HK1003371B - Air purifier - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to an air purifier, in particular an electrostatic air purifier, which has a housing containing an inlet nozzle and an outlet nozzle for a stream of air to be purified, which is fed to an air purifier unit located in the housing, that the housing of the air purifier is column-shaped, that the air purifier unit contained in the column-shaped housing is tubular, that the column-shaped housing has a closed, essentially airtight envelope, that the inlet nozzle for the stream of air to be purified is located on a first front surface of the column-shaped housing.

Such a room air purifier is known from DE-OS 2 132 410, which provides that the exhaust nozzle is located in the housing surface of the known air purifier, such design having the effect of preventing a linear flow of the air flow through the known air purifier in an unfavourable way, so that turbulence in the flow is unfavourable and is reflected in a space for extremely low noise development in the case of air purifiers.

Another disadvantage of the exhaust nozzles of the known air purifier located in the hood is that they do not divert the purified air leaving the known air purifier far enough away from the air purifier, so that a large part of the purified air is in turn sucked in through the intake nozzle and is diverted back to the air purification unit of the known air purifier.

Another disadvantage of the known air purifier is that the air purification unit's inlet opening has a much smaller diameter than the inlet nozzle of the column-like housing, so that a reduction in the flow cross section occurs in the known air purifier.

The difference in the diameter of the inlet nozzle of the column housing and the inlet of the air purification unit also has the disadvantage that the known air purifier must have a blocking element for the air flow which prevents some of the air flow entering through the inlet of the known air purifier from passing through the air purification unit.

DE-OS 2 035 789 is a box-like air purifier with an electrostatic separator. The air to be purified is ionized in a high-voltage field in a gasifier so that in the next separator, where there is also a high-voltage field, the suspended particles in the air are securely attached to a separator surface in the separator.

The electrostatic separation apparatus described above, as well as all other known air purifiers, are only capable of cleaning the lower air layers of a room because of their box-shaped housing, so that no or only very inadequate cleaning of the upper air layers is carried out.

The fact that the standard air purifiers used in residential, commercial or restaurant environments must be relatively compact is due to the fact that most buyers of such air purifiers find it inconvenient to have, for example, in their living room, a bulky box which would be required for the standard air purifiers to accommodate the technical components required to achieve adequate cleaning performance.

The fact that the air purifiers are situated close to the ground means that the power of the air-absorbing fan is relatively small, as otherwise the occupants would be exposed to unpleasant draft air.

The compact design of the known air purifiers, which is required for the above reasons, means that only very low noise insulation is available, which can therefore only dampen a small level of operating noise of the known air purifiers.

The DE-OS 35 28 591 is a column-type air conditioner with a closely airtight housing and an inlet and outlet opening, consisting of a fan with a pressure-fed fan and an electric dust collector with a flow-fed fan. The disadvantage of the known air conditioner is that it can only be placed in its horizontal direction, so that the disadvantages described above continue to exist in this known device.

DE-OS 39 21 387 is a case-shaped air purifier with air intakes on one side, through which the air stream is drawn through an electrical separation device using the corona discharge.

From JP 60-114 361 in Patents Abstracts of Japan, Sect. C, Vol.9 (1985), No. 260 (C309) an air purifier is known to have air intake and air outlet openings on both sides, with the air stream entering through the inlet opening passing through an electrostatic cleaning device.

Whereas, in the case of air purifiers, they must be of a low noise, non-polluting and aesthetically acceptable design, the requirements which such an air purifier must satisfy in order to fulfil its function are in principle not comparable to those which a room air purifier designed for use in living rooms must satisfy. Whereas, in the case of air purifiers, they must be of a low noise, non-polluting and aesthetically acceptable design, these characteristics are not necessary for an external air purifier operating in a wood-burning furnace system - a role which is known from the above statement - to fulfil.

USPS 3 623 295 describes an exhaust gas cleaning system, preferably designed for use in automobiles, which has an air purification unit arranged in a tube, one end of which is connected to a vehicle exhaust, so that the exhaust products emitted by the engine of the vehicle are already cooled in the exhaust and their pressure is reduced. Such a system is not suitable for use as an air purifier for indoor air because it is not able to fulfil the characteristics described above.

