WO2005108137A1

WO2005108137A1 - Automobile air filter

Info

Publication number: WO2005108137A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/001710
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jong-Tae Jung; Jang-Hyun Yoon
Original assignee: Jong-Tae Jung; Jang-Hyun Yoon
Priority date: 2004-05-12
Filing date: 2004-07-12
Publication date: 2005-11-17
Also published as: KR20040079863A; KR100546050B1

Abstract

The present invention discloses an automobile air filter having a filter paper made of nonwoven fabric therein, and more particularly, to an automobile air filter in which a filtering member for creating photocatalysis and circuit boards and electrode needles for generating anions through corona discharge due to a negative (-) potential difference are provided in succession within a filter frame to remove foreign substance such as dust and particulate introduced into an automobile, the propagation of mold or microorganism and offensive odors in a stepwise fashion and a filtering member containing charcoal is installed to finally remove residual foreign substance, thereby purifying the air introduced into the automobile to achieve a pleasant indoor atmosphere.

Description

Description AUTOMOBILE AIR FILTER Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to an automobile air filter having a filter paper made of nonwoven fabric therein, and more particularly, to an automobile air filter in which a filtering member for creating photocatalysis and circuit boards and electrode needles for generating anions through corona discharge due to a negative (-) potential difference are provided in succession within a filter frame to remove foreign substance such as dust and particulate introduced into an automobile, the propagation of mold or microorganism and offensive odors in a stepwise fashion and a filtering member containing charcoal is installed to finally remove residual foreign substance, thereby purifying the air introduced into the automobile to achieve a pleasant indoor atmosphere. Background Art

[2] In general, air introduced into an automobile contains allergenic pollen, particulate, germs and offensive odors as well as dust. If the external air contaminated like above is introduced into the enclosed interior of the automobile without purification, the introduced air will be possibly fatal to the health of the passengers including a driver. Thus, dust or particulate and bacterial noxious substance from the ambient air should be removed as much as possible before the air is introduced into the automobile.

[3] To this end, in the prior art, as shown in FIG. 12, an air filter 1 is installed in an air conditioning system of an automobile, in which a filter paper 3 that is composed of nonwoven fabric and multi-folded to have a plurality of triangular waveforms is fixedly contained in a box-shaped filter frame 2 and thus stably installed in an air inlet of the automobile.

[4] The filter paper 3 is made of a woven fabric with fine webs or nonwoven fabric which serves to filter dust or particulate. Particularly, the filter paper 3 has a folded shape of continuous triangular waveforms so as to increase a contact area with air per unit area. The filter frame 2 is formed in such a manner that the filter paper is placed in an injection machine, and raw material of PP resin or ABS resin is sprayed onto an outer frame side of the filter paper under high pressure and is then cooled. During the cooling, the filer paper 3 is fixedly attached to the filter frame 2.

[5] The filter paper 3 as above has a simple construction composed of one or two-ply of nonwoven fabric or synthetic fiber and fixed to the filter frame 2. Thus, there is a problem in that the filter paper 3 cannot filter fine dust or particulate fatal to the health but allows fine dust or particulate to pass through although it may filter relatively large sized dust.

[6] Also, there is caused another problem in that the air filter should be frequently replaced with a new one in order to prevent the propagation of a microorganism such as mold, bacteria and so on.

[7] Recently, in order to solve these problems, there has been proposed a technology for placing charcoal capable of discharging anion and providing antifiingal and de- odorization actions in an air inlet. In this case, since a lump of charcoal is placed in the air inlet, it is difficult to replace charcoal with a new one.

[8] Meanwhile, in order to solve this problem, there has been proposed an air filter in which active carbon or charcoal is applied to the filter paper 3 of nonwoven fabric and then the filter paper 3 is fixed to the filter frame 2. However, this air filter has a problem in that webs of nonwoven fabric are clogged so that the air may not smoothly flow therethrough because of a minute ratio difference between the content of charcoal and that of adhesive for adhering charcoal to nonwoven fabric.

