Germicidal Helix Tube for Air Purification

3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION:

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed: 4. DESCRIPTION:

Field of the invention:

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the technical field of devices and methods for air filtration, in specific relates to a germicidal air purifier designed with inner helical tube arrangement to efficiently inactivate airborne microorganisms.

Background of the invention:

[0002] People on average spend about 90% of their time indoors. The quality of air in office, residential, school, and industrial buildings can significantly affect the health and productivity of building occupants. Sick buildings, toxic moulds, epidemics of asthma allergies, have made indoor air quality critical. The problems include eye; nose; and throat irritation, headache, recurrent fatigue, drowsiness, dizziness, and reduced power of concentration.

[0003] Therefore, for commercial residential and industrial buildings, providing a good ventilation system with air-purification device is a key to provide better indoor air quality. Many advanced technologies related to air purification devices for removal of pollutants from indoor air have recently been developed.

[0004] There are two types of air-cleaning approaches commonly being used, one are mechanical air filters, such as high efficiency particulate air filters that remove particles by capturing them on filter materials, or electronic air cleaners such as electrostatic precipitators that use a process called electrostatic attraction to trap particles. Another type of air-cleaning device is air purification such as gas-phase adsorption filter designed to remove gases and odours by either physical or chemical processes. Specifically, the technology of gaseous removal air purifications include an activated carbon adsorption filter (ACA), photo-catalytic oxidation (PCO) devices, ultraviolet photo catalytic oxidization (UV- PCO), plasma ionization approach (PIA), ozone ionization approach (OIA), soil filtration technology (SFT), etc. The effectiveness of applying these techniques varies widely, some air cleaners are largely ineffective, and some produce harmful by-products. [0005] Equipments used for the purification of the air in indoors include standalone air purifiers, hand-held UV lamps, cart-mount UV light fixtures, aerosol sprays, etc. However, existing standalone air purifiers are basically floor mount and are being used to generate quality air in the closed or semi-opened rooms or living spaces. Disadvantage is that they depend more on HEPA filters or ionization or activated carbon. Though some use UV Bulbs, the exposure time of the disease-causing microorganism to the UV source is very little, may be some millisecond. Thus, not highly effective to inactivate the microorganisms. The hand held UV lamps and cart-mount UV light fixtures directly expose UV light and are not good for skin or eyes if exposure exceeds certain time and intensity. The aerosol sprays utilize chemicals (organic/natural) which can't kill microorganisms that are circulating in the air continuously, further may cause skin allergies to human.

[0006] Therefore, there is a need for a compact air purification setup which is designed to efficiently inactivate airborne microorganisms by exposing the airborne microorganisms to germicidal light radiation from certain distance, at certain amount of intensity and for certain amount of time. There is a need for a cost effective air purification setup that can be manufacture easily and is power efficient. There is a need for a purifier airflow configuration that avoids germicidal light radiation on humans. A purifier airflow configuration is needed that provides more time for air flow to get purified under the germicidal light radiation.

Objectives of the invention:

[0007] The primary objective of the invention is to design a compact air purification setup with inner helical tube arrangement to efficiently inactivate airborne microorganisms by exposing the airborne microorganisms to germicidal light radiation from certain distance, at certain amount of intensity and for certain amount of time.

[0008] Another objective of the invention is to design a compact air purification setup that is capable of killing the airborne microorganism due to a germicidal light source is placed in the centre of the tube. [0009] The other objective of the invention is to provide an air purification setup design that can accommodate most of the germicidal light sources that are currently available in the market.

[0010] Another objective of the invention is to design an air purification setup in which the distance can be controlled by reducing the size of main tunnel tube and inner tube.

[0011] Another objective of the invention is to design an air purification configuration in which the amount of time for passing air can be increased or decreased by adjusting pitch of the helix or adding more tunnels.

[0012] Yet another objective of the invention is to design an air purification setup in which the volume of air can be controlled by adjusting the size of the tunnel.

[0013] Further objective of the invention is to design an air purification setup in which the velocity of air can be controlled by increasing the capacity of the source blower or fan.

[0014] Another objective of the invention is to provide an air purification setup with no dangerous or harmful emission of light by securing entire light source is inside watertight or airtight tunnel-tube.

[0015] Another objective of the invention is to provide a purifier airflow configuration that increases the time of germicidal light radiation exposure for air flow and still capable of avoiding human germicidal light exposure in the process.

[0016] Yet another objective of the invention is to design an air purification setup that can be fixed into different kinds of enclosures like, wall-mount, ceiling dongles, on-floor modules, etc.

