An air purifying device for cleaning air of virus dust, pollen and the like
Technical field
The present disclosure relates to an air purifying device for purifying air of virus dust, pollen and the like. More specifically, the disclosure relates to an air purifying device mounted in a shell, for cleaning air of virus dust, pollen and the like, as defined in the introductory parts of and claim 1.
Background art
A problem with the solutions of the prior art is that most focus has been put on quarantine equipment for health personnel. This is expensive equipment which protects the entire body and often draws air from a clean air supply source. Other devices are related to industry masks for supplying clean air to workers working in gaseous environments. This is expensive equipment which normally draws air from a clean air supply source. These type of equipment require specific arrangements for air supply, or exchangeable containers holding compressed air. It will lead to problems on many levels if these types of equipment and devices were to be deployed by many peoples at once, or for example if all inhabitants in a defined area, city or country, should use such equipment for eliminating personal threat of being infected with a virus in a pandemic. Facemasks, as seen worn by inhabitants in major Asian cities, are cheap, but are unable to minimize the infection risk in most cases related to virus spread.
The present invention builds on and claims priority to the earlier patent application:
NO20190732, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety or copied in its whole. In the latter case the earlier patent application is recited at the end of this document wherein figure references are renumbered by adding 2000, and figure numbers by 200.
Summary
It is an object of the present disclosure to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above-identified deficiencies and disadvantages in the prior art and solve at least the above mentioned problem. According to a first aspect there is provided an air purifying device for purifying air of virus, dust, pollen and the like, comprising: a shell, a rotating filter assembly being rotatable in a balanced rotational motion, for providing a filtered air flow, a faceshield being arranged on a forward pointing portion of the shell for channeling the airflow pass the eyes, nose and mouth of a user, and a motor for spinning the rotating filter assembly in a rotating direction around a center axis ; such that when the motor rotates the rotating filter assembly, an air flow is generated behind the faceshield area past the area of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user.
The advantage of the rotating filter assembly is that a sufficient air flow is provided by the device to assure that all user breathed air is filtered either prior to inhalation or after exhalation, depending on whether the user is healthy, in need of fresh air supply, or has been infected by a virus, in need of purifying exhaled air. No additional equipment must be supported or used, the device may be completely self-contained and easy to mount and wear.
According to some embodiments, the filter assembly has a cylinder form, and the air comprises: an inlet provided by the orifice of a first side of the cylinder formed filter assembly, a pressure generating component, and a fine filter, wherein: the fine filter is arranged radially outside and in rotational connection to the pressure generating component.
According to some embodiments, the pressure generating component is one or more of:
- a coarse filter, having a relatively higher permeability than the fine filter,
- a pleated filter, or
- impeller blades being longitudinal arranged in the cylinder formed filter assembly.
In an even further embodiment the pressure generating component and the fine filter may be the same and for example comprised of a pleated filter having a fine filter characteristics portion arranged most radially outwards.
According to some embodiments, the impeller blades are longitudinal arranged around a cylinder formed center body, and the cylinder formed center body having a tapering cone form towards the inlet of the fine filter, and the first side of the impeller being defined by the side of the impeller where the tapering cylinder formed center body is smallest, and an exit of the rotating filter assembly is defined by the radially outward facing surface of the radially mounted fine filter.
According to some embodiments, the air flow in a first flow direction, for suppling filtered air to the user, when flowing from the faceshield area which is channeling the air flow from the ambient air, through inlet and the rotating filter assembly, and from the exit of the rotating filter assembly towards the faceshield area which is channeling the air flow past the area of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user, or in a second flow direction, for filtering exhaled air from infected user, when flowing past the area of the mouth, nose and eyes of the user, through the inlet and the rotating filter assembly, and from the exit of the rotating filter assembly towards the ambient air.
There problem with for example pandemics are that it is difficult to provide sufficient separation of people being infected from people not being infected. And infected people is a huge risk for those not yet being infected. Therefore there is just as important to prevent infected people from infecting those not infected, as it is for the not infected to stay not infected. This is solved by present invention in that the device may be used in two different modes where the air cleansing function either is performed on air that shall be inhaled by noninfected users, or on air that has been exhaled by infected users.
According to some embodiments, present invention comprise an exit guide which is arranged radially adjacent to the exit of the rotating filter assembly and is arranged to guide the air flow out of the rotating filter assembly in the first or second flow direction.
According to some embodiments exit guide has an increasing radius in the rotating direction such that the area between the exit and the exit guide the radial gap, expands. The advantage of this element is a potential creation of a vacuum pull on the air exiting the rotating filter assembly.
According to some embodiments, the rotating filter assembly being arranged in the shell.
