Abstract:
An embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen installed in a predetermined space of a cupboard includes a casing, a hood, an exhaust module, an electrostatic dust collector, a front filter, a gas detection module, a photocatalyst module and a vitamin C filter. With the design of the hood, the exhaust module is covered by the hood to reduce noises when the air purifier is used. Besides the removal of fumes and odors, filtration and disinfection, the air purifier can also produces fresh air with vitamin C, and alerts users to prevent a gas poisoning incident when a toxic gas leak occurs.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part patent application of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/616,063 filed on Sep. 14, 2012, currently pending, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference for which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §120. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of air purifiers, in particular to an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    To reduce or eliminate fumes and smokes caused by cooking, various kinds of hood equipments are installed in kitchens, since the fumes produced in a kitchen contains high-risk carcinogenic substances including carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic smokes, heterocyclic amines, nitrated-polycyclic aromatic compounds, etc. 
         [0004]    However, most conventional hood equipments can just filter the fumes only, and the effect of filtering the fume molecules is poor. In recent years, electrostatic dust removers are introduced to filter fumes and air and improve the effect of filtering fumes greatly, but these devices still cannot filter the fumes completely. In addition, there are other cooking utensils such as steaming stoves or ovens may produce various different odors in addition to the fumes. When these odors are mixed, the mixed odor may cause discomfort to the users. Therefore, embedded air purifiers for kitchen are introduced into the market, and products of this sort mainly adopt an electrostatic dust remover, a filter, an exhaust module, a photocatalyst module, an activated carbon filter, etc to remove remained fumes and odors produced by cooking and bacteria produced by leftovers in order to provide a comfortable air-conditioned kitchen. 
         [0005]    However, the embedded air purifiers of this sort generally come with a compact size and a limited suction power, and thus affecting the air filtering effect of the kitchen. If an exhaust module with stronger suction and greater power is used, there will be an issue of loud noises. Based on the aforementioned reasons, the inventor of the present invention provides an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen, and the air purifier with not only improves the suction and reduces the noises while maintaining its compact size, but also allows users to install it in the kitchen easily to remove fumes, odors and bacteria. In addition, the air purifier further includes a gas detector for detecting whether or not there is any toxic and harmful gas in the kitchen and warning users to avoid a gas poisoning incident and prevent the harmful gas from jeopardizing our health, so as to improve the safety of the kitchen substantially. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a multifunctional air purifier capable of eliminating fumes and odors while supplying anions and releasing providing vitamin C particles in an air environment to enhance human immunity and prevent skin aging, so that kitchen users or housewives can have a healthy and safety environment when working in the kitchen for a long time, and the air purifier takes both suctions and noises into consideration, and provides the effect of installing, removing, maintaining and cleaning the air purifier conveniently. 
         [0007]    Another objective of the present invention is to provide an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen with a gas detection module for detecting and determining whether or not an inhaled gas is toxic to avoid the occurrence of gas poisoning caused by a gas leakage or preventing toxic gases from jeopardizing our health, so as to improve the safety of the kitchen substantially. 
         [0008]    To achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention provides an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen embedded and installed in a predetermined space of a cupboard, and the embedded multifunctional air purifier comprises a casing with an air inlet and an air outlet, a gas channel formed in the casing, and the casing is provided for installing an electrostatic dust collector, an exhaust module, a front filter, a photocatalyst module and a vitamin C filter therein, wherein the front filter is installed at the air inlet, and the photocatalyst module is installed at a rear section of the gas channel, and the vitamin C filter is installed at the air outlet, and the embedded multifunctional air purifier is characterized in that a flip cover is covered onto the top of the casing, and the gas channel includes a hood installed therein, and the exhaust module is sealed and installed inside the hood, and the electrostatic dust collector is sealed and installed at an inlet of the hood, so that after the exhaust module sucks an airflow from the air inlet, the airflow is discharged from the air outlet through the gas channel, and a gas detection module is installed at the air inlet for detecting a status of toxicity of the airflow, and issuing a warning signal according to the status of toxicity. 
         [0009]    In an embodiment, the embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen of the present invention further comprises a pair of fixed frames and a pair of slides, and the pair of fixed frames are installed on two opposite lateral sides of the casing respectively, and the pair of slides are fixed between the casing and the pair of fixed frames respectively, so that the casing is selectively pushed into the predetermined space and pulled out from the predetermined space by a sliding method to facilitate users to install, remove, maintain and clean the air purifier. 
         [0010]    In addition, the exhaust module comprises a fixed board and a pair of fans, and the pair of fans are installed on the fixed board and adjacent to each other, and the fixed board is made with a cross-sectional shape corresponsive to the hood and sealed and installed inside the hood, wherein the shape of the hood can improve suctions and reduce noises significantly. 
         [0011]    In addition, the gas detection module further comprises a warning lamp, a buzzer, a power disconnection unit and a notification unit, and after the warning lamp and the buzzer receive the warning signal, a warning with both sound and light effects is issued, and after the power disconnection unit receives the warning signal, the embedded multifunctional air purifier is automatically turned off, and after the notification unit receives the warning signal, a user and a firefighter are notified to avoid accidents. 
         [0012]    Further, the photocatalyst module is comprised of a UV disinfection lamp and a photocatalyst filter and provided for eliminating bacteria and some viruses in the airflow. 
         [0013]    In another embodiment, the embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen of the present invention further comprises a wireless receiver and a remote controller, electrically coupled to the embedded multifunctional air purifier, and the remote controller is provided for transmitting a wireless signal to the wireless receiver to turn on or off a power supply, so as to improve the convenience of use. 
