CA2153835A1 - Ion emitter and filter enhancing system - Google Patents
Ion emitter and filter enhancing systemInfo
- Publication number
- CA2153835A1 CA2153835A1 CA 2153835 CA2153835A CA2153835A1 CA 2153835 A1 CA2153835 A1 CA 2153835A1 CA 2153835 CA2153835 CA 2153835 CA 2153835 A CA2153835 A CA 2153835A CA 2153835 A1 CA2153835 A1 CA 2153835A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- particles
- filter
- air flow
- ion
- air
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Abstract
An ion emitter and filter enhancing system used in conjunction with the existing filter of a conventional forced air system or used alone in the existing ambient air flow in a room. The ion emitters of the present system are in the form of flexible conductive brushes which float in the air flow increasing the output of ions as the conductive brushes move in the air flow. Particles charged by the ion emitters are attracted to each other and to any surface so that they readily adhere to a filter of a forced air system making the filter more efficient without upgrading the existing filter. The ion emitters are placed upstream of the filter to enhance filtering and downstream to remove molds or bacteria that can form in the ventilation system. Some of the charged particles will be attracted to the flexible conductive brushes, but since the brushes float in the air flow, the charged particles will be shaken off leaving the ion emitter relatively free of particulate matter so that the conductive brushes can emit uninterrupted air cleaning ions into the air flow and the time interval between which the ion emitters should be removed and cleaned is increased. The ion emitters are removably attached to a common power supply line. A method of removing particulate matter from air flow is also described.
Description
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AN ION EMITTER AND FILTER ENHANCING SYSTEM
Background of the Invention It has long been sought to improve the air quality in home or office settings.
One obvious way of improving air quality is to use a higher grade and denser filter on the existing ventilation system. This, however, has many disadvantages. Use of a denser filter will be more expensive and will increase the risk of leakage of particulate matter around the filter.
Expensive rebuilding of the fan support system of the ventilation system may be required. In order for a rebuilt fan system to work with a higher grade filter more noise will be generated; there will be a shorter life span of the fan and the total ventilation system; and more energy will be used to overcome increased pressure required of a more dense filter.
Another way of improving air quality is to ionize the air by emitting electrically charged ions into the air that attract particulate matter, thus removing the particulate matter as the ions flow through the air towards a collector.
There are numerous applications in which it is desirable to use an existing forced air filtering system and to augment it so that further air purification can be accomplished. For example, in conventional older heating systems ~orced air is filtered by a standard ~ilter medium to remove foreign particulate matter such as dust, molds, some gases, and the like, from the air flow. ~nother example where air purification and air ionization is desirable exists in a room having numerous computer term;n~1s, where it is well known that static electricity is created. The computer operator's charge is normally negative compared to the CRT, -r 2ls383s ~, the operator's charge attracts a positive charge from the CRT
or terminal, creating an undesirable electrically charged field. Ionization will neutralize particulate matter in the air so that positive or negative particulate matter will not be attracted to the computer or operator. Any electrical charge on the computer screen will thus be neutralized.
W~lile ionization of particles for air purification is not new, the prior art often uses a self-contained appliance situated in the already existing air iIl a room or 0 seeks to change the filter material and generally accomplishes electrostatic filtration by creating an electrostatic field between plates, grids or filter media. To thus require a higher grade filter for filtering ionized particles from the air will also increase the pressure required at the filter L5 thereby creating a need for a bigger fan at higher cost.
U.S. Patent Re 34,346 to Foster Jr. et al. discloses a small personal appliance with needles for ionizing the ambient air and a carbon foam pad for collecting the ionized ~0 air.
U.S. Patent 2,722,284 to Cooperman discloses an electricaL precipitator for reducing sparking that occurs at high voltage between electrodes.
U.S. Patent 3,230,423 to Fredrickson discloses a negative ion emitter with series connected resistors which limit current for safety in casç the emitter wire is touched.
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U.S. Patent 4,038,583 to Breton teaches an apparatus for generating ions at high output levels whereby the output concentration of the ions can be controlled.
U.S. Patent 4,264,343 to Natarajan et al. discloses an electrostatic particle collection apparatus for collecting submicron particles in a gas stream flowing through the apparatus.
I0 U.S. Patent 4,265,641 to Natarajan discloses a method and apparatus for particle charging and collecting which charges a mi n;mllm number of submicron particles passing therethrough.
U.S. Patent 4,317,661 to Sasaoka et al. discloses an electronic air cleaner having the corona discharge wire and a counterelectrode positioned outside the flowpath of dust-laden air. Dust contained in the air flow path is electrically charged by ions and collected on a filter.
U.S. Patent 4,339,783 to Kinashi et al. teaches an alternating current corona discharge apparatus having means for limiting the alternating current waveform at a peak value.
U.S. Patent 4,336,565 to Murray et al. discloses a brush type charging electrode that imposes an electrical charge on an electrically insulating surface by oscillating the brush electrode in a direction transverse to the movement of the insulating surface.
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U.S. Patent 4,383,752 to Kisler discloses a conductive bristle brush electrostatic charge controlling apparatus which produces relatively uniform charge levels on charge retaining materials by using a current limiting means in the form of a resistor.
U. S. Patent 4,493,247 to Wachsman discloses an apparatus for improving air quality in an airplane by p~acing an ionization apparatus in the ~orm of an ionization needle in iO the airflow of each individual passenger location air outlet.
Charged particulate matter is attracted to surfaces in the interior of the airplane instead of being airborne.
U.S. Patent 4,602,921 to Shinohara et al. discloses an air cleaner having a plurality of corona discharge electrodes upstream of an air flow to charge particulate matter that is collected by a dust collecting electrode. High velocity air flow prevents the discharge electrode from getting clogged.
U.S. Patent 4,689,715 to Halleck discloses a static charge control device which carries ions toward a neutralizing area for neutralizing static thereat.
U.S. Patent 4,729,051 to Halleck teaches a static charge control device which moves ions away from an ion producing area without use of a forced air unit.
U.S. Patent 4,825,334 to Kisler discloses a high potential brush polarizer having a brush with electrically ~ 2l~83~
conductive bristles and current limiting means to prevent corona generation at the conductive brush.
U.S. Patent 4,872,083 to Blitshteyn discloses a method and circuit for controlling and balancing the positive and negative ion emissions from A.C. air ionizers.
U.S. Patent 4,980,796 to Huggins discloses a gas ionization system which ionizes particulate matter which then flows to the floor of a room under gravitational and/or electrostatic forces.
U.S. Patent 5,0~7,966 to Sakata et al. discloses an apparatus for removing static electricity from charged articles existing in a clean room. ~ plurality of needle like emitters are disposed in an air flow and the discharge end of each emitter is coated with a dielectric ceramic material.
U.S. Patent 5,136,461 to Zellweger discloses an apparatus for sterilizing and deodorizing rooms which ionizes air in a small compact unit that is protected against electrical shock hazard and temperature and moisture influences.
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Summary of the Invention In order to overcome problems inherent in prior art air filtering systems there has been devised by the present invention an ion emitter and filter enhancing system adapted to be added on to an existing forced air filtering system of any kind or to be used in the existing ambient air flow in a room. The present system therefore is beneficial in its use in a number of different applications. For example, the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system can be used in home or office settings where it is desirable to clean the air or otherwise reduce certain types of radiation such as in a room with computer terminals where it is desired to reduce static electricity. The present system is also adaptable to agricultural settings where it is desirable to remove dust, mold or other air borne particulate matter such as in a poultry house or stable. When used in conjunction with a filter in a temperature control system such as a heating and air conditioning unit, the subject ion emitter and filter enhancing system increases the effectiveness of the existing filter by ionizing the air flow prior to entry into the filter. It is also used to ionize the air flow after going through the filter to further improve air quality. Ionizing the air flow after it has been through the filter will, for example, kill germs and molds that would form in the moisture of a cooling system. As such, the present system works with any filter medium in any type of forced air filtering system thereby greatly reducing cost and maintenance that would be required by installing a completely new system.
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Ionizing places an electrostatic charge on foreign particulate matter causing it to adhere more effectively to the filter when the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system is used in conjunction with the filter in a tempe~ature control system. In the present system, very high D.C.
voltage, above 3kV, is applied via a common power supply line or bus to ion emitters having a tail portion in the form of conductive brushes which emit ions into the air. These ions will clean the air before and after the air goes through the filter. The ion emitters in the form of conductive brushes will also attract the particulate matter to the filter of the temperature control system as the air passes through. Because of the novel configuration of the ion emitters in the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system, the ion emitters can also be used alone in the existing ambient air flow in a room.