Having the filter assembly arranged in the shell may have several advantages such as ease of use and wear. Having a compact design also make the device much less vulnerable to damage, and short air stream distances between filtering and breathing is power saving- and throughput efficient. That said, the filter assembly may be supplied in a detachable unit with an air hose/pipe connecting to the shell. Advantage of such arrangement is for example lighter shell assembly.
According to some embodiments a head supporting member for supporting the shell and/or supporting the rotating filter assembly, and for prohibiting leakage between a filtered air flow and non-filtered air may be comprised. The head supporting member may be connected to the exit guide via a connecting member. An advantage of such an arrangement may be that when resilience in the design is comprised, it may be possible to eliminate or reduce vibrations propagating from the rotating filter assembly to the users head.
According to some embodiments present invention further comprise an inlet guide which is arranged adjacent to the inlet providing an inlet channel for air entering the rotating filter assembly.
According to some embodiments, present invention further comprises: an air flow direction shifting unit, for shifting the flow path between the first flow direction and the second flow direction by being operable to change the position or orientation of one or both of the inlet guide and the exit guide.
It is thus possible to provide a shifting unitbeing able to shifting between operation modes of the present invention during its lifetime, depending on whether the actual user is infected or non-infected.
According to some embodiments, one or both of the inlet guide and exit guide is controlled by an air flow direction shifting unit (not shown) for shifting the flow path between the first flow direction and the second flow direction.
According to some embodiments, the exit guide has a snail house form being arranged around the exit of the rotating filter assembly changeable between two different orientations, such that: when the exit guide is directing the air in the first flow direction, the snail house formed exit guide is arranged such that it defines an opening towards the faceshield area channeling the air flow past the area of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user, and when exit guide is directing the air in the second flow direction, the the snail house formed exit guide is arranged such that it defines an opening towards an environment of ambient air and a blocking barrier towards the faceshield area such that exiting air streaming from the exit is prohibited to reach the faceshield area around the eyes, nose and mouth of the user.
According to some embodiments the faceshield further comprising an extending shield of a soft permeable material arranged to close off any openings between the faceshield edges and the head and neck of the user.
According to some embodiments, the inlet guide is rotatable and in air flow communication with a conduit, the rotatable inlet guide is arranged such that: when the air exit guide is directing the air in the first flow direction, the rotatable inlet guide item defines the inlet guide to be comprised of a first branch of the conduit leading the air flow in from the ambient air or from the backside of the shell past the area of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user, and when the air exit guide is directing the air in the second flow direction, the rotatable inlet guide item defines the inlet guide to be comprised of a second branch of the conduit leading the air flow in from the faceshield area past the area of the mouth, nose and eyes of the user to the ambient air.
The advantage of having an inlet guide being able to direct the inflow for two different environments allow the same production version of the present invention to be configured for use by either healthy users, or by infected user, simply by switching/mounting the device in two different operation modes.
According to some embodiments the shell comprise head fastening means, or is retrofittable into a modified hat, caps, or helmet, or a preconfigured hat, caps, or helmet.
According to some embodiments, the faceshield comprise: adjustable side portions for close adaption to the users head form in any of the cheek, chin and jaw areas.
The advantage with adjustable side portions is that the same size face shield may be adapted to fit a large number of different head/face forms of users, and fewer versions of the device must be offered to ensure all users of a population may have one device that can provide acceptable fit.
According to some embodiments, present invention comprises an air flow direction signaling device.
According to some embodiments, the air flow direction signaling device is one or more of: a unique color coding of the shell, a visible identification tag on flow direction controller device, or a led light device color coded to identify air flow direction mode.
According to some embodiments, the visible identification tag on flow direction controller device is provided by a transparent portion of the shell providing visibility of the arrangement of the exit guide.
According to some embodiments, the filter is a standard air filter being rolled around the impeller in sufficient layers to reach a required purifying efficiency. The advantage of this characteristic is that the filter module may be easily adapted to various needs.
According to some embodiments, the filter is a pleated filter.
The filter may be provided in a way that provides high efficiencies, as high as 99,97 or more.
According to some embodiments, the shell comprise connecting means for the rotating filter assembly, motor, inlet guide, and exit guide, and some or all of the connecting means may further comprise dampening means. The latter will improve the comfort level and lessen any vibration propagation to the users head.
According to some embodiments, the connecting means provide two connection modes, wherein the rotating filter assembly, motor, inlet guide, and exit guide is arranged: in a first mode for providing air flow in the first flow direction, and in a second mode for providing air flow in the second flow direction.
According to some embodiments, present invention comprises one or more of: internal disposable energy source, internal chargeable energy source, external energy source, energy charging connector device, motor operation mode controller means, motor operation mode signaling means, energy source status signaling means, and identification means.
