Background of the invention

The invention relates to a sensing device which is intended to determine properties of air or properties of airborne particles. The sensing device comprises at least

The invention further relates to a method of deter mining properties of air or properties of airborne parti cles .

The field of the invention is defined more specif ically in the preambles of the independent claims.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is an important consider ation in creating a satisfactory environment in office buildings, schools, and health care facilities. Indoor air contaminants can originate within the building or be drawn in from outdoors. Known air quality sensing devices are clumsy and expensive laboratory equipment or stationary wall or ceiling mounted complex systems.

Brief description of the invention

An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved sensing device. The invention further relates to a method of sensing properties of air.

The sensing device according to the invention is characterized by the characterizing features of an inde pendent apparatus claim.

The method according to the invention is character ized by the charactering features and steps of an independ ent method claim.

An idea of the disclosed solution is that indoor air quality (IAQ) may be determined by means of a portable sensing device which comprises one or more sensing units for determining properties of surrounding air by means of one or more air sensors. The device further comprises one or more indicating units for indicating the detected air quality. The sensing device is provided with a body, which comprises at least one elongated air channel element. Both ends of the air channel element are open, whereby air flow may be conveyed through it. The mentioned sensing unit is mounted inside the air channel element, whereby the air sensors of the unit are configured to sense properties of the air flow. Further, the mentioned indicating device com prises at least one light source for providing visual in dication of the detected air quality. In other words, air quality inside the air channel element is detected and the results are indicated visually by illuminating the air chan nel element with different colors or effects in response to the determined air quality.

An advantage of the disclosed solution is that the visual indication of the air quality is easy to see by all persons occupying the monitored indoor space. The device has elegant appearance since the air channel element is illuminated instead of using conventional indicating lamps providing spot-like light beams. Since the sensing device is portable it is easy to move it to different rooms and indoor spaces, and to place it to desired locations in these spaces. Further, the portable device may easily be taken along so that the device may monitor the surrounding air where ever the person visits during the day.

A further advantage is that, the sensing unit is mounted inside the air channel element wherein it is well protected against external forces and conditions. This way, the sensing unit and the air sensor are not damaged during transport and when the sensing device is positioned in harsh circumstances. An additional advantage is that the sensing device may have esthetically pleasant appearance and the device may have desired design when technical components are arranged inside the structure and are not visible to outside .

According to an embodiment, natural air flow is configured to flow through the air channel element. Thus, the sensing is executed without applying any forced air flow through the air channel. In other words, the air sensors are positioned in the natural air stream.

According to an embodiment, measuring the air flow ing naturally through the air channel element which is ori entated vertically.

According to an embodiment, the sensing unit is the only device arranged inside the air channel element.

According to an embodiment, the air channel element is a tubular element. The element may have round or oval cross-sectional shape. Alternatively, the air channel ele ment may have hollow rectangular or triangular cross sec tion, or it may be polygon shaped.

According to an embodiment, the air channel element is transparent or at least partly transparent. Then the lightning system may be configured to illuminate the air channel element in order to make transparent material of the element to glow.

According to an embodiment, the air channel element is made of transparent polymer material. Polymers are light weight, inexpensive and durable materials.

According to an embodiment, the air channel element is made of transparent plexiglass. The plexiglass is inex pensive and durable, and it is easy to shape it into dif ferent shapes and forms.

According to an embodiment, the air channel element is made of glass.

According to an embodiment, the air channel element is a transparent piece having opaline appearance. The opal ine appearance may be made by sanding inner or outer sur faces of the element, for example.

According to an embodiment, the mentioned at least one light source is configured to illuminate substantially the entire air channel.

According to an embodiment, the mentioned at least one light source is configured to illuminate the air channel at least partly. According to an embodiment, the mentioned at least one light source is configured to illuminate the air channel only partly and at one or more selected illumination areas or points.

According to an embodiment, the mentioned at least one light source is configured to illuminate at least an outer surface of the air channel element in response to the detected indoor air quality. Then, the at least one light source and the transparent air channel element are config ured to co-operate and to serve as a functional illuminating pair .

According to an embodiment, the sensing device com prises several light sources each of them locating at least partly inside structure of the air channel element and are configured to direct their light directly inside material of the air channel element. An advantage of this embodiment is that the light beam is spread inside the air channel material and provides thereby pleasant visual effect.

According to an embodiment, several light sources are evenly spaced at a same plane, wherein direction of the plane is perpendicular to longitudinal direction of the air channel element.

