Air purifier

• US 4,210,429 A
• Filed: 08/25/1978
• Issued: 07/01/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/1977
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Alpine Roomaire Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Alpine Roomaire Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Golstein, Jerome J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sever, Frank
• Application Number:
  US05/936,736
• Time in Patent Office: 676 Days
• Field of Search: 55/279, 55/473, 422/24, 422/121
• US Class Current: 96/142
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 9/20 Ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 46/12 in multiple arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/10 by separation, e.g. by filtering
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/108 using dry filter elements
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/158 using active carbon
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/192 by electrical means, e.g. by applying electrostatic fields or high voltages
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 50/20 Air quality improvement or preservation, e.g. vehicle emission control or emission reduction by using catalytic converters

Abstract

A room air purifier for quietly removing irritating or harmful impurities from the air circulating within the room. The purifier removes from room air, particles down to 0.3 microns in size with 99.9% efficiency. The air purifier comprises a somewhat elongated upright housing having an easily-removable back, a two-speed blower that is preferably AC operated and disposed at the bottom of the housing, a pair of vertically disposed ultraviolet lamps and associated means for powering the lamps including push button switch means, and preferably three separate filters including a pre-filter disposed at the inlet of the blower, a highly efficient main filter element vertically stacked over the blower and lamps and a charcoal filter disposed over the main filter element. The blower sucks the air in the bottom of the purifier through the pre-filter and up adjacent to the lamps to the main filter element and charcoal filter, and from there the purified air passes to a top baffle cover where the air is exited in preferably four directions from the purifier.

Claims

1. An air purification system comprising;

means defining an elongated upright enclosed housing including a plurality of walls and means forming a base supporting the walls vertically,

elongated removable means forming a part of the housing to provide access to the interior of the housing and including a removable panel having a top section and a bottom section hinged from the top section and having a plurality of openings therein;

said panel being designed and dimensioned to enable complete disengagement from said housing by only raising said panel a slight vertical distance and polling the bottom thereof outwardly from said housing,

a blower disposed at the bottom end of the housing adjacent the bottom section of the removable panel for drawing air into the housing through said plurality of openings in the bottom section,

means for selectively operating said blower,

a partitioning wall disposed above the blower demarcating the bottom end of the germicidal chamber and having an opening for the blower outlet,

means defining a germicidal chamber within the housing having at least one ultraviolet lamp means disposed therein for killing viruses and bacteria flowing through the germicidal chamber,

said ultraviolet lamp extending longitudinally of said housing between top and bottom ends of the germicidal chamber with said germicidal chamber having a height at least on the order of the height of the filter,

a high efficiency filter disposed in the housing for trapping small particles down to 0.3 microns,

flange means on the interior of said housing supporting said filter above said germicidal chamber whereby substantially all viruses and bacteria that are to be destroyed are so destroyed before the air reaches the filter,

and means defining an outlet from the top of the housing for discharging the purified air,

said housing having a height substantially greater than its width with the filter, blower, and ultraviolet lamp means stacked one above the other,

said high efficiency filter dimensioned with a comparable width and depth to those of the housing so as to fit snugly within the housing entirely above the germicidal chamber and ultraviolet lamp means,

said blower causing air passage through the germicidal chamber in only one direction past the ultraviolet lamp means.

4. An air purification system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said petitioning wall forms a means for support for one end of the lamp means.

2. An air purification system as set forth in claim 15 including a prefilter mounted in the housing downstream of the filter and for filtering particles greater than 0.3 microns.

3. An air purification system as set forth in claim 2 including a charcoal filter supported above the main filter.