According to some embodiments, present invention further comprising a faceshield extender for closing off openings between the faceshield edges and the head and neck of the user.
According to some embodiments, present invention further comprising a filter holder being arranged radially outside the filter assembly for stabilizing and keep the shape of the fine filter form when rotating.
The present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description given below. The detailed description and specific examples disclose preferred embodiments of the disclosure by way of illustration only. Those skilled in the art understand from guidance in the detailed description that changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the disclosure.
Hence, it is to be understood that the herein disclosed disclosure is not limited to the particular component parts of the device described or steps of the methods described since such device and method may vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. It should be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claim, the articles "a", "an", "the", and "said" are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements unless the context explicitly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a unit" or "the unit" may include several devices, and the like. Furthermore, the words "comprising", "including", "containing" and similar wordings does not exclude other elements or steps.
The term "filter" is to be interpreted as any type of filter including but not limited to: pleated filters, woven fiber filters, bag filters, High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, Carbon filters, UV light filters, or other.
The term “shell” is to be interpreted as any type of shell, cap, hat, helmet, molded form or the like that can be worn on the head, and which provides a confined volume above the head of the user.
When the term “fine filter” is used it is to be interpreted as any filter type usable in the filter assembly of present invention for filtration of air.
The term “face shield” is used to define the shield or brim attached to the front of the shell/hat/cap/helm/helmet for controlling the air stream to/from teh rotating filter assembly.
The term “area defined by the face shield” is used to define the space where the air stream to or from the rotating filter assembly in front of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user. This area is screened off by or defined by the face shield and the air stream.
Brief descriptions of the drawings
The above objects, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of example embodiments of the present disclosure, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 shows a perspective of the air purifying device, where the outer portions are shown as transparent.
Figure 2 shows a side view of the present invention having a partial cross section view of the internal of the rotating filter assembly.
Figure 3 shows an exploded view of the air purifying device of present invention for use by a healthy user.
Figure 4A shows an exploded view of the air purifying device of present invention, comprising impeller and filter, for use by an infected user.
Figure 4B shows an exploded view of the air purifying device of present invention, comprising impeller and pleated filter, for use by an infected user.
Figure 4C shows an exploded view of the air purifying device of present invention, comprising filter holder, coarse filter and fine filter, for use by an infected user.
Figure 4D shows an exploded view of the air purifying device of present invention, comprising filter holder and pleated filter, for use by an infected user.
Figure 4E shows a cross section of an installed filter assembly and exit guide
Figure 5 shows a bottom view of the present invention.
Figure 6 shows a cross section view of the rotating filter assembly.
Figure 7 shows another cross section view of the rotating filter assembly.
Figure 8 shows a bottom view and partial cross section of the air purifying device of present invention for use by healthy user.
Figure 9 show a detail of the inlet to the rotating filter section of the air purifying device of present invention for use by a healthy user.
Figure 10 shows a bottom view and partial cross section of the inlet to the rotating filter assembly section of the air purifying device of present invention for use by an infected user.
Figure 11 shows a side view and partial cross section of the inlet to the rotating filter assembly section of the air purifying device of present invention for use by an infected user.
Figure 12 show a further embodiment of the present invention
Figure 13 show a user wearing the device of present invention shown in figure 12 Detailed description
The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred example embodiments of the disclosure are shown. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in other forms and should not be construed as limited to the herein disclosed embodiments. The disclosed embodiments are provided to fully convey the scope of the disclosure to the skilled person.
Figure 1 shows a perspective of the air purifying device of present invention, and Figure 2 shows a side view of the present invention having a partial cross section view of the internal of the rotating filter assembly.
The first aspect of this disclosure shows an air purifying device 1 for purifying air of virus, dust, pollen and the like, comprising: a shell 2, a rotating filter assembly 3 being rotatable in a balanced rotational motion for providing a filtered air flow, a faceshield 4 being arranged on a forward pointing portion of the shell 2 for channeling the airflow pass the eyes, nose and mouth of the user, and a motor 5 for spinning the rotating filter assembly 3 in a rotating direction 20 around a center axis 18; such that when the motor 5 rotates the rotating filter assembly 3, an air flow 12 is generated behind the area defined by the face shield 4 past the area of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user.
The filter assembly 3 is provided in a substantially cylinder form, wherein an inlet 9 of the filter assembly 3 is provided by the orifice of a first side of the cylinder formed filter assembly 3. The filter assembly 3 further comprising a pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43 and a fine filter 10, wherein the fine filter 10 is arranged radially outside and in rotational connection to the pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43.
