CN215822737U - Air dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to an air dryer, comprising an air inlet, a drying cylinder for removing moisture in air fed from an air source to the air dryer through the air inlet, and a first output port, wherein the air dried by the drying cylinder at least partially flows to the first output port; the regeneration electromagnetic valve is opened when the amount of gas fed to the air dryer by the air source reaches a preset value so as to remove the redundant moisture in the drying agent by utilizing the dry air to blow back the drying agent. The air dryer can realize intelligent regeneration and selective regeneration, and overcomes the defects of attenuation or fatigue damage caused by repeated use of metal springs and the like adopted in a control system of the traditional mechanical air dryer.

Description

Air dryer

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an air dryer, in particular a compact air dryer for a vehicle.

Background

With the development of vehicle braking technology, a pneumatic braking chassis system is an important mode for automobile braking in China at present. After the air compressor compresses the air, the compressed air containing a large amount of moisture and carrying oil, coke, dust, etc. flows into the brake pipe system, thereby causing great damage to the automobile brake system, and parts such as electronic devices, rubber seals, etc. in the brake system are seriously damaged, thereby reducing the safety performance and the use reliability of the automobile. Accordingly, it is common for automobiles to use an air dryer to remove moisture, oil, coke, dust, etc., from compressed air while adjusting the pressure of the compressed air supplied to a brake pipe system.

Conventional mechanical air dryers employ pressure relief valves and time switches to control pressure relief regulation and regeneration regulation. However, the mechanical air dryer has the following drawbacks. First, in the pressure reduction adjustment process and the desiccant regeneration process of the mechanical air dryer, parts such as metal springs used in the control system may have some fatigue damage due to repeated use, and in addition, moisture not completely dried in the compressed air may corrode the metal springs, thereby making the air flow of the entire brake system unstable. Second, the process parameters of the mechanical air dryer are constant, and the process parameters of each link are usually preset at the time of shipment. However, vehicles encounter a variety of conditions during a particular use and, as a result, the air pressure requirements of the brake system are also different. Such constant parameter settings are less adaptable to mechanical air dryers. Thirdly, the mechanical air dryer has a single function, for example, the drying agent can be automatically subjected to back-blowing regeneration every time the air supply to the air dryer is cut off, and different regeneration modes cannot be set according to different road conditions.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

To overcome at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, the present invention provides an air dryer comprising an air inlet, a drying cylinder for removing moisture from a gas fed from a gas source to the air dryer through the air inlet, and a first output port to which the gas dried by the drying cylinder flows at least partially, characterized in that the air dryer further comprises a solenoid valve assembly integrated with at least one solenoid valve, the at least one solenoid valve comprising a pressure regulating solenoid valve and a regeneration solenoid valve, the pressure regulating solenoid valve being configured to open to reduce the amount of gas in the air dryer to reduce the pressure when the pressure of the air output from the air dryer exceeds a predetermined pressure value, thereby achieving a pressure reducing regulation; the regeneration electromagnetic valve is configured to be opened when the amount of gas fed to the air dryer by the air source reaches a preset value so as to utilize the dry air to blow back the drying agent to remove the redundant moisture in the drying agent, and therefore the regeneration regulation of the drying agent is realized. The air dryer adopting the electromagnetic valve assembly can realize intelligent regeneration and selective regeneration, and overcomes the defects of attenuation or fatigue damage caused by repeated reciprocating use of a metal spring and the like adopted in a control system of the traditional mechanical air dryer.

According to a preferred embodiment, the solenoid valve assembly comprises a valve cover serving as an outer cover of the solenoid valve assembly, a valve body comprising at least one valve cartridge forming the at least one solenoid valve, and an interface portion having a shape complementary to a corresponding interface on the air dryer for attaching the solenoid valve assembly, for attaching the solenoid valve assembly to the air dryer via the interface portion. By adopting the electromagnetic valve assembly with the design, the whole structure is more compact.

According to a preferred embodiment, the respective interfaces of the air dryer are arranged on the same side of the air dryer. Therefore, the installation space of each pipeline is saved, the size of the whole air dryer is reduced, and the installation and the maintenance are convenient. The air dryer of the present invention is greatly reduced in size as compared with the conventional air dryer.