According to an embodiment, number of the light sources is at least four.

According to an embodiment, the light sources are configured to illuminate an outer surface of air channel element entirely.

According to an embodiment, the light sources are mounted on an outer surface of the air channel element. The outer surface may comprise grooves, holes or other recesses for receiving the light sources.

According to an embodiment, the light sources are located at a support element of a mounting element sur rounding the flow channel. Then the support element prevents direct visibility of the light beam so that the device is illuminated in elegant way. According to an embodiment, the light sources are mounted between two successive components or layer of the air channel element. Then, the light sources may be arranged between an inner tube and an outer tube, which together form the air channel element.

According to an embodiment, the light sources are mounted to the body of the sensing device and at a root of the air channel element which protrudes from the body. The light sources at the root of the air channel element illu minate the outer surface of the element.

According to an embodiment, color of the produced light of the light sources is configured to change in re sponse to the detected air quality. The device may comprise pre-defined or changeable color codes for different states of air condition. Green color may indicate good air quality and red color may indicate poor air quality, for example. It is also possible to implement flashing and variation in light intensity when communicating the detected air quality visually .

According to an embodiment, sensing device com prises one or more light sources for illuminating at least the outer surface of the air channel element. Further, the mentioned one or more light sources are led bulbs. Color of the produced light of the led bulbs is configured to change in response to the detected air quality. The use of led bulbs is advantageous since their energy consumption is low, their lifetime is long and they may be controlled in several various ways including changing their color and providing pulsating light, for example. A further advantage is that their heat production is low and they are rather small in size, which facilitates their mounting in small and sensi tive places.

According to an embodiment, the sensing device com prises one or more led bulbs. The led bulbs are configured to direct the produced light directly inside transparent material of the air channel element. This way the generated light will spread more evenly and it may provide the sensing device with elegant appearance.

According to an embodiment, grooves, light channels or other light transmitting paths are formed to the air channel element for generating desired light effects. Thus, there are several alternative ways for making attractive outlook for the sensing device.

According to an embodiment, the body comprises at least one mounting element for mounting the sensing device in a removable manner. The removable mounting of the sensing device makes it versatile for different use cases.

According to an embodiment, the mounting element is a quick coupling element suitable for tool-free mounting.

According to an embodiment, the mounting element comprises connecting clips or jaws.

According to an embodiment, the mounting element comprises at least one magnetic coupling member.

According to an embodiment, the sensing device is a mobile independedly operable device provided with a power storage, such as a battery, for storing needed electric energy needed for the sensing devices, processing the gath ered data and for communicating the data with an external device by means of a data communication unit. Transporting this kind of device is easy, whereby the same device may be used at home and at office. The sensing device may monitor air quality where ever the user is. During night time bat teries of the sensing device may be charged.

According to an embodiment, the sensing device is a portable or wearable device. The sensing device may comprise hang mounting means such as a hook or loop for mounting it to a bag or to clothing so that the device will follow the user where ever the user travels.

According to an embodiment, the sensing unit is supported against inner surfaces of the air channel element. This way the mounting of the sensing unit may be simple. Further, number of components of the body of the sensing unit may be low.

According to an embodiment, the sensing unit com prises a circuit card opposite edges of which are supported directly against inner surfaces of the air channel element.

According to an embodiment, the sensing unit is supported against inner surfaces of the air channel element and between the sensing unit and the inner surfaces of the air channel element is friction mounting. Thus, the mounting of the sensing unit is easy and fast, and further, the sensing unit may be easily removed in case it needs to be changed or updated.

According to an embodiment, the sensing device has a designed vertical mounting direction. Then the air channel element of the device is orientated vertically and air is flowing vertically through the air channel. The vertical orientation improves natural air flow through the air chan nel, of course.

According to an embodiment, the air channel element comprises an opaque inner tube and a transparent outer tube. The opaque inner tube covers the sensing unit and possible other components mounted inside the air channel. An outer surface of the inner tube may have desired color and pat terns since it is visible through the transparent outer tube. Further, the outer tube may be provided with desired surface decorations such as protrusions, grooves and shapes.

According to an embodiment, the air sensor of the sensing unit may be selected from the following list of sensors: temperature sensor, humidity sensor, CO concentra tion sensor, fine particle sensor, NOx sensor, SOx sensor, radiation sensor, VOC sensor.

