IT202100000593A1 - AIR FILTER FOR AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE IN PARTICULAR OF A VEHICLE - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

of the patent for industrial invention entitled:

?AIR FILTER FOR A PARTICULAR ELECTRONIC DEVICE OF A VEHICLE?

TECHNICAL SECTOR

The present invention ? relating to an air filter for an electronic device.

The present invention finds advantageous application to an air filter for an electronic device of an aircraft to which the following discussion will make explicit reference without losing generality.

EARLIER ART

In a modern aircraft there are numerous electronic devices which have an essential function for the correct functioning of the aircraft itself. AND? therefore necessary to ensure adequate cooling to electronic devices to ensure that the electronic components more? sensitive are always kept at temperatures (suitably) lower than the corresponding operating limit temperatures.

Generally, an electronic device comprises a container that houses the electronic components and has at least one ventilation opening (that is, an air intake) through which the air can blow. enter the container to cool the electronic components. Often, in correspondence with the? Ventilation opening ? placed a fan that ? operated by an electric motor and is turned on to create a forced circulation of air through the container; that is, when it is turned on, the fan takes in outside air and forces it into the container.

Obviously the external air that is forced to enter the container can? contain a series of foreign elements (typically dust, water in humid environments, and even salt in marine environments) which in the long run can damage the electronic components. In particular, water and salt can cause rapid oxidation/corrosion of the metal parts while dust (particularly the particulate having a size greater than 150 microns) can negatively affect the functioning of the electronic components (generally the electronic components used in the aeronautical world suffer from the presence of particulate having a size greater than 150 microns).

To prevent forced air cooling from bringing an excessive amount of water into contact with the electronic components? of potentially harmful foreign elements (mainly dust, water and salt), ? It has been proposed to use an air filter that engages the ventilation opening and must necessarily be crossed by the air that is forced into the container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Purpose of the present invention? to supply an air filter for an electronic device, which air filter allows to effectively filter foreign elements potentially harmful to the electronic components and at the same time present reduced load losses and does not create negative electromagnetic interference for the electronic components.

According to the present invention an air filter is provided for an electronic device, according to what is claimed in the attached claims.

The claims describe preferred embodiments of the present invention forming an integral part of the present description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention will come now described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting embodiment thereof, in which:

? figure 1 ? a schematic view of an electronic device provided with an air filter made in accordance with the present invention; And

? figure 2 ? a schematic and exploded view of the air filter in figure 1.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In figure 1 with the number 1 ? referred to as a whole an electronic device of an aircraft.

The electronic device 1 comprises a container 2 in which electronic components 3 of a known type are housed. The container 2 has at least one ventilation opening 4 (ie an air intake) through which the air can enter the container 2 to cool the electronic components 3. At the ventilation opening 4 ? arranged a fan 5 that ? operated by an electric motor and is turned on to create a forced circulation of the air through the container 2; that is, when it is turned on, the fan 5 draws external air and forces it inside the container 2.

Obviously the external air that is forced to enter the container 2 can? contain a series of extraneous elements (typically dust, water in humid environments, and even salt in marine environments) which in the long run can damage the electronic components 3 . To prevent forced air cooling from bringing an excessive amount of water into contact with the electronic components 3? of potentially harmful foreign elements (mainly dust, water and salt), ? there is an air filter 6 which engages the ventilation opening 4 and must necessarily be crossed by the air which is forced to enter the container 2.

As shown in figure 2, the air filter 6 comprises a filter element 7 which ? adapted to retain foreign elements present in the air which passes through the air filter 6 itself; according to a preferred embodiment, the filtering element 7 ? made of oiled cotton or non-woven fabric (non-woven fabric is a type of textile material formed by a series of fibers joined by mechanical, thermal or chemical processes, but which do not require the transformation process of these fibers into yarns). According to a preferred embodiment, the filter element 7 comprises a plurality of of overlapping layers 8 of filtering material; in particular, from two to six layers 8 of filtering material are provided.