The object of the invention is therefore to develop an air purifier for indoor air of the type described at the outset in such a way that, despite its compact design, a high cleaning performance can be achieved.

This problem is solved by arranging the exhaust nozzle on the other front face of the column-shaped housing, an inlet of the air purification unit on one of its front faces and escaping with the inlet nozzle of the column-shaped housing and an outlet of the air purification unit on its other front face and escaping with the outlet of the column-shaped nozzle of the air purifier, in such a way that an essentially straight line of air flow between the inlet nozzle of the air purifier and the outlet and the opening and exit of the column-shaped nozzles of the air purifier is conceivable.

The following subclaims are used to illustrate the advantageous aspects of the invention.

The measures of the invention result in the formation of an air purifier which is particularly advantageous in a particularly quiet operation and in an optically attractive form. The linear flow of the air flow through the air purifier, which is obtained in a particularly advantageous way by the formation of the air purifier, eliminates or reduces the occurrence of turbulence in the flow. This results in a process of advanced air purification and in the air purifier's performance being minimal when the air purifier is in operation. Furthermore, the air flow of the air purifier is controlled by the columns of the invention's air purifier, which is characterized by the presence of a low pressure airflow, which is also necessary to achieve a lower air pollution level in the outer air purifier than the type of air purifier defined by the invention.

The invention of the air purifier according to the invention is also of such a kind that the columnar design of the housing makes it appear not as a nuisance in the room but as a representative decoration element. The closed design of the enclosures according to the invention makes it possible to adapt the invention of the air purifier according to the invention to the environment of the installation in a particularly convenient way.

The column shape of the air purifier has the advantage that it can be extended with particular ease without being visually distorting or bulky; the easily practicable extension of the housing makes it particularly easy to use a longer air purifier, which in a particularly advantageous way results in an increased degree of purification; the column shape of the air purifier allows the use of an electrostatic air purifier, which requires a lower high voltage for ionizing the particles than the known air purifiers of the case; this has the advantage that the invention is significantly less likely to cause ozone depletion in the air than the known air purifiers.

A further advantage of the invention is that the air purifier according to the invention is designed as a stationary device, with the inlet nozzle at the upper end and the outlet nozzle at the lower end of the air purifier according to the invention.

The advantage of the above arrangement is that it carries the warm air accumulating in the upper part of the room downwards and rises again after passing through the air purifier of the invention and exiting the lower nozzle.

A further advantage of the invention is the rounded edge of the air purifier around the intake nozzle, which has the advantage of improving the flow conditions in the area of the intake nozzle.

A further advantage of the invention is that the air purification unit of the air purifier according to the invention is located at a distance from the air intake nozzle of the housing in the interior of the column housing of the air purifier.

A further advantageous development of the invention is that a lighting element is placed in the free space between the inlet nozzle of the column housing and the entrance opening.

An example of the invention is shown in the figure and is explained in more detail below. Figure 1a first example of an air purifier,Figure 2a second example of an air purifier,Figure 3a third example of an air purifier, and Figure 4a Housing segment of the air purifier

The first example of an air purifier generally designated 1 shown in Figure 1 has a column-shaped housing 2 with a round, oval or polygonal cross-section, which has a substantially airtight enclosed housing 2a.

The housing 2 may be mounted on a stand, in particular a retractable one, or may have supporting elements to attach the housing 2 of the air purifier 1 to a wall and/or ceiling of a room, in particular a living room.

On a first front side 2' of the column housing 2 is an inlet nozzle 3 through which a stream of air L to be purified is sucked in from the surroundings of the air purifier 1. Viewed in the direction of flow of the sucked air stream L, the inlet nozzle 3 follows a line preferably separated from this installed electrostatic air purifier 10 which is also columnar or tubular in shape. An inlet nozzle 11 is located on a first front side 10' of the electrostatic air purifier 10 and is arranged parallel to the inlet nozzle 3 of the column air purifier 2 of the air purifier 1, so that the air flow over the three nozzles can be controlled without significant turbulence and is therefore of particular importance for the air pollution control unit 10 and is therefore of no consequence in the construction of the air purifier 10 .