[9] Further, the filter paper 3 having a single sheet of nonwoven fabric applied with charcoal has a low charcoal content, and thus in its operative effect has a problem in that anion generation shows a considerably poor antifiingal action.

[10] In order to maximize the operation of anion, there has been widely used an air cleaner for purifying the air in the room with an anion generator, but such an air cleaner cannot remove foreign substance, mold and microorganism directly introduced through an air conditioner if it is installed and used in the automobile.

[11] Also, while generating anion, the air cleaner generates ozone as byproduct, which more severely affects the health as its concentration becomes thicker, and also causes problems in that a person in the room feels nausea or even vomits when exposed to respiring ozone for a long time period.

[12] Particularly, it may cause an accident to a driver due to headache as well as fatal effects to pregnant women, old and weak people, and children.

[13] Recently, various air cleaners using photocatalyst have been developed but are not directly applied to air filters.

[14] The operation principle of an air cleaner using a photocatalyst will be described in brief hereinafter.

[15] Optical energy emitted from an ultraviolet lamp is irradiated onto a photocatalyst such as titanium oxide to generate electrodes and holes through electron transition in conduction band so that the electrons and the holes react with moisture or oxygen in the air to generate active oxygen since they have strong oxidizing and reducing powers. Since such active oxygen has a strong bonding force to other components, it decomposes odorant to perform deodorization. Further, OH radicals in active oxygen perform an antifiingal action since they have a strong oxidizing power for disinfecting microorganism.

[16] As a result, photocatalyst filters coated with titanium oxide are widely used in air conditioning systems. However, since titanium oxide is coated on the surface of a conventional photocatalyst filter, it has problems in that a titanium oxide film is peeled off or reflectivity is worsened when used for a long time period.

[17] Furthermore, since the air cleaner as above has a complicated structure, it consumes enormous production cost and is not applicable to a small-sized apparatus such as an automobile air filter. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[18] The present invention has been devised in consideration of the above conventional problems and it is therefore an object of the invention to provide an automobile air filter, in which a filtering member based upon a photocatayst and a plurality of circuit boards and electrode needles for generating anions through corona discharge induced from a negative potential difference are provided in succession within a filter frame in order to filter and disinfect foreign substance such as dust and particulate introduced into the interior of an automobile in a stepwise manner, thereby preventing the propagation of mold and microorganism and offensive odors, and finally charcoal is contained in the filtering member to perform antifiingal and purifying actions against residual substance, in order to produce a pleasant automobile atmosphere.

[19] It is another object of the invention to provide an automobile air filter in which nonwoven fabric is impregnated with liquid titanium dioxide to obtain a large surface area in contact with the air as well as to irradiate ultraviolet rays onto the entire surface of the filtering member so as to obtain effective photocatalysis so that a pleasant automobile indoor atmosphere can be maintained through antifiingal, deodorizing, pollution-proof and air-purifying actions.

[20] It is other object of the invention to provide an automobile air filter in which several nonwoven fabric pieces impregnated with titanium dioxide are attached to a plate-shaped charcoal filter at a predetermined interval to reduce the thickness of a filtering member while improving productivity. [21] It is further another object of the invention to provide an automobile air filter in which a first circuit board is applied with a voltage of -lOKv and a second circuit board is applied with a voltage of -4Kv so that corona discharge is produced according to a potential difference corresponding to two times of a voltage difference to generate ozone at a quantity smaller than that of ozone generated from different polarity potentials while generating an enormous quantity of anions.

[22] It is yet another object of the invention to provide an automobile air filter in which a filtering member is insert injection molded within a filter frame, and a fabrication process is simplified so that first and second circuit boards, first and second electrode needles and a filtering member can be easily coupled to improve productivity, in order to save production cost of articles.

