AU2006100892A4

AU2006100892A4 - Removable Air Filter

Info

Publication number: AU2006100892A4
Application number: AU2006100892A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Pui Chin Chan; Stephen Tsai
Original assignee: YORK CHAN
Current assignee: Chan York Yu
Priority date: 2006-10-19
Filing date: 2006-10-19
Publication date: 2006-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 2014-10-19
Also published as: AU2006100892B4

Description

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT "Removable Air Filter" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: REMOVABLE AIR FILTER

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Field of the Invention 00 O This invention relates to a removable air filter for an exhaust air register. It relates particularly but not exclusively to an exhaust air register which includes a replaceable filter and is suitable for fitting into the outlet ducts for home heating and cooling systems.

Background of the Invention Homes and offices are commonly fitted with ducted systems for delivering heated or cooled air across a number of locations throughout the building. The outlets are generally in the form of plenums. The plenums are generally covered with a device such as an exhaust air register which can direct air into the room whilst providing a support surface which is level with the floor or ceiling outlet to which it is attached.

Such air registers, apart from being adapted to direct the stream of heated or cooled air, often include moveable flaps or similar devices to allow the air registers to be opened or closed.

Heating and cooling systems based around movement of volumes of air inevitably entrain quantities of dust suspended in the air. Thus, with continued use, it has been found that dust collects in the ducting system and in the area around the registers. It can also collect on the fans which move the air around the ducting system. When the build up of dust is excessive, it can damage equipment and can also have an adverse impact on people with respiratory problems such as asthma as a proportion of the dust tends to be blown back into the home or office. There may even be a fire risk in cases of excessive dust build up.

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In order to alleviate this problem, some companies offer dust cleaning services which involve regular visits to remove dust build up throughout the systems. In another O alternative approach, various types of filters have been proposed for use with such systems to prevent the build up of dust.

Generally speaking, the approaches which have been taken have to some extent been 00 Ssuccessful. Nevertheless, there is a need for simple alternative approaches which allow consumers to install their own filters in a relatively simple operation and to Oreplace them as and when required. The invention seeks to provide such an alternative.

Disclosure of the Invention The invention provides in one aspect an exhaust air register for a ducting system comprising, a tubular wall having an inlet end and an outlet end, a grill member mounted on the tubular wall at the outlet end pivotable between a closed configuration where it closes the outlet end and an open configuration where it opens the outlet end, an air filter member, and a retaining assembly for removably holding the air filter member so that air passing through the tubular wall passes through the air filter member before it passes through the grill member.

Suitably, the exhaust air register may comprise an air flow control assembly to control the rate of air flow through the register. The air flow control assembly may comprise one or more rotatable vanes. The rotatable vanes may extend between opposed sides of the tubular wall. They may include projections for pivotably mounting the vanes in recesses provided internally of the tubular wall. A tab member may be arranged to set the rotational configuration of the vanes to adjust the rate of air flow. In one particular embodiment, there may be four such vanes.

Typically, the tubular wall will have a generally rectangular shape. It may be dimensioned so that it can fit snugly in the outlet of a typical home heating or cooling O system. It may comprise moulded plastics material.

The retaining assembly may comprise horizontally extending projections provided at opposed sides of the grill member. They may be generally L-shaped. One or more 00 additional projections may be provided on a third side of the grill member. They may be arranged so as to allow the air filter member to be slidably inserted into registry Owith the grill member. Thus, when the grill member is pivoted into the open configuration, it may be an easy matter to slide out the air filter and replace it with a new one.

The air filter member may comprise a rigid frame. The rigid frame may hold a filter material as is known in the art. The filter material may comprise woven or non-woven fibrous material.

In another embodiment, the air flow control assembly may comprise a control member having a plurality of slats. The control member may be laterally slidable so as to bring the slats into and out of registry with openings in the grill member.

Preferred aspects of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 shows an isometric view of an exhaust air register according to the invention; Figure 2 shows an exploded view of the exhaust air register of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows the exhaust air register of Figure 1 in an open configuration without the air filter; Figure 4 shows the exhaust air register of Figure 1 in an open configuration with a partially inserted air filter; 1 1

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Figure 5 shows the exhaust air register of Figure 1 in an open configuration with the air filter inserted; O Figure 6 shows a cross-section taken through the middle of the exhaust air register of Figure 1 in closed configuration; Figure 7 shows a cross-section of the air register of Figure 1 in the open configuration; 00 Figure 7a shows a cross section as per Figure 7 with the cog wheel removed; Figure 8 shows an isometric view of an alternative exhaust air register construction according to the invention; Figure 9 shows an exploded view of the exhaust air register of Figure 8; Figure 10 shows the exhaust air register of Figure 8 in the open configuration without the air filter; and Figure 11 shows the exhaust air register of Figure 10 with the air filter frame inserted.

Detailed Description of the Drawings The various elements identified by numerals in the drawings are listed in the following integer list.

Integer List 1 Exhaust air register 3 Tubular wall 5 Outlet end 7 Inlet end 9 Flange Recess 11 Grill member 13 Projection 14 Recess Louvre

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16 Slot 17 Rib O 18 Projection 19 Air filter 21 Frame 22 Slot 00 23 Filter material Vane 27 Projection (N 10 29 Recess Strut 31 Tab member 33 Cog bar 34 Rail 35 Pusher bar 36 Pivot connection 37 Cog wheel Exhaust air register 52 Tubular walls 54 Flange 56 Grill member 57 Slot 58 Louvres 59 Projection 60 Slot 61 Projection 62 Control member 64 Finger tab 66 Slat 68 Opening Recess 72 Air filter 73 Filter material 74 Strut O 75 Strut Referring to Figures 1 to 7a of the accompanying drawings, the exhaust air register generally designated 1 comprises a tubular wall 3 having a generally rectangular 00 Ocross-section. The shape of the tubular wall may be such that it can fit snugly into the Soutlet of a ducted heating or air conditioning system. Thus, the inlet end 7 of the Stubular wall will sit within the outlet and the outlet end 5 is formed with a flange 9 to 10 enable the exhaust air register to sit over the top of the sides of the outlet.