Err1:Expecting ',' delimiter: line 1 column 210 (char 209)

The basic design of the air purifier 1 described above is already characterised by its high noise-cancelling characteristics, since the air flow L through the air purifier column is, due to its essentially straight line direction, dynamically controlled and therefore produces very little air noise. The resulting low resistance of the air purifier 1 makes it advantageous to have a fan unit 6 with a lower power than is required for the same air intake in known air purifiers.

The column-like design of the air purifier 1 makes it particularly advantageous to install soundproofing elements 15, 16 which further reduce the noise level caused by the operation of the air purifier 1 described; the first soundproofing element 15 placed in the 5' space between the inlet nozzle 3 of the housing 2 and the entrance opening 11 of the air purifier 10 has a particularly advantageous effect on the attenuation of the sound of the air flow entering the air purifier column and the sound of the electrostatic air purifier 10 in the air flow entering the air purifier unit 6 and the noise of the electrostatic air purifier 10 in the air flow entering the air purifier 6 and the air flow entering the air purifier 6 in the air purifier unit 6 in the air flow entering the air flow entering the air.

A further improvement in the characteristics of the air purifier described above is achieved by rounding the edge of the housing 9 surrounding the intake nozzle 3 and this not only results in a flow-friendly flow of air flow L into the intake nozzle 3 but also in the immediate environment of the air purifier 1 in which air is drawn not only from the area above the intake nozzle 3 but also from the surrounding area a few decimetres below the intake nozzle 3.

In the space 5' below the intake nozzle 3, a control unit 20 is preferably located, which will favourably increase the flow rate of the air flow L in this area and thus prevent the deposition of dirt particles on the inner wall of the housing 2 in front of the air purification unit 10.

The above description assumes that the intake nozzle 3 is at the upper end of the column and the exhaust nozzle 4 at the lower end of the column. Although it is in principle possible to reverse the arrangement of the two nozzles 3, 4, the arrangement described has the advantage that by directing the air flow L from above downwards, the warm air in the upper part of the room is preferentially sucked in and is directed downwards by the column-like cleaning device 1 where it starts to rise again.

Finally, in order to design the first example of the design described in Figure 1, it is necessary to indicate that a non-described bulkhead can be placed in the area of the intake nozzle 3, and that it is possible to provide the intake nozzle 11 of the air purification unit 10 with a corresponding protective grid 17 or that a corresponding protective grid 19 can also be optionally placed in the area of the exhaust nozzle 4.

The columnar design of the housing 2 of the air purifier 1 has the advantage that it is easy to accommodate in the housing 2 even the devices necessary for the operation of the air purifier 1 not shown in Figure 1 so that they are not visible from the outside and thus do not affect the advantageous aesthetic impression of the air purifier 1.

The basic design of the air purifier 1 shown in Figure 3 is similar to the examples shown in Figures 1 and 2, so that identical or corresponding parts can be fitted with the same reference numbers. The main difference between these two air purifiers 1.1' is that the air purifier 1 has a filter unit 30 located in the area of the exhaust nozzle 4 which is designed e.g. as an activated carbon filter and/or an ozone filter.

It should be noted that the design of the air purifier 1, 1 described above, with only a single air purifier 10, is not mandatory; it is possible to arrange two or more air purifiers in the housing 2, preferably parallel to each other; it is also possible to arrange the air purifier 10 in a spiral in the housing 2 to create a longer airway through the electrostatic air purifier 10 resulting in a higher degree of purification; it is also not necessary to provide any further proof that two or more spiral air purifiers 10 can be arranged in the housing 2.

Figure 4 shows a segment 40 which is particularly suitable for forming the housing 2 of the air purifier described in Figure 1 and which is particularly suitable for forming the housing 2 in a segmental way. The advantage of the segmental structure of the housing 2 is that it is particularly easy to pre-assemble the air purifier 10 and the devices which work with it and then to close the housing 2 to the prefabricated housing. Each of the at least two segments 40 of the housing 2 shows the two longitudinal elements 41a, 41b which connect the two housing elements 41a and 41b, which separate the housing 2 together.

