IL29525A - Installation for electric air conditioning especially of spaces with the production of uni-polar air ions - Google Patents

Description

l'DmnM |Π 3 ΤΙΙ ΠΙ^Ί n PATENT ATTORNEYS □ ' D 1 D 3 ' Ί 1 D PATENTS AND DESIGNS ORDINANCE SPECIFICATION Installation for electric air conditioning especially of spaces with the production of uni-polar ions CONSTANTIN GRAF VON BERCKHEIM, a ^erman citizen, Friedrichstrasse 9, 694 Weinheim a.d.B., Germany do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :- 29525/2 BACKGROUND OF THE INTENTION 4 ^ The present invention relates to an installation for electrically air conditioning spaces by producing unipolar air ions.

The efficiency of the body organism is influenced, above all in closed spaces, to a large extent by the ion content of the air in the space and particularly by the content of oxygen ions. The quality of oxygen is high in the free atmosphere, and especially in mountainous regions by reason of the presence of natural U-V radiation.

In closed spaces, however, the content of carbon dioxide ions predominates over the negative oxygen ions because the latter preferably give off their charge to the boundary surfaces of the space. For this reason there is a reduction of negatively charged oxygen ions in a closed space. 'With a hij"h content of suspended particles in the air of the space, the readily movable small ions will add tionally give off soon their charge to the air contamination so thp.t these electrical forms of ondition of the air oxygen, which are useful for living organisms, are lost. It has therefore been proposed already in the prior art to artificially produce ions ir: spaces and mora particularly, inter alia, by means of radioactive substances or also by means of an artificial U-V (ultra-violet) radiation. In case of use of radioactive danger exists because the radiation of the radioactive substances cannot be turned off. It can only be shielded which, however, entails a significant expenditure and correspondingly renders more difficult and more costly the arrangement in given spaces* Also with the use of an artificial U-V radiation, it is difficult to achi.-ve a satisfactor shieldin of the ersons resent ^9525 2 additional disadvantage exists that the U-Y radi^tioi. ox spray-discharge ionizators also produce ozone and sometimes nitrogen oxides, which are harmful to the human body over longer periods of time in high ion concentrations. In order to exclude these disadvantages, it b a also been further proposed heretofore to arrange on one side of an insulating layer (e.g. on the inner surface of a glass tube), an electrode connected with an alternating— current (A.C.) high-voltage source, and to arrange on the other side of the insulating layer an electrode consisting of a thin foil or the like which is connected both with the other terminal of the A. C, high-voltage source as also, for example, with the negative terminal of a direct-current (1).C.) high-voltage source. By reason of the required high A.C. voltage, ozone, which is undesirable, is likely to be produced at a rate that is difficult to ODn-trol. In addition to this deficiency, special measures, . must be taken to produce and to operate this high A. C. voltage in an operationally reliable manner and without danger, SUMMARY OP TH£ INVENTION According to the present invention, the aforementioned disadvantages are avoided in that an electrode, selectively connected with the ungrounded terminal of the D. C. high-voltage source, is provided with fine wire tips which rest with a small contact surface slightly elastically on the glass body of a gas discharge tube, whose two terminals are connected only with an A. C. current source of usual line voltage. Such a gas discharge tube produces also a certain U-V radiation which, however, is limited to the proximate area of the tube itself, where, however, it favours the ion formation connected to the D.C. high-voltage can be extraordinarily^ φ small compared to the gas discharge tube. Ozone production, usually associated with a spray discharge or corona discharge, can be suppressed to such an extent that it is no longer significant or harmful. It is particularly advantageous in accordance with the present invention to utilize as gas discharge tube a conventional fluorescent lamp since its U-V radiation is partly absorbed by the inner fluorescent coating of the tube and the balance is limited almost entirely to the surface area of the tube. This entails the advantage that commercially available fluorescent tubes whose manufacturing costs are correspondingly low, can be used for the entire installation.

The electrode connected with the D. J. high-voltage source may consist according to the present nven ion of a rod provided · ith springy or elastic wire tips which is adapted to be mounted on a fluorescent tube of con entional diameter size by meanr? of elastic clawps or the like. Kot only the assembly is simplified l;o a large extent i this manner but also all necessary service and maintenance operations and an exchange in case of eventual failure of the fluorescent tube are greatly simplified thereby. The electrode connected with the D. C. high-voltage source may be connected therewith by way of a high ohmic resistance in order to limit the current to a harmless and practically not noticeable magnitude in case of unintentional contact* Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an installation of the type described above which avoids by extremely simple means the aforementioned shortcomings and drawbacks encountered in the prior art* Another object of the present invention resides in an installation for electrically air conditioning spaces by the production of uni-polar air . ions which minimizes the danger to human beings within the space while at the same time assuring an adequate supply of oxygen ions.

A still further object of the present invention resides in a device of the type described above in which the component parts, particularly the gas discharge tube, used, may be a commercially available type of fluorescent tube, thereby decreasing the cost of the installation.

A further object of the present invention resides in an installation ox the type described above which greatly simplifies servicing and maintenance operations.