The tubular wall may typically be formed of a hard plastics material by a process such as injection moulding as in known in the art. Struts 30 extend between opposed sides of the tubular wall to provide additional rigidity.

A recess 10 is provided on one internal edge of the tubular wall to allow finger access to the grill member 11 which sits flush in the outlet end of the tubular wall.

Opposed ends of the grill member, which may also be suitable formed of injection moulded plastics, are provided with projections 13 arranged so that they fit into the corresponding recesses 14 provided internally of the tubular wall. The arrangement is suitably such that the grill member may be press fitted into the tubular wall so as to engage the projections in the recesses in such a manner that the grill member 11 is pivotally connected to the opposed internal sides of the tubular wall. This is so as to allow it to be pivoted upwardly as is shown more clearly in Figures 3, 4 and A number of louvres 15 extending laterally across the grill member are separated by slots 16 through which air may be directed. Ribs 17 extend between adjacent louvres to add strength to the construction.

Q- The underside of the grill member 11 includes a number of projections 18 having a generally L-shaped profile. These are provided to allow the air filter 19 to be slid into O registry with the grill member and held in place.

In order to allow the air filter to be slid into place into the grill member and held Nthere, it is provided with a frame 21 formed of a rigid material such as plastics. The 00 0 frame holds the filter material 23 in registry with the grill member. The frame also includes a slot 22 corresponding to the slot 16 in the grill member. This is so as to Sallow the tab member 31 to be slid forward and back in order to adjust the angle of 10 the vanes 25 and hence the rate of air flow through the exhaust air register.

Projections 27 provided on opposed ends of the vanes fit into the recesses 29 on opposed internal sides of the tubular wall. This holds the vanes in place and allows them to rotate with respect to the tubular wall.

A projecting rail 34 which also acts a strut is provided so as to receive the tab member 31 in such a fashion as to allow it to slide backwards and forwards along the track defined by the slots 16 and 22.

The tab member connects to the cog bar 33 which slides with the tab member and acts to rotate the cog wheel 37 as is shown more clearly in Figures 6 and 7 to open and close the vanes A pusher bar 35 acting through pivot connections 36 to the respective vanes serves to move the vanes not directly connected to the cog wheel in concert with the rotation of the cog wheel to open and close the exhaust air register in unison with movement of the tab member 31.

It can be seen from the foregoing description that it is an easy matter for a user to insert a finger into the recess 10 to pivot the grill member 11 upwardly whenever the filter needs replacement. The filter can be readily slid out and replaced with a new one as and when required without removing the exhaust air register from the outlet on which it is placed.

Referring to Figures 8 to 11, there is shown an alternative exhaust air register construction 50 which is similar in principle to that described with reference to Figures 1 and 7. The main difference relates to the air flow control which uses a 00 sliding slat principle to operate rather than rotating vanes.

OAs in the case of the previous embodiment, the exhaust air register comprises a N 10 tubular wall 52 of generally rectangular shape having a flange 54 extending around the outlet member. Struts 74 and 75 serve to lend rigidity to the tubular wall.

A grill member 56 is provided with a plurality of slots 57 between the louvres 58 to allow passage of air. The grill member has projections 61 on opposed sides which act as pivot pins when fitted in the recesses 70 provided in the tubular wall 52. Thus, the grill member 56 may be moved between the open and shut configurations as has already been explained with respect to the previous embodiment.

The grill member is formed with a slot 60. This slot is positioned so that it lies in registry with the finger tab 64 formed on the control member 62 when the components are assembled. The arrangement is such that the control member 62 may be slid laterally with respect to the grill member when the two are in registry. The finger tab 64 extends upwardly through the slot 60 so as to allow access to the finger of a user.

The control member 62 is formed with a number of slats 66 separated by openings 68.

The arrangement is such that the slats may be brought into and out of registry with the slots 57 of the grill member to control air flow when the finger tab is pushed back and forward in the slot

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O Projections 59 are provided beneath the grill member to allow the air filter 72 to be slid into and out of engagement with the grill member. Thus the air filter may be O readily replaced when the filter material 73 becomes blocked after a period of use.

Whilst the above description includes the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that many variations, alterations, modifications and/or additions 00 may be introduced into the constructions and arrangements of parts previously described without departing from the essential features or the spirit or ambit of the invention.

N It will be also understood that where the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", are used in this specification, unless the context requires otherwise such use is intended to imply the inclusion of a stated feature or features but is not to be taken as excluding the presence of other feature or features.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that such prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

Claims

2. The exhaust air register according to claim 1 comprising an air flow control assembly adjustable to control the rate of air flow through the exhaust air register.
3. The exhaust air register according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the retaining assembly comprises horizontally extending projections provided at opposed sides of the grill member arranged so as to allow the air filter member to be slidably inserted into registry with the grill member.
4. The exhaust air register according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the grill member comprises a rectangular outer member defining a rectangular central opening with a plurality of louvres extending between lengthwise sides of the outer member. The exhaust air register substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings. Dated this 18th day of October 2006 York Yu Chan and Stephen Tsai by their patent attorneys Morcom Pernat