Technical Field: The present invention relates generally to an air purifying apparatus, and more particularly, to an air purifying apparatus which, integrated as a single unit with a conventional illumination device such as a discharge lamp, can be conveniently used for purifying indoor air.

Background Art:

An air purification apparatus commonly used to purify the air in a house or an office is known to produce a healthy indoor environment by removing various viruses, bacteria, tobacco smoke, etc. which would otherwise give out unpleasant odors. The use of the air purification apparatus makes the indoor environment very pleasant and helps adjust the human body's balance. Air purification is achieved by the action of negative ions generated by an ion generator incorporated within the purifying apparatus. Such a purifying apparatus, however, uses a separate fan for creating a convection of indoor airs, which necessitates accommodating related parts such as a driving motor in the apparatus. This kind of apparatus has a disadvantage in that it occupies a large floor space due to its volume.

Recent versions of air purifying apparatuses do not employ the fan as described above for the purpose of miniaturizing the apparatus. These apparatuses also experience problems in its purifying ability due to the limited convection of the indoor airs. Moreover, since a number of miniaturized purifying apparatuses have to be suitably installed at several locations that need air purification, the use of such apparatuses can be very costly. The apparatus is not so convenient to use because a user has to separately install and handle several apparatuses and use a separate power supply for the several apparatuses.

Hence, there has been a long felt need in the art for an air purifying apparatus which solves the aforementioned problems.

Disclosure of the Invention:

It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an air purifying apparatus which can purify indoor air without using fans and function as a normal illumination apparatus.

It is another object of the invention to provide an illumination apparatus which can be rapidly turned on even at low ambient temperatures.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an air purifying apparatus which eliminates the necessity of using fans, and thus lends itself to a simple manufacture in a compact size.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention to achieve the aforementioned object, an air purifying apparatus energized by a supply voltage is provided which comprises a housing; first voltage generating means disposed within the housing for generating a first voltage in response to the supply voltage; at least one lamp which is engaged with the housing and turned on in response to the first voltage from the first voltage generating means; second voltage generating means disposed within the housing for generating a second voltage that is high with respect to a reference voltage in response to the supply voltage; and negative ion generating means having an anode, a cathode, and an inlet which communicates with the exterior and engaged with the housing so as not to interfere with the light radiating outwards from at least one lamp. The reference voltage and the second voltage are applied to the anode and the cathode, respectively. The air is allowed to enter the inlet of the ion generating means for purification in the ion generating means by the action of a convection current formed around the negative ion generating means by heat emitted from at least one lamp.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an illumination apparatus with air purifying capability energized by a supply voltage is provided which comprises a housing; first voltage generating means disposed within the housing for generating a first voltage in response to the supply voltage; at least one lamp engaged with the housing and having two discharge electrodes across which the first voltage is applied; second voltage generating means disposed within the housing for generating a second voltage that is high with respect to a reference voltage in response to the supply voltage; and negative ion generating means having an anode, a cathode, and an inlet which communicates with the exterior and engaged with the housing so as not to interfere with the light radiating outwards from at least one lamp. The reference voltage and the second voltage are applied to the anode and the cathode, respectively. The negative ion generating means is disposed so that electrons are induced in the vicinity of one of two discharge electrodes by intervention of the negative ion generating means upon emission of thermal electrons from another discharge electrode in response to the first voltage. Thus, rapid turn-on

of at least one lamp may be accomplished.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, an air purifying apparatus energized by a supply voltage is provided which comprises a housing having an inlet, which allows the air to pass through, and an outlet; power supplying electrodes attached to the housing for receiving the supply voltage; DC voltage generating means disposed within the housing for generating a DC voltage that is high with respect to a reference voltage in response to the supply voltage; at least one discharge electrode fixed within the housing in the vicinity of the inlet, said at least one electrode being supplied with the reference voltage; ion collecting means disposed within the housing and which faces at least one discharge electrode peφendicularly and has at least one opening; and means for supplying the DC voltage to the ion collecting means. According to this aspect of the invention, the air which passes through the inlet is purified in the vicinity of at least one electrode within the housing by the action of negative ions emitted from at least one discharge electrode. The purified air then exits through at least one opening in addition to the outlet of the housing to the exterior.