The ion emitters of the present system have a body portion which removably attaches the ion emitter to a common power supply line or bus. Fi~edly attached to the body portion is a tail portion having flexible conductive brushes with fibers for adding electrical charges or ions to particles in the air.
As ambient air flow passes the ion emitter, the ~lexible conductive brushes of the tail portion are caused to float in the air flow. In this way, the repulsive forces from emitted ions will be lower as the brush flutters away from the emitted ions; more ions can thus be emitted as compared to a stif~ ion emitter with a more dense ion cloud around it. In this way also, the particles that have been charged by the ion emitter are attracted to any surface so that particulate matter and charged gases are thus removed from the air flow. Because some particles will be attracted to the tail portion of the ion emitters, these conductive brushes are designed to float ~ 2ls383~
or flutter in the air flow ~hus shaking off some of the accumulated particles on the emitters, thereby making the ion emitters in the form of conductive brushes more efficient and increasing the time interval between which the emitters must be cleaned to remove excess particles. The emitters of the present invention can be set by a plurality of converters attached to the power supply at different polarities, positive D.C., negative D.C. and A.C. to charge different types of particles. Each of the converters can also have an indicator lamp associated therewith for indicating power output and ionization to thereby determine the proper working condition of the system. The present ion emitter and filter enhancing system also uses high resistive de-coupling of the conducive brushes to allow the placement of more emitters in parallel without the loss of efficiency. A plurality of elements are formed into an array, each element of the array comprising a combination ion emitter in the form of a conductive brush and a high value resistor in series. Each element is connected to each of the other elements in parallel and the whole array is also connected in series to another high value resistor. In this way, if any single ion emitter in this parallel arrangement loses its charge by touching, shorting, etc, the high resistance will keep the voltage high at the remaining or unshorted emitters. These ion emitters working in parallel will thus have a smaller influence on each other thereby providing more total output.
It is therefore an object and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system which is added on to an existing forced air filtering .. 2l5383S
system thereby requiring less installation and maintenance expense.
It is another ob~ect and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system which improves the filter of an existing ventilation system and prolongs the freshness of the filter.
It is yet another object and advantage of the 0 present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system with lower energy consumption and a prolonged life of the total ventilation system.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the i5 present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system that is beneficial in numerous applications where it is desirable to remove a variety of particulate matter from the air so that the present sy~tem can be used in conjunction with the filter of an existing temperature control system or in the existing ambient air flow in a room.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system with multiple stages of filtering at different polarities with minim~l effect on air flow and no added pressure of the air flow through a filter and therefore with low power consumption of the system.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system with indicator lamps for indicating power output and ., 215~835 .
ionization to thus determine the proper working condition of the system.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system using floating conductive brushes as ion emitters so that the ion emitters are self dust removing for a long period of time and are easily removed and reattached for periodic cleaning thereby re~uiring less maintenance and providing more O efficiency.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide parallel de-coupling of the ion emitters so that the shorting of one emitter does not take down the whole system and also to provide more efficient ionization.
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~rief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention as it is used in a conventional forced air system.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention as it is used in a larger application such as a hospital or large office building.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the ion emitter of the present invention as it is used with a computer in a computer room setting.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the ion emitter of the present invention as it is used in a stable or other ~n; m~ 1 housing.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a car with a cut away portion showing a partial view underneath the hood of the car and showing the ion emitter of the present invention as it is used in a car.
Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the ion emitter with a conductive ~rush of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system.
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 7-7 of Figure 6 showing the inside of one of the ion 2l~383s emitters in the form of a conductive ~rush of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system.
Figure 8 is a schematic view of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention showing how the ion emitters in series with high value resistors are connected in parallel to each other and in series to a high value resistor to provide parallel de-coupling such that if one ion emitter shorts out the whole system does not fail~
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Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring now to the drawings in general and in particular to Figure 1 of the drawings there is shown a perspective view of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system as it is used in a conventional forced air system. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system is shown generally by the number 10. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 comprises a plurality of ion emitters 12 each having a tail portion 14 in the form of a conductive brush 16, each of the ion emitters 12 being positioned parallel to the existing air flow of a conventional forced air system 18. As ambient air flow enters into the forced air system 18 it will carry particles, these particles in the air flow will be electrically charged when the air enters the zone of ionization 20 where the ion emitters 12 are positioned.
Voltage is applied via a power supply 22 to a common power supply line or bus 24 which transmits the power to the ion emitters 12 which are removably attached to the power supply line 24 and positioned upstream 25 of the filter 26 of the conventional forced air system 18. After particles in the air are ionized they are attracted to any surface along with other like particles thereby growing in size. This particulate matter has a charge which causes it to attract better to a filter media or other surfaces. Some of the particulate matter with a reversed charge to that of the conductive brush 16 emitters is attracted to the conductive brushes 16 in the tail portion 14 of the ion emitter 12. As the conductive brushes 16 of the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 collect accumulated particles they would ordinarily become clogged or blocked from emitting more ions. However, the ion 2l~3835 emitters 12 in the form of conductive brushes 16 of the present invention are designed to float or flutter in the air flow of a conventional forced air system 18 and as the conductive brushes 16 float or flutter they are caused to shake of~ accumulated particles that have been attracted to the conductive brushes 16 of the tail portion 14 of the present ion emitters 12. In this way, the conductive ~rushes 16 can emit uninterrupted air cleaning ions into the air flow.
Thus, the ion emitters 12 in the form of conductive brushes 16 of the present system 10 send electrical charges into the air.
These charged ions will be attracted by electrostatic force to dust particles in the air and will give the dust particles an electric force. This force will make more dust particles attract to and settle in the fibers of a conventional air filter 26 and in the fibers 28 of the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 before and after the air goes through the filter 26.
Also, as seen in Figure 1, the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 of the present invention has a plurality of ion emitters 12 removably attached to a power supply line or bus 24 positioned downstream 29 of the air flow after it has been through the filter 26 of the conventional forced air system 18. It is known in ion research that bacteria and fungi are killed ~y ions. Thus, any bacteria, molds or the like that may have formed in the system; moisture in the air conditioning system, for example; would be ionized after the air flows through the filter 26, thereby killing the offending mold or bacteria.
As seen in Figure 1 and more clearly in Figures 6 and 7, the plurality of ion emitters 12 of the present invention each comprises a body portion 30 and an elongated 21S383~
tail or brush portion 14. The tail or brush portion 14 has a plurality of trailing or streaming fleY~ible conductive material bristles or fibers 28 which stream behind the body portion 30. Also as seen in Figure 1, with the plurality of ion emitters positioned parallel to the air flow, the brush or tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 are caused to float, flutter or move within the air flow thus shaking off some of the accumulated particles on the emitters onto the floor surface 32 below. This frees the fibers 28 of the brush portion 14 of the emitters 12 from e~cess particulate matter so that as the bristles or fibers 28 continue to flutter in the air flow, they can continue to emit uninterrupted air cleaning ions into the air flow thereby increasing the efficiency of the ion emitter 12 and increasing the time interval between which the emitters 12 should be removed and cleaned. These fibers 28 in the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 will attract charged particles of opposite polarity from the air. As noted prevlously, this would normally be a problem because when the ion emitter 12 gets dirty the ion output would be reduced. However, with the floating ion emitters 12 of the present invention, only large particles will shake loose from the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12. The forces that act on small particles and keep them together are very strong on submicron particles and once they are together they are not likely ~o be separated. Large particles that are shaken loose from the emitter 12 usually will consist of aggregates of a lot of smaller particles. By attracting small particles to the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 and only releasing aggregates of larger particles, the floating ion emitter 12 will clean the air of the smaller and more hazardous particles. Also, when the ion emitters 12 2153~3~
are situated upstream 2~ of the filter 26, the release of aggregates will be more easily trapped in the filter 26.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention as it is used in a larger application such as a hospital or large office building. In principle the ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 works the same in Figure 2 as it does in Figure 1, however more ion emitters 12 are used in the larger application of Figure 2 and the ion emitters 12 are shown in i0 grids 34 set at different polarities to charge different types of particulate matter in Figure 2. It can be seen in Figure 2 that the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 includes a number of converters 36 in a rack 38, each converter 36 converting power from the power supply 22 to be transmitted to a separate power supply line or bus 24. These power supply lines or buses 24 can supply different voltages, negative or positive D.C. or A.C., to different grids 34 carrying a plurality of ion emitters 12, depending on the installation requirements and type of pollution to be eliminated. In most cases very high voltage D.C., above 3kV, is applied to the common power supply line 24; however, different types of voltages can be applied when it is desired to charge different types of particulate matter. Different polarities can be set at different grids 34 as long as the grids 34 are separated, so that different types of particulate matter in a single application are included in the ionization process depending on the particulate matter to be removed where the present system 10 i~ used. It can be seen therefore that an advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 is that multiple stages of filtering at different polarities are provided with mi ~im~l effect on air 21~383~
flow and no added pressure of the air flow through a particular filter medium. There is therefore, also an extremely low power consumption of the present system 10.