[23] According to an aspect of the invention for realizing the above objects, there is provided an automobile air filter including a box- shaped hollow filter frame having a handle at a side thereof and a filter paper of nonwoven fabric which is fixed within the filter frame and multi-folded into a plurality of triangular wave forms in order to purify the air introduced into an automobile, the automobile air filter comprising: a filter frame having insertion grooves formed on upper and lower frames of the filter frame, incisions and projections cut at a predetermined interval so that outsides of the insertion grooves are connected with the opening, an insertion space portion formed inside a side frame to be connected with both ends of the insertion grooves, and a plurality of connection holes formed in the insertion space portion to communicate with the outside; first and second circuit boards coupled into the insertion grooves and having a plurality of fitting holes longitudinally formed thereon at a predetermined interval; first and second electrode needles fixed at one ends into the fitting holes of the first and second circuit boards and projected at the other ends upwardlyly so that a negative potential difference in the first and second circuit boards creates corona discharge to generate anions; a third circuit board coupled with the insertion space portion of the side frame so that both ends thereof are electrically connected with the first and second circuit boards, and having a plurality of fixing holes formed in upper portions thereof to communicate with the connection holes, and power terminals coupled at one ends into the fixing holes and projected outward at the other ends to apply power; a filtering member placed in a rear portion of the opening to exert antifiingal and purifying actions to foreign substance such as dust and mold introduced into the opening based upon photocatalysis; a filtering member injection molded integrally with the filter frame place to be in a front portion of the opening, for dis- infecting and antifiingal-treating the remaining foreign substance which has passed through the filtering member; an ultraviolet lamp placed in the rear of the filtering member for promoting catalysis to the filtering member by using light as an energy source; and a power supply electrically connected to the ultraviolet lamp and power terminals for supplying power. Technical Solution

[24] Hereinafter preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[25] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention in use, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the entire structure of the present invention. An automobile air filter 1 of the present invention has a box-shaped hollow filter frame 2, a handle 2a formed at one side of the filter frame 2 and a filter paper 3 of nonwoven fabric which is fixed within the filter frame 2 and multi-folded into a plurality of triangular wave forms in order to purify the air introduced into an automobile as shown in FIG. 12. The box-shaped filter frame 10 is coupled within an air intake housing 4 and an ultraviolet lamp 60 is installed on the filter frame 10 so that ultraviolet rays from an ultraviolet lamp 62 irradiate a filtering member 40 of the filter frame 10 to create photocatalysis thereby disinfecting and purifying foreign substance such as dust and mold.

[26] Hereinafter the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the handle 2a of the filter frame 10 will not be illustrated in the following drawings or description since it may be selectively adopted in automobiles.

[27] As shown in FIG. 2, the filter frame 10 has insertion grooves 13 that are formed in upper and lower frames 11 and 12, respectively, along a horizontal direction into a structure of an opened rear portion and a closed front portion so that first and second circuit boards 20 and 21, which will be described later, can be coupled into the insertion grooves 13.

[28] The first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 coupled into the insertion grooves 13 are coupled with first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 to be described later as follows: Triangular waveforms are continuously formed repeatedly at a predetermined interval along a horizontal direction in the outside of the insertion grooves 13, that is, top and bottom portions of the insertion grooves 31 connected to an opening 16 to form triangularly cut incisions 17 at one portions and projections 18 opposed to the incisions 17 thereby to support the first and second circuit board 20 and 21 coupled into the insertion grooves 13. Also, the first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 are coupled into fitting holes 22 of the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 exposed to the outside through triangularly cut incisions 17.

[29] In the meantime, semicircular fixing protrusions 19 are formed in bottoms of the projections 18 and those of the insertion grooves 13 opposed thereto at a predetermined gap so that the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 are securely fixed to the insertion grooves 13. (Refer to FIG. 3.)

