DEVICE FOR CLEANING AIR

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for cleaning room air, comprising an upright, tubular air guide element made of an opaque material with an air inlet and an air outlet, as well as at least one flow drive arranged between them, causing a downward flow in the air guide element and a lighting device assigned to the inside of the air guide element, which lighting device comprises at least one UV-C lamp.

[0002] Such a device is already known from US 2018 / 0050123 A9. For further prior art, reference is made to KR 10-2020-0041014 A, KR 10-1959671 B1, KR 10-2031772 B1, WO 2012 / 068569 A1, US 2018 / 0347574 A1, and DE 20 2020 103 935 U1.

[0003] A similar device is already known from US Pat. No. 8,900,519 B2. In this device, an air stream is directed through a tubular body, in which numerous individual LEDs are arranged along the walls. However, these require a comparatively complex design, both for structural reasons and to prevent the UV-C light from escaping, resulting in a cost-intensive product.

[0004] Further reference is made to US 2009 / 0041632 A1, DE 10 2020 120 046 A1 and US 2014 / 0001374 A1.

[0005] Such devices are already known from the prior art and generally serve to circulate air, in particular to lift cool air from the ground layers to higher areas. US 3,827,342 A describes a device which draws air in from the ground and, with the aid of a flow drive, conveys it upwards in a tubular air guide element. Since cold air sinks due to convection while warm air rises, the indoor climate can be improved by circulating the air layers in the room, and cooling can be achieved, especially on warm days. In this case, the air guide element also filters the air using a filter element, so that the air discharged from the top is also cleaned accordingly.

[0006] A similar solution is already known from DE 34 00 487 A1, which also includes a filter in an upright air guide element. Here, too, air circulation occurs from top to bottom.

[0007] However, this creates the problem that mixing the air also causes viruses and bacteria present in the air to disperse. In the context of the coronavirus, it is known that such viruses cannot be easily filtered out of the air, meaning that such a solution would spread more widely throughout the room. Especially in the critical head area, such a solution creates turbulence in the room, which leads to the dispersion of virus-laden aerosols.

[0008] The coronavirus in particular can be transmitted via droplet infection, among other things, although the current social distancing rules of 1.5 meters in enclosed spaces do not promise to be sufficient. The viruses are contained in microscopic droplets that are expelled through the air. They are constantly released by infected people and initially float in the air, where they slowly sink. However, in the opposite direction, heat sources such as computers, projectors or other office equipment, coffee machines, and the like create air movement in the room, which causes the virus-laden aerosols to rise again and disperse them throughout the room. Since rising air in an enclosed space causes air to sink again elsewhere, the air in the room is constantly mixing. The devices mentioned above further amplify this effect.

[0009] Against this background, the object of the present invention is to create a device for cleaning room air which is also suitable for cleaning the room air of viruses and avoids the generation of additional turbulence in the room as far as possible.

[0010] This is achieved by a device for cleaning room air having the features of independent claim 1. Useful embodiments of such a device can be found in the subsequent dependent claims.

[0011] According to the invention, such a device has a vertically positioned air guide element that connects an air inlet located at the top with an air outlet located at the bottom. The air outlet is preferably arranged directly near the floor so that air exiting the air guide element does not create turbulence, but can exit more or less parallel to the floor. This creates a deep layer of air that spreads along the floor and only slowly pushes the existing air layers upwards. To further prevent the spread of viruses, the device according to the invention provides an air purification element in the form of a lighting device that consists of at least one, but preferably several, UV-C lamps.Air drawn in through the air guide element in the upper area, preferably in the ceiling area, and drawn downwards in the air guide element by a flow drive located in or immediately adjacent to the air guide element, passes through a path on its way to the floor-side air outlet where it is exposed to UV-C radiation from the UV-C lamps. The UV-C radiation from the lighting device is very energetic and destroys the DNA of viruses and bacteria in fractions of a second. The use of UV-C radiation for disinfection, for example, in operating rooms, is already known.

[0012] Therefore, the invention also provides that the air guide element, which can be tubular in particular, is made of an opaque material so that radiation from the UV-C lamps cannot penetrate to the outside, especially not be directed at people. This ensures uniform circulation and cleaning of the air masses in the room, with the air being released close to the floor, thus largely avoiding turbulence.