In accordance with the present invention, air purification is done by the action of negative ions generated by the negative ion generator in cooperation with the illumination lamps. Accordingly, the apparatus is made easy to handle and the need to install a separate purifying apparatus can be eliminated. The structure of the apparatus according to the present invention is simple enough to be manufactured in a compact size and at low cost, since it does not need fan to create a convection of the air. Further, the apparatus according to the present invention does not require a large floor space as needed for conventional air purifying apparatuses.

Brief Description of the Drawings: •

The present invention will become more apparent upon a detailed description of the best mode for carrying out the invention as rendered below. In the description to follow, references will be made to the accompanying drawings, where like reference numerals are used to identify like parts in the various views and in which: Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the air purifying apparatus in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a partially cutaway exploded view of the negative ion generator in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the air purifying apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line A- A of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view to explain the operation of the air purifying apparatus in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

Fig. 6 illustrates a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the negative ion generator in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the negative ion generator in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 shows an exploded view of the negative ion generator in Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 shows a block diagram of the circuit including the circuit components mounted on the printed circuit board in Fig. 3; Fig. 10 illustrates a partially cutaway perspective view of the air purifying apparatus in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the air purifying apparatus in Fig. 10; and

Fig. 12 is a partial view of the first grille formed by fixing a plurality of annular rings to grille supports.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention:

Referring now to Fig. 1 , there is shown a perspective view of the air purifying apparatus 5 in accordance with the present invention. As shown in Fig 1, the apparatus 5 generally includes a housing 10, at least one lamp 12 engaged with the housing 10, spirally shaped electrodes 11 attached to the housing 10, and a negative ion generator 30. The housing 10 is to accommodate the components of the circuit 21 needed to operate the apparatus 5 and is made of an insulating material. The housing 10 consists of two separate parts, i.e., upper and lower parts 10a, 10b which are assembled together. On the lower side of the housing 10, the spirally shaped electrodes 11 are attached which will be assembled with a conventional power socket to receive the supply voltage from a power source which, for example, is the AC 117/220 V power supply. When a battery is used for the power source, the electrodes 11 are not required.

Three lamps 12 are illustrated as being engaged with the housing 10. When two or three lamps are used, it is preferable to position them to be spaced apart from each other such that a space 13 may be defined above the center portion of the upper surface of the housing 10c. The lamps 12 may take the shape of a curvilinear tube with two discharge electrodes and gaseous material sealed merewithin. The preferred form of the curvilinear tube is a U-shaped tube. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that the lamps 12 may include discharge lamps such as fluorescent lamps,

ultraviolet lamps or incandescent lamps. When the fluorescent lamps are used, they function as a normal illumination apparatus. If ultraviolet lamps are used instead of fluorescent lamps, they will sterilize various viruses by way of the ultraviolet rays generated therefrom. Further details will be given to the apparatus 5 in accordance with the invention with reference to Fig. 3 which shows a sectional view thereof. The inner circumferential surface of the housing 10 has two pairs of projections 14a, 14b, each having a recess. At the lower circumferential surface of the housing 10, a plurality of through holes 15 are defined to emit heat generated within the housing 10. On the upper surface 10c of the housing 10, a center hole 17 and holes 16 disposed along the circle concentric to the center hole 17 are defined. The recess defined by the pair of projections 14a supports a printed circuit board 20 on which the components of the circuit 21 (not shown), as will be described later with reference to Fig. 9, are mounted. The recess defined by the pair of projections 14b supports the board 28 which in turn rigidly sustains the lamps 12 by sockets fixed thereto (not shown).

