WO2023194770A1 - Apparatus for the sanitization and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and relative control method - Google Patents

Apparatus for the sanitization and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and relative control method Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2023194770A1
WO2023194770A1 PCT/IB2022/053150 IB2022053150W WO2023194770A1 WO 2023194770 A1 WO2023194770 A1 WO 2023194770A1 IB 2022053150 W IB2022053150 W IB 2022053150W WO 2023194770 A1 WO2023194770 A1 WO 2023194770A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
air
sanitization
fan assembly
filtration apparatus
microphone
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2022/053150
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Antonio CECCHI
Mauro Mantovan
Nabil AL HASAN
Giacomo Armenio
Original Assignee
Jonix S.P.A.
Pierburg Pump Technology Gmbh
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Jonix S.P.A., Pierburg Pump Technology Gmbh filed Critical Jonix S.P.A.
Priority to PCT/IB2022/053150 priority Critical patent/WO2023194770A1/en
Publication of WO2023194770A1 publication Critical patent/WO2023194770A1/en

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
    • F24F11/70—Control systems characterised by their outputs; Constructional details thereof
    • F24F11/72—Control systems characterised by their outputs; Constructional details thereof for controlling the supply of treated air, e.g. its pressure
    • F24F11/74—Control systems characterised by their outputs; Constructional details thereof for controlling the supply of treated air, e.g. its pressure for controlling air flow rate or air velocity
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F8/00—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F8/00—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying
    • F24F8/80—Self-contained air purifiers
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F2130/00—Control inputs relating to environmental factors not covered by group F24F2110/00
    • F24F2130/40—Noise

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an apparatus for the saniti zation and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and to the relative control method .
  • the invention concerns the use of a saniti zation and filtration apparatus designed to puri fy air from contaminating particles , such as viruses and bacteria .
  • Movable air saniti zation and filtration apparatuses are available in the market , which, when activated in a closed room accommodating several people (such as , for example , a meeting room in a work space or a classroom in a school ) , can puri fy air both by filtering suspended powders (namely, particulate ) and by eliminating viruses , bacteria and moulds .
  • Larger movable air saniti zation and filtration apparatuses namely, capable of treating greater air flow rates and, hence , suited for large spaces attended by many people ) are often mounted on wheels in order to be more easily transported, thus being placed where they are needed each time .
  • These apparatuses can be used as quick saniti zation tools in closed and empty rooms (namely without people ) , but they can also be used in the presence of people in order to ensure a constant saniti zation of the rooms .
  • this aim is currently reached by minimi zing the air f low rate generated by the ventilation (hence , by minimizing the ventilation noise ) when an apparatus is used in the presence of people , but , by so doing, the ef fectiveness of the apparatus (measured as volume of air treated by unit of time ) is minimi zed as well .
  • the obj ect of the invention is to provide an apparatus for the saniti zation and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and a relative control method, which reduce the acoustic impact (noise ) perceived by the people present in the closed room when the air saniti zation or f iltration takes place .
  • an apparatus for the saniti zation and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and a relative control method as claimed in the appended claims are provided.
  • figure 1 is a perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of an apparatus for the saniti zation and filtration of the air of a closed room according to the invention.
  • figure 2 is a front view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of the air saniti zation and filtration apparatus of figure 1 .
  • number 1 indicates , as a whole , an air saniti zation and filtration apparatus designed to saniti ze and filter (namely, puri fy) the air present in a closed ( confined) room both by filtering suspended powders (namely particulate ) and by eliminating bacteria, viruses and moulds .
  • the closed room is a room separated from the outside (namely, form the atmosphere ) and, in use , attended by several people .
  • the air saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 comprises a container 2 with the shape of a parallelepiped, which is provided with wheels resting on the ground and with a hinged door 3 and del imits , on the inside , a treatment chamber 4 , which develops vertically (namely, form the bottom to the top ) .
  • the treatment chamber communicates with the closed room, besides through the opening closed by the door 3 , al so through an inlet opening 5 obtained through a lower wall and an outlet opening 6 obtained through an upper wall .
  • the openings 5 and 6 are preferably engaged by corresponding grids (with orientable blades ) , namely intake and delivery grids , respectively .