[30] In a side frame 14 of the filter frame 10, there is formed an insertion space portion 15 for enabling electrical connection with the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21. The insertion space portion 15 has both ends connected with the insertion grooves so that a third circuit board 23 to be described later is coupled thereto, and at least one connection hole 15 is perforated to one portion of the insertion space portion 15.

[31] Steps 10a are formed at both sides in a rear portion of the opening 16 of the filter frame 16 in order to couple with the filtering member 40 to be described later so that the filter member 40 does not move inward.

[32] The first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 are horizontally extended to a predetermined length to be coupled into the insertion grooves 13, and have a plurality of fitting holes 22 formed thereon along a longitudinal direction at a predetermined interval that the first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 are coupled into the same.

[33] When coupled into the insertion grooves 13, the fixing protrusions 19 formed inside the insertion grooves 13 securely fix the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 so that they do not escape to the outside in use thereof.

[34] The first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 have one ends fixed to the fitting holes 22 of the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 and the other ends projected upwardly so that anions can be emitted based upon the negative potential difference applied to the upper and lower electrode needles 30 and 31.

[35] Each of the electrode needles 30 fixed to each of the fitting holes 22 has a hollow support plate 32 and support legs 33 folded downwardly from both opposed edge portions of the support plate 32. Upon application of negative voltages to the first circuit board 20, current flows through triangular needle tips 34, which are folded upwardly from a central periphery of the support plate 32, so that the potential difference between the first and second electrode fingers 30 and 31 generates corona discharge emitting a large quantity of anions.

[36] The second electrode needles 31 are placed above and opposed to the first electrode needles 30. Each of the second electrode needles 31 has a hollow support plate 32, and support legs 33 are narrowed downwardly from the outer circumference of the support plate 32 to be coupled into corresponding ones of the fitting holes 22. Triangular needle tips 34 are folded upwardly from a central outer periphery of the support plate 32 so that a negative potential difference between the first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 emits anions.

[37] The third circuit board 23 is coupled with the insertion space portion 15, and has a plurality of fixing holes 24 formed on upper portions to communicate with the connection holes 15a so that one ends of power terminals 25 are fit into the fixing holes 24 through the connection holes 15a to fix the third circuit board 23 and the other ends of the power terminals 25 are projected outwardly. Upon application of power, the power terminals 25 are electrically connected with the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 to apply -lOkv to the first circuit board 20 and -4kv to the second circuit board 21 so that the potential difference generates corona discharge between the first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 to emit a large quantity of anions.

[38] At anion generation based upon the negative potential difference, two negative voltages exert repulsive force to each other at the same voltage level, but at different voltage levels, generate corona discharge in proportion to the potential difference so that current flows from a higher potential to a lower potential.

[39] When the potential difference between two voltages initializes corona discharge to generate ozone at a quantity smaller than that generated based upon the potential difference between negative and positive voltages of different polarity so that anions can be discharged at a large quantity.

[40] Two ion types of different polarity (positive and negative ions) generate ozone through discharge, but voltages of the same level and polarity exert repulsive force to each other without any discharge. As a result, dusts are electrified based upon the potential difference of the same polarity so that anions can disinfect and purify foreign substance filtered through the filtering member 40 while disinfecting the air.

[41] Before the filtering member 40 is coupled into the opening 16, a rectangular nonwoven fabric 41 is impregnated with liquid titanium dioxide 42 and then dried. Both ends of both sides of the filtering member 40 are closely fixed to the steps 10a of the filter frame 10.

[42] The filtering member 40 is fixed to the filter frame 10 by using suitable means such as a tape and adhesive.

[43] The nonwoven fabric 41 impregnated with liquid titanium dioxide 42 is so dried to prevent webs of the nonwoven fabric 41 from clogging as much as possible to enable efficient flow to the air. Then, ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet lamp 60 to be described later can be irradiated to titanium dioxide 42 of the nonwoven fabric 41 to disinfect and purify foreign substance such as dust and mold.