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the negative ion generator 30 is preferably positioned in the space 13 surrounded by the lamps 12, although it may also be disposed at some positions adjacent to the lamps 12 such that the negative ion generator 30 does not interfere with the light radiating outwards from the lamps 12. The negative ion generator 30 comprises an ion collecting panel 31 which functions as a cathode, and an electron gun 34 which functions as an anode, as shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 2, the ion collecting panel 31 is illustrated which takes a cylindrical shape with both ends thereof open. The ion collecting panel 31 can be made of a material selected from the group consisting of copper, brass, aluminium, tungsten, carbon, and the like. The outer circumferential surface of the ion collecting panel 31 may be coated with a reflecting material to maximize the reflection of the light radiating from the lamps 12. At the outer circumferential surface of the ion collecting panel 31, a plurality of through holes 32 are arranged at regular intervals to form an inlet (or an outlet) of the air. These through holes 32 take a circular shape and are rounded off at the inner circumferential surface of the ion collecting panel 31 (refer to Fig. 5). Extensions 33 are formed at the lower end of the ion collecting panel 31. The extensions 33 are fit into the holes 16 defined on the upper surface 10c of the housing 10 to be secured therein. The highly amplified voltage from the circuit 21 is applied to the end of one of the extensions 33. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the electron gun 34 is installed at the center

portion within the ion collecting panel 31 so that it is spaced apart at a constant distance from the inner circumferential surface of the ion collecting panel 31. The electron gun 34 can be made of a material selected from the group consisting of gold, copper, brass, aluminium, tungsten, and the like. The electron gun 34 has a plurality of discharge electrodes 35 which are arranged at regular intervals and extend along the longitudinal direction. The outer edges of the discharge electrodes 35 are sharply shaped. It will be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that the proper number of the discharge electrodes 35 may be selected in conformance with the driving capacity of an inverter amplifier 25 in the circuit 21 which will be described later.

Referring again to Fig. 3, the electron gun 34 is shown to have ends 36a, 36b formed respectively at the upper and lower portions of the gun 34. The length of the end 36b is longer than that of the end 36a, as shown in Fig. 3. The ends 36a, 36b may be formed by machining after the discharge electrodes 35 are formed by extrusion. The ends 36a, 36b are respectively fit into first and second insulating member 37a, 37b. The end 36b is inserted through the second insulating member 37b such that the bottom surface 36c of the end 36b may be open. The reference voltage of the circuit 21 is applied to the bottom surface 36c of the end 36b whereby negative ions may be generated at the discharge electrodes 35 of the electron gun 34. Outer circumferential surfaces of the first and the second insulating members

37a, 37b have a corrugated shape. As shown in Fig. 2, a cover 39 which has a plurality of through holes 38 is formed on the upper surface of the first insulating member 37a. On the lower surface of the cover 39, a flange 40 is formed to be fit into the upper end of the ion collecting panel 31. On the lower portion of the second insulating member 37b, a boss 41 is formed to be fit into the center hole 17 of the housing 10 to be secured thereto.

Referring to Fig. 6, there is. shown an alternate embodiment of the negative ion generator 30' which is illustrated as being engaged with a housing 10' consisting of two separate parts, i.e., upper and lower parts 10a', 10b'. Fig. 7 illustrates a sectional view of the negative ion generator 30' in Fig. 6. The negative ion generator 30' generally includes an air filter 50, a cover 51, an ion collecting panel 52, a support 53, a dust filter 54, a discharge electrode 58, and a shield 59. As shown in Fig. 8 where an exploded view of the negative ion generator 30' is shown, the air filter 50, cover 51, ion collecting panel 52, support 53, and dust filter 54 are all formed as a cylindrical shape.

The pin-shaped discharge electrode 58 functions as an anode to emit negative ions. The discharge electrode 58 can be made of a material selected from the group consisting of gold, copper, brass, aluminium, tungsten, stainless steel, and the like. The reference voltage of the circuit 21 is applied to the discharge electrode 58. A lower portion of the discharge electrode 58 is enveloped by the shield 59 which extends to the interior of the upper part of the housing 10a' and shields the support 53 made of insulator from the high voltage applied to the discharge electrode 58. The end portion of the support 53 is assembled with a first annular ring 55 having threads, which in turn is assembled with a second annular ring 56 having threads. The second annular ring 56 is securably fixed to the upper part of the housing 10a' having a plurality of holes 60 defined on the upper surface thereof. The plurality of holes 60 should be of a suitable diameter so as to adequately receive the lower portions of the lamps 12. The dust filter 54 for trapping dust or coarser air particles is fit to the outer periphery of the lower portion of the support 53 having a plurality of through holes 53', i.e., inlets which allow the air to pass through. The ion collecting panel 52 is fit to the outer periphery of the upper portion of the support 53. The ion collecting panel 52 can be made of a material selected from the group consisting of copper, brass, aluminium, tungsten, carbon, and the like and functions as a cathode to collect the negative ions emitted from the discharge electrode 58. The highly amplified voltage from the circuit 21 is applied to the ion collecting panel 52.