According to a preferred embodiment, the air dryer further comprises a chamber and the exhaust valve is arranged in the chamber, the chamber is communicated with the air source to feed back the air pressure in the air dryer to the air source, the exhaust valve is used for exhausting the air in the air dryer, and the pressure regulating solenoid valve can indirectly control the opening/closing of the exhaust valve. In this case, the chamber also serves as a feedback port for feeding back the air pressure in the air dryer to the air supply.

According to a preferred embodiment, the air dryer is configured such that: during the decompression adjustment of the air dryer, the pressure-regulating solenoid valve is opened, the gas in the air dryer reaches the chamber and the elevated pressure in the chamber causes the exhaust valve provided in the chamber to open to exhaust the gas in the air dryer, while the elevated pressure in the chamber is fed back to the gas source, which cuts off the supply of gas to the air dryer, thereby reducing the pressure in the air dryer. The pressure reduction regulation of the air dryer is performed here mainly by discharging the air in the air dryer via the outlet valve and at the same time also cutting off the feed of compressed air to the air dryer, in which pressure regulation the compressed air in the line from the air dryer to the air compressor is emptied.

According to a preferred embodiment, the air dryer is configured such that: during the regeneration process of the drying agent in the drying cylinder, the pressure regulating solenoid valve and the regeneration solenoid valve are both opened, and dry air for regenerating the drying agent is reversely fed into the air dryer from the first output port, a part of the dry air flows to the chamber through the pressure regulating solenoid valve, the rising air pressure in the chamber causes an exhaust valve arranged in the chamber to be opened, meanwhile, the rising pressure in the chamber is also fed back to an air source, and the air source cuts off the air supply to the air dryer; in addition, a part of the drying air will flow through the regeneration solenoid valve and blow back the drying cylinder, and the exhaust gas leaving the drying cylinder is discharged to the outside of the air dryer through the exhaust valve.

According to a preferred embodiment, the air dryer further comprises a chamber, a second output port and said vent valve arranged in the chamber, said second output port being in communication with the air source for feeding back the air pressure inside the air dryer to the air source, said vent valve being adapted to vent the air inside the air dryer, the regeneration solenoid valve being adapted to indirectly control the opening/closing of the vent valve.

According to a preferred embodiment, the air dryer is configured such that: in the decompression adjustment process of the air dryer, the pressure regulating electromagnetic valve is opened, the gas in the air dryer reaches the second output port, the rising air pressure in the second output port is fed back to the air source, and the air source cuts off the air supply to the air dryer, so that the air pressure in the air dryer is reduced. At this time, the decompression adjustment is performed by cutting off the air compressor from feeding the compressed air to the air dryer, and the compressed gas in the piping from the air inlet of the air dryer to the air compressor may not be evacuated. Therefore, the quantity of compressed gas supplied to the air dryer by the air compressor in the following normal air inlet drying process is reduced, so that the oil consumption of the whole vehicle is reduced, and the aim of saving energy is fulfilled.

According to a preferred embodiment, the air dryer is configured such that: during regeneration of the desiccant in the air dryer, the regeneration solenoid valve is opened and drying air for regenerating the desiccant is fed back into the air dryer from the first output, the drying air will flow through the regeneration solenoid valve, after which a portion of the drying air will flow to the chamber, the elevated air pressure in the chamber in turn causing the exhaust valve provided therein to open; and a part of the drying air will blow back the drying cylinder, and the exhaust air leaving the drying cylinder is discharged to the outside of the air dryer through the exhaust valve.

According to a preferred embodiment, the air supply is an air compressor of the car and the air fed to the air dryer is compressed air from the air compressor.