By rotating the filter assembly 3 comprising the radially mounted fine filter 10, it is created an air flow into the filter assembly 3 through the inlet 9 and the air flow is distributed along the pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43 and thrown towards the attached rotating fine filter 10. The fine filter 10 may be composed of a standard filter, for example a HEPA filter, being rolled around the pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43, in one or more layers to add up to a purifying efficiency satisfying the required purifying needs.
The pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43 may be comprised of a variety of arrangements, and most importantly it is necessary that the pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43 is able to spin the air and generate an air pressure that when hits the rotational connected fine filter 10 radially outside the pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43, no energy is wasted before entering the fine filter 10. Spinning the air in the same rotational motion as the fine filter also ensures that noise level is kept exceptionally low. The pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43 may be one or more of: a coarse filter 43 having a relatively higher permeability than the fine filter 10, a pleated filter 42, or an impeller 6, 7 being longitudinal arranged in the cylinder formed filter assembly 3. Various pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43 alternatives are exemplified in figure 4A-D. In the cases where a filter assembly is comprised of soft filters only, a filter holder 44 may be provided to ensure a stable and balanced filter assembly. The holder may simply be comprised of a helix line/thread 67 of any suitable material spun around the fine filter of any suitable material. The holder may in its simplest form be comprised of one or more rubber bands tightly arranged around the fine filter 10.
The rotation of the filter ensure that no additional energy is wasted on air hitting a static filter as is normal in traditional air filtering techniques, and further the rotation of the filter will add centrifugal forces to the air molecules which will aid their passage through the fine filter 10. This way a low energy, high throughput, low noise, working characteristics of the rotating filter assembly 6 is ensured. When air exits the filter assembly it flows in a guided direction between the outer surface of the filter and an exit guide 15 or between the outer surface of the filter and the inner surface of the shell 2. In an even further embodiment the pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43 and the fine filter 10 may be the same and for example be comprised of a pleated filter 42 having a fine filter characteristics portion arranged most radially outwards. One typically embodiment of such combined pressure generating component and fine filter may be a pleated filter 42.
In one embodiment wherein the pressure generating component comprise an impeller 6 having impeller blades 7 longitudinal arranged around a cylinder formed center body 8, and the cylinder formed center body 8 having a tapering cone form towards the inlet 9 of the fine filter 10. A first side of the impeller 6 being defined by the side towards which the tapering cylinder formed center body 8 of the impeller is smallest, and an exit 11 of the rotating filter assembly is defined by the radially outward facing surface of the radially mounted fine filter Depending on the mounting arrangement of pressure generating component 6, 7, 42, 43, the fine filter 10, and the motor the air flow in a first flow direction 13, for suppling filtered air to the user, when flowing from the ambient air, through inlet 9 and the rotating filter assembly 3, and from the exit 11 of the rotating filter assembly 3 towards the faceshield 4 area past the area of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user, or the air flow in a second flow direction 14, for filtering exhaled air from infected user, when flowing from the area defined by the face shield 4 past the area of the mouth, nose and eyes of the user, through the inlet 9 and the rotating filter assembly 3, and from the exit 11 of the rotating filter assembly 3 towards the ambient air.
In a further embodiment the air purifying device 1 further comprise an exit guide 15 which is arranged radially adjacent to the exit 11 of the rotating filter assembly 3 and is arranged to guide the air flow 12 out of the rotating filter assembly.
The exit guide 15 may be arranged to ensure that all air exiting from the fine filter 10 is collected and lead either to the breathing area of the user, or out to the ambient air. The form of the exit guide may be designed to collect the exiting air from the rotating filter in a manner that do not impose unnecessary flow restrictions, and a snail house like increasing radius in the rotational direction may be advantageous.
In a further embodiment of the air purifying device as illustrated in figure 4Ethe exit guide 15 has an increasing radius, R1 to R2, in the rotating direction 20 such that the area between the exit 11 and the exit guide 15, the radial gap, expands.
The expansion of the radial gap between the exit 11 and the exit guide 15 is advantageously greater than a factor of 1,2 over the length of the exit guide 15 in the rotating direction 20, such that the exiting air creates a sub pressure on the air exiting the exit 11 and enhances the air flow/increase the throughput.
The tuning of the expansion rate of the gap distance between the filter exit 11 and the exit guide 15 is used to promote suction through the filter. When the gap is in the range of the viscous boundary layers, flow separation is delayed so that dynamic energy of the tangential air flow exiting the filter 10 can more easily be recovered to static energy. Given that the gap increase in accordance with a certain expansion rate the flow through the filter can be enhanced significantly. By utilizing something similar to the venturi principle in this more complex flow situation it is possible to design a suction that promotes the flow throughput and hence the filtering capability of the device. The said expansion rate may be equal or larger than 1,2 times the angular rate corresponding to the tangential exit velocity and the nonguided or free flow rate given by the balance between centrifugal pressure build up through the rotating filter assembly 3 and the permeability of the filter(s). The exiting air then creates a vacuum pull on the air exiting the exit (11).