[44] Further, the filtering member 40 has a large surface in contact with the air so that ultraviolet rays can be uniformly irradiated to a large area.

[45] The filtering member 40 can be applied to various embodiments. Since the nonwoven fabric 41 is impregnated with liquid containing a mixture of charcoal and titanium dioxide at the ratio of 3 to 7 and then dried in order to improve the disinfectant and antifiingal performance of the filtering member 40 to foreign substance based upon the photocatalysis and the antifiingal action of charcoal.

[46] As shown in FIG. 10, a plate-shaped charcoal filter 43 is attached to the front side of the filtering member 40 and a plurality of vents 44 are formed within the charcoal filter 43 to perform the antifiingal action to foreign substance when they pass through the vents 44. The vents 44 also allow the foreign substance to smoothly flow through charcoal filter 43 so that the filtering member 40 can purify the residual foreign substance.

[47] FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the filtering member 40 having a plurality of vents 44 formed in the plate- shaped charcoal filter 43 and a pieces 45 of titanium dioxide-impregnated nonwoven fabric 41 attached on the front side of the charcoal filter 43 at a predetermined interval so that foreign substance after having passed through the charcoal filter 43 are disinfected and antifiingal-treated while passing through the nonwoven pieces 45.

[48] In the meantime, the pieces 45 are formed into a thin rectangular configuration to contact ultraviolet rays emitted through the vents 44 of the charcoal filter 43 to create photocatalysis, and maximize disinfectant and antifiingal effects while minimizing the thickness of the filtering member 40.

[49] Alternatively, the pieces 45 may have a configuration selected from the group consisting of circle, triangle, polygon and ellipse.

[50] A filtering member 50 is insert injection molded 52 integrally with the filter frame 10 inside a front portion of the opening 16 of the filter frame 10 to perform disinfectant and antifiingal treatment to foreign substance introduced into the opening 16 thereby maintain pleasant automobile indoor atmosphere.

[51] After the nonwoven fabric 51 is folded to repeat a number of triangular waveforms, the filter member 50 is insert injection molded integrally with surfaces of the projections 18 formed in upper and lower portions of the filter frame 10. The nonwoven fabric 51 may be coated or impregnated with liquid solution selected from Cu, charcoal, active carbon, Ag and Al.

[52] The ultraviolet lamp 60 has a plurality of bulbs 62 for emitting ultraviolet rays within a box-shaped frame 61 so that the bulbs 62 are electrically connected via the power terminals to a power source. The box-shaped frame 61 is opened at front and rear sides so that ultraviolet rays from the bulbs 62 are irradiated to the filtering member 40 to cause photocatalysis.

[53] The ultraviolet lamp 60 is installed together with the filter frame 10 inside an air conditioning system or an air intake housing 4. The ultraviolet lamp 60 is coupled to the top of the filter frame 10 to irradiate the ultraviolet rays to the filtering member 40.

[54] A power supply 70 is electrically connected to the power terminals 25 and the ultraviolet lamp 60 to supply power to the same. The power supply 70 is provided separate outside the air conditioning system.

[55] In the automobile air filter of the above construction, the first to third circuit boards 20, 21 and 23 are sequentially inserted into the insertion grooves and the insertion space portion 15 with the filter member 50 being insert injection molded 52 integrally with the filter frame 10, and the filtering member 40 is coupled with the rear portion of the opening 16 with the first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 being sequentially coupled into the fitting holes 22 of the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 in order to finally realize an air filter structure.

[56] In the filter frame 10 coupled as above, the power terminals 25 are coupled into the fixing holes 24 of the third circuit board 23, respectively, to fix the third circuit board 23 to the side frame 14 and the power supply 70 and electric wires are electrically connected with the power terminals 25 so that negative voltages are applied to the first to third circuit boards 20, 21 and 23 and the first and second electrode plates.

