Head-wearable Air Purifier with Frusto-conical Filter and Nozzle
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wearable air purifiers, such as neck-worn and head-worn designs, are either less effective in filtering airborne pollutants or more complex and cumbersome, often allowing unfiltered air to reach the user's mouth and nose.
Innovation Solution
A head-wearable air purifier design featuring a pair of speaker assemblies mounted on a headband, each equipped with a filter assembly, an impeller, a motor, and an air outlet, with a nozzle to direct filtered air towards the user's mouth and nose, utilizing frusto-conical filter elements and a mixed flow impeller for improved airflow and filtration efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a face mask with filter element is worn to cover mouth and nose, then air purification effectiveness is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to laborious breathing and speaking difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the filter element from the mouth/nose area and relocates it to the earpiece region. The filter assembly is positioned in the earpiece housing, separated from the user's respiratory tract, allowing natural breathing while maintaining air purification through directed airflow channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces airflow channels and outlets as intermediary structures between the filter element and the user's mouth/nose. These channels direct purified air toward the respiratory area without requiring physical contact or coverage of the mouth and nose, mediating between filtration and natural breathing.
2Ease of operation
If a neck-worn air purifier is used to avoid covering mouth and nose, then ease of operation is improved, but air purification effectiveness deteriorates due to inaccurate air delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs curved airflow channels within the earpiece structure that guide air along a controlled path from the filter element to outlets positioned near the mouth and nose. The curved geometry of the earpiece housing and internal channels enables accurate air delivery while maintaining a natural-wearing configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from the conventional neck-worn position to a head-worn earpiece configuration, utilizing the three-dimensional space around the ear to position the filter and airflow channels. This spatial reconfiguration allows accurate air delivery to the mouth and nose region without the bulk of a neck-worn device.
3Measurement precision
If a head-worn purifier with separate air filtering unit is used, then air delivery accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the air filtering unit with the speaker assembly by integrating the filter element, airflow channels, and outlets directly into the earpiece housing. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate filtering components and reduces overall structural complexity while maintaining accurate air delivery to the mouth and nose area.
Solution Approach 2:
The earpiece housing serves multiple functions: it houses the speaker components, contains the filter element, provides airflow channels, and positions the air outlets. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying the overall device structure while achieving precise air delivery.
4Volume of moving object
If filter area is reduced to fit in small space, then device compactness is improved, but air purification effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention positions the filter element in the earpiece housing where it can utilize the available space efficiently. The filter is located in a localized region with optimized airflow paths that maximize filtration surface area within the compact earpiece volume, ensuring effective purification without increasing overall device size.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter element is nested within the earpiece housing structure, utilizing the internal volume of the speaker assembly. The airflow channels are integrated into the housing walls, and the filter is positioned within the existing structural cavities, achieving compact integration without sacrificing filtration surface area.
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 design provides improved air purification and delivery performance by accurately directing filtered air to the user's mouth and nose while minimizing the intake of unfiltered air, offering a more socially acceptable and effective alternative to traditional face masks and neck-worn purifiers.
Implementation Method 1
an impeller for creating an airflow through the filter assembly
Implementation Method 2
The filter assembly is provided upstream of the impeller and comprises one or more generally frusto-conical filter elements
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a head wearable air purifier comprising a first speaker assembly and a second speaker assembly, wherein the first speaker assembly comprises a filter assembly, an impeller for creating an airflow through the filter assembly, a motor arranged to drive the impeller, and an air outlet downstream from the filter assembly for emitting the filtered airflow from the speaker assembly. The head wearable air purifier further comprise a nozzle arranged to receive the filtered airflow from the first speaker assembly, the nozzle comprising an air outlet arranged to emit the received filtered airflow from the head wearable air purifier. The filter assembly is provided upstream of the impeller and comprises one or more generally frusto-conical filter elements.