Abstract:
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.

Description:
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. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an air purifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating an air purifier according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V of  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view illustrating an air purifier according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII of  FIG. 6 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
   Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
     FIGS. 1 to 3  show an air purifier according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Referrin to  FIGS. 1-3 , the air purifier according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a cylindrical body  100  standing upright, and a rotating body  140  rotatably mounted in the body  100 . 
   The body  100  comprises an upper body  110  provided with an operation part  111  for controlling the air purifier, a lower body  120  provided with a fulcrum  121  for supporting the body  100  so that it does not fall down, and a support  130  for connecting the upper and lower bodies  110  and  120  to each other. The operation part  111  is provided with an operation button  111   a  for inputting a signal for operating the air purifier, and a display  111   b  for displaying an operating state of the air purifier. The body  100  is provided at a specified position therein with a controller for controlling operation of each component according to an input from the operation part  111 . 
   An axial flow fan  101  is provided between the upper and lower bodies  110  and  120 , respectively, parallel to the central axis of the upper and lower bodies  110  and  120 . The top end of the axial flow fan  101  is slidably provided at a lower surface of the upper body  110 , and the lower end of the axial flow fan  101  is connected to a driving axis of a fan motor  102  for driving the axial flow fan  101 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 3 , the rotating body  140  is provided around the axial flow fan  101  such that an intake flow path  141  and a discharge flow path  142  for air are defined around the center of the axial air fan  101 . As an entrance of the intake flow path  141 , there is provided an intake port  143 , which has a filter assembly  150  for removing dust, fumes, order and other contaminants suspended in the air. 
   The filter assembly  150  includes a filter  151 , and a filter case  152  for fixing the filter  151 . As for the filter  151 , 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 filter  151  is mounted on the intake flow path  141  with an edge of the filter  151  fixed to the filter case  152 . The filter case  152  is provided with an intake grill such that air can be inhaled therethrough. It is preferable that the filter case  151  be detachably coupled to the intake flow path  141  for making it easy to replace or clean the filter  151 . 
   At the opposite side of the intake flow path  141 , the discharge flow path  142  is defined by a rear guide  145  and a stabilizer  146 , and at the rear end of the discharge flow path  142 , a discharge port  144  having 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 in  FIG. 3 . Such a flow path can be varied by rotation of the rotating body  140 . The structure for varying the flow path is illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Specifically, the upper body  110  is provided with a driving motor  148  for rotating the rotating body  140 . A driving force of the driving motor  148  is transferred to the rotating body  140  by a gear transmission. For this purpose, the driving motor  148  has a driving shaft formed with a pinion  149 , and the cylindrical rotating body  140  has a internal gear  147  engaging with the pinion  149  at the upper end in the rotating body  140 . The driving motor  148  employs a stepping motor, which can rotate in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions, and is controlled by the controller. As the rotating body  140  rotates by the driving force of the driving motor  148 , 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 body  100 . The upper and lower bodies  110  and  120  are provided with guide rails  112  and  122  at the bottom surface of the upper body  110  and at the top surface of the lower body  120 , respectively, for allowing the rotating body  140  to easily rotate. 
   Operation of the air purifier according to the first embodiment is described below. 
   When starting the air purifier through the operation part  111 , an airflow is generated with rotation of the axial flow fan  101 . Air is inhaled through the intake grill, and filtrated through the filter  151 , so that foreign substances in the air can be removed therefrom, providing purified air. The purified air is blown along the discharge flow path  142  by the axial flow fan  101 . 
   Operation of the driving motor  148  to vary a blowing direction of air causes the entire rotating body  140  to rotate, changing the positions of the intake flow path  141  and the discharge flow path  142 , so that the discharge direction of air is varied. According to control of the rotation by the driving motor  148 , air can be discharged in all directions from the body  100 , 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 to  FIGS. 4 and 5  below. 
   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 body  200  standing upright, as in the case of the air purifier according to the first embodiment, and a first and second rotating bodies  240  and  270 , respectively, mounted on the upper and lower stages in the body  200 . 
   The body  200  comprises an upper body  210  provided with an operation part  211  for controlling the air purifier, a lower body  220  provided with a fulcrum  222 , an intermediate body  260  between the first and second rotating bodies  240  and  270 , and a support  230  for connecting them. 
   An axial flow fan  201 , which generates a flow force for intaking and discharging air, is provided between the upper and lower bodies  210  and  220  via the intermediate body  260 . The lower body  220  is provided with a fan motor  202  for driving the axial flow fan  201 . 
   Like the rotating body of the air purifier according to the first embodiment, the first and second rotating bodies  240  and  270  are defined with intake and discharge flow paths, respectively, and provided with filter assemblies, respectively, for removing foreign substances from the air. 
   The intermediate body  260  is provided with a first driving motor  248  for rotating the first rotating body  240 , and the lower body  220  is provided with a second driving motor  278  for rotating the second rotating body  270 , such that the first and second rotating bodies  240  and  270 , respectively, can vary intake and discharge directions of air relative to each other. The driving motors  248  and  278  have driving shafts formed with pinions  249  and  279  (shown in  FIG. 2 ), respectively. The first and second rotating bodies  240  and  270  respectively have internal gears  247  and  277  respectively engaging with the pinions  249  and  279  at inner periphery surfaces of the lower ends of the rotating bodies  240  and  270 , 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 bodies  240  and  270  separated at the upper and lower stages, the rotational directions of the first and second rotating bodies  240  and  270  can 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 to  FIGS. 6 and 7  as 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 bodies  340  and  370  are 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 body  340  can rotate in relation to the second rotating body  370  below the first rotating body  340 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the air purifier according to the third embodiment includes a body  300  having an operation part  311  for controlling the air purifier and a fulcrum  322 , and the first and second rotating bodies  340  and  370  mounted at the upper and lower stages in the body  300 . 
   An axial flow fan  301 , which generates a flow force for intaking and discharging air, is provided at the center between the first and second rotating bodies  340  and  370 , and fixed at the lower end of the axial flow fan  301  to a driving shaft of a fan motor  302  for driving the axial flow fan  301 . 
   Like the rotating bodies of the first and second embodiments, the first and second rotating bodies  340  and  370  are defined with intake flow paths and discharge flow paths, respectively, and provided with filter assemblies, respectively, for removing foreign substances in the air. 
   The body  300  is provided, at one side thereof, with a second driving motor  378  for driving the second rotating body  370 , such that the second rotating body  370  can vary intake and discharge directions of air. The second driving motor  378  has a driving shaft formed with a pinion  379 , and has an internal gear  377  engaging with the pinion  379  at an inner periphery surface of the lower end of the second rotating body  370 , thereby transferring a driving force through a gear transmission. 
   Unlike the air purifier according to the second embodiment, the first rotating body  340  is connectedly mounted on the second rotating body  370 . The second rotating body  370  is provided, at an upper portion in the second rotating body  370 , with a first driving motor  348  for driving the first rotating body  340 , and the first rotating body  340  is formed, at a lower portion thereof, with a coupling portion  347 , which is formed with an outer gear around an outer peripheral surface of the first rotating body  340  and extends through the upper end of the second rotating body  370 , such that the first rotating body  340  can rotate in relation to the second rotating body  370 . The first driving motor  348  has a driving shaft formed with a pinion  349 , thereby driving the first rotating body  340  through engagement of the pinion  349  with the outer gear of the coupling portion  347 . 
   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 body  340 , which can be driven in relation to the second rotating body  370 , so that the first rotating body  340  can be rotated by only driving the second driving motor  378  without driving the first driving motor  348 . 
   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. 
   Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.