Each of the converters 36 can have a charge indicator 40 associated therewith. An indicator lamp 42 will light up every time a predetermined number of charges have been released. The frequency of blinks on the indicator lamps 42 will be directly proportional to the power output and hence to ionization and will indicate if something is wrong with the iO system 10, and if so where. In the present invention, the indicator lamp 42 is a gas filled lamp 43 having a predetermined ignition voltage and connected in parallel with a capacitor (not shown). This indicator lamp 42 is connected in series with the common power supply line 24. The predetermined ignition voltage of the indicator lamp 42 has a low burning voltage and an even lower stop voltage. The capacitor (not shown) will be charged by ion current and when the voltage across the capacitor (not shown~ equals the ignition voltage of the gas lamp 43, the gas lamp 43 will blink using the stored charge in the capacitor (not shown).
The voltage across the gas lamp 43 will then drop below its burning voltage and the process is repeated. Therefore, by determining the difference between the vo~tage across the gas lamp 43 and the capacitance of the capacitor (not shown), it is possible to calculate how many ions are needed for each blink. Thus, if the frequency of the blinks is low it means no ions are emitted and if the frequency of blinks is very high it is most likely due to a short circuit.
Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of an ion emitter and conductive brush of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system. The ion emitters 12 of the present ~ 2I5383~
ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 can be used alone in the existing ambient air flow of a room without being used in conjunction with the filter 26 of a temperature control or ventilation system as seen in Figure 1. In that case, the ion emitters 12 are also removably attached to a common power supply line or bus 24 and positioned parallel to the existing air flow as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The ion emitters 12 of the present invention will emit ions witholt any air ~low around the emitters 12. Because of repulsion and electrical O fields, ions of the same polarity will spread in the air without any extra air flow from ventilation. The ambient air flow around the emitters 12 causes the conductive brushes 16 in the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 to float or flutter, so that as the conductive brushes 16 emit ions that i5 clean the air, some of the charged dust particles will stick to the conductive brushes 16 and reduce the output of ions.
As the conductive brushes 16 float or flutter in the air, excess particles will be shaken off the floating conductive brushes 16 giving the conductive brushes 16 a self cleaning ~0 effect, so that the brushes 16 can continue to emit ions efficiently and also increasing the time interval between which the ion emitters 12 should be removed and cleaned. It should also be noted that when the ion emitters 12 must be cleaned, it i5 a simple task to remove the ion emitters 12 from the common power supply line or bus 24, clean them with isopropanol alcohol or other suitable means and replace them on the bus 24.
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 7-7 of Figure 6 showing the inside of one of the ion emitters in the form of a conductive brush of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system. Figure 7 shows that the ~ 21~383~
body portion 30 of the ion emitter 12 has an attaching clip 44 at the front 46 of the body portion 30 for removably attaching the ion emitter 12 to the commo~ power supply line 24 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 so that the ion emitter 12 is easily removed and reattached to the common power supply line or bus 24 for easy cleaning or other maintenance. A high value resistor 48 in the body portion 30 o~ the ion emitter 12 is connected in series to the ion emitter 12 in the form of a conductive brush 16 as will be described in greater detail with reference to Figure 8. The rear 50 of the body portion 30 is ~ixedly attached to the tail portion 14 of the ion emitter 12 in the form of a conductive brush 16, the tail portion 14 having the fle~ible brush 16 with conductive fibers 28 which shakes off collected charged particles as it floats or flutters in the air flow.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention as it is used in a computer room. It can be seen in Figure 3 that positioned on top of each computer 52 is an ion emitter unit 54. It is well known that a computer 52 and particularly the CRT screen 56 of a computer 52 emits a positive charge. As this positive charge interacts with negative charges around the computer 52 from the operator and the surrounding environment, static electricity is created. lt is desirable to reduce or eliminate this static electricity in order to make computers 52 function more efficiently and for the well being of the operator. Neutralization of charges around the computer 52 will be accomplished by released positive and negative ions emitted from the ion emitter unit 54 that will be attracted to the reverse type of static charged surfaces around the computer 52. Positioned atop the computer 52 in ~ 2153835 Figure 3 is a housing 58 which holds two ion emitters 12 of the present invention. In the application shown in Figure 3 the ion emitters 12 are used in the existing ambient air flow in the room and are not used in conjunction with a filter in the temperature control sy~tem of the building. As air circulates through the room, air flow passes by the housing 58 and passes by the ion emitters 12 positioned therein in parallel arrangement to the air flow. The flexible conductive brushes 16 of the tail portion 14 will ionize particles in the air flow without any air flow around the emitters 12 because ions of the same polarity will spread in the air due to repulsion and electrical fields. Charged airborne dust and particulate matter will be attracted to other particulate matter thus increasing the particulate matter in size. These agglomerated particles that have been neutralized will gravitate ~aster to any surface due to their increased size.
Some of the charged particles will be attracted to the flexible conductive brushes 16. As the conductive brushes 16 float in the air flow, they will shake off the e~cess accumulated particLes thereby allowing the conductive brushes 16 to efficiently continue to emit ions so that the ion emitter unit 54ldoes not have to be removed a~d cleaned as often as a conventional ionizer appliance.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing s~stem of the present invention as it is used in a stable or other ~nlm~l housing. In ~igure ~ there is shown another application where the ion emitters 12 are used in the existing ambient air flow in a room and not in conjunction with a filter in a temperature control system. In Figure 4 there is shown ~he common power supply line or bus 24 that transmits the type of voltage desired in the particular 21S383~
application. The voltage is transmitted to the ion emitters 12 that are removably attached directly to the power supply line 24. The ion emitters 12 of the present invention will emit ions into the air without any airflow around the emitters 12 as previously described. It has been found, however, that if the power supply line 24 is positioned proximate to the ceiling 60 or generally at about a seven or eight foot height around the walls 62 of the stable 64 that the most efficient air flow for ~loating the conductive b~-ishes 16 of the ion emitters 12 is achieved. The floating of the conductive brushes 16 augments the self cleaning effect of the ion emitters 12 also as previously described. To generate more air flow in the room, doors 66 can be opened or fans 68 used such that the present ion emitters 12 are used with minimal adaptations being required in the room. Thus, if an ion emitter 12 is removably attached to the power supply line 24 at about every six feet around the perimeter of the room forming a string 70 of ion emitters 12 near the ceiling 60, an air cleaning effect will be accomplished from the ions charging particles in the air and thus giving them an electrical force. As the existing ambient air flow in the room causes the tail portion 14 of the ion emitter 12 to flutter the particulate matter that has been attracted to the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 will fall off the ion emitters 12. The ion emitters 12, however, will emit ions without any extra air flow from ventilation. A
negative field is created between the high voltage charge on the ion emitters 12 and the common power supply line or bus 24 towards ground in the room. The electrical force from these negatively charged particles will combine with gravitational forces and thus accelerate the particles removal from the air.
In the application shown in Figure 4 also, the ion emitter 12 21 ~383~
in the form of a conductive brush 16 is self dust removing and cleaning by the ion emitters 12 fLoating or fluttering in the existing air flow. This can be assisted by manually shaking the string 70 of ion emitters 12, thereby making the conductive brushes 16 free to collect more particuLate matter. In many agricultural settings where there is little air ~low, a whole string 70 of ion emitters 12 can be shaken by hand or with a broom or the like to remove excess particulate matter from the ion emitters 12. The ion emitters are also easily and O conveniently removed from the common power supply line or bus 24 for cleaning or other maintenance. ~he foregoing description has been applied to a stable 64, however it can easiLy be seen that the same sort of simple installation and low maintenance type of system can be used in a poultry or animal housirg or a number of other applications where there is no e~isting temperature control or ventilation system. It can be determined from the foregoing that the ion emitter and the filter enhancing system of the present invention is beneficial in a number of varied applications.