[57] Upon completion a series of fabrication process as above, as shown in FIG. 1, the filter frame 10 is inserted into the air intake housing 4 and the ultraviolet lamp 60 is inserted into a space formed in an upper portion of the filter frame 10 so that the filter frame 10 and the ultraviolet lamp 60 are interference fit into the air intake housing 4 without any play or separation to the outside.

[58] Before foreign substance such as dust, particulate, mold and microorganism introduced via the a suction port 5 pass through the filtering member 40, ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet lamp 60 react with titanium dioxide 42 of the filtering member 40 so that germs and pollutant are decomposed via photocatalysis. This as a result obtains various effects such as pollution prevention, air purification, dis- infection, deodorization and antifiingal actions which are also harmless to human bodies as an advantage.

[59] The foreign substance decomposed first by photocatalysis passes through the first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 to be disinfected and antifiingal treated again by anions generated from corona discharge owing to negative potential difference. This can prevent the propagation of microorganism, bacteria and mold which has been observed within the opening 16.

[60] Also, the residual foreign substance existing in the opening can be completely removed while passing through the filter member 50 as a final processing element.

[61] Furthermore, the filter member 50 is provided therein with any one selected from the group consisting of Cu, charcoal, active carbon, Ag and Al to obtain effects of excellent disinfectant and purifying performance. Advantageous Effects

[62] The present invention sequentially performs stepwise disinfectant, antifiingal and purifying treatments to foreign substance introduced into the filter frame based upon photocatalysis, anions and the antifiingal filter to provide a pleasant automobile environment.

[63] The present invention impregnates the nonwoven fabric of the filtering member with liquid titanium dioxide and dries the impregnation-treated nonwoven fabric to increase the surface area in contact with the air, thereby activating photocatalysis as well as preventing the separation or degraded reflectivity of titanium dioxide that is one of conventional problems occurring when the filtering member is used for a long time period.

[64] The present invention provides the plate-shaped charcoal filter in order to minimize the thickness of the filtering member while fiirther improving the performance thereof so that the disinfectant and antifiingal performance can be fiirther enhanced.

[65] The present invention applies negative voltages with a difference of at least two times to the first and second circuit boards and the first and second electrode plates so that anion are generated from the potential difference while generating the minimum quantity of ozone in order to prevent any damage to human bodies from an excessive quantity of ozone which has been observed when anions are conventionally generated by using negative and positive voltages.

[66] The present invention simplifies a fabrication process and its handling and use as well as purifies the air inside an enclosed automobile in order to provide a pleasant indoor atmosphere while improving the health of drivers.

[67] While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Description of Drawings

[68] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention in use;

[69] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an entire structure of the present invention;

[70] FIG. 3 is a front sectional view illustrating a coupled position of the present invention;

[71] FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view illustrating a coupled position of the present invention;

[72] FIG. 5 is a side sectional view taken along an A-A line;

[73] FIG. 6 is a side sectional view taken along a B-B line;

[74] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a first electrode needle of the invention;

[75] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a second electrode needle of the invention;

[76] FIG. 9 is a sectional view illustrating an ultraviolet lamp of the invention;

[77] FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating an exploded position of a filtering member according to an alternate embodiment of the invention;

[78] FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating an exploded position of a filtering member according to another alternate embodiment of the invention; and

[79] FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a convention air filter.

