Air purifier and air purification method

An air purifier including: a filter which removes contaminants from air passing therethrough; a fan which generates a flow force to pass air through the filter; and a rotating body rotatably mounted in the air purifier and defining a flow path around the fan, a discharge direction of the flow path being varied by rotation of the rotating body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-40001, filed on Jun. 2, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an air purifier, and more particularly, to a freestanding air purifier in which a discharge direction of purified air can be varied.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a freestanding air purifier defines a flow path around an axial flow fan vertically mounted therein for intaking and discharging ambient air, and has a filter provided at an intake port for filtrating contaminants present in ambient air. This type of air purifier is referred to as a freestanding air purifier since its body has a vertically extended shape.

In such a freestanding air purifier, a discharge port is formed at the opposite side of the intake port such that intake air at the intake port is purified by the filter and discharged to the opposite side thereof, and is formed with an auto-blade allowing a variation of a specified angle so as to vary a discharge angle of the purified air.

In the freestanding air purifier, an air-stream flows from the rear side of the air purifier provided with the intake port to the front side thereof provided with the discharge port. Here, although, in the case where the discharge angle of air is varied by means of the auto-blade, the variation of the air-stream is slight. As a result, the variation of the air-stream is considerably restricted, so that the overall air-stream is not significantly changed.

Accordingly, when indoor air is purified by the conventional air purifier as described above, there is a problem in that as the purified air is distributed mainly from the font side of the air purifier, the purified air is non-uniformly distributed depending on where the air purifier is positioned in an installation area, thereby making the degree of air pollution non-uniform in the installation area.

Furthermore, there is a problem in that, since the discharge of the purified air is concentrated in one direction, it takes a long time to purify the entire installation area, thereby lowering purification efficiency.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present invention has been made in view of these and/or other problems involved with the above-mentioned conventional air purifier, and one aspect of the present invention is to provide an air purifier, which can allow a free variation in a discharge direction of purified air, thereby making degree of air pollution of an installation area uniform.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide an air purifier, which can reduce time for purifying the installation area, thereby enhancing purification efficiency.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an air purifier, including: a filter which removes contaminants from air flowing therethough; a fan which generates a flow force to pass through the filter; and a rotating body rotatably mounted in the air purifier and defining a flow path around the fan, a discharge direction of the flow path being varied b rotation of the rotating body.

The air purifier may include a driving motor which rotates the rotating body.

The rotating body may include a rear guide and a stabilizer therein, and the flow path may include an intake flow path through the filter, and a discharge flow path defined by the rear guide and the stabilizer.

The air purifier may further include a gear assembly which transfers a driving force of the driving motor to the rotating body.

The rotating body may include multiple rotating bodies so as to have two or more discharge directions.

The multiple rotating bodies may comprise first and second rotating bodies provided such that the first and second rotating bodies are located at upper and lower stages in the air purifier, respectively.

The first and second rotating bodies may be driven such that the first and second rotating bodies have an independent rotating direction, respectively.

The air purifier may include first and second driving motors in the body of the air purifier which respectively rotate the first and second rotating bodies.

The first and second rotating bodies may be driven such that the first rotating body rotates in relation to the second rotating body.

The air purifier may include a driving motor, the first rotating body may be directly mounted on the second rotating body, and the second rotating body may be rotated by the driving motor and thus drives the first rotating body.

An air purifier including: a rotating body defining an airflow path having an air intake section and an air exhaust section, the rotating body having a discharge direction extending from the air exhaust section; a filter assembly which removes contaminants in air passing therethrough and is disposed at the air intake section; a fan which generates an air flow to draw air into the airflow path through the intake section and around the fan. The discharge direction is variable by rotation of the rotating body.

An air purifier including: a body having a first and a second rotating bodies each having an airflow path between an air intake section and an air exhaust section thereof, each rotating body having a discharge direction extending from the air exhaust section and each rotating body being independently rotatable with respect to the other rotating body; a filter assembly which removes contaminants in air passing therethrough and is disposed at the air intake section of each rotating body; and a fan which generates an air flow to draw air into the airflow path through the intake sections and around the fan. The discharge direction of each rotating body is variable by rotation of the rotating body.