~0 In Figure 5 there is shown a perspective view of a car with a cut away portion showing a partial view underneath the hood of the car and showing the ion emitters of the present invention as they are used in a car. Figure 5 is illustrative of use of the present ion emitters in a car but it should ~e '5 understood that the present i~n emitter and filter enhancing system can, in similar fashion, be used in a bus, train, airplane or the like. Under the hood 72 of the car 74 in Figure 5 there i~ shown a plurality of ion emitters lZ of the present in~ention removably attached to the common power supply ,0 line or bus 24. Power, typically in the form of high voltage D.C., is transmitted from the power supply 22 to the common power supply li~e 24 and from the common power supply line 2 to each of the individual ion emitters 12 as previously described. In the application as shown in Figure 5, a string 70 of ion emitters 12 is positioned behind the car manifold 76 and in the air flow stream that flows into the interior 78 of the car 74 through the car interior 78 vents, thus placing the ion emitters 12 at the intake of the ~entilation 79 of the car interior 78. In this way, the ion emitters 12 are caused to float in the existing air flow thus ionizing the air before the air enters the interior 78 of the car 74. Thus, much of the dust will be ionized and remo~ed before it even enters the car interior 78. When used in a car 74, the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 also includes an ion emitter unit 54 positioned on the dashboard 80 of the car 74 which works in a manner similar to the ion emitter unit 54 used atop a computer 52 as shown in Figure 4. While the ion emitter unit 54 is shown atop the dashboard 80 in Figure 5 it should be understood that the ion emitter unit 54 can be placed in numerous other locations within the interior 78 of the ~ar 74.
In Figure 5, the air flow and particles in the air are ionized prior to entry of the air into the interior 78 of the car 74 through the vents, air conditioning or heating system of the car 74. After the air passes through the car ventilation system, the air and particles in the air are again ionized by the ion emitters 12 in the ion emitter unit 54 positioned on the dashboard 80 of the car 74. Thus, any molds, dust, or the like that may have been picked up in the air flow by the air conditioning or heating system of the car 74 are also ionized and removed from the air flow in a manner similar to that described with reference to Figure 1.
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From the foregoing it can be seen that the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention is beneficial in a number of very useful applications. The above described applications for use of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system have been presented by way of e~ample only and it is to be understood that any application of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system is within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Referring now to Figure 8 of the drawings there is shown a schematic view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention showing how the ion emitters are connected in parallel to each other and in series to high value resistors to provide parallel de-coupling of the ion emitters such that if one ion emitter in this parallel arrangement loses its charge by touching, shorting or the like, high resistance will keep the voltage high at the remaining, unshorted emitters. These ion emitters 12 working in parallel will thus have a smaller influence on each other thereby providing more total output.
In Figure 8, it can be seen that the power supply 22 is connected in series to a high value resistor 82. This high value resistor 82 in turn is connected in series to the common power supply line 24 which carries a plurality of ion emitters 12. Each ion emitter is connected in series to another high value resistor 48 as shown and described with reference to Figure 7, thereby forming an array 84 or plurality of ion emitter-resistor combinations 86, the ion emitter-resistor combinations 86 being connected to each other in parallel. During normal operation, the voltage at the power supply 22 appears at each parallel connection of an ion e~itter-resistor combination 86. Therefore, the voltage 21~383~
drop across the high value resistor 82 and each of the resistors 48 in the ion emitter-resistor combinations 86 would be close to zero. If one ion emitter 12 were to short, the current flow through the high value resistors 48 and the shorted ion emitter-resistor combination 86 to ground would be high. This current flow through the high value resistors 48 and the shorted ion emitter-resistor combination 86 to ground causes a voltage drop across the high value resistors 48. Since the high value resistors 48 have high resistance, L0 the voltage drop across the high value resistors ~8 is high leaving the output voltage at the remaining unshorted ion emitter-resistor combinations 86 approximately equal to the voltage from the power supply 22. Resistors 48 have an inherent capacitance that is very small, in the range of a lS few pico farads, this capacitance acting in parallel with the resistors 48. Inherent capacitance is a reactive component that does not pass direct current and will charge to any voltage drop across a resistor 48. In the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 this capacitor 88 will discharge if an ion emitter 12 is shorted, keeping the voltage relatively high at the ion emitter 12 for the period during which the capacitor 88 discharges, so as to act as a buffer for that short period of time. Once the ion emitter 12 is unshorted, the capacitor 88 will then re-charge.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the applicant's invention provides an improved ion emitter and filter enhancing system that improves the efficiency of the filter of an existing heating and cooling ventilation system or can be used in the existing ambient air flow in a room.
Ion emitters in the form of conductive brushes are used so that the conductive brushes float or flutter in the air flow * 21S3~3~
thereby shaking off particulate matter that is attracted to the conductive brushes, thereby increasing the time interval between which the ion emitters should be removed and cleaned.
The emitters can be set by a plurality of converters to different polarities to charge different types of particles and each of the converters can have an indicator lamp associated therewith for indicating ion output and the proper working condition of the system. The ion emitters in series with high value resistors are connected in parallel to each O other and in series to another high value resistor to provide parallel decoupling such that if one ion emitter shorts out the whole syste~ does not fail. There has been accomplished by the applicant's invention all of the objects and advantages of the invention. Nevertheless, variation in the structure of the invention and the arrangement of the various parts are within the spirit and scope of the applicant's invention. The embodiments given have been given only by way of illustration and the applicant is not to be limited to the embodiments shown and described.
~0 Having described my invention, I claim:
AN ION EMITTER AND FILTER ENHANCING SYSTEM
Background of the Invention It has long been sought to improve the air quality in home or office settings.
One obvious way of improving air quality is to use a higher grade and denser filter on the existing ventilation system. This, however, has many disadvantages. Use of a denser filter will be more expensive and will increase the risk of leakage of particulate matter around the filter.
Expensive rebuilding of the fan support system of the ventilation system may be required. In order for a rebuilt fan system to work with a higher grade filter more noise will be generated; there will be a shorter life span of the fan and the total ventilation system; and more energy will be used to overcome increased pressure required of a more dense filter.
Another way of improving air quality is to ionize the air by emitting electrically charged ions into the air that attract particulate matter, thus removing the particulate matter as the ions flow through the air towards a collector.
There are numerous applications in which it is desirable to use an existing forced air filtering system and to augment it so that further air purification can be accomplished. For example, in conventional older heating systems ~orced air is filtered by a standard ~ilter medium to remove foreign particulate matter such as dust, molds, some gases, and the like, from the air flow. ~nother example where air purification and air ionization is desirable exists in a room having numerous computer term;n~1s, where it is well known that static electricity is created. The computer operator's charge is normally negative compared to the CRT, -r 2ls383s ~, the operator's charge attracts a positive charge from the CRT
or terminal, creating an undesirable electrically charged field. Ionization will neutralize particulate matter in the air so that positive or negative particulate matter will not be attracted to the computer or operator. Any electrical charge on the computer screen will thus be neutralized.
W~lile ionization of particles for air purification is not new, the prior art often uses a self-contained appliance situated in the already existing air iIl a room or 0 seeks to change the filter material and generally accomplishes electrostatic filtration by creating an electrostatic field between plates, grids or filter media. To thus require a higher grade filter for filtering ionized particles from the air will also increase the pressure required at the filter L5 thereby creating a need for a bigger fan at higher cost.
U.S. Patent Re 34,346 to Foster Jr. et al. discloses a small personal appliance with needles for ionizing the ambient air and a carbon foam pad for collecting the ionized ~0 air.
U.S. Patent 2,722,284 to Cooperman discloses an electricaL precipitator for reducing sparking that occurs at high voltage between electrodes.
U.S. Patent 3,230,423 to Fredrickson discloses a negative ion emitter with series connected resistors which limit current for safety in casç the emitter wire is touched.
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U.S. Patent 4,038,583 to Breton teaches an apparatus for generating ions at high output levels whereby the output concentration of the ions can be controlled.
U.S. Patent 4,264,343 to Natarajan et al. discloses an electrostatic particle collection apparatus for collecting submicron particles in a gas stream flowing through the apparatus.
I0 U.S. Patent 4,265,641 to Natarajan discloses a method and apparatus for particle charging and collecting which charges a mi n;mllm number of submicron particles passing therethrough.
U.S. Patent 4,317,661 to Sasaoka et al. discloses an electronic air cleaner having the corona discharge wire and a counterelectrode positioned outside the flowpath of dust-laden air. Dust contained in the air flow path is electrically charged by ions and collected on a filter.
U.S. Patent 4,339,783 to Kinashi et al. teaches an alternating current corona discharge apparatus having means for limiting the alternating current waveform at a peak value.