[0013] In principle, any known light source capable of emitting the required UV-C radiation can be used as UV-C light sources. LED arrays arranged around a central axis and radiating in all directions are particularly suitable, ensuring that the entire air passing through the air guide element is exposed to the light. However, LEDs can now be manufactured in a wide variety of shapes and are small and inexpensive to produce, allowing almost any arrangement to be implemented in the air guide element.

[0014] The use of UV-C fluorescent tubes is also possible, although the shape is largely predetermined. However, these can be operated cost-effectively, especially over long periods of time.

[0015] The air guide element is preferably a tubular element which, in the case of an air outlet close to the floor, extends upwards to or above head height. The air inlet at the top is preferably located near the ceiling. A dust filter, preferably an inward-facing, conical coarse dust filter, can be assigned to it to prevent contamination inside the air guide element. Such contamination impairs the radiation from the UV-C lamps and thus their effect on the viruses and bacteria in the air passing by the UV-C lamps. In this case in particular, separate measures to shield the UV-C lamps are not necessarily required, since the radiation is already intercepted by the filter and, due to the height of the air guide element, does not come into contact with people.

[0016] To increase safety and to be able to use air guiding elements that do not reach head height, a slat arrangement, a labyrinth duct or a honeycomb arrangement is provided in the area of ​​the air inlet and / or the air outlet, whereby the UV-C lamps are located behind the slat arrangement, the labyrinth duct or the honeycomb arrangement from the observer's perspective, and between them in the case of slat arrangements on both sides. Such a slat arrangement consists of one or more vertically or inclined privacy screen slats, which ensure that the radiation from the UV-C lamps cannot escape from the air guiding element. Such a slat arrangement can preferably be made of or coated with an absorbent, non-reflection or low-reflection material.This also applies to the aforementioned honeycomb arrangement, which can also be particularly advantageously designed as a filter made of nonwoven fabric, a knitted fabric such as felt, or a textile material. The honeycombs of such a honeycomb arrangement can be long relative to their diameter; in particular, the length can be at least ten times the diameter. This reduces the light transmittance of the honeycomb arrangement, since, due to the length of the honeycombs, only a few parallel beams of light pass through the honeycomb arrangement.

[0017] The UV-C lamps can also be assigned at least one additional UV-C reflector, which reflects the radiation emitted by the at least one UV-C lamp and redirects it back into the area through which the air flows. This significantly enhances the effectiveness of the UV-C lamps, further significantly reducing the likelihood of viruses and bacteria passing through the air guide.

[0018] Such a UV-C reflector can be made from a cylindrically shaped aluminum sheet, which is also provided with a coating, preferably made of high-purity aluminum. The coating can also be applied directly to the inside of the air guide element, particularly in the area of ​​the UV-C lamps. Preferably, the UV-C reflector is designed so that the entire air flow is directed through the UV-C reflector and no portion of the air flow is bypassed.

[0019] Even with air guide elements that are open at the ends, a safety aspect can be added if a tilt switch is assigned to the power supply of the UV-C lamps. This detects an inclination of the air guide element and disconnects the power supply to the UV-C lamps if a critical inclination is exceeded, preferably if it exceeds 5° from the vertical. Thus, if the device is tilted or even tipped, the lamps are automatically switched off by the tilt switch.

[0020] The air guide element can also be assigned a base, which is essentially frustoconical or conical in shape. However, the conical surface has concave surfaces, so that air conveyed downwards by the flow drive is deflected by the concave surface and pressed onto the floor on which the base rests.

[0021] The invention described above is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment.

[0022] It shows Figure 1 shows a device not according to the invention in a lateral cross-sectional view, and Figure 2 shows a device according to the invention according to Figure 1 with a honeycomb arrangement in perspective view without outer shell.

[0023] Figure 1shows a cross-sectional view of a device for purifying indoor air. The structure includes an air guide element 1, which forms a housing for the device. It is a tubular element in which a plurality of tubular UV-C lamps 5 are accommodated. These are electrically operated and have an inclination sensor (not shown here), which disconnects the UV-C lamps 5 from their power supply if the air guide element 1 is tilted from the vertical. This ensures that the UV-C radiation present in the air guide element 1 is not directed at people. The height of the air guide element 1 is selected such that the tube ends two meters above the floor, making it impossible to see into the upright air guide element 1.Due to a negative pressure generated by a flow drive 2, the air enters the air guide element 1 via an air inlet 3 and falls into a conical dust filter 8, which, thanks to its conical shape, can cover a particularly large area. The air then passes through a louvre assembly 7, which acts as a screen and prevents eye contact with the harmful UV-C radiation. A corresponding louvre assembly 7 is located beyond the UV-C lamps in the area of ​​the air outlet 4.

