Collapsible Pleated Filter With Laterally Positioned Retaining Members
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional pleated HVAC filters occupy large volumes during storage and transportation due to their expanded shape, leading to high shipping and storage costs, and existing collapsible filters require complex assembly or structural compromises, making them costly and difficult for end users to expand and construct.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible air filter with interconnected pleated media panels and supports that can be easily expanded by end users, featuring a U-shaped support structure with removable legs that frictionally fit into side members, allowing the filter to collapse for storage and expand for use without requiring heavy or expensive materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional pleated filters are used in expanded shape, then filtration performance is maintained, but storage and transportation volume increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The filter is divided into a pleated media assembly and separate support structures that can be collapsed together into a compact configuration for shipping, then reassembled into the expanded functional shape at the installation location, reducing storage volume while maintaining filtration performance
Solution Approach 2:
The filter transitions from a static expanded shape to a dynamic collapsible structure that can change volume state between shipped/collapsed and installed/expanded configurations, allowing the same filter to occupy different volumes at different stages of its lifecycle
2Volume of stationary object
If collapsible filters are constructed with special frames and components, then volume is reduced, but manufacturing cost and assembly complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The support structures are designed to be self-aligning and self-retaining through friction fits and geometric interlocking, allowing the filter to collapse and expand without requiring specialized tools, adhesives, or complex assembly procedures beyond basic manual insertion
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of designing complex mechanisms to maintain the collapsed shape, the invention inverts the approach by designing simple structures that naturally maintain the expanded shape through friction and geometry, requiring minimal components while achieving the collapsible function
3Strength
If collapsible filters use heavy materials for structural integrity, then strength is improved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structures use thin-walled geometric forms and pleated configurations that derive strength from their shape and structure rather than material mass, allowing the filter to maintain structural integrity in the collapsed state while minimizing weight
Solution Approach 2:
The filter combines the pleated filtration media with lightweight support structures in a composite assembly that achieves the required strength-to-weight ratio through the synergistic combination of filtering material and structural elements
Data Source
AI summary
A collapsible HVAC filter that includes pleated filtration media having side members mounted on opposite sides of the filtration media. The filtration media collapses to reduce filter volume. Supports maintain spacing between the side members when the filtration media is expanded. The supports may extend into openings on the upstream and downstream sides of each of the side members. The collapsed filter occupies little space relative to the expanded filter, and can be expanded to form a completed filter with little effort required by the end user.