An air purifier including: a body having a first and a second rotating bodies each having an airflow path between an air intake section and an air exhaust section, each rotating body having a discharge direction extending from the air exhaust section thereof, the first rotating body being rotatable in relation to the second rotating body; a filter assembly which removes contaminants in air passing therethrough and is disposed at the air intake section of each rotating body; and a fan which generates an air flow to draw air into the airflow path through the intake sections and around the fan. The discharge direction of each rotating body is variable by rotation of the rotating body.

A method of purifying air, including: providing a rotating body which defines a flow path to intake air in an intake direction and to discharge air in a discharge direction; generating an air flow to intake air into the flow path and to discharge air from the flow path; and varying at least one of an intake direction and a discharge direction by rotating the rotating body.

Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 to 3show an air purifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Referrin toFIGS. 1-3, the air purifier according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a cylindrical body100standing upright, and a rotating body140rotatably mounted in the body100.

The body100comprises an upper body110provided with an operation part111for controlling the air purifier, a lower body120provided with a fulcrum121for supporting the body100so that it does not fall down, and a support130for connecting the upper and lower bodies110and120to each other. The operation part111is provided with an operation button111afor inputting a signal for operating the air purifier, and a display111bfor displaying an operating state of the air purifier. The body100is provided at a specified position therein with a controller for controlling operation of each component according to an input from the operation part111.

An axial flow fan101is provided between the upper and lower bodies110and120, respectively, parallel to the central axis of the upper and lower bodies110and120. The top end of the axial flow fan101is slidably provided at a lower surface of the upper body110, and the lower end of the axial flow fan101is connected to a driving axis of a fan motor102for driving the axial flow fan101.

Referring toFIG. 3, the rotating body140is provided around the axial flow fan101such that an intake flow path141and a discharge flow path142for air are defined around the center of the axial air fan101. As an entrance of the intake flow path141, there is provided an intake port143, which has a filter assembly150for removing dust, fumes, order and other contaminants suspended in the air.

The filter assembly150includes a filter151, and a filter case152for fixing the filter151. As for the filter151, a typical filter for an air purifier, in which an antibacterial pre-filter for filtrating relatively large dust particles, a dust collection filter for removing fine particles, and the like are collectively coupled to each other, is used. The filter151is mounted on the intake flow path141with an edge of the filter151fixed to the filter case152. The filter case152is provided with an intake grill such that air can be inhaled therethrough. It is preferable that the filter case151be detachably coupled to the intake flow path141for making it easy to replace or clean the filter151.

At the opposite side of the intake flow path141, the discharge flow path142is defined by a rear guide145and a stabilizer146, and at the rear end of the discharge flow path142, a discharge port144having a discharge grill is provided.

Approximate intake and discharge directions of air, defined by the structure of the flow path as described above, are indicated by an arrow A inFIG. 3. Such a flow path can be varied by rotation of the rotating body140. The structure for varying the flow path is illustrated inFIG. 2. Specifically, the upper body110is provided with a driving motor148for rotating the rotating body140. A driving force of the driving motor148is transferred to the rotating body140by a gear transmission. For this purpose, the driving motor148has a driving shaft formed with a pinion149, and the cylindrical rotating body140has a internal gear147engaging with the pinion149at the upper end in the rotating body140. The driving motor148employs a stepping motor, which can rotate in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions, and is controlled by the controller. As the rotating body140rotates by the driving force of the driving motor148, the discharge direction of air can be freely varied, and the discharge direction of air is controlled such that air can be discharged in all directions from the body100. The upper and lower bodies110and120are provided with guide rails112and122at the bottom surface of the upper body110and at the top surface of the lower body120, respectively, for allowing the rotating body140to easily rotate.

Operation of the air purifier according to the first embodiment is described below.

When starting the air purifier through the operation part111, an airflow is generated with rotation of the axial flow fan101. Air is inhaled through the intake grill, and filtrated through the filter151, so that foreign substances in the air can be removed therefrom, providing purified air. The purified air is blown along the discharge flow path142by the axial flow fan101.

Operation of the driving motor148to vary a blowing direction of air causes the entire rotating body140to rotate, changing the positions of the intake flow path141and the discharge flow path142, so that the discharge direction of air is varied. According to control of the rotation by the driving motor148, air can be discharged in all directions from the body100, and the air contained in the installation area can be uniformly purified by continuously changing the discharge direction of the air.

An air purifier according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 4 and 5below.

The air purifier according to the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the air purifier according to the first embodiment, except that the air purifier according to the second embodiment has a rotating body divided into two parts on upper and lower stages in order to more variously change the discharge direction of purified air.