Further features of the utility model will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

Drawings

The present invention will now be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale and that the drawings are merely illustrative of exemplary embodiments of the utility model and are not to be considered limiting of its scope. Wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a front view of an air dryer 100 integrated with a solenoid valve assembly 120 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a side view of the air dryer 100 from a different angle;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a front view of a solenoid valve assembly 120 according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a left side view of the solenoid valve assembly 120;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an exploded perspective view of the solenoid valve assembly 120;

fig. 6 schematically shows a first control diagram of the operation of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment;

fig. 7 schematically shows an intake air drying state of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment;

fig. 8 schematically shows a decompression-adjusted state of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment;

fig. 9 schematically shows a blowback state of the regeneration process of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment;

fig. 10 schematically shows the exhaust state of the regeneration process of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment;

fig. 11 schematically shows a second control diagram of the air dryer 100 according to the second embodiment;

fig. 12 schematically shows a blowback state of the regeneration process of the air dryer 100 according to the second embodiment;

fig. 13 schematically shows the exhaust state of the regeneration process of the air dryer 100 according to the second embodiment.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the description of the various embodiments is illustrative only and is not intended to limit the technology of the present invention in any way. It is also to be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide further additional embodiments.

It should be understood that like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views. In the drawings, the dimensions of some of the elements may be modified, exaggerated or reduced for clarity; or some components may be omitted or shown in somewhat schematic form in order to highlight certain components.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used in the specification have the meanings commonly understood by those skilled in the art. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

As used in this specification, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" may include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. The terms "comprising," "including," and "containing" when used in this specification specify the presence of stated features, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features. The term "and/or" as used in this specification includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, "left", "right", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", and the like are referred to directions in the drawings. It should be understood that spatial relationships such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "front," "rear," and the like are intended to describe the relationship of one feature to another in the drawings. It will be understood that the spatial relationship terms encompass different orientations of the air dryer in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures.

An air dryer is an air handling unit that receives compressed air from an air compressor (i.e., source) through an air intake, removes impurities such as moisture, oil, coke, etc. from the compressed air, and supplies dried and filtered clean air to, for example, downstream brake components through various outlets. Air dryers typically have two important functions, pressure reduction regulation and regeneration regulation. Here, "pressure reduction regulation" refers to a regulation process of reducing the amount of gas in the air dryer when the gas pressure in the air dryer exceeds a predetermined pressure value (i.e., a cut-off pressure), thereby reducing the gas pressure in the air dryer and maintaining the gas supplied to the downstream braking element within a desired pressure range; "regeneration conditioning" refers to a conditioning process in which the desiccant is blown back against the desiccant of the air dryer by means of dry air to remove excess moisture from the desiccant when, for example, the amount of air (i.e., the air pumping amount) fed to the air dryer by the air compressor reaches a predetermined value, thereby achieving repeated use (i.e., "regeneration") of the desiccant.

An air dryer 100 according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 and 2 show a front view and a side view, respectively, of an air dryer 100. The air dryer 100 includes a drying cylinder 110 equipped with a desiccant for removing impurities such as moisture, oil, etc. from the fed compressed air, a solenoid valve assembly 120 for controlling a decompression adjustment and regeneration adjustment process of the air dryer, and various valves (e.g., an exhaust valve E, a first check valve C1, a second check valve C2, described later) for controlling the flow of air within the air dryer, and the like. It should be noted that although the air dryer includes many other different components, the components not related to the utility model of the present invention will be omitted. The structure and function of these components are known to those skilled in the art.

The air dryer 100 of the present invention is a compact air dryer. As shown in fig. 2, the respective interfaces (e.g., the air inlet 1, the chamber 23, the second outlet 24, the spare outlet 25, etc., described later) of the air dryer 100 are arranged on the same side of the air dryer 100, thereby saving the installation space of the respective pipes, reducing the volume of the entire air dryer 100, and also facilitating installation and maintenance. The size of the air dryer 100 of the present invention (particularly, the size in the length direction and the height direction) is greatly reduced as compared to the conventional air dryer.