These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows, for purposes of illustration only, one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, and wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a gas discharge tuba equipped with a clamped-on electrode having spraying-discharge tips; and Figure 2 is a schematic end elevational view of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the two views to designate like parts, an electrode consisting of an electrically conducting material, for example, a rod 1, is provided with hair-thin corona-discharge or spray tips made from a material which can disintegrate only with difficulty, for example, of steel wire and is clamped by means of a fastening device provided with clamping clips 3 or the like on a 29525/2 conventional fluorescent tube 4. The ends of the spray or ^ corona-discharge tips 2 rest thereby with slight contact on the glass body of the fluorescent tube 4. The electrode consisting of the rod 1 is connected in a conventional manner by way of a high ohmic resistance 5, for example of the order of 10^ ohms, with a D. C. high-voltage source 6 of about 2,000 volts whose other terminal is grounded in a conventional manner. The fluorescent tube 4 is connected at its connecting terminals 7 with a conventional line network of about 220 volts. Upon turning on the apparatus, a glow discharge takes place in the fluorescent tube 4 whose U-V radi tion excites the fluorescent or luminescent coating and is dissipated to a corresponding degree so that a U-V radiation outside of the fluorescent tube is still effective only directly at the surface thereof where the fine ends of the spray tips 2 abut. By reason of the oscillatory phenomena on the inside of the fluorescent be* the ends of the fine wire tips 2 resting against the surface thereof are c used to participate in the oscillations whereby microscopicall fine spray or corona discharges occur by means of v/hich ions are produced in conjunction with the U-V radiation still effective at the tube surface without the production ofosone in quantities to any noticeable extent* If the electrode 1 is connected, for example, vrith the negative terminal of a B.C. high-voltage source 6, then this leads to an operation in which only negatively charged ions go out into the space air so that in such a case the negatively charged oxygen ions, eesential in particular Tor the human organisms, reach the air of the space to be breathed whereby these oxygen contents exist in a similar high-qu&lifey condition as th air oxygen in the high mountainous regions.

Even though the apparatus is also operable without difficulty with a gas discharge tube without interior fluorescent layer within the sense of the present invention, the use of a fluorescent tube offers the advantage that, as mentioned above, the U-V radiation remains limited to the immediate surface of the tube and therewith, on the one hand, enables the formation of ions with the use of small A.C. voltages whereas, on the other, an undesirable ozone and nitrogen oxid formation by the U-V radiation is far-reachingly precluded.

If it is desired to produce instead of the negatively charged small ions, positively charged ions, then it would be necessary only to connect the electrode 1 with the positive pole of the D.C. high-voltage source. The apparatus, as such, is not limited to the presence or to the simultaneous operation of an installation for the production of an electric D.C. field in the space; however, it can be operated without difficulty simultaneously with such an installation and /or can also be readily combined with such an installation in that the electrode 1 itself is constructed as ceiling electrode or as part thereof.

While I have shown and described only one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it is understood that the same is not limited thereto but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to a person skilled in the art, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.

J 29525/3

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS 1, A device for producing unipolar ions in air comprising an electrically excitable gas discharge tube constituting a source of visible and ultraviolet electromagnetic radiation and being at least in part bounded by a wall consisting of vitreous material which is permeable to the emitted radiation; a source of alternating current for exciting said tube whereby the same undergoes slightvibrations; electrically energizable electrode means, including resiliently deflectable filament means exteriorly contacting said wall; and a source of direct current having a pole conductively connected with said electrode means whereby, in response to energization of said tube and vibration of the same, momentary displacements of said filament means, out of eontact with said wall caused by the vibrations of said tube will result in minute corona discharges between said filament means and said wall while the former is out of contact with the latter. 2» A device according to Claim 1, said wall being a tubular casing of saidgas-discharge tube and having an inner side coated with a substance adapter" to emit light and to partially absorb ultraviolet radiation upon excitation of said tube* 3· A device according to Claim 1, wherein said electrode means comprises a rod-shaped portion extending along said tube exteriorly thereof, said filament means being provided on said rod-shaped portion and engaging said wall* 4. A device according to Claim 3» and further comprising spring-clip means operative for releasably mounting said electrode 5· A device according to Claim 4» wherein said spring-clip means comprises a plurality of spring-clip members each having two arms arranged to embrace said tube, and a connecting portion extending between said arms and adapted to engage said rod-shaped portion of said electrode means for holding the same in predetermined position relative to said tube. 6. A device according to Claim 1; and further comprising ballast means operatlvely associated with said tube and being connected with another pole of said source of direct current. 7· A device according to Claim 6 wherein said other pole and said ballast means are both connected to ground. 8. A device according to Claim 1; and further comprising a high-ohmic resistor having a resistive value on the order 9 of 10 ohia and being interposed in circuit between said pole and said electrode means. 9· A device according to Claim 1# wherein said filament means comprises a plurality of discrete filaments. 10. A device according to Claim 9, wherein said filaments have respective free ends which exteriorly engage said wall* 11. A device for producing unipolar ions in air substantially as described above by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.. For the Applicants