  • the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises a fan assembly 7 , which is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 and is conf igured to generate an air flow that vertically flows through the treatment chamber 4 from the inlet opening 5 to the outlet opening 6 ; namely, the fan assembly 7 is activated to generate an air flow vertically directed form the bottom to the top, which flows in from the bottom (by being taken in from the closed room) through the inlet opening 5 and flows out from the top (by being re-introduced into the closed room) through the outlet opening 6 .
  • the fan assembly 7 typically comprises an axial fan oriented in a hori zontal manner (namely, having its rotation axis oriented in a vertical manner) .
  • the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises a filtering device 8 , which is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 upstream of the fan assembly 7 relative to the air flow (namely, is arranged under the fan assembly 7 ) .
  • the filtering device 8 can comprise at least one coarse filter (for example , a G4 -class filter ) .
  • the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises a filtering device 9 , which is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 downstream of the fan assembly 7 relative to the air flow (namely, is arranged above the fan assembly 7 ) .
  • the filtering device 9 can comprise a fine particulate filter (for example , an F9- class or HEPA filter ) structured to filter particles having a si ze that is smaller than 0 . 3 microns .
  • the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises two ioniser devices 10 and 11 , which are configured to generate cold plasma and are arranged in the treatment chamber 4 .
  • the ioniser devices 10 and 11 are configured to generate reactive species through NTP technology (wherein NTP stand for "Non Thermal Plasma” ) , namely to generate a gaseous mixture of air with ROS reactive species (wherein ROS stands for "Reacti ve Oxygen Speci es” ) and RNS reactive species (wherein RNS stands for "Reacti ve Ni trogen Speci es” ) , generally known as gaseous NTP mixture .
  • the ioniser device 10 is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 between the filtering device 9 and the outlet opening 6 (namely, is arranged above the filtering device 9 )
  • the ioniser device 11 is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 between the fan assembly 7 and the filtering device 9 (namely, above the fan assembly 7 and under the filtering device 9) .
  • the ioniser devices 10 and 11 comprise one or more ioniser modules, each comprising a bipolar ionization tube or cylindrical capacitor.
  • the bipolar ionization tube can be structured so as to generate an electric field that causes a corona discharge when it is supplied with a "high voltage" usually ranging from 1,500 to 4, 000 Volt, so as to ionize the air surrounding it.
  • the ionized air is then properly "mixed" with the air to be sanitized, so as to remove possible contaminating particles therefrom.
  • the ionization tubes could be of the type described in patents DE202021101578U1 and DE202021101579U1 .
  • the apparatus 1 merely is filtration apparatus; according to a further embodiment which is not show herein, there are only the two ioniser devices 10 and 11 (or at least one of them) and, therefore, the apparatus 1 merely is a sanitization apparatus.
  • the filtering devices 8 and 9 and the ioniser devices 10 and 11 are air treatment devices that can all be present (in order to carry out both the sanitization and the filtration of the air flowing through the treatment chamber 4) or can be present only in part (in order to carry out either the sole sanitization or the sole filtration of the air flowing through the treatment chamber 4) .
  • the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises a control unit 12, which is designed to control the operation of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1, especially by adjusting the ventilation speed (namely, the air flow rate) of the fan assembly 7 and the turning on and off of the ioniser devices 10 and 11.
  • a control unit 12 which is designed to control the operation of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1, especially by adjusting the ventilation speed (namely, the air flow rate) of the fan assembly 7 and the turning on and off of the ioniser devices 10 and 11.
  • the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 comprises (at least) a microphone 13, which is connected to the control unit 12, is arranged on an outer wall of the container 2 and is configured to detect a noise present on the outside of the treatment chamber 4 (namely, the noise present in the closed room where the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is standing) .
  • the control unit 12 is configured to adjust an air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 depending on the noise detected by the microphone 13.
  • control unit 12 is configured to determine (estimate) a noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and (if necessary) by the air treatment device and detected by the microphone 13; in particular, in the control unit 12 there can be stored sound maps (which, for example, are experimentally acquired in an anechoic chamber) , which provide the noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and (if necessary) by the air treatment device based on the current control state. Furthermore, the control unit 12 is configured to determine a room noise (i.e.
  • the control unit 12 is configured to adjust an air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 depending on the room noise (namely, independent of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1) .