The solenoid valve assembly 120 will be described with reference to fig. 3-5. Fig. 3-5 show front, left and exploded perspective views, respectively, of the solenoid valve assembly 120. The solenoid valve assembly 120 mainly includes a valve cover 121, a valve body 122, and an interface 123. The valve cover 121 serves as an outer cover of the solenoid valve assembly 120. The valve body 122 is located between the valve cover 121 and the interface portion 123, and the valve body 122 mainly includes a valve head 124 and at least one valve element M inserted through the valve head 122. In the present embodiment, two spools M are provided, which will form a first electromagnetic valve a and a second electromagnetic valve B, respectively, described later. However, the number of spools and solenoid valves formed is not limited to two, but may be, for example, three, four, or the like. As shown in fig. 4, three pins P1, P2, and P3 for controlling the on and off of the first solenoid valve a and the second solenoid valve B are provided on the valve head 124. Pin P2 is grounded, and when pin P1 is on, the first solenoid valve a is actuated; when pin P3 is on, the second solenoid valve B is actuated. The shape of the interface portion 123 is complementary to the shape of a corresponding interface on the air dryer 100 for attaching the solenoid valve assembly 120, thereby securely attaching the solenoid valve assembly 120 to the air dryer 100 via the interface portion 123 by means of screws (e.g., four screws), which also makes the overall structure more compact. In order to ensure the sealing between the interface 123 of the solenoid valve assembly 120 and the corresponding interface of the air dryer 100, a gasket 125 is used between the interface 123 and the corresponding interface of the air dryer 100.

Two control modes of the air dryer 100 will be specifically described below according to two exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

< first embodiment >

Fig. 6 schematically shows a first control diagram of the operation of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment. In fig. 6, the components denoted by the respective reference numerals are as follows: "1" means an air intake to an air compressor (i.e., air supply) for feeding compressed air; "12" denotes a backup air intake, such as used during commissioning of a vehicle; "23" represents a chamber in which a vent valve E is located, the chamber also communicating with the air compressor to feed back the air pressure within the air dryer to the air compressor, when the chamber is also acting as a feedback port; "3" represents a connection port connectable to a muffler; "21" represents a first output port connected to a four-circuit protection valve; "24" and "25" indicate the second and alternate outlets of the air dryer; "110" means a drying cylinder; "D" represents a heater; "C1" and "C2" denote a first check valve and a second check valve, respectively; "a" and "B" respectively denote a first solenoid valve and a second solenoid valve, both of which are normally-closed solenoid valves, wherein the first solenoid valve a serves as a pressure-regulating solenoid valve for controlling the pressure of the air dryer, and the second solenoid valve B serves as a regeneration solenoid valve for controlling the regeneration of the drying agent; "E" denotes an exhaust valve provided for exhausting gas in the air dryer, and the first electromagnetic valve a can indirectly control the opening/closing of the exhaust valve; "P1", "P2", "P3" respectively denote three pins for controlling the first solenoid valve a and the second solenoid valve B. Although fig. 6 shows the air dryer 100 including all of the above components, the air dryer 100 may include only some of these components, e.g., the backup outlet 25 is optional.

The intake air drying, decompression adjustment, and desiccant regeneration processes of the air dryer 100 will be described below with reference to the control diagram of fig. 6 and the sectional views of fig. 7 to 10. It is noted that the cross-sectional views of fig. 7, 8, 9, 10 are taken at different locations as desired in order to better illustrate the flow of air in the various processes. The arrows in the figures indicate the direction of flow of the gas.

First, the intake air drying process of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 6 and 7. As shown in fig. 7, the compressed air flows into the air dryer 100 from the air inlet 1 to the air compressor (not shown), flows through the drying cylinder 110 to remove moisture and the like, then the pressure of the dried air causes the first check valve C1 to open and flow through the first check valve C1, and then the dried air flows to different ports according to actual needs, for example, a part of the dried air may flow to the first output port 21 connected to the four-circuit protection valve, a part of the dried air may flow to the second output port 24, a part of the dried air may flow to the first solenoid valve a and the second solenoid valve B, and the like in the solenoid valve assembly 120.

Next, a decompression adjusting process of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 6 and 8. When it is detected that the air pressure outputted from the air dryer 100 (e.g., the air pressure in the first output port 21) exceeds a predetermined pressure value (i.e., a cut-off pressure), the pressure regulating solenoid valve (first solenoid valve a) will be opened. The compressed air reaches the chamber 23 and the increased air pressure in turn causes the opening of the exhaust valve E provided in the chamber 23. The gas in the air dryer 100 is discharged to the outside environment through the exhaust valve E and also through the muffler F in the case where the muffler F is provided at the exhaust port, thereby reducing the air pressure inside the air dryer 100. At the same time, since the chamber 23 is also connected to the air compressor (at which time the chamber 23 also serves as a feedback port), the air compressor will stop supplying air to the air dryer 100 after the elevated pressure in the chamber 23 is fed back to the air compressor.

