure 3 illustrates a side view of a support element in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0013] Figure 4 illustrates a flow chart showing a method for manufacturing a support element for the filter element in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0014] Figure 5 illustrates a flow chart showing a method for manufacturing a filter element in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] In the present invention, a support element for a filter element and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. A filter apparatus may comprise a support element to be attached with a main filter element of the apparatus for filtering. The support element improves the efficiency of the solid-liquid filtering and the life of the support element for the same. The support element comprises a cloth fabric material, preferably the material is a woven fabric. Further, the support element comprises a special coating on the fabric element to reduce permeability of the support element.

[0016] Referring to figure 1, illustrated is a support element (1) for a filter element in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The support element (1) is made of a fabric material. The support element has an outer ring (2), an inner ring (3), and at least one opening (4). The support element (1) has a fabric surface (5) between the outer ring and inner ring. The support element may comprise a plurality of slots (6) formed on the inner ring along the circumference of the support element. In one example of the present disclosure, four slots are provided on the circumference of the inner ring and the opening. The support element comprises a woven fabric material and a thin film coated on a fabric surface of the support element.

[0017] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, even number of plurality of slots are formed on the support element. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, odd number of plurality of slots are formed on the support element.

[0018] According to an embodiment, the diameter of the outer ring ranges from 350 mm to 352 mm. The diameter of the inner ring ranges from 250 mm to 252 mm. The thickness of the support element ranges from 1.8 mm to 2 mm.

[0019] According to the embodiment, the support element comprises polypropylene with a special finish/coating.

[0020] According to the embodiment, the support element comprises Polypropylene filter fabric material in a range of 90% to 99% by weight and a coating made of a material in a range of 0% to 10% by weight, preferably in range of 0.2% to 10% by weight. The coating material comprises one of Polyurethane (PU) and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).

[0021] In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the support element comprises Polypropylene filter fabrics above 90% by weight and PU/PVA coating below 10% by weight. The thickness of the coating is in a range of 0.1 mm - 0.2 mm.

[0022] According to another embodiment, the support element is made of a cloth material.

[0023] According to another embodiment, the support element is made of a woven fabric. The support element further comprises a special coating on the fabric element to reduce the permeability of the woven fabric and to provide a smooth surface of the support element.

[0024] According to another embodiment, the support element may be attached to a main filter fabric of a filter apparatus by a method selected from a group comprising stitching, welding, spot welding, ultrasonic welding, and laser welding.

[0025] According to some other embodiment, the support element may be attached to a main filter fabric of a filter apparatus by an adhesive or gluing.

[0026] According to some other embodiment, the support element may be attached to a main filter fabric of a filter apparatus by locking.

[0027] According to an embodiment, the main filter element is made of same material and same fabric structure as the support element.

[0028] According to another embodiment, the main filter element is made of a cloth material.

[0029] According to another embodiment, the main filter element is made of woven fabrics. The woven fabrics may comprise Polypropylene Woven Fabrics.

[0030] According to another embodiment, the fabric element is made of waste fabric materials, preferably from waste cut pieces of previously made woven fabrics. The woven fabrics comprise Polypropylene Woven Fabrics.

[0031] Referring to Figure 2, illustrated is a side view of a support element in accordance with the present disclosure. The support element comprises the woven fabric element (11) having thickness ranging from1.7 mm - 1.8 mm and the thickness of the thin film coating (12) is in a range of 0.1 mm - 0.2 mm. The thickness of the support element ranges from 1.8 mm to 2 mm.

[0032] Figure 3 illustrates a side view of a support element in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. The thin film coating makes an inclined angle (13) with the opening (6) and thereby thickness of the thin film gradually reduces near to the opening (6), thereby enhancing the smooth filtering, resulting to improve the efficiency of the solid-liquid filtering and the life of the support element. The inclined angle may vary in a range of 30 degree to 60 degree.

[0033] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing a support element for a filter element is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a fabric material made of a woven fabric material, applying a material on the on the at least one side surface of the fabric material, forming a thin film coating of the material on the at least one side surface of the fabric material by using a knife coating process, drying the thin film coating on the fabric material and forming rolls of coated fabric element using rollers, cutting the rolls of coated fabric element by using a Laser cutting process thereby forming the support element having a ring shape comprising an outer ring, an inner ring, at least one opening and a plurality of slots formed on the periphery of the inner ring along the circumference of the inner ring and the at least one opening.

[0034] In another embodiment, rolls of coated fabric element may be cut to a support element by a cutting method selected from a water jet cutting, a laser cutting or a die cutting.