The air filter 50 made of, for example, carbon is attached to the upper end of the ion collecting panel 52 for absorbing the chemical pollution such as ozone (O ₃ ). The air filter 50 and a portion of the ion collecting panel 52 are enclosed by the cover 51.

The operation of the air purifying apparatus 5 in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to Fig. 9 where a block diagram of the circuit including the circuit components mounted on the printed circuit board 20 in Fig. 3 is shown. Upon turning on a power switch disposed at the housing 10 (not shown) with the electrodes 11 assembled with a conventional power socket, the electrodes 11 are supplied with the supply voltage. The supply voltage of, for example, 117/220 V is fed through a fuse 22 to a rectifier 23 for rectification. The rectified voltage is then used by inverter amplifiers 24, 25 to generate the appropriately amplified sinusoidal signals. The sinusoidal signal of, for example, 41KHz from the inverter amplifier 24 drives the coil of the lamp 12 to effect discharge therewithin. On the other hand, the sinusoidal signal generated from the inverter amplifier 25 is fed to a transformer 26 such as a fly-back transformer where

the voltage level of the sinusoidal signal is adjusted. Alternatively, a single inverter amplifier may be used instead of the two inverter amplifiers 24, 25 to reduce the number of components mounted on the printed circuit board 20. The adjusted voltage is fed to a high voltage rectifier 27 where a DC voltage of approximately 7,000 - 10,000 V is generated. A reference voltage such as a ground potential of the circuit 21 is applied to the anode, i.e., the end 36b of the electron gun 34 or the discharge electrode 58, while the generated DC voltage is applied to the cathode, i.e., the extensions 33 of the ion collecting panel 31 or the panel 52, to enable it to collect the negative ions generated at the anode. When the lamps 12 are turned on, a convection current is spontaneously formed around the negative ion generator 30, 30' in the indoor air by the action of heat emitted from the lamps 12. Accordingly, the air is allowed to enter into the inlet consisting of the through holes 32 and the through holes 38 of the first insulating member 37a. The air which enters into the inlet is purified within the ion collecting panel 31 where a lot of negative ions generated from the discharge electrodes 35 are collected. The negative ions emitted from the discharge electrodes 35 have a tinge of blue which can be seen from the exterior via the through holes 32 or the through holes 38. Thus, users may easily identify the operational status of the negative ion generator 30. The purified air then exits through the outlet which also serves as the inlet. When the negative ion generator 30' in Fig. 7 is used instead of the generator

30 in Fig. 2, the purified air exits through the opening at the top of the generator 30' toward which the discharge electrode 58 is aligned. In this fashion, the lamps 12 and the negative ion generator 30, 30' operate together to make indoor air fresh and clear.

According to the present invention, the air purifying apparatus does not need any fan to create a convection of air, and thus is easy to be manufactured into a compact size. The structure of the apparatus is simple enough that the cost for manufacturing can be significantly reduced. Further, the apparatus does not require a large floor space as in the conventional air purifying apparatus.

Besides these benefits, the turn-on speed of discharge lamps can be significantly improved. In general, the filamentary electrodes of lamps should be sufficiently heated to emit thermal electrons therefrom. The lamp 12 is turned on, only after the emitted electrons reach the opposite electrode. When the ambient temperature falls below a certain level (for example, - 5°C), however, the lamp 12 may not be turned on or at least need more time to be turned on due to insufficient heating of the filamentary electrodes. This problem is circumvented by disposing the

negative ion generator 30, 30' in the vicinity of the lamp 12 as described herein. That is, electrons are induced in the vicinity of one of the two discharge electrodes of the lamp 12 by intervention of the negative ion generator 30, 30' upon emission of thermal electrons from another discharge electrode of the lamp 12. Since there is no need to stand by until the thermal electrons emitted from one electrode reach the opposite electrode, rapid turn-on of the apparatus 5 can be accomplished even in the low ambient temperature. In addition, the life time of the fluorescent lamps may be lengthened as the warm-up period of the filamentary electrodes is shortened.