Next, a desiccant regeneration process of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 6, 9, and 10. Fig. 9 schematically shows a blowback state of the regeneration process of the air dryer 100, and fig. 10 schematically shows an exhaust state of the regeneration process of the air dryer 100. When the amount of air fed from the air compressor to the air dryer (i.e., the pumping amount) reaches a predetermined value such that the desiccant in the desiccant cartridge 110 needs to be dried (i.e., regenerated), the pressure regulating solenoid valve (first solenoid valve a) and the regeneration solenoid valve (second solenoid valve B) are both opened, and clean dry air from, for example, the rear-end entire vehicle air reservoir G is fed back into the air dryer 100 from the first output port 21. On the one hand, a portion of the drying air will flow through the first solenoid valve a to the chamber 23, the elevated air pressure in the chamber 23 causing the opening of the exhaust valve E arranged therein. At the same time, since the chamber 23 is also connected to the air compressor, the air compressor will also stop supplying air to the air dryer 100 after the excessive pressure in the chamber 23 is fed back to the air compressor. On the other hand, a portion of the drying air will flow through the second solenoid valve B and cause the second check valve C2 to open, and then blow back the drying cylinder 110 along a path substantially opposite to the path in the inlet air drying state, as shown in fig. 9. Next, as shown in fig. 10, the exhaust gas having absorbed the excess moisture in the drying agent and the water stain and the like carried by the exhaust gas come out of the drying cylinder 110, flow to the exhaust valve E, pass through the exhaust valve E and, in the case where a muffler F is provided at the exhaust port, also pass through the muffler F and then are discharged to the outside environment.

< second embodiment >

Next, a second embodiment of the operation of the air dryer 100 is described.

Fig. 11 schematically shows a second control diagram of the operation of the air dryer 100 according to the second embodiment. In the present embodiment, the same members as those in the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The second control map shown in fig. 11 is different from the first control map shown in fig. 6 in that: in this embodiment, the second output port 24 communicates with the air compressor to feed back the air pressure within the air dryer to the air compressor, while the chamber 23 no longer communicates with the air compressor, serving only as a chamber in which the exhaust valve E is disposed; furthermore, the first solenoid valve a still functions as a pressure regulating solenoid valve, but the pressure regulating solenoid valve no longer indirectly controls the opening/closing of the exhaust valve E; further, the second electromagnetic valve B is still used as a regeneration electromagnetic valve, but the regeneration electromagnetic valve can indirectly control the opening/closing of the exhaust valve E.

The intake air drying, decompression adjustment, and desiccant regeneration processes of the air dryer 100 will be described below with reference to the control diagram of fig. 11 and the sectional views of fig. 12 to 13. It is noted that the cross-sectional views of fig. 12, 13 are taken at different locations as desired in order to better illustrate the air flow during the various processes. The arrows in the figures indicate the direction of flow of the air.

First, as can be seen from comparison of fig. 6 and 11, the intake air drying process of the air dryer 100 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the air dryer 100 according to the first embodiment shown in fig. 7, and thus a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, a decompression adjusting process of the air dryer 100 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 11. When it is detected that the air pressure outputted from the air dryer 100 (e.g., the air pressure in the first output port 21) exceeds a predetermined pressure value (i.e., a cut-off pressure), the pressure regulating solenoid valve (first solenoid valve a) will be opened. The compressed air in the air dryer 100 reaches the second output port 24 and the second output port 24 communicates with the air compressor and feeds back the excess air pressure in the air dryer to the air compressor. When the air compressor receives feedback that the air pressure in the air dryer 100 is too high, the air compressor will shut off the air intake to the air dryer 100, thereby reducing the air pressure within the air dryer 100. In this embodiment, since the pressure regulating solenoid valve (first solenoid valve a) does not control the opening of the exhaust valve E, the compressed air between the air compressor and the air dryer is not exhausted during the pressure regulation.