  • control unit 12 is configured to determine, in the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, in the room noise) , a sound level in frequency ranges that are typical for human voices (namely, in frequency ranges where human voices concentrate) and, hence, to adjust the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 depending on the sound level in frequency ranges that are typical for human voices .
  • the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, the room noise ) is considered only ( or mainly) in the frequency ranges that are typical for human voices (namely, in frequency ranges where human voices concentrate ) ; for example , the essential frequency of a conversational speech ranges , on average , from 70 to 150 Hz for a male voice , from 150 to 250 Hz for a female voice and from 250 to 350 Hz for a child' s voice .
  • the control unit 12 is configured to perform a f irst control mode , which entails the continuous presence of people in the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 is located and in which the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is adj usted to the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, to the room noise ) so that it increases as the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, the room noise ) increases .
  • the control unit 12 in the first control mode , is configured to reduce the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, to the room noise ) is smaller and to increase the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, to the room noise ) is greater .
  • the noise generated by the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is adjusted to the room noise so that, if the closed room is noisy in itself, the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 becomes (relatively) noisy as well in order to increase its efficiency without anyway becoming disturbing (since it is covered by the room noise present regardless of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1) and, if the closed room is silent in itself, the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 becomes (relatively) silent as well in order to preserve (if possible) a certain efficiency without anyway becoming disturbing .
  • the control unit 12 is configured to perform a second control mode, which does not entail the continuous presence of people in the closed room where the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is located (for example, at night or during a break in the use of the closed room where the air sanitization and filtration take place) and in which the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is maximized when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, the room noise) is smaller than a threshold (indicating the lack of people in the closed room) and the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is reduced (even to zero) when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, the room noise) is greater than the threshold.
  • a second control mode which does not entail the continuous presence of people in the closed room where the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is located (for example, at night or during a break in the use of the closed room where the air sanitization and filtration take place) and in which the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is maximized when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely,
  • the microphone 13 is used as "presence sensor" to detect whether in the closed room there are or not people (whose continuous presence is not an option) : if the closed room is empty (the microphone 13 does not detect noise and, therefore, no people are assumed to be present) , the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is maximized to maximize the efficiency of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 since no-one can be bothered by the noise, whereas, if the closed room is not empty (the microphone 13 detects a noise and, therefore, there probably are people, whose presence should be temporary) , the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is reduced (even to zero) in order not to bother people with the noise.
  • microphones 13 can be provided, which are arranged in different positions on the outer walls of the container 2; the signals coming from the microphones 13 can be mixed with one another or can be used alternatively.
  • at least one microphone 13 is arranged on a side wall of the container 2 other than the lower wall where the inlet opening 5 is located and other than the upper wall where the outlet opening 6 is located.
  • the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 comprises (at least) a carbon dioxide (CO2) detector 14, which is connected to the control unit 12 , is arranged on an outer wall of the container 2 and is configured to detect the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air present in the closed room (namely, in the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 is standing) .
  • the carbon dioxide detector 14 could be arranged inside the container 2 in order to detect the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air present in the treatment chamber 4 .
  • the control unit 12 could use the carbon dioxide detector 14 to adj ust a change of air by controlling at least one motorised shutter arranged along a duct connecting the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 is located to the outside environment (namely, to the atmosphere ) ; in particular, the change of air with air coming from the outside is controlled so as to keep the concentration of carbon dioxide in the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 i s located below a predetermined maximum threshold .
  • the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 comprises at least one loudspeaker 15 ;
  • the control unit 12 is configured to estimate a noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and ( i f necessary) by the air treatment device and to control the loudspeaker 15 so that it emits sound waves that cancel the noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and ( i f necessary) by the air treatment device .
  • the control unit 12 can estimate the noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and ( i f necessary) by the air treatment device by using the sound maps mentioned above or by using a dedicated microphone 13 ( for example , arranged inside the treatment chamber 4 immediately upstream of the outlet opening 6 or close to the fan assembly 7 ) .
  • the loudspeaker 15 can be arranged on a wall of the container 2 so as to face the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 is located or the loudspeaker 15 can be arranged inside the container 2 so as to face the treatment chamber 4 .
  • the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 described above has numerous advantages .
  • the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 described above is capable of signi ficantly reducing the acoustic impact perceived by the people possibly present in the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration take place , though maintaining the ef fectiveness of the air saniti zation and filtration .