U.S. Patent 4,336,565 to Murray et al. discloses a brush type charging electrode that imposes an electrical charge on an electrically insulating surface by oscillating the brush electrode in a direction transverse to the movement of the insulating surface.
~ 21S383S
U.S. Patent 4,383,752 to Kisler discloses a conductive bristle brush electrostatic charge controlling apparatus which produces relatively uniform charge levels on charge retaining materials by using a current limiting means in the form of a resistor.
U. S. Patent 4,493,247 to Wachsman discloses an apparatus for improving air quality in an airplane by p~acing an ionization apparatus in the ~orm of an ionization needle in iO the airflow of each individual passenger location air outlet.
Charged particulate matter is attracted to surfaces in the interior of the airplane instead of being airborne.
U.S. Patent 4,602,921 to Shinohara et al. discloses an air cleaner having a plurality of corona discharge electrodes upstream of an air flow to charge particulate matter that is collected by a dust collecting electrode. High velocity air flow prevents the discharge electrode from getting clogged.
U.S. Patent 4,689,715 to Halleck discloses a static charge control device which carries ions toward a neutralizing area for neutralizing static thereat.
U.S. Patent 4,729,051 to Halleck teaches a static charge control device which moves ions away from an ion producing area without use of a forced air unit.
U.S. Patent 4,825,334 to Kisler discloses a high potential brush polarizer having a brush with electrically ~ 2l~83~
conductive bristles and current limiting means to prevent corona generation at the conductive brush.
U.S. Patent 4,872,083 to Blitshteyn discloses a method and circuit for controlling and balancing the positive and negative ion emissions from A.C. air ionizers.
U.S. Patent 4,980,796 to Huggins discloses a gas ionization system which ionizes particulate matter which then flows to the floor of a room under gravitational and/or electrostatic forces.
U.S. Patent 5,0~7,966 to Sakata et al. discloses an apparatus for removing static electricity from charged articles existing in a clean room. ~ plurality of needle like emitters are disposed in an air flow and the discharge end of each emitter is coated with a dielectric ceramic material.
U.S. Patent 5,136,461 to Zellweger discloses an apparatus for sterilizing and deodorizing rooms which ionizes air in a small compact unit that is protected against electrical shock hazard and temperature and moisture influences.
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Summary of the Invention In order to overcome problems inherent in prior art air filtering systems there has been devised by the present invention an ion emitter and filter enhancing system adapted to be added on to an existing forced air filtering system of any kind or to be used in the existing ambient air flow in a room. The present system therefore is beneficial in its use in a number of different applications. For example, the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system can be used in home or office settings where it is desirable to clean the air or otherwise reduce certain types of radiation such as in a room with computer terminals where it is desired to reduce static electricity. The present system is also adaptable to agricultural settings where it is desirable to remove dust, mold or other air borne particulate matter such as in a poultry house or stable. When used in conjunction with a filter in a temperature control system such as a heating and air conditioning unit, the subject ion emitter and filter enhancing system increases the effectiveness of the existing filter by ionizing the air flow prior to entry into the filter. It is also used to ionize the air flow after going through the filter to further improve air quality. Ionizing the air flow after it has been through the filter will, for example, kill germs and molds that would form in the moisture of a cooling system. As such, the present system works with any filter medium in any type of forced air filtering system thereby greatly reducing cost and maintenance that would be required by installing a completely new system.
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Ionizing places an electrostatic charge on foreign particulate matter causing it to adhere more effectively to the filter when the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system is used in conjunction with the filter in a tempe~ature control system. In the present system, very high D.C.
voltage, above 3kV, is applied via a common power supply line or bus to ion emitters having a tail portion in the form of conductive brushes which emit ions into the air. These ions will clean the air before and after the air goes through the filter. The ion emitters in the form of conductive brushes will also attract the particulate matter to the filter of the temperature control system as the air passes through. Because of the novel configuration of the ion emitters in the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system, the ion emitters can also be used alone in the existing ambient air flow in a room.
The ion emitters of the present system have a body portion which removably attaches the ion emitter to a common power supply line or bus. Fi~edly attached to the body portion is a tail portion having flexible conductive brushes with fibers for adding electrical charges or ions to particles in the air.
As ambient air flow passes the ion emitter, the ~lexible conductive brushes of the tail portion are caused to float in the air flow. In this way, the repulsive forces from emitted ions will be lower as the brush flutters away from the emitted ions; more ions can thus be emitted as compared to a stif~ ion emitter with a more dense ion cloud around it. In this way also, the particles that have been charged by the ion emitter are attracted to any surface so that particulate matter and charged gases are thus removed from the air flow. Because some particles will be attracted to the tail portion of the ion emitters, these conductive brushes are designed to float ~ 2ls383~
or flutter in the air flow ~hus shaking off some of the accumulated particles on the emitters, thereby making the ion emitters in the form of conductive brushes more efficient and increasing the time interval between which the emitters must be cleaned to remove excess particles. The emitters of the present invention can be set by a plurality of converters attached to the power supply at different polarities, positive D.C., negative D.C. and A.C. to charge different types of particles. Each of the converters can also have an indicator lamp associated therewith for indicating power output and ionization to thereby determine the proper working condition of the system. The present ion emitter and filter enhancing system also uses high resistive de-coupling of the conducive brushes to allow the placement of more emitters in parallel without the loss of efficiency. A plurality of elements are formed into an array, each element of the array comprising a combination ion emitter in the form of a conductive brush and a high value resistor in series. Each element is connected to each of the other elements in parallel and the whole array is also connected in series to another high value resistor. In this way, if any single ion emitter in this parallel arrangement loses its charge by touching, shorting, etc, the high resistance will keep the voltage high at the remaining or unshorted emitters. These ion emitters working in parallel will thus have a smaller influence on each other thereby providing more total output.
It is therefore an object and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system which is added on to an existing forced air filtering .. 2l5383S
system thereby requiring less installation and maintenance expense.
It is another ob~ect and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system which improves the filter of an existing ventilation system and prolongs the freshness of the filter.
It is yet another object and advantage of the 0 present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system with lower energy consumption and a prolonged life of the total ventilation system.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the i5 present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system that is beneficial in numerous applications where it is desirable to remove a variety of particulate matter from the air so that the present sy~tem can be used in conjunction with the filter of an existing temperature control system or in the existing ambient air flow in a room.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system with multiple stages of filtering at different polarities with minim~l effect on air flow and no added pressure of the air flow through a filter and therefore with low power consumption of the system.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system with indicator lamps for indicating power output and ., 215~835 .
ionization to thus determine the proper working condition of the system.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide a system using floating conductive brushes as ion emitters so that the ion emitters are self dust removing for a long period of time and are easily removed and reattached for periodic cleaning thereby re~uiring less maintenance and providing more O efficiency.
It is still yet another object and advantage of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system to provide parallel de-coupling of the ion emitters so that the shorting of one emitter does not take down the whole system and also to provide more efficient ionization.
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~rief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention as it is used in a conventional forced air system.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention as it is used in a larger application such as a hospital or large office building.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the ion emitter of the present invention as it is used with a computer in a computer room setting.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the ion emitter of the present invention as it is used in a stable or other ~n; m~ 1 housing.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a car with a cut away portion showing a partial view underneath the hood of the car and showing the ion emitter of the present invention as it is used in a car.
Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the ion emitter with a conductive ~rush of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system.
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 7-7 of Figure 6 showing the inside of one of the ion 2l~383s emitters in the form of a conductive ~rush of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system.
Figure 8 is a schematic view of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention showing how the ion emitters in series with high value resistors are connected in parallel to each other and in series to a high value resistor to provide parallel de-coupling such that if one ion emitter shorts out the whole system does not fail~
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Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring now to the drawings in general and in particular to Figure 1 of the drawings there is shown a perspective view of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system as it is used in a conventional forced air system. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system is shown generally by the number 10. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 comprises a plurality of ion emitters 12 each having a tail portion 14 in the form of a conductive brush 16, each of the ion emitters 12 being positioned parallel to the existing air flow of a conventional forced air system 18. As ambient air flow enters into the forced air system 18 it will carry particles, these particles in the air flow will be electrically charged when the air enters the zone of ionization 20 where the ion emitters 12 are positioned.