The length in the rotational direction of the exit guide 15 is preferably > 180⁰, but may be less if the shell 2 is provided with further air stream guiding elements ensuring that the air flow 12 is controlled in respective air flow directions 13, 14.
In a favorable embodiment of the present invention the rotating filter assembly 3 is arranged in the shell 2, and thus all components of the air purifying device 1 may be worn on the head.
In alternative embodiments the rotating filter assembly 3 is arranged in in a detachable/remote unit with an air hose/pipe connecting to the shell. For example could the rotating filter assembly 3 be installed in a custom shoulder bag to be carried by the user. Taking some of the weight away from the head might be advantageous in some user scenarios.
In one embodiment as shown in figure 3 and 4A-D, the exit guide, along with the other internal parts of the air purifying device 1, are mountable in two assembly modes. As shown in figure 3, a first assembly mode ensuring the exit air flow to stream in the first direction 13, wherein the exit guide 15 is mounted on the rear side of the rotating filter assembly 3. The rotating filter assembly 3 and motor is further mounted to rotate the rotating filter assembly in the direction throwing air into the exit guide and forward to the front of the shell 2 enclosure. The exit guide 15 having a partial cylinder form of approximately a half longitudinal cut pipe form, around 180⁰, optionally with an increasing radius in the rotating filter assembly 3 rotational direction, such that all air is led to the area radially outside the forward pointing half of the rotating filter assembly 3. All the filter configurations shown in figure 4A-D may be adapted to provide the air flow direction as shown in figure 3.
As shown in figure 4A-D, further assembly modes is shown for ensuring the exit air flow to stream in the second direction 14, wherein the exit guide 15 is mounted on the front side of the rotating filter assembly 3. The rotating filter assembly 3 and motor is further mounted to rotate the rotating filter assembly in the direction throwing air into the exit guide and backward to the rear of the shell 2 enclosure. The exit guide 15 having a partial cylinder form of approximately a half longitudinal cut pipe form, alternatively with an increasing radius in the rotating filter assembly 3 rotational direction, such that all air is led to the area radially outside the backward pointing half of the rotating filter assembly 3.
In an even further embodiment the present invention may comprise a head supporting member 16, 19 for supporting one or both of the shell 2 and the rotating filter assembly 3. In this area the air stream has regained its pressure and will also ensure that any gaps between head and head supporting member 16 probably will not feed contaminated air into the clean air stream. The head supporting member 16 may be connected to the exit guide 15 via a connecting member 28, wherein the connecting member 28 may have a resilience characteristic such that it may prohibit vibrations to propagate to the users head. The configuration of the head supporting member 16, 19, the exit guide 15, and the connecting member 28 may have one or more of the following characteristics for:
- the head supporting member 16, the exit guide 15, and the connecting member 28 is formed in one piece of the same material
- the head supporting member 16, the exit guide 15, and the connecting member 28 is formed in one piece of the same material and the connecting member 28 has a spring form
- the connecting member 28 is thinner than the head supporting member 16 and the exit guide 15
- grooves 29 are provided across the connecting member 28 between the head supporting member 16 and the exit guide 15
- the connecting member 28 is made of a different more resilient material compared to one or both of the head supporting member 16, 19and the exit guide 15
- the head supporting member 16,19 is separately connected to or part of the shell 2 and pointing downward towards the users head forward of the rotating filter assembly 3.
The head supporting member 16 when integrated with the exit guide 15 functions also to ensure the device sit correct on the users head. Although the head supporting member 16 illustrated is mainly a top of the head resting element, it may have other forms to ensure cooperation with the faceshield to ensure there are no leakage into or out of the air stream 12.
In yet another embodiment of the invention an inlet guide 17 mounted to an inlet cap 41 which is arranged adjacent to the inlet 9 providing an inlet channel 21 for air entering the rotating filter assembly 3. The inlet guide 17is provided to be arranged in a first position when air inlet is fed ambient air into the rotating filter assembly 3, and in a second position when air inlet is fed air from the volume of air behind the faceshield 4.
The inlet guide may even be comprised in an air flow direction shifting unit, for shifting the flow path 12 between the first flow direction 13 and the second flow direction 14 by being operable to change the position or orientation of one or both of inlet guide 17 and exit guide 15 (not shown).