  • This result is obtained thanks to the fact of adj usting the air flow rate to the fan assembly 7 depending on the noise present in the closed room where the air saniti zation and filtration takes place.
  • the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is increased since the greater noise produced by the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is perceived to a smaller extent (for it is covered by the room noise already present) , whereas, if the closed room is silent in itself, the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is reduced in order to make the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 silent as well.
  • the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is maximized in order to maximize the sanitizing and filtering action, if the closed room is a little noisy (namely, there are a few people) , the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is reduced (if necessary, up to turning the latter off) .
  • the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 described above is simple and economic to be manufactured, since it requires the addition of a component (the microphone 13) that can easily be found in the market and is relatively cheap and since the management of the additional component ( the microphone 13 ) does not require either a signi ficant calculation ability or a large memory space .

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • Filtering Of Dispersed Particles In Gases (AREA)

Abstract

A sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) for the air of a closed room having : a treatment chamber (4) communicating with the closed room through at least one inlet opening (5) and at least one outlet opening (6); a fan assembly (7), which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) and is configured to take air in through the inlet opening (5) and to release air through the outlet opening (6); at least one air treatment device, which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) between the inlet opening (5) and the outlet opening (6); at least one microphone (13) configured to detect a noise present on the outside of the treatment chamber (4); and a control unit (12) configured to adjust an air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) depending on the noise detected by the microphone (13).

Description

"APPARATUS FOR THE SANITI ZATION AND/OR FILTRATION OF THE AIR OF A CLOSED ROOM AND RELATIVE CONTROL METHOD"
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an apparatus for the saniti zation and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and to the relative control method . In particular, the invention concerns the use of a saniti zation and filtration apparatus designed to puri fy air from contaminating particles , such as viruses and bacteria . STATE OF THE ART
Movable air saniti zation and filtration apparatuses are available in the market , which, when activated in a closed room accommodating several people ( such as , for example , a meeting room in a work space or a classroom in a school ) , can puri fy air both by filtering suspended powders (namely, particulate ) and by eliminating viruses , bacteria and moulds . Larger movable air saniti zation and filtration apparatuses (namely, capable of treating greater air flow rates and, hence , suited for large spaces attended by many people ) are often mounted on wheels in order to be more easily transported, thus being placed where they are needed each time .
These apparatuses can be used as quick saniti zation tools in closed and empty rooms (namely without people ) , but they can also be used in the presence of people in order to ensure a constant saniti zation of the rooms . When these apparatuses are used in the presence of people , it is important to make sure that the noise (basically due to the ventilation) generated by them does not bother people ; this aim is currently reached by minimi zing the air f low rate generated by the ventilation (hence , by minimizing the ventilation noise ) when an apparatus is used in the presence of people , but , by so doing, the ef fectiveness of the apparatus (measured as volume of air treated by unit of time ) is minimi zed as well .
SUBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The obj ect of the invention is to provide an apparatus for the saniti zation and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and a relative control method, which reduce the acoustic impact (noise ) perceived by the people present in the closed room when the air saniti zation or f iltration takes place .
According to the invention, there are provided an apparatus for the saniti zation and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and a relative control method as claimed in the appended claims .
The appended claims describe pre ferred embodiments of the invention and form an integral part of the description . BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention wi ll now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings showing a non-limiting embodiment thereof , wherein :
• figure 1 is a perspective view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of an apparatus for the saniti zation and filtration of the air of a closed room according to the invention; and
• figure 2 is a front view, with parts removed for greater clarity, of the air saniti zation and filtration apparatus of figure 1 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE
INVENTION
In figures 1 and 2 , number 1 indicates , as a whole , an air saniti zation and filtration apparatus designed to saniti ze and filter (namely, puri fy) the air present in a closed ( confined) room both by filtering suspended powders (namely particulate ) and by eliminating bacteria, viruses and moulds . Namely, the closed room is a room separated from the outside (namely, form the atmosphere ) and, in use , attended by several people .
