Air treatment system

• US 5,616,172 A
• Filed: 02/27/1996
• Issued: 04/01/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NQ Environmental, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nature's Quarters, Inc.
• Inventors: Tuckerman, Mark A., Carey, William F., Knuth, Russell P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chiesa, Richard L.
• Application Number:
  US08/607,725
• Time in Patent Office: 399 Days
• Field of Search: 96/16, 96/62, 96/97, 96/55, 96/63, 96/26, 96/18, 96/57-59, 55/279, 55/356, 422/24, 422/121
• US Class Current: 96/16
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 1/0071 with means for purifying supplied air perfuming or deodorising means F24F1/008
• 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 8/22 using UV light
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/80 Self-contained air purifiers

Abstract

A self contained air movement system for air purification and infection control includes an elongated upright enclosed housing including a base module, sidewalls, and an upper module. A fan intermediate the base module and the upper module draws unclean air from a room containing the system through the base module, then discharges a purified air stream from the upper module. The base module includes a downward facing air intake opening spaced from the floor. A pair of pre-filters are disposed on the base module in stacked relationship for trapping relatively large particulate matter from the entering air stream. The upper module includes a discharge grille opening to the environment with angled louvers for guiding and re-directing the purified air stream from a downstream HEPA-type filter into an inclined stream, flowing proximate to and along the ceiling of the room in which the system is located. A germicidal chamber intermediate the pre-filters and the fan contains a plurality of elongated and longitudinally extending ultraviolet germicidal irradiation lamps. Because of the remoteness of the upper module from the base module, undesirable mixing of unclean and purified air is minimized. In another embodiment, the discharge grille has a first opening with angled louvers as in the first embodiment and a second opening to which an attached conduit leads to an exterior region outside of the room to thereby create a negative pressure in the room in relation to the exterior region.

Claims

1. A self contained air movement system for air purification and infection control comprising:

an elongated upright enclosed housing including a base module, sidewalls, and an upper module through which an air stream may be caused to flow sequentially, said base module being remote from said upper module;

fan means intermediate said base module and said upper module for drawing unclean air from the environment into said housing through said base module, then causing a purified air stream to be discharged from said upper module for return to the environment;

said base module including an extreme lowermost end defining an intake opening facing, and spaced from, the floor on which said system is supported and upstream filtration means disposed for trapping relatively large particulate matter from the entering air stream;

said housing having a germicidal chamber intermediate said upstream filtration means and said fan means;

elongated and longitudinally extending ultraviolet germicidal irradiation means disposed in the germicidal chamber;

downstream filtration means intermediate said fan means and said upper module; and

said upper module including;

a discharge grille defining opening means to the environment; and

angled louver means on said discharge grille for guiding and re-directing the purified air stream from said downstream filtration means into an inclined stream, after exiting said downstream filtration means, causing the purified air stream to flow proximate to and along the ceiling of the room in which said air movement and purification system is located and, because of the remoteness of said upper module from said base module, minimizing undesirable mixing of unclean and purified air.

2. An air movement system as set forth in claim 1

wherein said base module includes a platform supporting said sidewalls and wheel means mounted on said platform for providing mobility to said system.

3. An air movement system as set forth in claim 2 including:

a power block receptacle mounted in one of said sidewalls for releasable engagement with a power cord extending to an EMF source; and

wherein said wheel means includes a first pair of spaced apart wheels which are rotatable about an axis lying in a plane of said one of said sidewalls and a second pair of wheels which are rotatable about axes which are free to pivot about an upright axis.

4. An air movement system as set forth in claim 1

wherein said upstream filtration means includes a pair of approximately 25-30% ASHRAE-rated filters in a stacked relationship.

5. An air movement system as set forth in claim 1

wherein said ultraviolet germicidal irradiation means includes a plurality of ultraviolet lamps aligned generally parallel to the air stream flowing through the germicidal chamber and having sufficient intensity to destroy more than approximately 99% of tuberculosis bacteria present in the air stream when the flow rate of the air stream through said system is in a range up to approximately 500 cfm.

6. An air movement system as set forth in claim 1 including:

indicator means outside of said housing for indicating the condition of operation of said plurality of ultraviolet lamps located inside said housing.