When the exit guide 15 has a snail house form that may be arranged around the exit 11 of the rotating filter assembly 3 changeable between two different orientations, such that: when the exit guide 15 is directing the air in the first flow direction 13, the exit guide is arranged such that it defines an opening towards the area defined by the face shield 4 channeling the filtered clean air flow past the area of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user, and when the exit guide 15 is directing the air in the second flow direction 14, the exit guide 15 is arranged such that it defines an opening towards an environment of ambient air and a blocking barrier towards the area defined by the face shield 4 such that exiting air stream from the exit 11 is prohibited to reach the area defined by the face shield 4 around the eyes, nose and mouth of the user.
The faceshield 4 may further comprise faceshield extender 66 of an air permeable fabric/material, for example a cloth, arranged to close off some or all openings between the faceshield edges and the head and neck of the user. This may provide an over-pressure in the area surrounding the eyes, nose and mouth when the air flow in the first flow direction 13, the user is healthy, and an sub-pressure in the same area when the air flow in the second flow direction 14, the user is infected. The faceshield extender 66 may be attachable to the edge of the faceshield 4 on one side , and attachable to the face, neck, shirt/jacket or other on other side(s). The faceshield extender 66 may be comprised of more than one parts, for example one for downward facing side of faceshield, and one for each side of faceshield. Other configurations and tightening mechanisms may be adapted to various needs.
In one embodiment of th epresent invention, the inlet guide 17 is rotatable and in air flow communication with a conduit 21,22. The rotatable inlet guide 17 may be arranged such that: when the exit guide 15 is arranged such that the air flow in the first flow direction 13, the rotatable inlet guide 17 defines the inlet 9 to comprise a first branch 21 of the conduit 21,22 leading the air flow in from the ambient air or from the backside of the shell 2 channeling the filtered air flow out past the area of the eyes, nose and mouth of the user, and when the exit guide 15 is arranged such that the air flow in the second flow direction, the rotatable inlet guide 17 defines the inlet 9 to comprise a second branch 22 of the conduit 21,22 leading the air flow in from the area defined by the face shield 4 past the area of the mouth, nose and eyes of the user towards the ambient air.
The air purifying device may be used as a standalone device, or it may be incorporated in further equipment to be worn by the user. Therefore in one embodiment the shell 2 may comprise head fastening means 64, 65, for example sideflaps 64 and/or chin strap 65, to ensure correct use and maintenance of the user wearing the device correctly. Alternatively the device may be retrofittable into a for example modified hat, cap, helmet, or a preconfigured hat, caps, or helmet, or the like.
To further improve the use and personal adaption to face and head contour of the user the faceshield 4 in one embodiment comprise adjustable side portions 23. The need for close adaption to the users head form in any of the cheek, chin and jaw areas is important to prevent leakage from/to the air stream passing in front of the users eyes, nose and mouth. In an even further embodiment it may be provided custom formed faceshields formed to fit a user’s unique face and head form.
It may be advantageous to be able to see in what mode the air purifying device worn by a user is operating, providing air flow in the first flow direction 13 or in the second flow direction 14. In one embodiment of present invention it is provided an air flow direction signaling device. Alternatives for such air flow direction signaling devices may be one or more of: a unique color coding of the shell 2, a visible identification tag on flow direction controller device 15,17, or a led light device 25 color coded to identify air flow direction mode. The last needing a power source connection and a sensor or switch for setting the mode.
In an even further embodiment the operation mode may be advertised by providing a transparent portion of the shell 2, or the complete outer frame of the shell 2 is transparent, and having a signal color on some of the internal part. For example if the exit guide 15 having one color, and the outer surface of the filter having a different color, it may be possible to see if the air purifying device provide the user with filtered or non-filtered breathable air. If the transparent portion faces forward and the exit guide 15 color is red, the signal may be interpreted as the user is infected with a virus.
Depending on what the device is being used for the fine filter 10 may be provided in many forms and types. For example may a standard air filter being rolled around the impeller in sufficient layers to reach a required purifying efficiency. Other filters may be used. When being used for pollen or dust cleaning, it may be advantageous to use a pleated filter, which have high efficiencies and low noise. In an advantageous embodiment the efficiency of the filter is 99,97 or better.
The shell 2 comprise connecting means 26, 27 for connecting one or more of the rotating filter assembly 3, motor 5, inlet guide 17 and exit guide 15 to the shell 2, or hat, caps, or helmet. The connecting means 26, 27 may further comprise dampening means 31, 32, 33, 34 for providing dampening of vibrations. Examples of dampening means may be:
- a resiliant sealing ring 31 for attaching the motor to a connecting means 27 - a resiliant friction ring 35 mounted on an rotating output orifice of the motor 5, - a resiliant portion 32 of the inlet cap 41,
- a resiliant connecting member 33 of the inlet side of the cylinder formed center body 8
The shell 2 may be designed such that each longitudinal half is a mirror design of the other, or at least have means for connecting the one or more of the rotating filter assembly 3, motor 5, inlet guide 17 and exit guide 15 in a first mode 30 and/or a second mode 40 reverse order, such that when in the first mode 30 as illustrated in figure 3, the device will provide an air stream in the first air flow direction 13. When the one or more of the rotating filter assembly 3, motor 5, inlet guide 17 and exit guide 15 is connected in the reverse mode 40 order as illustrated in figure 4A-D, the device will provide an air stream in the second air flow direction 14.
