Description WET AIR CLEANING DEVICE

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a wet air-cleaning device, and more particularly, to a wet air-cleaning device that adsorbs pollutive materials in the air by means of the cohesive force of moisture particles and then removes the pollutive materials adsorbed to the moisture by means of the gravity and the centrifugal force that act in a cyclone. Background Art

[2] As is well known in the art, the air pollution due to industrialization and yellow sand increases day by day. There is therefore an increasing need for air-cleaning devices that provide pleasant indoor environments.

[3] Conventional air-cleaning devices mainly use an electrical dust-collecting method or a filter-based dust-collecting method to filter off pollutive materials, such as dust, from the air.

[4] The electrical dust-collecting method is high in energy consumption because it uses a high voltage. Also, if a wind velocity is high, or if a lot of dust is to be collected, the electrical dust-collecting method is low in the dust-collecting efficiency and thus can be used only in a limited place.

[5] The filter-based dust-collecting method mainly uses a dry filter. When using a HEPA filter, the filter-based dust-collecting method can achieve considerably high dust- collecting efficiency. However, the filter-based dust-collecting method has a limitation in that it cannot maintain the initial dust-collecting efficiency because an air pressure loss increases due to the accumulation of pollutive materials in the filter after the lapse of a predetermined use time.

[6] Furthermore, the filter-based dust-collecting method provides an environment for the reproduction of various viruses and bacteria because fine dust is accumulated in the filter. Also, the filter-based dust-collecting method leads to an economic loss because the expensive filter must be replaced continuously. Also, the filter-based dust- collecting method causes an environmental problem resulting from the disposal of the used-up filter.

[7] Also, the conventional dust-collecting devices can be used only as air-cleaning devices, failing to provide a humidifying function. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[8] The present invention provides a wet air-cleaning device that adsorbs pollutive materials in the air by means of fine moisture particles, thereby making it possible to

reduce the energy consumption for dust collection and also increase the dust collecting efficiency without using an expensive filter. Also, if necessary, the wet air-cleaning device can be used also as a humidifier. Technical Solution

[9] According to an aspect of the present invention, a wet air-cleaning device includes: a housing having a primary dust-collecting space defined therein; a blower fan configured to blow polluted air through an air inlet formed at one side of a lower portion of the housing; a sprayer configured to supply moisture particles to the polluted air blown by the blower fan; a cyclone having an upper portion coupled through the bottom of the housing to define a secondary dust-collecting space in the primary dust- collecting space, an air inlet passage formed at one side of the upper portion thereof to connect the primary dust-collecting space and the secondary dust-collecting space, a water outlet passage formed at the sidewall of a central portion thereof contacting the bottom of the housing to discharge the primarily-collected water condensed in the primary dust-collecting space into the secondary dust-collecting space, an outlet formed at the bottom thereof to discharge the secondarily-collected water condensed in the secondary dust-collecting space together with the primarily-collected water, and an air outlet pipe formed through the top of the housing to discharge the secondarily collected air from the cyclone; and a porous plate installed to provide a partition between the air inlet and the air inlet passage in the primary dust-collecting space between the housing and the cyclone.

[10] The sprayer may be one of an ultrasonic sprayer, a nozzle-based sprayer, and a heating/humidifying sprayer.

[11] The air inlet passage may have a guide vein connected between the housing and the cyclone.

[12] The bottom surface of the housing and the corresponding portion of the sidewall of the cyclone may be bent to form an S-shaped trap, and the water outlet passage may be formed to communicate with the S-shaped trap.

[13] The outlet of the cyclone may be bent into an S-shaped trap.

Advantageous Effects

[14] As described above, the wet air-cleaning device of the present invention adsorbs pollutive materials in the air by means of the cohesive force of the sprayed moisture particles, and separates the waterdrops condensed with the pollutive materials from the air by means of the gravity and the centrifugal force in the cyclone, thereby making it possible to reduce the energy consumption and also increase the dust collecting efficiency without using an expensive filter. Also, the wet air-cleaning device can be used also as a humidifier.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[15] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wet air-cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[16] FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the wet air-cleaning device taken along a line II-

II of FIG. 1;

[17] FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the wet air-cleaning device taken along a line

III-III of FIG. 2;

[18] FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of aportion of the wet air-cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[19] FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the wet air-cleaning device taken along a line

V-V of FIG. 4. Mode for the Invention

[20] The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thicknesses of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements, and thus their description will be omitted.

