Ventilation – Vehicle – Roof structure
Patent
1992-10-29
1994-08-30
Joyce, Harold
Ventilation
Vehicle
Roof structure
454139, 454158, B60H 306, B60J 708
Patent
active
053422384
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle-interior air filtering apparatus, particularly an air filtering apparatus for the interior of cars, comprising a coarse filter, a fan unit and a fine filtering unit.
When the vehicle is moving, the volume of air draw into the vehicle may be in the order of 15 m.sup.3 per minute. This air will contain pollen, various types of dust, and vehicle-exhaust particles. The air is normally drawn into the vehicle by suction from a location about 60 cm above the road surface on which the vehicle is moving and normally passes solely through a coarse filter in which large particles are extracted from the air flow. Assays have shown that, in the case of town traffic, the air is about 70% purer at a height of 120 cm above the road surface than at a height of 60 cm above said surface.
Consequently, it would be beneficial to take air into the vehicle interior from a greater height above the road surface. Many cars and other types of vehicles are equipped with roof hatches (or sliding roofs). However, in order to avoid draughts, these roof hatches are constructed so that no appreciable inflow of air is obtained, not even when the hatch is open. Furthermore, the air which does enter through the hatch is not filtered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement which can be readily fitted to an automotive vehicle, such as a car, and also to existing automotive vehicles, and which will take-in ambient air, and filter said air, from a location at the greatest possible height above the road surface, and which can also be used to filter the air present in the vehicle interior, and which will also function as a conventional roof hatch, or sliding roof.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by combining a fan and a filter unit in a roof hatch construction which can be mounted conventionally in the roof of a car for instance and which is connected to the electrical system of the automobile. Since the roof hatch can be openable in a conventional manner, there is obtained a combination of the following three advantages, among other things:
The arrangement can be used to take-in ambient air from a high height above the road surface, and filter said air;
The arrangement can be used to filter and recycle the air present in the vehicle interior; and
The arrangement can be used as a conventional roof hatch when so desired.
Furthermore, all of these three functions can be combined selectively.
The particular characteristic features of the inventive arrangement are set forth in the following Claims.
Since the inventive arrangement can be fitted to a vehicle with the aid of techniques which have been well tested in the installation of conventional roof hatches, the arrangement can be fitted readily at comparatively low costs. The arrangement can also be constructed so as not to be bound to any particular make of vehicle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplifying embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
FIG. 1 illustrates generally a car fitted with an arrangement constructed in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the inventive arrangement, obliquely from beneath; and
FIGS. 3-5 are sectional views of the arrangement shown in FIG. 2, showing different functional states of the arrangement.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 illustrates a car 1 equipped with a roof hatch 2 which is modified in accordance with the invention and which, in addition to its function as a roof hatch, can also be used to blow filtered ambient air into the vehicle interior and to recycle and filter the air present in said interior. The hatch 2 is pivotally mounted in a conventional manner on a pivot axle provided at the forward edge of the hatch, so as to enable the hatch to be opened by swinging the rearward part of the hatch upwards to the extent desired. Alternatively, the hatch ma
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Eklund Ante
Segerpalm Hans
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