Claims (18)

1. An air cleaning apparatus for indoor air, especially an electrostatic air-cleaning apparatus, which comprises a housing, in which an inlet nozzle (3) and an outlet nozzle (4) are provided for an air current (L) to be cleaned, which is led to an air cleaning unit (10) being arranged in said housing, wherein said housing (2) of said air cleaning apparatus (1; 1') is shaped column-like, wherein said air cleaning unit (10) included in the column-like shaped housing (2) is shaped column-like, wherein said column-like shaped housing (2) comprises an generally air-tight outer sheath (2a), wherein said inlet nozzle (3) for said air current (L) to be cleaned is provided in a first front face (2') of said column-like shaped housing (2), characterized in that the outlet nozzle (4) is provided in the other front face (2") of said column-like shaped housing (2), in that an inlet opening (11) of said air cleaning unit (10) is provided at one of its front faces (10') and is aligned with said inlet nozzle (3) of said column-like shaped housing (2), and that an outlet opening (12) of said air cleaning unit (10) is provided at its other front face (10") and is aligned with said outlet nozzle (4) of said column-like shaped housing (2) of said air cleaning apparatus (1; 1'), so that an essentially straight course of said air flow between said inlet nozzle (3) of said air cleaning apparatus (1) and said inlet opening (11) as well as between said outlet opening (12) and said outlet nozzle (4) of said column-like shaped air cleaning apparatus (1; 1') can be achieved.
2. The air cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said inlet nozzle (3) is provided in the upper one (2') of said two front faces (2'; 2") of said column-like shaped housing (2) of said air-cleaning apparatus (1; 1').
3. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1 or 2, characterized in that a rim area (9) of said column-like shaped housing (2) surrounding said inlet nozzle (3) has a shape.
4. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1-3, characterized in that said inlet opening (11) of said air cleaning unit (10) is spaced apart, in the flow direction of said air current (L), from said inlet nozzle (3) of said housing (2).
5. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1-4, characterized in that a current guide element (20) is provided in front of said inlet opening (11) of said air cleaning unit (10).
6. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1-5, characterized in that a lighting element (21) is provided in a space (5') of said housing (2) positioned between said inlet nozzle (3) and said inlet opening (11).
7. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1-6, characterized in that a noise reduction element (15) is provided at least between said inlet nozzle (3) of said housing (2) and said inlet opening (11) of said air cleaning unit (10).
8. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1-7, characterized in that a noise reduction element (16) is provided at least between said outlet nozzle (4) of said housing (2) and said outlet opening (12) of said air cleaning unit (10).
9. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1-8, characterized in that a fan unit (6) is provided in front of said outlet nozzle (4) of said column-like housing (2).
10. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the afore-mentioned claims, characterized in that said outlet opening (12) of said air cleaning unit (10) is spaced apart, in the flow direction, from said outlet nozzle (4) of said column-like shaped housing (2) of said air cleaning apparatus (1; 1').
11. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1-10, characterized in that a filter unit (30) is provided in said housing (2) of said air cleaning apparatus (1').
12. The air cleaning apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that said filter unit (30) is a carbon filter and/or an ozone filter.
13. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the afore-mentioned claims, characterized in that an element for the release of a deodorizing substance is provided in said housing (2) of said air cleaning unit (1).
14. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the claims 1-13, characterized in that said air cleaning unit (10) is an electrostatic air cleaning unit.
15. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the afore-mentioned claims, characterized in that said column-like shaped housing (2) of said air cleaning apparatus (1; 1') has a circular, oval or polygonal cross-section.
16. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the afore-mentioned claims, characterized in that said column-like shaped housing (2) of said air cleaning apparatus (1; 1') is mountable on a stand.
17. The air cleaning apparatus according to of the claims 1-16, characterized in that holding elements are provided on said housing (2) of said air cleaning apparatus (1), by which said housing (2) of said air cleaning apparatus (1; 1') is fixable to a wall and/or a ceiling of a room, especially of a living room.
18. The air cleaning apparatus according to one of the afore-mentioned claims, characterized in that at least two of said air cleaning units (10) are provided in said housing (2).