[21] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wet air-cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the wet air-cleaning device taken along a line II-II of FIG. 1.

[22] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a wet air-cleaning device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a housing 10, a cyclone 20, a porous plate 30, a blower fan 40, and a sprayer 50.

[23] The housing 10 receives an upper portion of the cyclone 20, which passes through and couples with the bottom surface of the housing 10, and has a primary dust- collecting space 11 defined therein.

[24] An air inlet 12 is formed at one side of a lower portion of the housing 10 to inhale polluted air together with fine moisture particles sprayed. An air inlet pipe 13 may connect to and extend from the air inlet 12.

[25] The blower fan 40 is configured such that polluted air flows through the air inlet 12 into the primary dust-collecting space 11 of the housing 10 at a constant flow rate and pressure. The present embodiment exemplifies that a sirocco fan is used as the blower fan 40.

[26] However, the blower fan 40 is not limited to a sirocco fan. The blower fan 40 may be

any type of blower fan that can provide a flow rate and pressure that can remove pollutive materials from the air that passes through the inside of the cyclone 20 and the housing 10 via the air inlet 12.

[27] The sprayer 50 sprays water such that, together with polluted air inhaled through the air inlet 12, fine moisture particles for purifying the polluted air flows into the housing 10 and the cyclone 20.

[28] Herein, the sprayer 50 may use a variety of spraying methods, such as an ultrasonic spraying method using an ultrasonic wave, a nozzle spraying method using a nozzle, and a heating/humidifying spraying method using steam. The ultrasonic spraying method is advantageous in that it can make water particles ultrafine, and that water particles injected into a dust-collecting device can be used also for moisturization as well as for dust collection because they can be discharged to the outside together with purified air.

[29] The primary dust-collecting space 11 in the housing 10 is used to mix polluted air with fine moisture particles, and also to primarily collect pollutive materials in polluted air by adsorbing pollutive materials in the air while condensing fine moisture particles.

[30] The air inlet pipe 13 may be connected at an angle to one side of the housing 10 so that fine moisture particles and pollutive materials in the air can be mixed and adsorbed more easily by spiral rotation in the housing 10 and the cyclone 20.

[31] The conical bottom of the cyclone 20 passes through and couples with the bottom of the housing 10, and the top of the cyclone 20 is received in the primary dust-collecting space 11 of the housing 10. The cyclone 20 is formed to define a secondary dust- collecting space 21 in the primary dust-collecting space 11.

[32] An air inlet passage 22 is formed at one sidewall of the cylindrical top of the cyclone

20 to connect the primary dust-collecting space 11 of the housing 10 and the secondary dust-collecting space 21 of the cyclone 20.

[33] FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the wet air-cleaning device taken along a line

III-III of FIG. 2.

[34] Referring to FIG. 3, a streamlined guide vein 14 is provided at one side of the air inlet passage 22 to connect between the housing 10 and the cyclone 20.

[35] The guide vein 14 guides polluted air and moisture particles, which flows from the primary dust-collecting space 11 of the hosing 10 through the air inlet passage 22 into the secondary dust-collecting space 21 of the cyclone 20, so that the polluted air and the moisture particles rotatively flows into the secondary dust-collecting space 21 of the cyclone 20.

[36] The air inlet passage 22 reduces the sectional area of a flow channel into the secondary dust-collecting space 21 of the cyclone 20 to increase the flow rate of polluted air flowing into the cyclone 20, thus making it possible to provide a flow rate

necessary for a spiral rotation in the cyclone 20.

[37] Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, the porous plate 30 is installed in the primary dust- collecting space 11 between the housing 10 and the cyclone 20 to provide a partition between the air inlet 12 and the air inlet passage 22. The porous plate 30 may be formed in the shape of a plate with a mesh.

[38] The porous plate 30 adsorbs pollutive materials in such a way that fine moisture particles and polluted air, which flowed into the primary dust-collecting space 11 of the housing 10, adhere thereto and condense into the shape of waterdrops while passing therethrough.