According to an embodiment, the sensing unit com prises several different air sensors. The air sensors are configured to determine at least temperature, humidity, CO concentrations and concentrations of fine particulate mat ter . According to an embodiment, the sensing unit is connected to at least one control unit which comprises at least one processor for processing data gathered by the at least one air sensor and being transmitted to the control unit. The control unit determines air quality properties and controls operation of the light sources in response to the detected properties of the air.

According to an embodiment, the sensing unit com prises at least one integrated control unit, which is lo cated physically in connection with the sensing device.

According to an embodiment, the control unit is located external to the sensing unit and the sensing unit comprises at least one data transmission unit for remote communication with the at least one external control unit. The sensing device is network-enabled so as to simultane ously transmit the gathered data to one or more external devices and is correspondingly capable to receive infor mation through the wireless communication path.

According to an embodiment, the sensing unit is provided with data transmission unit for data transfer be tween at least one server or portable electrical device, such as a lap top computer or smart phone.

According to an embodiment, the gathered measuring data of the sensing unit is transmitted to a cloud service via a data transmission connection. The measuring data may be processed and analyzed in the cloud service and deter mined air quality values may be transmitted to the sensing device for illumination purposes. The cloud service may also be configured to control the light sources of the sensing device directly, whereby the sensing device may be without any dedicated control unit. The data transmission between the sensing device and the cloud service, Internet and any external servers and electronic devices may be based on any wireless data transmission technology such as wireless lo cal area network (WLAN), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, for example. Wi-Fi is a technology for wireless local area networking with devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards.

According to an embodiment, the gathered measuring data of the sensing unit is transmitted to a cloud service via a data transmission connection. The data transmission may be based on a Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) . This technology is also used as Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) net work or Long range (LoRa) or Low-Power Network (LPN) . The LPWAN is a type of wireless telecommunication wide area network designed to allow long range communications at a low bit rate among connected objects. The LPWAN is useful for sensing devices operated on a battery, since energy consumption of the data transmission is low.

According to an embodiment, the sensing device is configured to operate without utilizing any forced air flow. Therefore the sensing device is without air moving elements and is not connected to an air circulating or air condi tioning system. When the sensing device has no air propel ling elements such as air fans, the structure may be simple and durable. Further, energy consumption of the sensing device may be low for the same reason.

According to an embodiment, the sensing device is configured to determine sound pressure and to indicate mag nitude of the detected sound pressure by illuminating the air channel element with different colors. Further, the device may detect the sound pressure and may simultaneously illuminate the present sound pressure level by means of multicolor lights flashing in response to the detected sound pressure level.

According to an embodiment, the sensing device is configured to determine ambient light. The sensing device may also detect UV light. Thus, the device may comprise two dedicated light sensors, or alternatively one combination light sensor may be sufficient.

According to an embodiment, the sensing device is an at-office environmental monitoring device. However, the same sensing device may be utilized as an at-home and at- office environmental monitoring device since it is porta ble, light weight and small in size.

The above disclosed embodiments may be combined in order to form suitable solutions having those of the above features that are needed.

Brief description of the figures

Some embodiments are described in more detail in the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a sensing device for determining and monitoring air quality,

Figure 2 is a schematic top view of a sensing device fastened to an observation point,

Figure 3 is a schematic view of a mounting element of a sensing device,

Figure 4 is a schematic top view of a sensing device provided with an air channel element with rectangular shape,

Figures 5 - 8 are schematic and partly cross sec tional views showing some alternative ways of illuminating an air channel element of a sensing device with light sources ,

Figure 9 is a diagram showing that the sensing de vice may be provided with various sensors for detecting features relating to healthy air and environment, and

Figure 10 is a schematic top view of the solution of Figure 1 and illustrates location of the light source.

For the sake of clarity, the figures show some em bodiments of the disclosed solution in a simplified manner. In the figures, like reference numerals identify like ele ments .

Detailed description of some embodiments

Figure 1 shows a sensing device 1 comprising a body 2, which is provided with an elongated air channel element 3 having vertical V orientation. The body 2 has a base body 4, which may have a ring-shaped configuration. The base body supports the elongated air channel element 3 and is con nected to a mounting element 5 by means of which the sensing device 1 may be fastened to a desired observation position. The mounting element 5 may comprise a shaft 6 and connecting means 7, such as mechanical or magnetic fastening means. The mounting element 5 allows the sensing device to be mounted in a removable manner.

