Compressed-air dryer

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a compressed-air dryer capable of separating or removing oil from compressed air and capable of improving drying efficiency of desiccant material.
It is another object of the invention to provide a compressed-air dryer which facilitates maintenance of an oil-mist separator arranged within a housing.
For the purpose, according to the invention, there is provided a compressed-air dryer for use in a pneumatic pressure circuit having an air compressor and an air reservoir, the compressed-air dryer comprising: a desiccant container having accommodated therein regenerable desiccant material; base means having formed therein a recess at one end thereof; inlet port means connected to the air compressor of the pneumatic pressure circuit and communicating with the recess; outlet port means through which air after having passed through the desiccant container is discharged to the air reservoir of the pneumatic pressure circuit; dump valve means arranged at the one end of the base means for causing the recess in the base means to communicate with the ambient atmosphere in response to a command from the outside; and an oil-mist separator arranged between the desiccant container and the dump valve means, the oil-mist separator having one end thereof communicating with the inlet port means through the recess therein, the oil-mist separator having the other end communicating with the desiccant container, in which the oil-mist separator removes oil in compressed air flowing from the air compressor toward the desiccant container through the inlet port means and the recess, wherein the base means has a tubular section, the oil-mist separator being received within the tubular section and cooperating with the latter to define a transport cavity therebetween, and wherein the inlet port means communicates with the one end of the oil-mist separator through the transport cavity and the recess.
With the arrangement described above, the compressed air supplied into the inlet port means from the air compressor passes through the transport cavity defined between the oil-mist separator and the tubular section of the base means and, subsequently, is supplied, through the recess, to the oil-mist separator from its end which is located adjacent the dump valve means