[0017] Further objective of the invention is to design a low cost, easy to manufacture, and power efficient that can be scaled up to work for large room requirements. Summary of the invention:

[0018] The present disclosure proposes a germicidal helix tube for air purification. The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the claimed subject matter. This summary is not an extensive overview. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope of the claimed subject matter. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0019] In order to overcome the above deficiencies of the prior art, the present disclosure is to solve the technical problem to provide a germicidal air purifier designed with inner helical tube arrangement to efficiently inactivate airborne microorganisms

[0020] According to an aspect, the invention provides an air purification setup that comprises of an inlet, an air inlet tunnel, at least one air purification tunnel, and an air distributor tube. The air inlet tunnel is configured for receiving contaminated air through the inlet. The air inlet tunnel provides an airflow path for the flow of air in a downstream direction. The air purification tunnel is configured with an air inlet-end which is connected to other end of the air inlet tunnel in order to receive the contaminated air for purification process and an air outlet end to release a purified air. The air distributor tube is attached to the air outlet-end of the air purification tunnel. The air distributor tube is configured with multiple vents to get the purified air discharged in a controlled and uniform manner.

[0021] The air purification tunnel is further comprises of a helical baffle configuration, a transparent tube, and a germicidal light source. The transparent tube is placed along the centre of axis of the air purification tunnel. The germicidal light source is fitted inside the transparent tube to disinfect the air passing inside the air purification tunnel to inactivate disease causing microorganisms of the contaminated air. The helical baffle configuration is arranged inside the air purification tunnel where the transparent tube is surrounded by the helical baffle configuration. The helical baffle configuration is configured to provide an air flow path for the flow of the contaminated air in a spiral motion in the air purification tunnel. [0022] The air inlet tunnel, the air purification tunnel and the air distributor tube are made of plastic or metal or any other material that is capable of withstanding, heat, radiation, low-pressure, high-pressure, corrosion, contamination, thereof, that may arise based on the media, light-source, intensity, flow-pressure, flow-velocity and other typical conditions of the operations. The material used forms a strong barrier between the entered air and the outer atmosphere or the atmosphere inside the air purification device and is air-tight. The transparent tube is either made of quartz glass or any transparent material that can withstand the above mentioned typical conditions.

[0023] Further, the helical baffle configuration forms an air tight barrier between inner wall of said air purification tunnel and outer wall of the transparent tube. The helical baffle configuration is arranged either as a continuous part or split into two or more parts according to the requirements of turbulence, exposure and pressure within the air purification tunnel.

[0024] The dimensions such as length of the air purification tunnel and the air inlet tunnel, pitch of helix of the helical baffle configuration, diameter of the air purification tunnel and the air inlet tunnel, number of the air purification tunnels, diameter of the transparent tube along the axis, size of the multiple vents , place of the multiple vents, tapering of the air distributor tube, etc., depend upon the requirements of light exposure dose, duration of the light exposure, volume and velocity of air passing through tunnels, thereof.

[0025] The air purification setup is equipped with a blower or a fan to control velocity of air inside the air purification setup by increasing the capacity of the blower or the fan. The germicidal light source is either a UV-C or IR, or other light source that is capable of disinfecting the microorganisms of the contaminated air.

[0026] Further, objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a study of the following portion of the specification, the claims, and the attached drawings.

Detailed description of drawings: [0027] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, explain the principles of the invention.

[0028] FIG. 1A illustrates a front view of an air purification setup in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0029] FIG. IB illustrates an isometric view of an air purification setup in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0030] FIG. 1C illustrates a structural isometric view of a germicidal helix tube in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates air flow in a germicidal helix tube in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary a germicidal helix tube with two air purification tunnels in accordance to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Detailed invention disclosure:

[0033] Various embodiments of the present invention will be described in reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, same or similar reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts or steps.

[0034] The present disclosure has been made with a view towards solving the problem with the prior art described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a germicidal air purifier designed with inner helical tube arrangement to efficiently inactivate airborne microorganisms

[0035] According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 1A, FIG. IB and FIG. 1C refer to different views of an air purification setup 100 with germicidal helix tube. The air purification setup 100 comprises of an inlet 101, an air inlet tunnel 102, at least one air purification tunnel 103, and an air distributor tube 106. The air inlet tunnel 102 is configured for receiving contaminated air through the inlet 101. The air inlet tunnel 102 provides an air flow path for the flow of air in a downstream direction. The air purification tunnel 103 is configured with an air inlet-end which is connected to other end of the air inlet tunnel 102 to receive the contaminated air for purification process and an air outlet-end to release purified air. The air distributor tube 106 is attached to the air outlet-end of the air purification tunnel 103. The air distributor tube 106 is configured with multiple vents to get the purified air discharged in a controlled and uniform manner.

