Head-Wearable Air Purifier With Resilient Speaker Mounts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wearable air purifiers are either cumbersome, less effective in delivering purified air, or compromise social acceptability due to their design, allowing significant 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 with a filter assembly, impeller, and motor within an impeller casing, supported by resilient mounts to reduce vibration and enhance airflow, and a nozzle to direct filtered air efficiently to the user's mouth and nose, while maintaining social acceptability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a face mask is worn to filter pollutants, then air purification effectiveness is improved, but social acceptability and ease of operation deteriorate due to difficulty in breathing and speaking
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the air purification function into two separate pathways: a primary filtered air delivery system through the headset to the mouth/nose area, and a secondary ambient air intake path that remains open. This segmentation allows the user to receive purified air without completely blocking the face, maintaining both effectiveness and ease of breathing/speaking
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary filtered air delivery system that transports purified air from the filter assembly through ducting to the user's mouth and nose area. This intermediary system allows purified air to reach the user without requiring direct contact between the filter and the user's face, enabling normal speech and breathing while maintaining protection
2Ease of operation
If a neck-worn air purifier is used to avoid covering the face, then social acceptability and ease of operation are improved, but air purification effectiveness deteriorates due to inaccurate delivery to mouth and nose
Solution Approach 1:
The invention moves the air delivery system from the neck area (traditional approach) to the head/ear area, changing the spatial dimension of delivery. By positioning the air outlet near the mouth and nose through head-mounted earpieces with adjustable positioning, the system achieves both social acceptability and accurate delivery simultaneously
3Reliability
If a head-worn purifier with separate air filtering unit is used to improve air delivery accuracy, then air purification effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the air filtering function with the existing headset structure. The filter assembly is integrated into the headset housing, and the impeller is combined with the speaker assembly motor, eliminating the need for separate air filtering units and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining accurate air delivery
4Reliability
If filter area is increased to improve filtering efficiency, then air purification effectiveness is improved, but device volume and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs high-efficiency porous filter materials that provide large surface area for filtration within a compact volume. The porous structure allows increased filtering efficiency without proportionally increasing the device size, as the three-dimensional porous network provides extensive filtration surface area in a small space
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, effectively blocking unfiltered air and allowing clear speech, enhancing user experience and comfort.
Implementation Method 1
an impeller for creating an airflow through the filter assembly, a motor arranged to drive the impeller
Implementation Method 2
The impeller casing is suspended/supported within the housing by a plurality of resilient supports or isolation mounts that extend between the impeller casing and the housing
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 1c
AI summary
There is provided a head wearable air purifier (1000) comprising a first speaker assembly (1100a) and a second speaker assembly (1100b), wherein the first speaker assembly (1100a) comprises a speaker (1105), a filter assembly (1107), an impeller (1109) for creating an airflow through the filter assembly (1107), a motor (1110) arranged to drive the impeller (1109), and an air outlet (11004) downstream from the filter assembly (1107) for emitting the filtered airflow from the first speaker assembly (1100a). The impeller (1109) and the motor (1110) are disposed within an impeller casing (1105). The first speaker assembly (1100a) further comprises a housing (1102) containing the speaker (1105), the filter assembly (1107) and the impeller casing (1105), and the impeller casing (1105) is suspended within the housing (1102) by a plurality of resilient supports (1134).