Voltage is applied via a power supply 22 to a common power supply line or bus 24 which transmits the power to the ion emitters 12 which are removably attached to the power supply line 24 and positioned upstream 25 of the filter 26 of the conventional forced air system 18. After particles in the air are ionized they are attracted to any surface along with other like particles thereby growing in size. This particulate matter has a charge which causes it to attract better to a filter media or other surfaces. Some of the particulate matter with a reversed charge to that of the conductive brush 16 emitters is attracted to the conductive brushes 16 in the tail portion 14 of the ion emitter 12. As the conductive brushes 16 of the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 collect accumulated particles they would ordinarily become clogged or blocked from emitting more ions. However, the ion 2l~3835 emitters 12 in the form of conductive brushes 16 of the present invention are designed to float or flutter in the air flow of a conventional forced air system 18 and as the conductive brushes 16 float or flutter they are caused to shake of~ accumulated particles that have been attracted to the conductive brushes 16 of the tail portion 14 of the present ion emitters 12. In this way, the conductive ~rushes 16 can emit uninterrupted air cleaning ions into the air flow.
Thus, the ion emitters 12 in the form of conductive brushes 16 of the present system 10 send electrical charges into the air.
These charged ions will be attracted by electrostatic force to dust particles in the air and will give the dust particles an electric force. This force will make more dust particles attract to and settle in the fibers of a conventional air filter 26 and in the fibers 28 of the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 before and after the air goes through the filter 26.
Also, as seen in Figure 1, the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 of the present invention has a plurality of ion emitters 12 removably attached to a power supply line or bus 24 positioned downstream 29 of the air flow after it has been through the filter 26 of the conventional forced air system 18. It is known in ion research that bacteria and fungi are killed ~y ions. Thus, any bacteria, molds or the like that may have formed in the system; moisture in the air conditioning system, for example; would be ionized after the air flows through the filter 26, thereby killing the offending mold or bacteria.
As seen in Figure 1 and more clearly in Figures 6 and 7, the plurality of ion emitters 12 of the present invention each comprises a body portion 30 and an elongated 21S383~
tail or brush portion 14. The tail or brush portion 14 has a plurality of trailing or streaming fleY~ible conductive material bristles or fibers 28 which stream behind the body portion 30. Also as seen in Figure 1, with the plurality of ion emitters positioned parallel to the air flow, the brush or tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 are caused to float, flutter or move within the air flow thus shaking off some of the accumulated particles on the emitters onto the floor surface 32 below. This frees the fibers 28 of the brush portion 14 of the emitters 12 from e~cess particulate matter so that as the bristles or fibers 28 continue to flutter in the air flow, they can continue to emit uninterrupted air cleaning ions into the air flow thereby increasing the efficiency of the ion emitter 12 and increasing the time interval between which the emitters 12 should be removed and cleaned. These fibers 28 in the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 will attract charged particles of opposite polarity from the air. As noted prevlously, this would normally be a problem because when the ion emitter 12 gets dirty the ion output would be reduced. However, with the floating ion emitters 12 of the present invention, only large particles will shake loose from the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12. The forces that act on small particles and keep them together are very strong on submicron particles and once they are together they are not likely ~o be separated. Large particles that are shaken loose from the emitter 12 usually will consist of aggregates of a lot of smaller particles. By attracting small particles to the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 and only releasing aggregates of larger particles, the floating ion emitter 12 will clean the air of the smaller and more hazardous particles. Also, when the ion emitters 12 2153~3~
are situated upstream 2~ of the filter 26, the release of aggregates will be more easily trapped in the filter 26.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention as it is used in a larger application such as a hospital or large office building. In principle the ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 works the same in Figure 2 as it does in Figure 1, however more ion emitters 12 are used in the larger application of Figure 2 and the ion emitters 12 are shown in i0 grids 34 set at different polarities to charge different types of particulate matter in Figure 2. It can be seen in Figure 2 that the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 includes a number of converters 36 in a rack 38, each converter 36 converting power from the power supply 22 to be transmitted to a separate power supply line or bus 24. These power supply lines or buses 24 can supply different voltages, negative or positive D.C. or A.C., to different grids 34 carrying a plurality of ion emitters 12, depending on the installation requirements and type of pollution to be eliminated. In most cases very high voltage D.C., above 3kV, is applied to the common power supply line 24; however, different types of voltages can be applied when it is desired to charge different types of particulate matter. Different polarities can be set at different grids 34 as long as the grids 34 are separated, so that different types of particulate matter in a single application are included in the ionization process depending on the particulate matter to be removed where the present system 10 i~ used. It can be seen therefore that an advantage of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 is that multiple stages of filtering at different polarities are provided with mi ~im~l effect on air 21~383~
flow and no added pressure of the air flow through a particular filter medium. There is therefore, also an extremely low power consumption of the present system 10.
Each of the converters 36 can have a charge indicator 40 associated therewith. An indicator lamp 42 will light up every time a predetermined number of charges have been released. The frequency of blinks on the indicator lamps 42 will be directly proportional to the power output and hence to ionization and will indicate if something is wrong with the iO system 10, and if so where. In the present invention, the indicator lamp 42 is a gas filled lamp 43 having a predetermined ignition voltage and connected in parallel with a capacitor (not shown). This indicator lamp 42 is connected in series with the common power supply line 24. The predetermined ignition voltage of the indicator lamp 42 has a low burning voltage and an even lower stop voltage. The capacitor (not shown) will be charged by ion current and when the voltage across the capacitor (not shown~ equals the ignition voltage of the gas lamp 43, the gas lamp 43 will blink using the stored charge in the capacitor (not shown).
The voltage across the gas lamp 43 will then drop below its burning voltage and the process is repeated. Therefore, by determining the difference between the vo~tage across the gas lamp 43 and the capacitance of the capacitor (not shown), it is possible to calculate how many ions are needed for each blink. Thus, if the frequency of the blinks is low it means no ions are emitted and if the frequency of blinks is very high it is most likely due to a short circuit.
Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of an ion emitter and conductive brush of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system. The ion emitters 12 of the present ~ 2I5383~
ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 can be used alone in the existing ambient air flow of a room without being used in conjunction with the filter 26 of a temperature control or ventilation system as seen in Figure 1. In that case, the ion emitters 12 are also removably attached to a common power supply line or bus 24 and positioned parallel to the existing air flow as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The ion emitters 12 of the present invention will emit ions witholt any air ~low around the emitters 12. Because of repulsion and electrical O fields, ions of the same polarity will spread in the air without any extra air flow from ventilation. The ambient air flow around the emitters 12 causes the conductive brushes 16 in the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 to float or flutter, so that as the conductive brushes 16 emit ions that i5 clean the air, some of the charged dust particles will stick to the conductive brushes 16 and reduce the output of ions.
As the conductive brushes 16 float or flutter in the air, excess particles will be shaken off the floating conductive brushes 16 giving the conductive brushes 16 a self cleaning ~0 effect, so that the brushes 16 can continue to emit ions efficiently and also increasing the time interval between which the ion emitters 12 should be removed and cleaned. It should also be noted that when the ion emitters 12 must be cleaned, it i5 a simple task to remove the ion emitters 12 from the common power supply line or bus 24, clean them with isopropanol alcohol or other suitable means and replace them on the bus 24.
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 7-7 of Figure 6 showing the inside of one of the ion emitters in the form of a conductive brush of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system. Figure 7 shows that the ~ 21~383~
body portion 30 of the ion emitter 12 has an attaching clip 44 at the front 46 of the body portion 30 for removably attaching the ion emitter 12 to the commo~ power supply line 24 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 so that the ion emitter 12 is easily removed and reattached to the common power supply line or bus 24 for easy cleaning or other maintenance. A high value resistor 48 in the body portion 30 o~ the ion emitter 12 is connected in series to the ion emitter 12 in the form of a conductive brush 16 as will be described in greater detail with reference to Figure 8. The rear 50 of the body portion 30 is ~ixedly attached to the tail portion 14 of the ion emitter 12 in the form of a conductive brush 16, the tail portion 14 having the fle~ible brush 16 with conductive fibers 28 which shakes off collected charged particles as it floats or flutters in the air flow.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention as it is used in a computer room. It can be seen in Figure 3 that positioned on top of each computer 52 is an ion emitter unit 54. It is well known that a computer 52 and particularly the CRT screen 56 of a computer 52 emits a positive charge. As this positive charge interacts with negative charges around the computer 52 from the operator and the surrounding environment, static electricity is created. lt is desirable to reduce or eliminate this static electricity in order to make computers 52 function more efficiently and for the well being of the operator. Neutralization of charges around the computer 52 will be accomplished by released positive and negative ions emitted from the ion emitter unit 54 that will be attracted to the reverse type of static charged surfaces around the computer 52. Positioned atop the computer 52 in ~ 2153835 Figure 3 is a housing 58 which holds two ion emitters 12 of the present invention. In the application shown in Figure 3 the ion emitters 12 are used in the existing ambient air flow in the room and are not used in conjunction with a filter in the temperature control sy~tem of the building. As air circulates through the room, air flow passes by the housing 58 and passes by the ion emitters 12 positioned therein in parallel arrangement to the air flow. The flexible conductive brushes 16 of the tail portion 14 will ionize particles in the air flow without any air flow around the emitters 12 because ions of the same polarity will spread in the air due to repulsion and electrical fields. Charged airborne dust and particulate matter will be attracted to other particulate matter thus increasing the particulate matter in size. These agglomerated particles that have been neutralized will gravitate ~aster to any surface due to their increased size.