The air channel element 3 has open ends and natural air flow F may flow through a flow channel 8 or air detection channel, as is indicated by means of arrows. Inside the flow channel 8 is a sensing unit 9 comprising one or more air sensors. The sensing unit 9 may communicate with one or more external devices 10 by means of a data communication con nection 11. Thus, the sensing device 1 may send and receive data to and from external servers, control units CU, cloud services CS, computers and portable electronic devices PD, such as smart phones, for example. The sensing device 9 may transmit gathered raw data to one or more external devices 10 for being analysed and may receive control commands for executing visualization of current state of air quality.

Figure 2 discloses a sensing device 1 wherein an air channel element 3 is a tubular piece comprising an outer tube 3a and an inner tube 3b inside the outer tube 3a. Inside a flow channel 8 is a sensing unit 9, which may comprise a circuit card 12 opposite edges of which are supported directly against inner surfaces of the inner tube 3b. One or more air sensors 13 may be mounted on the circuit card 12 as well as a data transmission unit 14. Further, one or more control units 15 may also be arranged on the circuit card 12 when needed. The sensing device 1 may be mounted to a wall surface W or corresponding mounting place by means of a mounting element 5 comprising a magnetic fastener 16. Then the sensing device 1 is very easy to mount and detach. The sensing device 1 may comprise an energy storage, such as battery B for providing the sensing unit 9 with needed electrical energy. The battery B may be lo cated in connection with the mounting element 5.

Figure 3 discloses an alternative mounting element 5, which is intended to be mounted to a bar 17 or corre sponding element. The mounting element 5 may comprise clamp arms 18a, 18b which are pressed against the bar 17.

Figure 4 discloses a sensing device 1 comprising an air channel element 3 the shape of which is rectangular. Inside the air channel element 3 is a flow channel 8 pro vided with a sensing unit 9. The sensing unit comprises one or more air sensors and other needed components even though they are not shown in Figure 4. However, Figure 4 discloses that the sensing unit 9 may comprise one more light sources

19 for illuminating the air channel element 3, which may be made of transparent material.

In Figure 5 an air channel element 3 comprises a recess 20 at a sensing unit 9. A light source 19, such as a led bulb, is arranged inside the recess 20 so that light beam may be conveyed inside material of the element 3.

In Figure 6 the air channel element 3 comprises an outer tube 3a or element and an inner tube 3b or element. The inner tube 3b may be made of opaque material. A recess

20 is formed in order to allow a light source to be mounted inside the transparent outer tube 3a.

Figure 7 discloses an embodiment wherein an inner surface of the air channel element 3 is provided with an opaque coating 21 or surface treating in order to prevent inserted components to be seen from outside. Further, on outer surfaces of the element 3 may be one or more grooves 22 or other surface shapes by means of which visual appear ance of the illumination may be influenced.

In Figure 8 the air channel element 3 comprises a light channel 23 and the light sources 19 are mounted inside the channel 23. Light sources 19 may be controlled by means of a light controller 24, which may be located in the sens ing unit 9. Let it be further mentioned, that Figure 1 discloses that several light sources 19a, such as led bulbs, may be mounted to the ring-shaped body 4 so that they can illumi nate the outer surface of the air channel element 3. The light sources 19a may thereby serve as root lights and they may serve as additional lights to those disclosed earlier in this patent application, or in some cases they may even substitute them.

Figure 9 discloses some features which may be mon itored by means of the disclosed sensing device. The men tioned features are clear as such. However, the feature NOx is a generic term for the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution, namely nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (N02) . NOx gases are usually produced from the reaction among nitrogen and oxygen during combustion of fuels in air; especially at high temperatures, such as occur in car engines. In large cities, the nitrogen oxides emitted can be a significant source of air pollution. Sulfur Dioxide (S02) is one of a group of gases called sulfur oxides (SOx) . While all of these gases are harmful to human health and the environment, S02 is of greater concern. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects.

Further, the device may be provided with an UV index sensor, ambient light sensor or any other dedicated light sensors, or with a combination light sensor. For example, by means of such light sensors it is possible to detect if lights are switched on in the monitored room space, which information is valuable for access control. The sensing data gathered by the light sensors may also be implemented for other monitoring purposes.

Figure 10 discloses that the light source 19 may be arranged at the mounting element 5 whereby direct beam of light is visible outside the device but instead the light source 19 illuminates the flow channel 8. The light source 19 may comprise several led bulbs which may be mounted to the mounting element 5 or to the flow channel 8.

The drawings and the related description are only intended to illustrate the idea of the invention. In its details, the invention may vary within the scope of the claims .