Pyramid air cleaner

Details Pyramid air cleaner Pyramid air cleaner

2002-06-21

2004-09-28

Hopkins, Robert A. (Department: 1724)

Gas separation: processes

Filtering

C095S286000, C055S472000, C055S481000, C055S486000, C055S495000, C096S224000, C096S397000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06797042

ABSTRACT:

This invention is directed to air cleaners, in particular to an apparatus and method of operating an air cleaner having a generally pyramid structure where air enter the apparatus from the peak, travels through carbon prefilter, past UV lamp(s) through a HEPA filter and past a motorized impeller which passes the cleaned air out lower sides of the apparatus.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
Various air cleaner devices have been proposed over the years with limited success as to solving all the problems air cleaning indoor air. For example, many of these air filters will pull air in from lower sides of a unit having a rectangular shape and distribute the air from an upper portion of the unit. This typical unit shape and air flow arrangement can have several drawbacks. For example, the inlet portals on these rectangular units are generally identical in size to the outlet portals or are sometimes smaller. Thus, air distribution can be limited by the sizes of the inlet and outlet portals. Furthermore, by constantly pulling in air from the bottom can result in not getting all the circulating contaminants in the space to be cleaned. For example, contaminants found in warm air can be rising upward and would not necessarily be pulled in by the bottom located inlet portions of typical air cleaner units. Additionally, having only an air outlet on top of the air cleaner does not adequately distribute air being cleaned about a room space since the exhausted air is not being circulated about the space, and because these outlets typically blow air in only one direction (i.e. to only one portion of the room). Furthermore, having distribution outlet ports that are perpendicular to one another can also result in creating dead spaces between the exhausted air where clean air is not being circulated. And having the air inlet and air outlet in close proximity to one another will result in short-circuiting of the air, whereby exhausted air is drawn directly back into the unit so that the device is simply recycling cleaned air.
Other problems are that many air cleaner devices use only use one type of filter which can give the consumer a false sense of security that the air is being properly cleaned. For example, a unit only having a carbon type filter may absorb odors and chemicals but not be able to remove all sizes of air circulating particulates and contaminants. Similarly, units only having a filter such as a HEPA filter can remove particulates but not be able to remove many odors and chemicals. And a unit containing only a UV lamp can possibly only remove microorganisms and potentially odors and chemicals, but it will not be able to remove dust and particulate.
Additionally, many air cleaners that use HEPA filters do not test the filters to adequately determine their effectiveness. Thus, users can have a false sense of security that just having a HEPA filter is enough to adequately remove high percentages of undesirable particulates.
Still further problems with air cleaners are that the filters are not properly sealed and/or positioned in the path of air being cleaned within the units. For example, many air cleaner devices have filters loosely fitted inside and/or having open spaces about edges of the filter(s) so that dirty air is pulled around the filter(s) and is subsequently continuously ejected without being cleaned.
Still furthermore, traditional air cleaner units require continuously replacing the filters because of bacterial and mold growth on the filter(s). The prior art units are generally built to require constant servicing of either continuously buying new filter(s) and/or separately servicing the units to clean the existing filter(s). For example, as microorganisms collect on the HEPA filter over a long period of time, there is a risk of bacteria and mold growth on the HEPA filter as trapped bacteria/mold live, grow, and feed on the filter (especially in warm and humid environments). This is sometimes called bacteria “grow-through” whereby microorganisms live and breed on the HEPA media, eventually eating through the media. This ruins the integrity of the HEPA filter and possibly creates more contamination within the room as the microorganisms/mold are dispersed by the air cleaner. Time and labor and parts are constant continuous costs with these prior art air cleaning units.
Air cleaners that use UV(ultra violet) type lamps can also have additional problems with the UV lamps. A limitation of most UV air cleaner systems is that there is rarely enough UV dosage created to destroy bacteria or viruses. This is primarily because not enough residence time is achieved, in that the small number of lamps used in most units does not create enough radiation intensity to overcome the air flow in the unit. Current air cleaner units do not have the capability to kill all the bacteria and mold growth of both air flowing through these units and the bacterial and mold growth that builds up on components such as the filter(s) within the units.
Many United States patents have been proposed for cleaning indoor air but fail to adequately overcome all the problems described above. See for example, United States Patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,301 to Constantinescu; U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,917 to Fuji; U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,965 to Neumann et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,313 to Pacosz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,049 to Tillman, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,001 to Matschke; U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,172 to Tuckerman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,374 to Von Glehn; U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,040 to Caughron et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,435 to Satyapal et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,399 to Owesen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,619 to Knuth et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,614 to Tillmans.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The first objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system where dirty air is drawn through the upper sides of a generally pyramid shape where it is cleaned, and is exhausted from lower side portions of the shape at high speed in order to be effectively and efficiently circulated throughout a space. The invention can allow for safely and efficiently circulating up to approximately 300 cfm of airflow at various speeds.
The second objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that can continuously clean incoming air and the air filter(s) within the apparatus. A preferred embodiment can use the same UV(ultra violet) lamp(s) to both clean incoming air and clean the filter(s) within the apparatus by continuously bathing the filter(s) with UV light.
The third objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that can use hospital grade technology. The preferred embodiments can use both certified HEPA filters combined with UV(ultra violet) lamp(s) to clean the air. Filters in the invention can be further tested for their effectiveness before being used.
The fourth objective of this invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that can adequately seal removable filters within the apparatus so that incoming air does not bypass around the air filter(s) within the apparatus. The invention adequately prevents air being drawn into the apparatus from not being cleaned by scaling the filter(s) into the path of airflow inside the apparatus.
The fifth objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that is versatile for maximum effectiveness without taking up valuable space by being able to be positioned on various floor locations by a removable stand.
The sixth objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that is versatile for maximum effectiveness without taking up valuable space by being able to be supported on various table surfaces such as a desk or end table.
The seventh objective of the present invention is to provide an air purification apparatus and system that is versatile for maximum effectiveness without taking up valuable space by being able to be removably mounted to various wall height locations.
The eighth objective of the presen

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