7. An air movement system as set forth in claim 1

wherein said indicator means includes a resistor electrically in series with each of said ultraviolet lamps and a light emitting diode electrically in parallel with each of said resistors, said light emitting diode being energized when said ultraviolet lamps are energized and being de-energized when said ultraviolet lamps are non-functioning.

8. An air movement system as set forth in claim 1

wherein said downstream filtration means includes a HEPA filter which is capable of removing from the air stream approximately 99.97% of all particles of 0.3 micron size or larger.

9. An air movement system as set forth in claim 1

wherein said downstream filtration means includes a broad intake surface facing said fan means;

and

wherein said housing has a plenum chamber intermediate said fan means and said downstream filtration means for spreading the air stream from said fan means uniformly across said intake surface.

10. A self contained air movement system for air purification and infection control comprising:

an elongated upright enclosed housing including a base module, sidewalls, and an upper module through which an air stream may be caused to flow sequentially, said base module being remote from said upper module;

fan means intermediate said base module and said upper module for drawing unclean air from the environment into said housing through said base module, then causing a purified air stream to be discharged from said upper module for return to the environment;

said base module including an extreme lowermost end defining an intake opening facing, and spaced from, the floor on which said system is supported and upstream filtration means disposed for trapping relatively large particulate matter from the entering air stream;

said housing having a germicidal chamber intermediate said upstream filtration means and said fan means;

elongated and longitudinally extending ultraviolet germicidal irradiation means disposed in the germicidal chamber;

downstream filtration means intermediate said fan means and said upper module; and

said upper module including;

a discharge grille defining recirculation opening means to the room in which said air movement system is located and exhaust opening means to an exterior region outside of the room;

angled louver means attached to said discharge grille at said recirculation opening means for guiding and re-directing one part of the purified air stream into an inclined air stream, after exiting said downstream filtration means, causing the purified air stream to flow proximate to and along the ceiling of the room in which said air movement system is located and, because of the remoteness of said upper module from said base module, minimizing undesirable mixing of unclean and purified air; and

conduit means attached to said upper module at said exhaust opening means for containing and guiding flow of a remaining part of the purified air stream to an exterior region outside the room in which said system is located to thereby create a negative pressure in the room in relation to the exterior region.

11. An air movement system as set forth in claim 10 including:

adjustable damper means for balancing the amount of the purified air stream to be directed to said recirculation opening means and to said exhaust opening means, respectively.

12. An air movement system as set forth in claim 11

wherein said damper means includes:

a planar grate member having a plurality of grate openings congruently sized and spaced with respect to said louvers in said discharge grille, said grate member proximately overlying said discharge grille; and

fastener means mounting said grate member for selective movement between a first position whereat the grate openings are completely aligned with said louvers and allow a maximum flow of the purified air stream into and through said exhaust opening means and a second position whereat said discharge grill substantially blocks flow of the purified air stream into and through said exhaust opening means.

13. An air movement system as set forth in claim 12

wherein said discharge grille has a plurality of mounting slots therein elongated in the direction of movement of said grate member between said first and second positions;

wherein said grate member has a plurality of clearance holes therein substantially aligned with the mounting slots in said discharge grill; and

wherein said fastener means includes;

a plurality of mounting screws slidably received through each aligned pair of the mounting slots and clearance holes; and

a plurality of mounting nuts threadedly engaged with said mounting screws for fixedly securing said grate member to said discharge grille.

14. A self contained air movement system for air purification and infection control comprising:

an elongated upright enclosed housing including a base module, sidewalls, and an upper module through which an air stream may be caused to flow sequentially;

fan means intermediate said base module and said upper module for drawing unclean air from the environment into said housing through said base module, then causing a purified air stream to be discharged from said upper module for return to the environment;

said base module including an extreme lowermost end defining an intake opening facing, and spaced from, the floor on which said system is supported and upstream filtration means disposed for trapping relatively large particulate matter from the entering air stream;

said housing having a germicidal chamber intermediate said upstream filtration means and said fan means;

elongated and longitudinally extending ultraviolet germicidal irradiation means disposed in the germicidal chamber; and

downstream filtration means intermediate said fan means and said upper module;

said upper module including angled louver means for guiding and re-directing the purified air stream into an inclined air stream, after exiting said downstream filtration means, causing the purified air stream to flow proximate to and along the ceiling of the room in which said air movement system is located;

said base module being remote from said upper module thereby minimizing undesirable mixing of unclean and purified air.