[39] Thus, the fine moisture particles grow in the shape of waterdrops to form a water film on the bottom of the porous plate 30, thereby making it possible to adsorb also micron-sized particles that are difficult to adsorb by the fine moisture particles.

[40] The waterdrops, which have grown on the bottom of the porous plate 30 to a predetermined size or more, are collected after falling from the bottom of the housing 10 by gravity.

[41] Preferably, the porous plate 30 is formed with a range of a mesh that enables inflow air to spirally fall/rise in the secondary dust-collecting space 21 of the cyclone 20 with sufficient centrifugal force, by minimizing an air pressure loss while continuously condensing fine moisture particles and adsorbing pollutive materials.

[42] Also, a water outlet passage 23 is formed at the sidewall of a central portion of the cyclone 20, which contacts the bottom of the housing 10, to discharge primarily- collected water, which have been collected on the bottom of the housing 10 after falling from the porous plate 30, into the secondary dust-collecting space 21 of the cyclone 20.

[43] FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of the wet air-cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the wet air-cleaning device taken along a line V-V of FIG. 4.

[44] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the water outlet passage 23 is formed through the sidewall of the cyclone 20 such that it communicates with an S-shaped trap that is formed by bending a bottom surface 16 of the housing 10 and a corresponding portion of a sidewall 26 of the cyclone 20.

[45] Preferably, the water outlet passage 23 is formed in plurality along the circumference of the cyclone 20, such that they are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. The present embodiment exemplifies that four water outlet passages 23 are formed along the circumference of the cyclone 20.

[46] The S-shaped trap is configured to discharge only the primarily-collected water, which have been collected on the bottom of the housing 10, and to prevent air, which rotates spirally in the secondary dust-collecting space 21 of the cyclone 20, from

flowing reversely into the primary dust-collecting space 11 of the housing 10.

[47] In this manner, the primarily-collected water, which have been collected on the bottom of the housing 10, flows along the inclined inner wall surface of the cyclone 20 to form a water film on the inner wall surface of the cyclone 20, thereby making it possible to maximize dust adsorption.

[48] Meanwhile, polluted air and moisture particles, which have flowed through the air inlet passage 22 into the cyclone 20, rotate spirally. At this point, relatively heavy moisture particles and pollutive materials in the air are separated from relatively light air by gravity and centrifugal force acting in the cyclone 20.

[49] That is, in the cyclone 20, the relatively heavy moisture particles and pollutive materials fall spirally by the gravity and the centrifugal force whereas the relatively light air rises spirally.

[50] Thus, the moisture particles separated from the air are condensed with each other to accelerate the formation of waterdrops, which causes more pollutive particles to be adsorbed to water particles.

[51] Furthermore, secondarily-condensed water, which results from the condensation of moisture particles into waterdrops, flows down by the spiral fall action of the cyclone 20 to form a water film along the inclined lower surface of the cyclone 20.

[52] Thus, pollutive particles, which have not yet been adsorbed, can be adsorbed more toward the bottom of the cyclone 20 by the water film formed on the inclined surface of the cyclone 20.

[53] In this manner, the pollutive particles adsorbed to the water film flow down together with the water forming the water film, thus cleaning down the dust adsorbed by the primarily-collected water discharged through the water outlet passage 23.

[54] An outlet 24 is formed at the bottom of the cyclone 20 to discharge the secondarily- collected water condensed in the secondary dust-collecting space 21, together with the primarily-collected water. The outlet 24 is bent into an S-shaped trap.

[55] Since the outlet 24 is bent into an S-shaped trap, it is possible to prevent a pressure loss in the cyclone 20 that may occur during the discharge of the collected water together with the dust.

[56] Referring back to FIG. 2, an air outlet pipe 25 is formed through the top of the housing 10 to discharge the secondarily collected air from the cyclone 20.

[57] The air outlet pipe 25 is configured to discharge clean air, which results from the separation of pollutive materials by the gravity and the centrifugal force and the adsorption of pollutive materials by the cohesive force of moisture, from the primary dust-collecting space 11 of the housing 10 and the secondary dust-collecting space 21 of the cyclone 20. In this case, if an ultrasonic sprayer is used as the sprayer 50, the wet air-cleaning device can be used also as a humidifier because it can discharge spare

water particles together with clean air.

[58] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.