Some of the charged particles will be attracted to the flexible conductive brushes 16. As the conductive brushes 16 float in the air flow, they will shake off the e~cess accumulated particLes thereby allowing the conductive brushes 16 to efficiently continue to emit ions so that the ion emitter unit 54ldoes not have to be removed a~d cleaned as often as a conventional ionizer appliance.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing s~stem of the present invention as it is used in a stable or other ~nlm~l housing. In ~igure ~ there is shown another application where the ion emitters 12 are used in the existing ambient air flow in a room and not in conjunction with a filter in a temperature control system. In Figure 4 there is shown ~he common power supply line or bus 24 that transmits the type of voltage desired in the particular 21S383~
application. The voltage is transmitted to the ion emitters 12 that are removably attached directly to the power supply line 24. The ion emitters 12 of the present invention will emit ions into the air without any airflow around the emitters 12 as previously described. It has been found, however, that if the power supply line 24 is positioned proximate to the ceiling 60 or generally at about a seven or eight foot height around the walls 62 of the stable 64 that the most efficient air flow for ~loating the conductive b~-ishes 16 of the ion emitters 12 is achieved. The floating of the conductive brushes 16 augments the self cleaning effect of the ion emitters 12 also as previously described. To generate more air flow in the room, doors 66 can be opened or fans 68 used such that the present ion emitters 12 are used with minimal adaptations being required in the room. Thus, if an ion emitter 12 is removably attached to the power supply line 24 at about every six feet around the perimeter of the room forming a string 70 of ion emitters 12 near the ceiling 60, an air cleaning effect will be accomplished from the ions charging particles in the air and thus giving them an electrical force. As the existing ambient air flow in the room causes the tail portion 14 of the ion emitter 12 to flutter the particulate matter that has been attracted to the tail portion 14 of the ion emitters 12 will fall off the ion emitters 12. The ion emitters 12, however, will emit ions without any extra air flow from ventilation. A
negative field is created between the high voltage charge on the ion emitters 12 and the common power supply line or bus 24 towards ground in the room. The electrical force from these negatively charged particles will combine with gravitational forces and thus accelerate the particles removal from the air.
In the application shown in Figure 4 also, the ion emitter 12 21 ~383~
in the form of a conductive brush 16 is self dust removing and cleaning by the ion emitters 12 fLoating or fluttering in the existing air flow. This can be assisted by manually shaking the string 70 of ion emitters 12, thereby making the conductive brushes 16 free to collect more particuLate matter. In many agricultural settings where there is little air ~low, a whole string 70 of ion emitters 12 can be shaken by hand or with a broom or the like to remove excess particulate matter from the ion emitters 12. The ion emitters are also easily and O conveniently removed from the common power supply line or bus 24 for cleaning or other maintenance. ~he foregoing description has been applied to a stable 64, however it can easiLy be seen that the same sort of simple installation and low maintenance type of system can be used in a poultry or animal housirg or a number of other applications where there is no e~isting temperature control or ventilation system. It can be determined from the foregoing that the ion emitter and the filter enhancing system of the present invention is beneficial in a number of varied applications.
~0 In Figure 5 there is shown a perspective view of a car with a cut away portion showing a partial view underneath the hood of the car and showing the ion emitters of the present invention as they are used in a car. Figure 5 is illustrative of use of the present ion emitters in a car but it should ~e '5 understood that the present i~n emitter and filter enhancing system can, in similar fashion, be used in a bus, train, airplane or the like. Under the hood 72 of the car 74 in Figure 5 there i~ shown a plurality of ion emitters lZ of the present in~ention removably attached to the common power supply ,0 line or bus 24. Power, typically in the form of high voltage D.C., is transmitted from the power supply 22 to the common power supply li~e 24 and from the common power supply line 2 to each of the individual ion emitters 12 as previously described. In the application as shown in Figure 5, a string 70 of ion emitters 12 is positioned behind the car manifold 76 and in the air flow stream that flows into the interior 78 of the car 74 through the car interior 78 vents, thus placing the ion emitters 12 at the intake of the ~entilation 79 of the car interior 78. In this way, the ion emitters 12 are caused to float in the existing air flow thus ionizing the air before the air enters the interior 78 of the car 74. Thus, much of the dust will be ionized and remo~ed before it even enters the car interior 78. When used in a car 74, the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 also includes an ion emitter unit 54 positioned on the dashboard 80 of the car 74 which works in a manner similar to the ion emitter unit 54 used atop a computer 52 as shown in Figure 4. While the ion emitter unit 54 is shown atop the dashboard 80 in Figure 5 it should be understood that the ion emitter unit 54 can be placed in numerous other locations within the interior 78 of the ~ar 74.
In Figure 5, the air flow and particles in the air are ionized prior to entry of the air into the interior 78 of the car 74 through the vents, air conditioning or heating system of the car 74. After the air passes through the car ventilation system, the air and particles in the air are again ionized by the ion emitters 12 in the ion emitter unit 54 positioned on the dashboard 80 of the car 74. Thus, any molds, dust, or the like that may have been picked up in the air flow by the air conditioning or heating system of the car 74 are also ionized and removed from the air flow in a manner similar to that described with reference to Figure 1.
21~383~
From the foregoing it can be seen that the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention is beneficial in a number of very useful applications. The above described applications for use of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system have been presented by way of e~ample only and it is to be understood that any application of the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system is within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Referring now to Figure 8 of the drawings there is shown a schematic view of the ion emitter and filter enhancing system of the present invention showing how the ion emitters are connected in parallel to each other and in series to high value resistors to provide parallel de-coupling of the ion emitters such that if one ion emitter in this parallel arrangement loses its charge by touching, shorting or the like, high resistance will keep the voltage high at the remaining, unshorted emitters. These ion emitters 12 working in parallel will thus have a smaller influence on each other thereby providing more total output.
In Figure 8, it can be seen that the power supply 22 is connected in series to a high value resistor 82. This high value resistor 82 in turn is connected in series to the common power supply line 24 which carries a plurality of ion emitters 12. Each ion emitter is connected in series to another high value resistor 48 as shown and described with reference to Figure 7, thereby forming an array 84 or plurality of ion emitter-resistor combinations 86, the ion emitter-resistor combinations 86 being connected to each other in parallel. During normal operation, the voltage at the power supply 22 appears at each parallel connection of an ion e~itter-resistor combination 86. Therefore, the voltage 21~383~
drop across the high value resistor 82 and each of the resistors 48 in the ion emitter-resistor combinations 86 would be close to zero. If one ion emitter 12 were to short, the current flow through the high value resistors 48 and the shorted ion emitter-resistor combination 86 to ground would be high. This current flow through the high value resistors 48 and the shorted ion emitter-resistor combination 86 to ground causes a voltage drop across the high value resistors 48. Since the high value resistors 48 have high resistance, L0 the voltage drop across the high value resistors ~8 is high leaving the output voltage at the remaining unshorted ion emitter-resistor combinations 86 approximately equal to the voltage from the power supply 22. Resistors 48 have an inherent capacitance that is very small, in the range of a lS few pico farads, this capacitance acting in parallel with the resistors 48. Inherent capacitance is a reactive component that does not pass direct current and will charge to any voltage drop across a resistor 48. In the present ion emitter and filter enhancing system 10 this capacitor 88 will discharge if an ion emitter 12 is shorted, keeping the voltage relatively high at the ion emitter 12 for the period during which the capacitor 88 discharges, so as to act as a buffer for that short period of time. Once the ion emitter 12 is unshorted, the capacitor 88 will then re-charge.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the applicant's invention provides an improved ion emitter and filter enhancing system that improves the efficiency of the filter of an existing heating and cooling ventilation system or can be used in the existing ambient air flow in a room.