In the present embodiment, the "pressure reduction adjustment" of the air dryer 100 is performed by cutting off the air compressor from feeding compressed air to the air dryer 100, and at this time, the compressed air in the line from the air inlet 1 of the air dryer to the air compressor may not be evacuated. Therefore, the quantity of compressed gas supplied to the air dryer by the air compressor in the following normal air inlet drying process is reduced, so that the oil consumption of the whole vehicle is reduced, and the aim of saving energy is fulfilled. However, the air compressor of the present embodiment requires some adaptive modifications. In contrast, in the first embodiment, the "pressure reduction adjustment" of the air dryer 100, in which the compressed gas in the line from the air inlet 1 of the air dryer to the air compressor is exhausted, is mainly performed by discharging the gas in the air dryer 100 via the air discharge valve E while also cutting off the supply of compressed air to the air dryer, thus increasing the amount of compressed gas supplied by the air compressor to the air dryer in the next normal intake air drying process, as compared to the second embodiment.

Next, a regeneration process of the air dryer 100 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 11, 12, and 13. FIG. 12 schematically illustrates a blowback condition of the regeneration process of the air dryer 100; fig. 13 schematically shows the exhaust state of the regeneration process of the air dryer 100. In the present embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, when the desiccant in the drying cylinder 110 needs to be regenerated, the regeneration solenoid valve (second solenoid valve B) is opened, and the clean dry air in the vehicle air cylinder G from the rear end is reversely fed from the first output port 21 into the air dryer 100. The drying air flows through the second solenoid valve B, after which a portion of the drying air will flow to the chamber 23, the increased air pressure in the chamber 23 causing the opening of the exhaust valve E arranged therein; and a portion of the drying air will cause the second check valve C2 to open and then blow back into the drying cylinder 110 along a path substantially opposite to the path in the inlet air drying state, as shown in fig. 12. Next, as shown in fig. 13, the exhaust gas having absorbed the excess moisture in the drying agent and the water stain and the like carried by the exhaust gas come out of the drying cylinder 110, flow to the exhaust valve E, pass through the exhaust valve E and, in the case where a muffler F is provided at the exhaust port, also pass through the muffler F and are then discharged to the outside environment. Unlike the first embodiment, in the present embodiment, the pressure regulating solenoid valve (first solenoid valve a) is not opened during regeneration.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the solenoid valve assembly 120 may be controlled by an external ECU (electronic control unit). With the air dryer 100 of the present invention, "intelligent regeneration" can be achieved, i.e., compressed air is consumed for regeneration only when the desiccant in the drying cylinder 110 needs to be regenerated, thereby overcoming the disadvantage that the conventional air dryer automatically starts the regeneration process each time the cutoff pressure is reached. By adopting the air dryer 100 of the utility model, selective regeneration can be realized, that is, a saving regeneration mode is selected according to different road conditions, for example, a regeneration mode after flameout (that is, the air dryer additionally performs a regeneration operation after flameout of a vehicle to keep the residual air in a pipeline dry), and intelligent pressure regulation can be realized, for example, an overload mode (that is, the cutting pressure of the air dryer is improved by using the energy of the engine which is dragged backwards when the vehicle slides downhill through the optimized overload mode, so that the purpose of saving energy is achieved), and the like. With the air dryer 100 of the present invention, it is also possible to overcome the disadvantages of the components such as metal springs used in the control system of the conventional mechanical air dryer being attenuated or fatigue-damaged due to repeated use.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the normal intake air drying operation and the decompression adjusting operation, etc. of the air dryer 100 may be dynamically performed according to actual conditions.

The air dryer 100 according to the present invention is not limited to being applied only to pneumatic control brake systems in the automotive industry, but may be applied to pneumatic control brake systems requiring dry air in any industry.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the utility model is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

Claims (10)

1. An air dryer (100) comprising an air inlet (1), a drying cylinder (110) for removing moisture from a gas fed to the air dryer (100) from a gas source through the air inlet (1), and a first output (21) to which the gas dried by the drying cylinder (110) flows at least partially (21), characterized in that the air dryer further comprises a solenoid valve assembly (120) integrated with at least one solenoid valve comprising a pressure regulating solenoid valve and a regeneration solenoid valve, the pressure regulating solenoid valve being configured to open to reduce the amount of gas in the air dryer to reduce the pressure when the pressure output by the air dryer (100) exceeds a predetermined pressure value to achieve a reduced pressure regulation; the regeneration electromagnetic valve is configured to be opened when the amount of gas fed to the air dryer by the air source reaches a preset value so as to utilize the dry air to blow back the drying agent to remove the redundant moisture in the drying agent, and therefore the regeneration regulation of the drying agent is realized.