[0024] A cylindrical UV-C reflector 9 is formed around the UV-C lamps 5, which reflects radiation emitted by the UV-C lamps from its walls into the space within the air guide element 1. This increases the energy present in the space of the air guide element 1, so that there is a greater probability that viruses and bacteria will be destroyed as they pass through the air guide element 1 during the passage of the UV-C reflector 9.

[0025] Located below the lower slat arrangement 7 is the flow drive 2, which axially draws in the air from the air guide element 1 and discharges it axially downwards. The flow drive 2 directs the air onto the outer surface of a base 6, which is frustoconical in shape and has a concave outer surface. Due to the concave shape, the air directed downwards by the flow drive is deflected to the side and creeps across the floor surrounding the base, essentially pushing itself beneath the other air layers, thus effectively preventing the occurrence of turbulence.

[0026] Figure 2shows the invention in which a honeycomb arrangement 10 is provided instead of a slat arrangement. The outer shell and the inlet-side dust filter are not shown in the illustration, but rather the emphasis is placed on the filtering components. A flow drive 2 sucks air from above and conveys it downwards towards the base 6, via which the air is deflected laterally and distributed into the room in order to release it as close to the floor as possible with as little turbulence as possible. Figure 2From the hidden housing elements, the air is sucked in through a honeycomb arrangement located above the flow drive 2. This air enters the interior of the housing via the top-side air inlet 3 and is first guided through an upper honeycomb arrangement 10, past the UV-C lamps, and through the lower honeycomb arrangement 10 past the flow drive 2. Cover plates 11 can also be located above and / or below the UV-C lamps, which prevent direct light from passing through the honeycomb arrangement 10, which would have to occur more or less parallel to the walls of the individual honeycombs within the honeycomb arrangements.

[0027] What is described above is a device for cleaning room air, which is also suitable for cleaning room air of viruses and avoids the generation of additional turbulence in the room as far as possible. LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0028] 1Air guide element 2Flow drive 3Air inlet 4Air outlet 5UV-C lamp 6Stand 7Slat arrangement 8Dust filter 9UV-C reflector 10Honeycomb arrangement 11Cover plate

Claims

1. A device for purifying room air, comprising an upright, tubular air guiding element (1) made of an opaque material having an air inlet (3) and an air outlet (4), as well as at least one flow drive (2) arranged therebetween and causing a downward flow in the air guiding element (1), and an illumination device internally associated with the air guiding element (1), which comprises at least one UV-C illuminant (5), characterized in that between the air inlet (3) and the at least one UV-C illuminant (5) and between the air outlet (4) and the at least one UV-C illuminant (5), the air guiding element (1) is assigned a honeycomb arrangement (10) with honeycombs which are long in comparison with their diameter, the air guiding element (1) being assigned a UV-C reflector (9) which surrounds the UV-C illuminants (5) and is made from a cylindrically shaped aluminum sheet, wherein a base (6) is associated with the air guiding element (1) below the air outlet (4), which base is frustoconical in shape and has a concave outer surface, and wherein the flow drive (2) is arranged below a lower honeycomb arrangement (10), draws air axially from the air guiding element (1) and discharges it axially downwards, so that the flow drive (2) directs the air onto the outer surface of the base (6).

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the honeycomb arrangement (10) is made of a filter material, in particular a nonwoven, a knitted fabric and / or a textile material.

3. The device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one UV-C illuminant (5) is at least one light-emitting diode arrangement which emits UV-C radiation around a central axis at a radiation angle of at least approximately 360°.

4. The device according to at least one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the at least one UV-C illuminant (5) is at least one UV-C fluorescent tube.

5. The device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one UV-C illuminant (5) is assigned a tilt switch which interrupts an electrical supply line of the at least one UV-C illuminant (5) as soon as an inclination, preferably an inclination of at least 5°, with respect to the vertical is detected.

6. The device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that air guide means are assigned to the air outlet (4), which guide an air flow exiting via the air outlet (4) downwards.

7. The device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a dust filter (8) is assigned to the air inlet (3).