DETROIT-In a move to advance its automotive fuel filter technology, Kuss Filtration, a unit of Fleetguard Co., has developed gradient density depth filtration media that increase fuel cleansing with smaller-sized filters. The depth filtration technology makes it possible to produce new, smaller filters with equal capacity to existing filters, he said. The company's filters typically are produced in an acetal frame that provides structural integrity.
John Combest, director of engineering for Kuss of Findlay, Ohio, said layers of woven, monofilament cloth that make up the outside of the filter trap large contaminants, while a spun-bond, monofilament nylon layer inside the cloth captures larger contaminants.
A layer of melt-bond, monofilament nylon contains the smallest contaminants, leaving the purified fuel to be pumped through to the vehicle's engine.
The filters are used in fuel tanks at the leading end of the fuel system, and are designed to leave contaminants in the fuel tank.
Combest said prototypes of the new filters will be available sometime in April.
He demonstrated the new filters at the Society of Automotive Engineers' 1996 International Congress and Exposition at Detroit's Cobo Hall.
Separately, Kuss is planning to open its second production facility for automotive fuel filters in Quimper, France, and a new sales office in Hamburg, Germany. Kuss injection molds its own filter frames, but Combest said the company does not yet have definite plans for the new plant's molding capacity.
