Air Cleaner with Open Periphery Filter for Uniform Load
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air cleaners for removing air pollutants from machine exhausts face issues such as non-uniform filter load distribution and sensitivity to airflow velocity due to enclosed filter arrangements, which hinder efficient pollutant absorption and require a compact design for small spaces.
Innovation Solution
An air cleaner with a filter device featuring an open periphery and a frameless structure, where the outermost filter elements form the periphery and are supported by a rigid, self-supporting holder, allowing for a laminar airflow and uniform load distribution, enhancing pollutant absorption efficiency and accommodating small spaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If filter sticks are arranged in a tube-like channel with enclosed housing, then the airflow is directed through the filter array, but the filter load is non-uniform with inner sticks receiving different load than outer sticks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the enclosed tube-like housing and flow control elements from the filter arrangement. The filter sticks are exposed directly to the airflow without being contained in a channel, eliminating the structural complexity while achieving uniform filter load distribution across all sticks including the outermost ones.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter array is configured as multiple layers of filter sticks with lateral offsets, creating a segmented structure where each stick is independently exposed to airflow. This segmentation allows uniform access to pollutants for all filter elements regardless of their position in the array.
2Volume of moving object
If filter sticks are enclosed in a tube-like channel, then the airflow is controlled through the filter array, but the device requires larger space and cannot be accommodated in small interiors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the airflow control function from the enclosed housing structure. Instead of using walls and channels to direct airflow, the open arrangement of filter sticks themselves guides the flow through their distributed configuration, significantly reducing the device volume while maintaining effective airflow control.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter sticks are arranged in multiple layers with lateral offsets in three-dimensional space, creating a compact volumetric structure that achieves effective airflow control without requiring a large enclosed channel. This multi-dimensional arrangement maximizes filter surface area within a small footprint.
3Productivity
If the outermost filter elements are exposed to high flow speeds with flow disturbances, then the airflow passes through the filter quickly, but the cleaning efficiency of outermost elements is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates different local flow conditions for different positions in the filter array. The open configuration allows the outermost filter elements to experience calmer, more laminar airflow compared to enclosed designs, enhancing their cleaning efficiency while maintaining overall high airflow throughput through the distributed stick structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The open periphery design improves the cleaning efficiency of the outermost filter elements by reducing flow disturbances and ensuring a more uniform filter load, while the compact structure allows the air cleaner to be integrated into small spaces, effectively filtering both intake and exhaust air in amusement machines and other applications.
Implementation Method 1
The said filter elements are made of a porous material such as plastic foam which is wetted with a fluid such as silicone oil. Such wet filters are very effective in removing air polluting materials including ultrafine particles and gaseous pollutants such as unpleasant odors which are chemically absorbed and neutralized by coming into contact with the fluid.
Implementation Method 2
gaseous pollutants such as unpleasant odors which are chemically absorbed and neutralized by coming into contact with the fluid
Implementation Method 3
The said filter elements are made of a porous material such as plastic foam
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an air cleaner for removing air pollutants from an air stream, for instance such as the cleaning exhaust/intake gas of an amusement machine, said air cleaner comprising a filter device including at least one filter layer (4a, 4b) held by a filter holder (5) in said airflow substantially perpendicular to a main flow direction thereof and including a plurality of preferably stick-shaped filter elements (6) neighbouring each other. In accordance with the present invention, the filter device has no closed surrounding along the circumference of the filter layers, but provides for an open side along at least a portion of the periphery of the filter layer. At least one circumferential side section (7, 8) of the filter layer parallel to or tangential to the longitudinal axis of an outermost filter element is formed as an open side free of flow control elements surrounding the filter layer. Contrary to the prior art where the filter layer is usually enclosed in a tubular flow channel, the present invention avoids such flow-control-elements for guiding the air stream through the filter layer and/or preventing the airflow from diverging away from the filter layer, wherein in particular the filter layer, at its open side, is dispensed with flow-control-elements such as flow guiding surfaces, flow channel walls, fences or housing walls surrounding the filter layer.