The air saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 comprises a container 2 with the shape of a parallelepiped, which is provided with wheels resting on the ground and with a hinged door 3 and del imits , on the inside , a treatment chamber 4 , which develops vertically (namely, form the bottom to the top ) . The treatment chamber communicates with the closed room, besides through the opening closed by the door 3 , al so through an inlet opening 5 obtained through a lower wall and an outlet opening 6 obtained through an upper wall . The openings 5 and 6 are preferably engaged by corresponding grids (with orientable blades ) , namely intake and delivery grids , respectively .
The saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises a fan assembly 7 , which is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 and is conf igured to generate an air flow that vertically flows through the treatment chamber 4 from the inlet opening 5 to the outlet opening 6 ; namely, the fan assembly 7 is activated to generate an air flow vertically directed form the bottom to the top, which flows in from the bottom (by being taken in from the closed room) through the inlet opening 5 and flows out from the top (by being re-introduced into the closed room) through the outlet opening 6 . The fan assembly 7 typically comprises an axial fan oriented in a hori zontal manner (namely, having its rotation axis oriented in a vertical manner) .
The saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises a filtering device 8 , which is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 upstream of the fan assembly 7 relative to the air flow (namely, is arranged under the fan assembly 7 ) . The filtering device 8 can comprise at least one coarse filter ( for example , a G4 -class filter ) . The saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises a filtering device 9 , which is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 downstream of the fan assembly 7 relative to the air flow (namely, is arranged above the fan assembly 7 ) . According to a possible embodiment , the filtering device 9 can comprise a fine particulate filter ( for example , an F9- class or HEPA filter ) structured to filter particles having a si ze that is smaller than 0 . 3 microns .
The saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises two ioniser devices 10 and 11 , which are configured to generate cold plasma and are arranged in the treatment chamber 4 . The ioniser devices 10 and 11 are configured to generate reactive species through NTP technology (wherein NTP stand for "Non Thermal Plasma" ) , namely to generate a gaseous mixture of air with ROS reactive species (wherein ROS stands for "Reacti ve Oxygen Speci es" ) and RNS reactive species (wherein RNS stands for "Reacti ve Ni trogen Speci es" ) , generally known as gaseous NTP mixture .
Preferably, the ioniser device 10 is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 between the filtering device 9 and the outlet opening 6 (namely, is arranged above the filtering device 9 ) , whereas the ioniser device 11 is arranged in the treatment chamber 4 between the fan assembly 7 and the filtering device 9 (namely, above the fan assembly 7 and under the filtering device 9) .
According to a preferred embodiment, the ioniser devices 10 and 11 comprise one or more ioniser modules, each comprising a bipolar ionization tube or cylindrical capacitor. The bipolar ionization tube can be structured so as to generate an electric field that causes a corona discharge when it is supplied with a "high voltage" usually ranging from 1,500 to 4, 000 Volt, so as to ionize the air surrounding it. The ionized air is then properly "mixed" with the air to be sanitized, so as to remove possible contaminating particles therefrom.
By way of example, the ionization tubes could be of the type described in patents DE202021101578U1 and DE202021101579U1 .
According to a different embodiment which is not shown herein, there are only the two filtering devices 8 and 9 (or at least one of them) and, therefore, the apparatus 1 merely is filtration apparatus; according to a further embodiment which is not show herein, there are only the two ioniser devices 10 and 11 (or at least one of them) and, therefore, the apparatus 1 merely is a sanitization apparatus. In other words, the filtering devices 8 and 9 and the ioniser devices 10 and 11 are air treatment devices that can all be present (in order to carry out both the sanitization and the filtration of the air flowing through the treatment chamber 4) or can be present only in part (in order to carry out either the sole sanitization or the sole filtration of the air flowing through the treatment chamber 4) .
The sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 further comprises a control unit 12, which is designed to control the operation of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1, especially by adjusting the ventilation speed (namely, the air flow rate) of the fan assembly 7 and the turning on and off of the ioniser devices 10 and 11.
The sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 comprises (at least) a microphone 13, which is connected to the control unit 12, is arranged on an outer wall of the container 2 and is configured to detect a noise present on the outside of the treatment chamber 4 (namely, the noise present in the closed room where the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is standing) .
The control unit 12 is configured to adjust an air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 depending on the noise detected by the microphone 13.