Ion emitters in the form of conductive brushes are used so that the conductive brushes float or flutter in the air flow * 21S3~3~
thereby shaking off particulate matter that is attracted to the conductive brushes, thereby increasing the time interval between which the ion emitters should be removed and cleaned.
The emitters can be set by a plurality of converters to different polarities to charge different types of particles and each of the converters can have an indicator lamp associated therewith for indicating ion output and the proper working condition of the system. The ion emitters in series with high value resistors are connected in parallel to each O other and in series to another high value resistor to provide parallel decoupling such that if one ion emitter shorts out the whole syste~ does not fail. There has been accomplished by the applicant's invention all of the objects and advantages of the invention. Nevertheless, variation in the structure of the invention and the arrangement of the various parts are within the spirit and scope of the applicant's invention. The embodiments given have been given only by way of illustration and the applicant is not to be limited to the embodiments shown and described.
~0 Having described my invention, I claim:
Claims (23)
1. An ion emitter disposed in parallel to an ambient air flow path comprising:
a body portion removably attached to a common power supply line, the common power supply line receiving a predetermined voltage from a converter, the common supply line submitting the predetermined voltage to the body portion;
a tail portion fixedly attached to the body portion, having a flexible conductive brush, the tail portion having means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air and the air; and whereby as ambient air flow passes the ion emitter, the flexible conductive brush is caused to float in the air flow, thereby increasing output of ions by the conductive brush as the conductive brush moves in the air flow, the flexible conductive brush thereby remaining clean by shaking off excess particles that have been attracted to the tail portion of the ion emitter.
a body portion removably attached to a common power supply line, the common power supply line receiving a predetermined voltage from a converter, the common supply line submitting the predetermined voltage to the body portion;
a tail portion fixedly attached to the body portion, having a flexible conductive brush, the tail portion having means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air and the air; and whereby as ambient air flow passes the ion emitter, the flexible conductive brush is caused to float in the air flow, thereby increasing output of ions by the conductive brush as the conductive brush moves in the air flow, the flexible conductive brush thereby remaining clean by shaking off excess particles that have been attracted to the tail portion of the ion emitter.
2. An ion emitter and filter enhancing system for use on an existing forced air ambient temperature control or ventilation system, the temperature control system having air flow and a filter comprising:
means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air and the air, removably attached to a common power supply line, the common power supply line receiving a predetermined voltage from a converter, the common power supply line submitting the predetermined voltage to the means for adding electrical charges to particles, the means for adding electrical charges to particles causing the particles to be attracted to the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system; and whereby as particles are attracted to the filter of the ambient temperature control system, the particles remain on the filter and are removed from the air flow as it exits the ambient temperature control system, and whereby ions emitted will cause bacteria and fungus particles to be killed.
means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air and the air, removably attached to a common power supply line, the common power supply line receiving a predetermined voltage from a converter, the common power supply line submitting the predetermined voltage to the means for adding electrical charges to particles, the means for adding electrical charges to particles causing the particles to be attracted to the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system; and whereby as particles are attracted to the filter of the ambient temperature control system, the particles remain on the filter and are removed from the air flow as it exits the ambient temperature control system, and whereby ions emitted will cause bacteria and fungus particles to be killed.
3. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 2 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air is a plurality of ion emitters.
4. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 3 wherein the ion emitters have flexible conductive brushes having fibers; and whereby electrically charged particles are attracted to the fibers of the conductive brushes, the particles thereby remaining on the fibers of the conductive brushes thus removing the particles from the air flow that is discharged from the ambient temperature control or ventilation system.
5. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 4 wherein the fibers of the conductive brushes are elongated and move within the air flow; and whereby as the elongated fibers of the conductive brushes move in the air flow, accumulated particles on the elongated fibers will fall off the elongated fibers thereby allowing the elongated fibers to emit uninterrupted air cleaning ions into the air flow.
6. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 3 wherein there are a plurality of converters and the ion emitters are set at different polarities via voltage from the common power supply line transmitted from the converters to charge different types of particles.
7. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 3 wherein very high direct current voltage is applied to the ion emitters.
8. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 2 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles is positioned upstream of the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system.
9. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 2 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles is positioned downstream of the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system.
10. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 2 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles is positioned both upstream and downstream of the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system.
11. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 2 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles is positioned at an intake of ventilation for a vehicle.
12. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 2 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air comprises:
An array of combination ion emitters and resistors in series forming a plurality of combination ion emitter and resistor elements, each element in parallel with each other element and the entire array in series with a common resistor; and whereby if one combination ion emitter and resistor element shorts there is a negligible voltage drop over the remaining elements.
An array of combination ion emitters and resistors in series forming a plurality of combination ion emitter and resistor elements, each element in parallel with each other element and the entire array in series with a common resistor; and whereby if one combination ion emitter and resistor element shorts there is a negligible voltage drop over the remaining elements.
13. The ion emitter and filter enhancing system of claim 2 further comprising:
indicator means associated with the means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air and the air and associated with the converter, the indicator means indicating a number of added electrical charges to particles in the air and the air.
indicator means associated with the means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air and the air and associated with the converter, the indicator means indicating a number of added electrical charges to particles in the air and the air.
14. A method of removing particulate matter from air flow for use with an existing forced air ambient temperature control or ventilation system, the temperature control or ventilation system having air flow and a filter comprising the step of:
providing a means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air and the air removably attached to a common power supply line, the common supply line receiving a predetermined voltage from a converter, the common power supply line submitting the predetermined voltage to the means for adding electrical charges to particles, the means for adding electrical charges to particles causing the particles to be attracted to the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system; and whereby as particles are attracted to the filter of the ambient temperature control system, the particles remain on the filter and are removed from the air flow as it exits the ambient temperature control system.
providing a means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air and the air removably attached to a common power supply line, the common supply line receiving a predetermined voltage from a converter, the common power supply line submitting the predetermined voltage to the means for adding electrical charges to particles, the means for adding electrical charges to particles causing the particles to be attracted to the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system; and whereby as particles are attracted to the filter of the ambient temperature control system, the particles remain on the filter and are removed from the air flow as it exits the ambient temperature control system.
15. The method of removing particulate matter from air flow of claim 14 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air is a plurality of ion emitters.
16. The method of removing particulate matter from air flow of claim 15 wherein the ion emitters have flexible conductive brushes having fibers; and whereby electrically charged particles are attracted to the fibers of the conductive brushes, the particles remaining on the fibers of the conductive brushes thus removing the particles from the air flow that is discharged from the ambient temperature control or ventilation system.
17. The method of removing particulate matter from air flow of claim 16 wherein the fibers of the conductive brushes are elongated and move within the air flow; and whereby as the elongated fibers of the conductive brushes move in the air flow, accumulated particles on the elongated fibers will fall off the elongated fibers thereby allowing the elongated fibers to emit uninterrupted air cleaning ions into the air flow.
18. The method of removing particulate matter from the air flow of claim 15 wherein there are a plurality of converters and the ion emitters are set at different polarities via voltage from the common power supply line transmitted from the converters to charge different types of particles.
19. The method of removing particulate matter from air flow of claim 15 wherein very high direct current voltage is applied to the ion emitters.
20. The method of removing particulate matter from air flow of claim 14 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles is positioned upstream of the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system.
21. The method of removing particulate matter from air flow of claim 14 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles is positioned downstream of the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system.
22. The method of removing particulate matter from air flow of claim 14 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles is positioned both upstream and downstream of the filter of the ambient temperature control or ventilation system.
23. The method of removing particulate matter from air flow of claim 14 wherein the means for adding electrical charges to particles in the air comprises:
an array of combination ion emitters and resistors in series forming a plurality of combination ion emitter and resistor elements, each element in parallel with each other element and the entire array in series with a common resistor; and whereby if one combination ion emitter and resistor element shorts there is a negligible voltage drop over the remaining elements.
an array of combination ion emitters and resistors in series forming a plurality of combination ion emitter and resistor elements, each element in parallel with each other element and the entire array in series with a common resistor; and whereby if one combination ion emitter and resistor element shorts there is a negligible voltage drop over the remaining elements.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US28535994A | 1994-08-03 | 1994-08-03 | |
| US08/285,359 | 1994-08-03 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2153835A1 true CA2153835A1 (en) | 1996-02-04 |
Family
ID=23093894
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2153835 Abandoned CA2153835A1 (en) | 1994-08-03 | 1995-07-13 | Ion emitter and filter enhancing system |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2153835A1 (en) |
-
1995
- 1995-07-13 CA CA 2153835 patent/CA2153835A1/en not_active Abandoned
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