In some embodiments of the present invention it will be advantageous to provide a further hair protection shield 68 arranged in the shell to prohibit hair of user and objects to reach the rotating filter assembly from the area defined by the face shield 4. The hair protection shield 68 has a high air permeability, sufficiently high not to hinder the air flow to and from the rotating filter assembly. The hair protection shield 68 may have different forms and may also for example be attached as a partial or complete static sleeve around the rotating filter assembly (not shown). The hair protection shield 68 may be provided in the form of a cloth, grid or lattice of a suitable material or other.
To be able to operate, and to enhance operation and usability the device may comprises one or more of: internal disposable energy source 50, internal rechargeable energy source 50, external energy source 51, energy charging connector device 52, motor operation mode controller means 53, motor operation mode signaling means 54, energy source status signaling means 55, and identification means 56.
The person skilled in the art realizes that the present disclosure is not limited to the preferred embodiments described above. The person skilled in the art further realizes that modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims.
For example the device may further be provided with sensors for measuring one or more of: filter efficiency, filter status, air volume throughput, impeller rpm, pollution level, active organisms in air, target viruses or other.
The device may further be comprising communication and controlling means for transmitting device status and sensor data to a remote computer device. Further the device may receive operational data and control signal via the communication module. Thus, a program running as an app on a smart phone may for example communicate and interact with the device. Such smartphones may be connected to other smart phones or computer/cloud network computing resources to monitor and control usage and cleaning of air.
Additionally, variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by the skilled person in practicing the claimed disclosure, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.
Related portions PRIORITY APPLICATIONS: NO 20190732
[1] It is a goal of the invention of the third priority to provide an air fan/filtering unit also for use in domestic homes, either as a ceiling mounted device or as a device arranged for being placed on a table/floor, and solving all or some of the problems described above by reducing the secondary effects caused by tangential air speeds.
[2] It is provided a low noise emitting air purifying device.
[3] It is in a first embodiment of the invention provided an air filtering unit for ceiling mount, preferably at a light/electrical connection point/outlet. The unique design of the filtering unit allows higher air flow than traditional air fan flow, but with significantly less noise and less tangential air movement out of the fan/filter unit. Thus enabling a purifying capacity of equal or higher than comparable air fan/filter units also for the sub micro particles.
[4] Common to all embodiments is that unwanted draught and noise is reduced without making tradeoffs like increasing size or reducing throughput.
[5] Alternative embodiments of the invention comprise additional features such as carbon filtering, ionizing, light, heating, scent addition, humidification, loudspeakers and others.
[6] Key feature of the various embodiments of the invention comprise a low noise emitting air purifying device assembly which is arranged on the downstream side of the filters, utilizing a low noise air directing device jet effect that will throw the air in a backward direction relative the spinning direction of the fan/filter. The low noise air directing device jet effect helps the motor propelling the rotating assembly hence reducing the power consumption and eliminating a portion of the resistance against the spinning of the assembly.
[7] Additional features and advantages of the invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the following brief description of the figures and the following detailed description, wherein:
Fig, 201 – Ceiling fan assembly, side view
Fig.202 – Ceiling fan assembly, oblique view from below
Fig.203 – Ceiling fan assembly, cross section oblique view from above
Fig.204 – Ceiling fan assembly, cross section side view
Fig.205 – Ceiling fan assembly, view from below
Fig.206 – Ceiling fan assembly, cross section, exploded view
Fig.207 – Ceiling fan assembly, cross section, partially exploded view
Fig.216A-B – Caps embodiment and cross section side view
Fig.216A-B – Helmet embodiment cross section side views
[8] In the following description the use of specific terms shall be interpreted widely and at least in the meaning as defined in the following:
[9] CMH: Cubic Meter per Hour
[10] CADR: Clean Air Delivery Rate, typically 3 values are measured: Smoke, pollen and dust. CADR is normally measured according to the ANSI/AHAM AC-1 standard, giving a value of the fraction volume of a standard 28,5 M3 room that is filtered to remove all particles of either smoke, pollen or dust in the particular fraction multiplied by the flow throughput. In other words, the rate of delivered cleaned air.
[11] Air: The device of the invention is primarily adaptable to be used for air filtering, but the device and system may be used in any type of gaseous environment. When the term “air” is used in this document, it shall be understood to comprise the meaning of any type of gas.