According to a preferred embodiment, the control unit 12 is configured to determine (estimate) a noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and (if necessary) by the air treatment device and detected by the microphone 13; in particular, in the control unit 12 there can be stored sound maps (which, for example, are experimentally acquired in an anechoic chamber) , which provide the noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and (if necessary) by the air treatment device based on the current control state. Furthermore, the control unit 12 is configured to determine a room noise (i.e. present in the closed room and generated regardless of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1) by subtracting from the noise detected by the microphone 13 the noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and (if necessary) by the air treatment device; namely, the room noise (which, hence, is independent of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1) is obtained by subtracting from the overall noise detected by the microphone 13 the noise fraction generated by the fan assembly 7 and (if necessary) by the air treatment device. Finally, the control unit 12 is configured to adjust an air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 depending on the room noise (namely, independent of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1) .
According to a preferred embodiment, the control unit 12 is configured to determine, in the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, in the room noise) , a sound level in frequency ranges that are typical for human voices (namely, in frequency ranges where human voices concentrate) and, hence, to adjust the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 depending on the sound level in frequency ranges that are typical for human voices . In other words , the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, the room noise ) is considered only ( or mainly) in the frequency ranges that are typical for human voices (namely, in frequency ranges where human voices concentrate ) ; for example , the essential frequency of a conversational speech ranges , on average , from 70 to 150 Hz for a male voice , from 150 to 250 Hz for a female voice and from 250 to 350 Hz for a child' s voice .
The control unit 12 is configured to perform a f irst control mode , which entails the continuous presence of people in the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 is located and in which the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is adj usted to the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, to the room noise ) so that it increases as the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, the room noise ) increases . In other words , in the first control mode , the control unit 12 is configured to reduce the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, to the room noise ) is smaller and to increase the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, to the room noise ) is greater .
In the first control mode , which entails the continuous presence of people in the closed room where the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is located, the noise generated by the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is adjusted to the room noise so that, if the closed room is noisy in itself, the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 becomes (relatively) noisy as well in order to increase its efficiency without anyway becoming disturbing (since it is covered by the room noise present regardless of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1) and, if the closed room is silent in itself, the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 becomes (relatively) silent as well in order to preserve (if possible) a certain efficiency without anyway becoming disturbing .
The control unit 12 is configured to perform a second control mode, which does not entail the continuous presence of people in the closed room where the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is located (for example, at night or during a break in the use of the closed room where the air sanitization and filtration take place) and in which the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is maximized when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, the room noise) is smaller than a threshold (indicating the lack of people in the closed room) and the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is reduced (even to zero) when the noise detected by the microphone 13 (namely, the room noise) is greater than the threshold. In other words, in the second control mode, the microphone 13 is used as "presence sensor" to detect whether in the closed room there are or not people (whose continuous presence is not an option) : if the closed room is empty (the microphone 13 does not detect noise and, therefore, no people are assumed to be present) , the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is maximized to maximize the efficiency of the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 since no-one can be bothered by the noise, whereas, if the closed room is not empty (the microphone 13 detects a noise and, therefore, there probably are people, whose presence should be temporary) , the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is reduced (even to zero) in order not to bother people with the noise.
According to figure 1, microphones 13 can be provided, which are arranged in different positions on the outer walls of the container 2; the signals coming from the microphones 13 can be mixed with one another or can be used alternatively. In particular, at least one microphone 13 is arranged on a side wall of the container 2 other than the lower wall where the inlet opening 5 is located and other than the upper wall where the outlet opening 6 is located.
According to a possible embodiment, the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 comprises (at least) a carbon dioxide (CO2) detector 14, which is connected to the control unit 12 , is arranged on an outer wall of the container 2 and is configured to detect the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air present in the closed room (namely, in the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 is standing) . Alternatively, the carbon dioxide detector 14 could be arranged inside the container 2 in order to detect the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air present in the treatment chamber 4 . The control unit 12 could use the carbon dioxide detector 14 to adj ust a change of air by controlling at least one motorised shutter arranged along a duct connecting the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 is located to the outside environment (namely, to the atmosphere ) ; in particular, the change of air with air coming from the outside is controlled so as to keep the concentration of carbon dioxide in the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 i s located below a predetermined maximum threshold .