2. The air dryer (100) according to claim 1, wherein the solenoid valve assembly (120) comprises a valve cover (121), a valve body (122) and an interface (123), the valve cover (121) acting as an outer cover for the solenoid valve assembly (120), the valve body (122) comprising at least one valve cartridge (M) forming the at least one solenoid valve, the interface (123) having a shape complementary to a shape of a corresponding interface on the air dryer (100) for attaching the solenoid valve assembly (120) to attach the solenoid valve assembly (120) to the air dryer via the interface (123).

3. The air dryer (100) of claim 1, wherein the interfaces of the air dryer (100) are disposed on the same side of the air dryer.

4. The air dryer (100) according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the air dryer (100) further comprises a chamber (23) and an exhaust valve (E) arranged in the chamber (23), the chamber (23) being in communication with an air supply for feeding back the air pressure inside the air dryer to the air supply, the exhaust valve (E) being used for exhausting the air inside the air dryer (100), the pressure regulating solenoid valve being capable of indirectly controlling the opening/closing of the exhaust valve (E).

5. The air dryer (100) of claim 4, wherein the air dryer (100) is configured such that: during the decompression adjustment of the air dryer, the pressure regulating solenoid valve is in the open position, the gas in the air dryer reaches the chamber (23) and the increased air pressure in the chamber (23) causes the exhaust valve (E) provided in the chamber (23) to open to exhaust the gas in the air dryer (100), while the increased air pressure in the chamber (23) is fed back to the gas source, which cuts off the supply of gas to the air dryer (100), thereby reducing the air pressure in the air dryer (100).

6. The air dryer (100) of claim 4, wherein the air dryer (100) is configured such that: during regeneration of the drying agent in the drying cylinder (110), the pressure regulating solenoid valve and the regeneration solenoid valve are both in an open position, and drying air for regenerating the drying agent is fed back into the air dryer (100) from the first output port (21), a part of the drying air will flow through the pressure regulating solenoid valve to the chamber (23), the rising air pressure in the chamber (23) causes an exhaust valve (E) arranged therein to open, and simultaneously the rising pressure in the chamber (23) is also fed back to an air source, which cuts off the air supply to the air dryer (100); in addition, a part of the drying air will flow through the regeneration solenoid valve and blow back the drying cylinder (110), and the exhaust air leaving the drying cylinder is discharged to the outside of the air dryer (100) through the exhaust valve (E).

7. The air dryer (100) according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the air dryer (100) further comprises a chamber (23), a second output port (24) and an exhaust valve (E) arranged in the chamber (23), the second output port (24) being in communication with the air supply for feeding back the air pressure inside the air dryer to the air supply, the exhaust valve (E) being used for exhausting the air inside the air dryer (100), the regeneration solenoid valve being capable of indirectly controlling the opening/closing of the exhaust valve (E).

8. The air dryer (100) of claim 7, wherein the air dryer (100) is configured such that: in the decompression adjusting process of the air dryer, the pressure adjusting electromagnetic valve is in the open position, the air in the air dryer reaches the second output port (24), the rising air pressure in the second output port (24) is fed back to the air source, and the air source cuts off air supply to the air dryer (100), so that the air pressure in the air dryer (100) is reduced.

9. The air dryer (100) of claim 7, wherein the air dryer (100) is configured such that: during regeneration of the desiccant in the air dryer, the regeneration solenoid valve is in an open position and dry air for regenerating the desiccant is fed back into the air dryer (100) from the first output (21), the dry air will flow through the regeneration solenoid valve, after which a portion of the dry air will flow to said chamber (23), the elevated air pressure in the chamber (23) in turn causing the exhaust valve (E) provided therein to open; and a part of the drying air will blow back the drying cylinder (110), and the exhaust air leaving the drying cylinder is discharged to the outside of the air dryer (100) through the exhaust valve (E).

10. The air dryer (100) of any of claims 1-3, wherein the air source is an air compressor of an automobile and the gas fed to the air dryer (100) is compressed air from the air compressor.

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