The air purifier according to the second embodiment includes a cylindrical body200standing upright, as in the case of the air purifier according to the first embodiment, and a first and second rotating bodies240and270, respectively, mounted on the upper and lower stages in the body200.

The body200comprises an upper body210provided with an operation part211for controlling the air purifier, a lower body220provided with a fulcrum222, an intermediate body260between the first and second rotating bodies240and270, and a support230for connecting them.

An axial flow fan201, which generates a flow force for intaking and discharging air, is provided between the upper and lower bodies210and220via the intermediate body260. The lower body220is provided with a fan motor202for driving the axial flow fan201.

Like the rotating body of the air purifier according to the first embodiment, the first and second rotating bodies240and270are defined with intake and discharge flow paths, respectively, and provided with filter assemblies, respectively, for removing foreign substances from the air.

The intermediate body260is provided with a first driving motor248for rotating the first rotating body240, and the lower body220is provided with a second driving motor278for rotating the second rotating body270, such that the first and second rotating bodies240and270, respectively, can vary intake and discharge directions of air relative to each other. The driving motors248and278have driving shafts formed with pinions249and279(shown inFIG. 2), respectively. The first and second rotating bodies240and270respectively have internal gears247and277respectively engaging with the pinions249and279at inner periphery surfaces of the lower ends of the rotating bodies240and270, respectively, thereby transferring a driving force through a gear transmission.

Operation of the air purifier according to the second embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment. However, since the air purifier according to the second embodiment has the first and second rotating bodies240and270separated at the upper and lower stages, the rotational directions of the first and second rotating bodies240and270can be independently controlled, so that the purified air can be more uniformly distributed to respective positions of an installation area.

An air purifier according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 6 and 7as follows.

The air purifier according to the third embodiment is a modification of that of the second embodiment. The air purifier according to the third embodiment is the same as that of the air purifier according to the second embodiment in that first and second rotating bodies340and370are provided at upper and lower stages of the air purifier. However, there is a difference between the first and second embodiments in that the first rotating body340can rotate in relation to the second rotating body370below the first rotating body340.

As shown inFIGS. 6 and 7, the air purifier according to the third embodiment includes a body300having an operation part311for controlling the air purifier and a fulcrum322, and the first and second rotating bodies340and370mounted at the upper and lower stages in the body300.

An axial flow fan301, which generates a flow force for intaking and discharging air, is provided at the center between the first and second rotating bodies340and370, and fixed at the lower end of the axial flow fan301to a driving shaft of a fan motor302for driving the axial flow fan301.

Like the rotating bodies of the first and second embodiments, the first and second rotating bodies340and370are defined with intake flow paths and discharge flow paths, respectively, and provided with filter assemblies, respectively, for removing foreign substances in the air.

The body300is provided, at one side thereof, with a second driving motor378for driving the second rotating body370, such that the second rotating body370can vary intake and discharge directions of air. The second driving motor378has a driving shaft formed with a pinion379, and has an internal gear377engaging with the pinion379at an inner periphery surface of the lower end of the second rotating body370, thereby transferring a driving force through a gear transmission.

Unlike the air purifier according to the second embodiment, the first rotating body340is connectedly mounted on the second rotating body370. The second rotating body370is provided, at an upper portion in the second rotating body370, with a first driving motor348for driving the first rotating body340, and the first rotating body340is formed, at a lower portion thereof, with a coupling portion347, which is formed with an outer gear around an outer peripheral surface of the first rotating body340and extends through the upper end of the second rotating body370, such that the first rotating body340can rotate in relation to the second rotating body370. The first driving motor348has a driving shaft formed with a pinion349, thereby driving the first rotating body340through engagement of the pinion349with the outer gear of the coupling portion347.

Operation of the air purifier according to the third embodiment is similar to that of the second embodiment. However, the air purifier according to the second third embodiment has the first rotating body340, which can be driven in relation to the second rotating body370, so that the first rotating body340can be rotated by only driving the second driving motor378without driving the first driving motor348.

As is apparent from the above description, since the air purifier according to the described embodiments of the present invention is structured such that the rotating body defining the flow path around the blowing fan can be freely rotated, there is an advantageous effect in that the discharge direction of air can be freely varied, thereby uniformly distributing the purified air to an installation area.

Further, the intake and discharge directions of air for purifying the installation area can be varied, there is an advantageous effect in that time for purifying the installation area can be reduced, thereby enhancing purification efficiency.