Furthermore, the air filter 6 comprises a polymer fabric 9 with micrometric meshes, which ? arranged downstream of the filter element 7 with respect to an air supply direction V, ? made of a hydrophobic polymeric fabric, and has a mesh size D1 of less than 200 microns and preferably less than 150 microns. The micrometric mesh polymer fabric 9 ? directly leaning with contact to the filter element 7, or not ? there is no element interposed between the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes and the filtering element 7. In particular, ? a single and single layer of polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes is provided.

The micrometric mesh polymer fabric 9 ? consists of a single layer (ie only one layer) of a fabric that is ? composed of a set of warp threads 10 (that is, which constitute the warp) and of a set of weft threads 11 (that is, that constitute the weft) intertwined to form a plurality? of links; in other words, the fabric which constitutes the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes ? a product with a flat, thin and flexible surface made by weaving warp threads 10 and weft threads 11 perpendicular to each other (this weaving determines the formation of a plurality of stitches). The warp threads 10 have a linear development, while the weft threads 11 are inserted into the shed of the warp threads 10 by ?turning? around the warp threads 10 themselves. In other words, the weft threads 11 are intertwined with the warp threads 10 in such a way that the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes is made by means of a weaving operation (that is, with the interweaving of the warp threads 10 with the threads 11 of plot). The weaving of the warp threads 10 with the weft threads 11 determines the formation of a plurality of of meshes, which have a very small D1 dimension and generally between 150 and 200 microns (that is, the sides of each mesh have a D1 dimension between 150 and 200 microns).

AND? important to observe that the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes is not ? soaked (wet) with any kind of liquid (especially oil). In other words, the micrometric mesh polymer fabric 9 blocks the smallest particles. present in the aspirated air only by means of mechanical retention (ie it blocks the particles larger than the micrometric meshes by mechanical interference) without using any type of liquid which soaks (wets) the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes itself.

The warp threads 10 and the weft threads 11 are made of a polymeric material; preferably the warp threads 10 and the weft threads 11 are made of PEEK (polyether ether ketone) which? completely hydrophobic, but other polymers could also be used such as polyethylene terephthalate or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyamides (PA). Preferably, the warp threads 10 and the weft threads 11 have: a specific weight comprised between 1.20 and 1.40 g/mm<3>, a textile resistance comprised between 33 and 75 daN/mm<2>, a relative resistance in wet between 95% and 100%, an elongation at break between 20% and 40%, and a humidity absorption? at 20?C and 65% humidity? relative less than 1%.

As previously stated, the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes ? with a single layer of polymeric fabric, i.e. the warp threads 10 and the weft threads 11 constituting the single layer are not superimposed by other warp threads 10 and weft threads 11.

The air filter 6 comprises an external net 12 which ? arranged upstream of the filter element 7 with respect to the air supply direction V, and has a mesh size D2 greater than 1.5 mm and preferably greater than 2 mm. Preferably, the external network 12 ? made of high modulus polymeric material, preferably Kevlar or similar. According to a preferred embodiment, the external network 12 ? directly supported with contact to the filter element 7, or not ? there is no element interposed between the external mesh 12 and the filtering element 7.

Finally, the air filter 6 comprises an internal mesh 13 (entirely identical to the external mesh 12) which? arranged downstream of the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes with respect to the air supply direction V, and has a mesh size D2 greater than 1.5 mm and preferably greater than 2 mm. Preferably, the internal network 13 ? made of high modulus polymer material, preferably Kevlar. According to a preferred embodiment, the internal network 13 ? directly resting in contact with the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes, or rather not ? there is no element interposed between the polymer fabric 9 with micrometric meshes and the internal mesh 13.

In other words, the air filter 6 ? made up of four overlapping parts (from the outside inwards): the external mesh 12 made up of high modulus polymeric material with large meshes, the filtering element 7 made up of two to six layers 8 of filtering material, the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes, and finally the internal mesh 13 (twin of the external mesh 12) made up of high modulus polymeric material and having large meshes.