[12] Now the invention will be described in more detail, with references to the figures where appropriate.
[13] Figure 201 to 207 illustrates a first embodiment of the invention, wherein the ceiling mounted air fan/filter assembly 2001 comprising a rotating fan assembly consisting of at least a set of circularly mounted fan blades 2003 each mounted in a longitudinal direction 2100 providing an axial fan shape at an intake section 2040 and a radial fan shape at the exit section 2041, and when the fan/filter assembly rotates 2020 around a longitudinal center axis 2038, it is a spinner of the entering air.
[14] The air flow generated by the fan blade 3 is distributed along the inside of a filter 2004 comprised in the air fan/filter assembly 2001. The filter 2004 may be formed as a circular concentric sleeve of for example a pleated shaped filter media, mounted outside the circle of longitudinal fan blades 2003. Other filter materials may be used. The filter 2004 is rotationally mounted to the fan blades 2003, and rotates around the longitudinal center axis 2038 together with the fan blades 2003.
[15] The fan blades 2003 may be shaped to meet the entering air flow 2010 with matching foil angle and to pre-spin the air to exert radial pressure to the filter 2004. The air is partly pushed by the blades 2003 and partly pulled into the inner duct 2013 by the suction generated by the rotating filter 2004 and outer frame 2002. The figures illustrate an embodiment wherein the air is pulled into the fan/filter assembly 2001 only from the underside, and the top side of the fan/filter assembly 2001 is closed by a circularly formed end cap 2036. It should be understood that in a different embodiment, the end cap may be air permeable, formed as a mesh, or a plate, or other, comprising openings to let air through in a similar way, and wherein the fan blades 2003 are formed to propel air from both longitudinal openings of the fan/filter assembly 2001, from below and from above, when the fan/filter assembly 2001 is rotating. The fan blade assembly may comprise one or more armor rings 34 providing an even distance between the blades 2003.
[16] The air fan/filter assembly 2001 further comprise a set of longitudinal formed outer foils 2002 arranged around the filter 2004 and fan blades 2003. The outer foils 2002 being rotationally connected to the filter 2004 and the fan blades 2003, and arranged to have a generally tangential direction relative the outside of the filter 2004, wherein an inner side edge 2050 are arranged closer to the outside of the filter 2004, and an outer side edge 2051 being arranged to lie radially outside the inner side edge 2050 of the neighbor outer foil 2002 in the opposite spinning direction 2020. The inflow area/distance 2052 defined by the area between all the inner side edges 2050 of the outer foils 2002 are larger than the outflow area defined by the area/distance 2053 between all the outer side edges 2051 of the outer foils 2002, and thus create a plurality of low noise air directing devices, wherein the outflow area form a type of outlet nozzle 2053.
The outer foils 2002 may be hinged to a frame 2035, 2039, 2039’, and the nozzle openings 2053 may be changed by altering the foil 2002 direction relative the outside of the filter 2004, and thereby altering the outflow areas. The changing of the angle of the outer foils may be continuous, or according to a set of predefined angles, and the changing of the angle may be provided by a manually operated arrangement or an automatic or remotely operated arrangement.
[17] The outer foils 2002 assembly may comprise one or more foil armor rings 2035 for maintenance of the outer foils 2002 form and the distance between them.
[18] The outer foils 2002 assembly distance between them may be provided in a nonperiodical pattern which may enhance noise reduction further.
[19] When the air fan/filter assembly 2001 rotates air flow 2010 is pulled into the inner duct 2013 of the air fan/filter assembly 2001 from the below (optionally from both below and above), and the energy imposed on the air flow by the fan blades 2003, is partly used to push the air through 2011 the filter, and partly to increase the air flow speed through 2012 the low noise air directing device outlet openings of the outer foils 2002. The air is thus thrown out of the air fan/filter assembly 2001 in the opposite direction of the spinning direction 2020 of the air fan/filter assembly 2001.
[20] The effect of the low noise air directing device jet generating outer foils 2002 is that all or a portion of the tangential air flow speed exiting from the filter 2004 is eliminated, thus draught and noise is also eliminated/reduced.
[21] The invention can provide the same Clean Air Delivery Rate , CADR, with a smaller product size (diameter) and less power consumption than compared with prior art devices. The result is that highly effective pollen and dust filtering may be provided for domestic homes with limited ceiling height.
[22] In an even further embodiment a very narrow implementation of the invention is arranged in a headgear, such as a helmet, caps, protection hood or the like to provide a constant stream of purified air towards the facial area of the parson wearing the headgear. The air may be delivered concentrated without or very low noise. One example of such implementation is illustrated in figure 216.