The air purifying apparatus, once installed at the proper location where both illumination and air purification are required, performs its functions as soon as the lamps 12 and the negative ion generator 30, 30' start their operations in response to the supply voltage. Accordingly, the apparatus is very convenient to use.

The novel concepts of the present invention can also be readily adapted to the design of an air purifying apparatus which lends itself to a simple manufacture in a compact size. An air purifying apparatus 73 in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 10-12. Fig. 10 illustrates a partially cutaway perspective view of the air purifying apparatus 73. The air purifying apparatus 73 generally includes electrodes 11", a housing 61, 61', a first grille 63, and a second grille 70. As shown in Fig. 12, the first grille 63 is formed by fixing a plurality of annular rings 62 to grille supports 62'. In Fig. 12, the first grille 63 is exemplified as having three grille supports 62', but may have as many supports 62' as needed to rigidly support the plurality of annular rings 62. Inlets 64 of the first grille 63 defined between the plurality of annular rings 62 allow the air to enter into the interior of the housing 61 , 61 ' for purification therein. The purified air then exits through outlets 74 of the second grille 70.

Further details will be given to the apparatus 73 with reference to Fig. 11 where a sectional view of the air purifying apparatus is shown. An inlet air filter 65, four discharge electrodes 66, 66' (two electrodes are not shown), a connecting rod 67, an ion collecting panel 68, outlet air filters 69, 69', and a printed circuit board 72 are included within the housing 61, 61'. The cylindrically shaped inlet air filter 65 is positioned within and concentric to the first grille 63 whereby a uniform gap is defined between the filter 65 and the grille 63. A cup-shaped holder 62" with five stepped holes (two holes are not shown) defined at the bottom 62-1 thereof holds the printed circuit board 72 at the cylindrical side wall 62-2 thereof. The related electrical components for generating a high DC voltage to drive the ion collecting

panel 68 (not shown) are mounted on the printed circuit board 72. The holder 62" may be made as a part of the first grill 63. The four discharge electrodes 66, 66' which serve as anodes are inserted into four of the five stepped holes except the one at the center of the bottom 62-1. The remaining one positioned at the center of the bottom 62-1 has a boss 67' which extends from the bottom 62-1 down to the ion collecting panel 68. The connecting rod 67 is inserted into the stepped hole at the center of the bottom 62-1. The connecting rod 67 allows the high voltage generated in the printed circuit board 72 to be applied to the ion collecting panel 68. The ion collecting panel 68 which serves as a cathode has four openings 71 (two openings are not shown) at positions corresponding vertically to those of the four stepped holes. Since the four discharge electrodes 66, 66' are aligned towards the ion collecting panel 68, the energy due to the corona discharge forces the purified air to enter the four openings 71 and then exit through the outlet air filters 69, 69' and outlets 74 of the second grille 70 to the exterior. The outlet air filters 69, 69' held by the cylindrical side wall 61 " of the housing 61 ' may be made of carbon for absorbing the chemical pollution.

The air purifying apparatus 73 described herein may be conveniently installed by assembling its power electrodes 11" with the conventional power socket, and its structure may be made simple enough to be manufactured into a small size comparable to that of the discharge lamp. Further, the apparatus 73 can be easily disassembled into three separate parts, i.e., the housing 61, the housing 61', and the first grille 63 so that the outlet air filters 69, 69' or the electrical components on the printed circuit board 72 can be conveniently cleaned or replaced.

The present invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment in connection with a particular application. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings of the present invention will recognize additional modifications and applications within the scope thereof. For example, the invention is not limited to the specific structure of the negative ion generator described herein only for illustrative purposes. Further, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that incandescent lamps may also be used as the lamps with some modification in arrangement of the negative ion generator described herein.

It is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such applications, modifications, and embodiments within the scope of the present invention.