The filter element 7 has the function of retaining salt and impurities? more large, while the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric meshes (arranged rigorously downstream of the filtering element 7 and therefore crossed only by the air that has already been partially ?cleaned? by the filtering element 7) ? hydrophobic to retain water and has very small meshes to retain impurities? more small. The two screens 12 and 13 have an essentially mechanical function, ie to support the filtering element 7 and the polymeric fabric 9 with micrometric mesh which would not be able to support themselves on their own.

In this composition, the polymeric and hydrophobic fabric 9 with micrometric meshes is located towards the clean air side, so as to be the last barrier against impurities. and avoid its rapid clogging.

The embodiments described here can be combined with each other without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.

The air filter 6 described above has numerous advantages.

In the first place, the air filter 6 described above makes it possible to minimize the load losses so as to be able to guarantee the adequate supply of air without increasing the consumption of the fan 5 and requiring the use of a relatively small fan 5; experimental tests have shown that the load loss determined by the air filter 6 ? less than 3 mbar when the speed? of the filtered air? of 3.5 m/s. At the same time, the air filter 6 described above has a high filtering efficiency managing to block all impurities. (mainly dust but also salt and water) which can damage the electronic components 3 contained in the container 2. These results are obtained thanks to the synergistic coupling of the traditional filtering element 7 (arranged upstream) and the polymeric and hydrophobic mesh fabric 9 micrometric (disposed downstream) that allows you to optimize the capacity? system filter, reducing pressure drops.

A very important feature of the air filter 6 are the meshes 12 and 13 made of Kevlar (or other analogous non-metallic materials) in order to avoid electromagnetic influences; i.e. the presence of the air filter 6 does not cause any negative effect on the electronic components 3 housed in the container 2.

LIST OF FIGURE REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 electronic device

2 container

3 electronic components

4 ventilation opening

5 fan

6 air filter

7 filter element

8 layers of filter material

9 mesh fabric

10 warp threads

11 weft threads

12 external network

13 internal network

V feed direction

D1 dimension

D2 dimension

Claims (12)

R E V E N D I C A T I O N S 1) Air filter (6) for an electronic device (1) in particular of a vehicle; does the air filter (6) include a filter element (7) which ? adapted to retain foreign elements present in the air which passes through the air filter (6) itself; the filter (6) air ? characterized in that it comprises a mesh fabric (9), which ? arranged downstream of the filter element (7) with respect to an air supply direction (V), ? made of a hydrophobic polymeric fabric, and has a mesh size (D1) of less than 200 microns and preferably less than 150 microns. 2) Air filter (6) according to claim 1, wherein the mesh fabric (9) ? directly resting with contact on the filter element (7). 3) Air filter (6) according to claim 1 or 2 and comprising a single and single layer of mesh fabric (9). 4) Air filter (6) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the filter element (7) comprises a plurality of? of layers (8) of filter material and preferably two to six layers (8) of filter material. 5) Air filter (6) according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the filter element (7) is? made of oiled cotton or non-woven fabric. 6) Air filter (6) according to one of claims 1 to 5 and comprising an external net (12) which ? arranged upstream of the filter element (7) with respect to the direction (V) of the air supply, and has a mesh size (D2) greater than 1.5 mm and preferably greater than 2 mm. 7) Air filter (6) according to claim 6, wherein the external network (12) ? made of high modulus polymer material, preferably Kevlar. 8) Air filter (6) according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the external net (12) ? directly resting with contact on the filter element (7). 9) Air filter (6) according to one of claims from 1 to 8 and comprising an internal net (13) which ? arranged downstream of the mesh fabric (9) with respect to the air supply direction (V), and has a mesh size (D2) greater than 1.5 mm and preferably greater than 2 mm. 10) Air filter (6) according to claim 9, wherein the internal network (13) ? made of high modulus polymer material, preferably Kevlar. 11) Air filter (6) according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the internal network (13) ? directly resting in contact with the mesh fabric (9). 12) Electronic device (1) comprising: a container (2) having at least one ventilation opening (3); electronic components (3) housed in the container (2); a fan (5) which is configured to create a forced circulation of air through the ventilation opening (3); and an air filter (6) which engages the ventilation opening (3) and ? made according to one of claims 1 to 11.