[0035] The support element may comprise Polypropylene woven fabric material in a range of 90% to 99% by weight and the coating made of a material in a range of 0% to 10% by weight, preferably in range of 0.2% to 10% by weight. The coating material comprises one of Polyurethane (PU) and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Referring to figure 4, illustrated is a flow chart showing a method for manufacturing a support element for the filter element in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] In the exemplary embodiments, the PU/PVA layer, may be applied any conventionally known coating process. For example, coating by a coating method such as a blade coating, air-knife coating, curtain die coating, slot die coating, bar coating, gravure coating or roll coating method is feasible. The two or more layers may be formed by sequential coating or simultaneous multi-layer coating chemicals (PU/PVA) for forming the respective layers.

[0037] According to one embodiment, the thin film is coated on two surfaces of the fabric material.

[0038] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing a filter element is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of forming a main filter element made of a fabric material, and providing the forming the main filter element, forming a support element made of woven fabric element as discussed in the previous embodiments, and attaching the support element with the main filter element. The method further comprises aligning the side surfaces of the support element and the main filter element against each other and attaching to at least one side or both side surfaces of the main filter fabric element.

[0039] The support element is made of same material as the main filter element. By any known methods, the support element is attached with the main filter element. The entire filter element with support element may be mounted in a filter apparatus. The support element is preferably made of cloth. Referring to Figure 5, illustrated is a flow chart showing a method for manufacturing a filter element in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] In the embodiment of the invention, the woven fabric material is manufactured from waste cut pieces of previously made woven fabrics,

[0041] Advantages: The cloth support element improves the efficiency of the solid-liquid filtering and the life of the support element for the same. Both material cloth and ring fabric manufactured from same material PP hence have similar properties to cope with during filtration.

[0042] The above description along with the accompanying drawings is intended to describe the preferred embodiments of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. The above description is intended to be illustrative and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art to which the invention relates will appreciate that many variations of the described example implementations and other implementations exist within the scope of the claimed invention.
,CLAIMS:We claim:

1. A support element (1) for a filter element, comprising:
an outer ring (2);
an inner ring (3);
at least one opening (4);
a fabric surface (5) between the outer ring (2) and inner ring (3);
a plurality of slots (6) formed on the periphery of the inner ring along the circumference of the inner ring (3) and the at least one opening (4), the plurality of slots (6) are located at regular intervals on the periphery of the inner ring (3) along the circumference of the inner ring and the opening (4);
wherein the support element comprises a fabric material (11) and a thin film (12) coated on at least one side surface of the fabric material.

2. The support element (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the support element (1) ranges from 1.8 mm to 2 mm.

3. The support element (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thin film has a thickness in a range of 0.1 mm - 0.2 mm and the fabric material has a thickness in a range of 1.7 mm - 1.8 mm.

4. A method of manufacturing a support element (1) for a filter element, the method comprises the steps of:
providing a fabric material (11) made of a woven fabric material; and
applying a material on the on the at least one side surface of the fabric material; and
forming a thin film coating (12) of the material on the at least one side surface of the fabric material by using a knife coating process;
drying the thin film coating on the fabric material and forming rolls of coated fabric element using rollers;
cutting the rolls of coated fabric element by using a Laser cutting process thereby forming a support element having a predefined shape, the support element is formed in a ring shape comprising an outer ring (2), an inner ring (3), at least one opening (4) and a plurality of slots (6) formed on the periphery of the inner ring along the circumference of the inner ring (3) and the at least one opening (4);
wherein the support element comprises the woven fabric material in a range of 90% to 99% by weight and the coating material in a range of 0% to 10% by weight.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the fabric material (11) is manufactured from waste cut pieces of previously made fabrics.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the woven fabric material comprises Polypropylene Woven Fabrics and the material for the thin film coating is selected from Polyurethane (PU) and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).

7. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the thin film coating makes an angle (13) near to the opening (6) thereby the thickness of the thin film gradually reduces near to the opening (6), wherein angle (13) is in a range of 30 degree to 60 degree.

8. A method of manufacturing a filter element for a filter apparatus, the filter element comprises the support element as claimed in claim 4, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a main filter element made of a fabric material for solid-liquid filtering; and
attaching the support element with the main filter element.

wherein the filter element with the support element is mounted in the filter apparatus for solid-liquid filtering.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the main filter element is made of same material and same fabric structure as the support element.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the main filter element is made of a woven fabric material.