[0036] The air purification tunnel 103 further comprises of a helical baffle configuration 104, a transparent tube 105, and a germicidal light source. The transparent tube 105 is placed along the centre of axis of the air purification tunnel 103. The germicidal light source is fitted inside the transparent tube 105 to disinfect the air passing through the helical baffle configuration 104 formed between transparent tube 105 and the air purification tunnel 103to inactivate disease-causing microorganisms of the contaminated air. The helical baffle configuration 104 is arranged inside the air purification tunnel 103 where the transparent tube 105 is surrounded by the helical baffle configuration 104. The helical baffle configuration 104 is configured to provide an air flow path for the flow of the contaminated air in a spiral motion in the air purification tunnel 103.

[0037] The air inlet tunnel 102, the air purification tunnel 103 and the air distributor tube 106 are made of plastic or metal or any other material that is capable of withstanding, heat, radiation, low-pressure, high-pressure, corrosion, contamination, etc. that may arise based on the media, light-source, intensity, flow-pressure, flow-velocity and other typical conditions of the operations. The material used forms a strong barrier between the entered air and the outer atmosphere or the atmosphere inside the air purification setup 100 and is air-tight. The transparent tube 105 is either made of quartz glass, or any transparent material that can withstand the above mentioned typical conditions.

[0038] According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 refers to air flow 200 in the germicidal helix tube. The air that is carrying disease-causing microorganisms 201 is collected through the air intake tube and sent into one end 202 of the air purification tunnel. The contaminated air 201 travels in a forward but spiral motion around the germicidal light source which is fitted in the transparent tube placed along the axis of the air purification tunnel. The air 203 that is exposed to the radiation of the germicidal light source gets purified and exits through the other end 204 of the air purification tunnel. The purified air enters the air distributor tube that contains multiple holes or openings or vents to get a processed clean air 205 discharged in a controlled and uniform way. The helical baffle configuration forms an air tight barrier between inner wall of said air purification tunnel and outer wall of the transparent tube.

[0039] According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 3 refers to an exemplary germicidal helix tube setup 300 with two air purification tunnels. The helical baffle configuration is arranged either as a continuous part or split into two or more parts according to the requirements of turbulence, exposure and pressure within the air purification tunnel. The air purification setup is equipped with a blower or a fan to control velocity of air inside the air purification tunnels by changing the capacity of the blower or the fan. The germicidal light source is either a UV-C or IR, or other light source which can disinfect the microorganisms of the contaminated air.

[0040] The dimensions such as length of the air purification tunnel and the air inlet tunnel, pitch of helix of the helical baffle configuration, diameter of the air purification tunnel and the air inlet tunnel, number of the air purification tunnels, diameter of the transparent tube along the axis, size of the multiple vents , place of the multiple vents, tapering of the air distributor tube, etc., depend upon the requirements of light exposure dose, duration of the light exposure, volume and velocity of air passing through tunnels, etc. The germicidal helix tube configuration makes the contaminated air to travel for longer distance in smaller space.

[0041] Numerous advantages of the present disclosure may be apparent from the discussion above. In accordance with the present disclosure, a germicidal air purifier designed with inner helical tube arrangement is disclosed which efficiently inactivate airborne microorganisms. [0042] The germicidal helix tube design can accommodate most of the light sources that are currently available in the market. The germicidal helix tube design is a low cost, easy to manufacture, and power efficient that can be scaled up to work for large room requirements. This design increases the time of germicidal light radiation exposure for air flow with no dangerous or harmful light exposure for humans as the light source is inside a watertight or airtight tunnel-tube. The germicidal helix tube can be fixed into different kinds of enclosures like, wall-mount, ceiling dongles, on-floor modules, etc.

[0043] The design of the germicidal helix tube increases the amount of time for efficient exposure of the contaminated air towards radiation of the germicidal light source for the purification of the contaminated air. The design of the germicidal helix tube makes the contaminated air to travel for longer distance in smaller space.

[0044] It will readily be apparent that numerous modifications and alterations can be made to the processes described in the foregoing examples without departing from the principles underlying the invention, and all such modifications and alterations are intended to be embraced by this application.