According to a possible embodiment , the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 comprises at least one loudspeaker 15 ; the control unit 12 is configured to estimate a noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and ( i f necessary) by the air treatment device and to control the loudspeaker 15 so that it emits sound waves that cancel the noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and ( i f necessary) by the air treatment device . The control unit 12 can estimate the noise generated by the fan assembly 7 and ( i f necessary) by the air treatment device by using the sound maps mentioned above or by using a dedicated microphone 13 ( for example , arranged inside the treatment chamber 4 immediately upstream of the outlet opening 6 or close to the fan assembly 7 ) . The loudspeaker 15 can be arranged on a wall of the container 2 so as to face the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 is located or the loudspeaker 15 can be arranged inside the container 2 so as to face the treatment chamber 4 .
The embodiments described herein can be combined with one another, without for this reason going beyond the scope of protection of the invention .
The saniti zation and filtration apparatus 1 described above has numerous advantages .
First of all , the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 described above is capable of signi ficantly reducing the acoustic impact perceived by the people possibly present in the closed room where the saniti zation and filtration take place , though maintaining the ef fectiveness of the air saniti zation and filtration . This result is obtained thanks to the fact of adj usting the air flow rate to the fan assembly 7 depending on the noise present in the closed room where the air saniti zation and filtration takes place. In the first control mode (which entails the continuous presence of people) , if the closed room is noisy in itself, the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is increased since the greater noise produced by the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 is perceived to a smaller extent (for it is covered by the room noise already present) , whereas, if the closed room is silent in itself, the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is reduced in order to make the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 silent as well. In the second control mode (which does not entail the continuous presence of people, for example at night or during a break in the use of the closed room where the air sanitization and filtration take place) , if the closed room is silent in itself (namely, is empty and, hence, there are no people that can be bothered) , the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is maximized in order to maximize the sanitizing and filtering action, if the closed room is a little noisy (namely, there are a few people) , the air flow rate of the fan assembly 7 is reduced (if necessary, up to turning the latter off) .
Furthermore, the sanitization and filtration apparatus 1 described above is simple and economic to be manufactured, since it requires the addition of a component (the microphone 13) that can easily be found in the market and is relatively cheap and since the management of the additional component ( the microphone 13 ) does not require either a signi ficant calculation ability or a large memory space .
LIST OF THE REFERENCE NUMBERS OF THE FIGURES
1 saniti zation and/or filtration apparatus
2 container
3 door
4 treatment chamber
5 inlet opening
6 outlet opening
7 fan assembly
8 filtering device
9 filtering device
10 ioniser device
11 ioniser device
12 control unit
13 microphone
14 carbon dioxide detector
15 loudspeaker

Claims

1. A sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) for the air of a closed room and comprising: a treatment chamber (4) communicating with the closed room through at least one inlet opening (5) and at least one outlet opening (6) ; a fan assembly (7) , which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) and is configured to take air in through the inlet opening (5) and to release air through the outlet opening (6) ; and at least one air treatment device, which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) between the inlet opening (5) and the outlet opening (6) ; the sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) is characterized in that it comprises: at least one microphone (13) configured to detect a noise present on the outside of the treatment chamber (4) ; and a control unit (12) configured to adjust an air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) depending on the noise detected by the microphone (13) .
2. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (12) is configured to: estimate a noise generated by the fan assembly (7) and detected by the microphone (13) ; determine a room noise by subtracting from the noise detected by the microphone (13) the noise generated by the fan assembly (7) ; and adjusting the air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) depending on the room noise.
3. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit (12) is configured to: determine, in the noise detected by the microphone (13) , a sound level in frequency ranges that are typical for human voices; and adjust the air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) depending on the sound level in frequency ranges that are typical for human voices.
4. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the control unit (12) is configured to perform a first control mode, in which the air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) is adjusted to the noise detected by the microphone (13) so as to increase as the noise detected by the microphone (13) increases.
5. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to claim 4, wherein, in the first control mode, the control unit (12) is configured to reduce the air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) when the noise detected by the microphone (13) is smaller and to increase the air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) when the noise detected by the microphone (13) is greater.
6. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to one of the claims from 1 to 5, wherein the control unit (12) is configured to perform a second control mode, in which the air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) is maximized when the noise detected by the microphone (13) is smaller than a threshold.
7. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to claim 6, wherein the control unit (12) , in its second control mode, is configured to reduce the air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) when the noise detected by the microphone (13) is greater than the threshold.
8. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to any one of the claims from 1 to 7, wherein the microphone (13) is arranged on a wall of a container (2) , which delimits the treatment chamber (4) , other than a wall where the inlet opening (5) is located and other than a wall where the outlet opening (6) is located.
9. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to any one of the claims from 1 to 8, wherein the treatment device comprises at least one air filtering device ( 8 , 9 ) .
10. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to any one of the claims from 1 to 9, wherein the treatment device comprises at least one air sanitization device .
11. The sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) according to claim 10, wherein the air sanitization device comprises at least one ioniser device (10, 11) , which is configured to generate cold plasma in the air flowing through the treatment chamber (4) .
12. A method to control a sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) for the air of a closed room comprising : a treatment chamber (4) communicating with the closed room through at least one inlet opening (5) and at least one outlet opening (6) ; a fan assembly (7) , which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) and is configured to take air in through the inlet opening (5) and to release air through the outlet opening (6) ; and at least one air treatment device, which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) between the inlet opening (5) and the outlet opening (6) ; the control method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: detecting a noise present on the outside of the treatment chamber (4) by means of at least one microphone (13) ; and adjusting an air flow rate of the fan assembly (7) depending on the noise detected by the microphone (13) .
13. A sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) for the air of a closed room and comprising: a treatment chamber (4) communicating with the room through at least one inlet opening (5) and at least one outlet opening (6) ; a fan assembly (7) , which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) and is configured to take air in through the inlet opening (5) and to release air through the outlet opening ( 6 ) ; at least one air treatment device, which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) between the inlet opening (5) and the outlet opening (6) ; the sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) is characterized in that it comprises: at least one loudspeaker (15) ; and a control unit (12) configured to determine a noise generated by the fan assembly (7) and to control the loudspeaker (15) so that it emits sound waves that cancel the noise generated by the fan assembly (7) .
14. A method to control a sanitization and/or filtration apparatus (1) for the air of a closed room comprising : a treatment chamber (4) communicating with the closed room through at least one inlet opening (5) and at least one outlet opening (6) ; a fan assembly (7) , which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) and is configured to take air in through the inlet opening (5) and to release air through the outlet opening (6) ; and at least one air treatment device, which is arranged in the treatment chamber (4) between the inlet opening (5) and the outlet opening (6) ; the control method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: determining a noise generated by the fan assembly (7) ; and controlling a loudspeaker (15) so that it emits sound waves that cancel the noise generated by the fan assembly (7) .
PCT/IB2022/053150 2022-04-05 2022-04-05 Apparatus for the sanitization and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and relative control method WO2023194770A1 (en)

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PCT/IB2022/053150 WO2023194770A1 (en) 2022-04-05 2022-04-05 Apparatus for the sanitization and/or filtration of the air of a closed room and relative control method

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Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2602561A1 (en) * 2010-08-04 2013-06-12 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Indoor unit for air conditioner and air conditioner
DE202012103045U1 (en) * 2012-08-13 2013-11-18 Meltem Wärmerückgewinnung GmbH & Co. KG Air exchange device with noise control
KR20180049471A (en) * 2016-11-02 2018-05-11 엘지전자 주식회사 Air Purifier and method for controlling the same
CN111336642A (en) * 2020-04-15 2020-06-26 江苏弘冉智能科技有限公司 Real-time protection air curtain system
EP3734176A1 (en) * 2019-04-29 2020-11-04 ebm-papst Landshut GmbH Device for monitoring the operation of a fan
CN112781151A (en) * 2020-12-15 2021-05-11 刘民 New fan

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2602561A1 (en) * 2010-08-04 2013-06-12 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Indoor unit for air conditioner and air conditioner
DE202012103045U1 (en) * 2012-08-13 2013-11-18 Meltem Wärmerückgewinnung GmbH & Co. KG Air exchange device with noise control
KR20180049471A (en) * 2016-11-02 2018-05-11 엘지전자 주식회사 Air Purifier and method for controlling the same
EP3734176A1 (en) * 2019-04-29 2020-11-04 ebm-papst Landshut GmbH Device for monitoring the operation of a fan
CN111336642A (en) * 2020-04-15 2020-06-26 江苏弘冉智能科技有限公司 Real-time protection air curtain system
CN112781151A (en) * 2020-12-15 2021-05-11 刘民 New fan

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