Claims

[1] An automobile air filter including a box- shaped hollow filter frame 2 having a handle at a side thereof and a filter paper 3 of nonwoven fabric which is fixed within the filter frame 2 and multi- folded into a plurality of triangular waveforms in order to purify the air introduced into an automobile, the automobile air filter comprising: a filter frame 10 having insertion grooves formed on upper and lower frames 11 and 12 of the filter frame 10, incisions 17 and projections 18 cut at a predetermined interval so that σutsides of the insertion grooves 13 are connected with the opening 16, an insertion space portion 15 formed inside a side frame 14 to be connected with both ends of the insertion grooves 13, and a plurality of connection holes 15a formed in the insertion space portion 15 to communicate with the outside; first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 coupled into the insertion grooves 13 and having a plurality of fitting holes 22 longitudinally formed thereon at a predetermined interval; first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 fixed at one ends into the fitting holes 22 of the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 and projected at the other ends upwardly so that a negative potential difference in the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 creates corona discharge to generate anions; a third circuit board 23 coupled with the insertion space portion 15 of the side frame 14 so that both ends thereof are electrically connected with the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21, and having a plurality of fixing holes 24 formed in upper portions thereof to communicate with the connection holes 15a, and power terminals 25 coupled at one ends into the fixing holes 24 and projected outward at the other ends to apply power; a filtering member 40 placed in a rear portion of the opening 16 to exert antifiingal and purifying actions to foreign substance such as dust and mold introduced into the opening 16 based upon photocatalysis; a filtering member 50 injection molded integrally with the filter frame 10 place to be in a front portion of the opening 16, for disinfecting and antifiingal-treating the remaining foreign substance which has passed through the filtering member 40; an ultraviolet lamp 60 placed in the rear of the filtering member 40 for promoting catalysis to the filtering member 40 by using light as an energy source; and a power supply 70 electrically connected to the ultraviolet lamp 60 and power terminals 25 for supplying power.

[2] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, wherein the incisions 17 and the projections 18 of the filter frame 10 are continuously formed alternately into triangular wave forms, the projections 18 supporting the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21, and wherein first and second electrode needles 30 and 31 are installed in the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 exposed to the outside via the incisions 17.

[3] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, fiirther comprising fixing projections 19 formed in bottoms of the insertion grooves 13 and bottoms of the projections 18 opposed thereto to securely fix the first and second circuit boards 20 and 21 coupled into the insertion grooves 13.

[4] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, wherein each of the first electrode needles 31 has a hollow support plate 32, support legs 33 folded downwardly from both opposed edge portions of the support plate 32 to be coupled into corresponding ones of the fitting holes 22 and triangular needle tips 34 folded upwardlyly from the outer periphery of the support plate 32 in an opposite direction to that of the support legs 33.

[5] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, wherein each of the second electrode needles 31 has a hollow support plate 32, support legs 33 folded upwardly from the outer periphery of the support plate 32, the support legs 33 being narrowed downwardly to couple into corresponding ones of the fitting holes 22, and triangular needle tips 34 folded downwardly from central outer peripheries of the support plate 32.

[6] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, wherein the filtering member 40 comprises nonwoven fabric 41 impregnated with titanium dioxide 42.

[7] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, wherein the filtering member 40 comprises nonwoven fabric 41 impregnated with charcoal and titanium dioxide 42.

[8] The automobile air filter according to claim 1 or 6, fiirther comprising a charcoal filter 43 attached to the front side of the filtering member 40 and having a plurality of vents 44 formed at a predetermined interval.

[9] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, wherein the filtering member 40 comprises a charcoal filter 43 having a plurality of vents 44 formed therein and a plurality of pieces 45 of nonwoven fabric attached to a front portion of the charcoal filter 43, the pieces 45 being impregnated with titanium dioxide.

[10] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, wherein the filter member 50 is insert injection molded integrally with the surfaces of the projections 18 of the filter frame 10 with the nonwoven fabric 41 being folded to repeatedly form a number of triangular waveforms.

[11] The automobile air filter according to claim 1 or 10, wherein the filtering member 50 comprises the nonwoven fabric 41 impregnated with one selected from a group consisting of Cu, charcoal, active coal, Ag and Al.

[12] The automobile air filter according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet lamp 60 has a plurality of bulbs 62 installed within a box-shaped frame 61 for electrically operating to emit ultraviolet rays, and wherein the box-shaped frame 61 is perforated at both sides so that ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet bulbs 62 are irradiated to the filter member 40 to cause photocatalysis.