         [0014]    In another embodiment, the embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen of the present invention further comprises a magnetic acrylic board and a stainless steel panel, and the magnetic acrylic board are coupled and installed to a front side of the casing, and the stainless steel panel is fixed to the magnetic acrylic board by magnetic adhesion. 
         [0015]    In a further embodiment, the embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen of the present invention further comprises an activated carbon filter installed at a rear section of the gas channel and disposed on a side of the photocatalyst module, for removing an odor. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of installing an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of a gas flow occurred when using an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    The present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of this invention described in connection with the drawings. 
         [0021]    With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 4  for a schematic view of installing an embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen, a perspective view and an exploded view of the air purifier, and a schematic view of a gas channel during the use of the air purifier in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention respectively, the embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen  1  is installed a predetermined space  31  in of a cupboard  30 , and the air purifier comprises a casing  10 , a hood  19 , an exhaust module  13 , an electrostatic dust collector  12 , a front filter  11 , a gas detection module  17 , a photocatalyst module  14  and a vitamin C filter  15 . The casing  10  is a rectangular box structure, and after the casing  10  is embedded into a cupboard or a wall in a kitchen, a surface of the casing  10  in a directly contact with the kitchen environment comprises an air inlet  102  and an air outlet  104 , a partition  105  installed between the air inlet  102  and the air outlet  104 , and a gas channel  20  formed inside the casing  10 , and both lateral sides adjacently coupled to a front side of the casing  10  have a slide  106  separately, and a section of the pair of slides  106  is fixed between the casing  10  and the predetermined space  31  by a pair of fixed frames  40 , so that the casing  10  may be pushed into the predetermined space  31  or pulled out from the predetermined space  31  by a sliding method to produce a linear movement, so as to facilitate users to clean, maintain and replace the components of the air purifier. 
         [0022]    The hood  19  is a funnel structure with a large inlet and a small outlet, and the inlet and the outlet are formed with angles perpendicular to each other and arranged inside the gas channel  20  to form a part of the gas channel  20 . In addition, the electrostatic dust collector  12  is fixed to the inlet, and the inlet of the electrostatic dust collector  12  is parallel to the direction of the outlet of the hood  19  and corresponsive to the direction of the air inlet  102  and the air outlet  104 , and such arrangement not just improves suctions and reduces noises effectively only, but also facilitate users to install, remove and maintain the air purifier. 
         [0023]    In addition, the top of the casing  10  has a flip cover  108 , so that when a user wants to maintain or clean the air purifier, the user pulls the casing  10  in the extending direction of the slide  106  and lifts the flip cover  108  to perform different operations quickly. Both ends of the gas channel  20  are coupled to the air inlet  102  and the air outlet  104  respectively. In other words, air particles in the kitchen environment are enter from the air inlet  102  into the casing  10 , and then passed through the gas channel  20 , and finally discharged from the air outlet  104  and back into the kitchen environment. When a gas flows through the gas channel  20 , the gas passes through various different filters and purifiers such as the front filter  11 , the electrostatic dust collector  12 , the exhaust module  13 , the photocatalyst module  14  and the vitamin C filter  15  or an activated carbon filter  18  installed at a rear section of the gas channel  20  for removing odors in the air. This circulation operation is repeated to obtain a cleaner air environment. In addition, the multifunctional air purifier of the present invention is embedded into a kitchen wall or a containing box, so that a user can control the operation of the air purifier more conveniently. The air purifier further comprises a wireless receiver  16  and a remote controller  161 , both electrically coupled to the embedded multifunctional air purifier  1 , and the remote controller  161  is provided for transmitting a wireless signal to the wireless receiver  16  to turn on or off a power supply. 
         [0024]    An important characteristic of the present invention is to add a gas detection module  17  installed at the air inlet  102  and disposed on a side of the front filter  11  for detecting a status of toxicity of the airflow and issuing a warning signal according to the status of toxicity, and the gas detection module  17  further comprises a warning lamp  171 , a buzzer  172 , a power disconnection unit  173  and a notification unit  174 . After the warning lamp  171  and the buzzer  172  receive the warning signal, a warning with sound and light effects is issued, and after the power disconnection unit  173  receives the warning signal, the embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen  1  is disconnected automatically, and after the notification unit  174  receives the warning signal, users and firefighters are notified. 
         [0025]    It is noteworthy that the exhaust module  13  includes a fixed board  132  and a pair of fans  134 , and the pair of fans  134  are arranged adjacent to each other on the fixed board  132  and installed inside the hood  19  to improve the amount of air, so as to improve the air intake and reduce the level of noise by approximately 2-3 dB. 
         [0026]    In addition, the multifunctional air purifier of the present invention may be installed in a cupboard  30  or a kitchen wall, and a pair of fixed frames  40  are provided for supporting the casing  10  and fixing the casing  10  onto the fixed frames  40 , and then a magnetic acrylic board  50  is attached onto surfaces of the air inlet  102  and the air outlet  104  of the multifunctional air purifier casing  10  embedded into the cupboard by a locking method or any other method, and finally a stainless steel panel  60  is attached onto the magnetic acrylic board  50  by magnetic attraction, so as to complete the installation procedure of the multifunctional air purifier. 
         [0027]    In the air purification process, air particles in a kitchen are filtered by the front filter  11  installed at the air inlet  102 , and the front filter  11  is provided for isolating larger dust particles in the air directly by a physical penetration method. To improve the isolation effect, the front filter  11  is a three-layer interlaced aluminum meshed structure capable of effectively preventing larger air particles to pass through. And then, the electrostatic dust collector  12  is installed at a front section of the gas channel  20  for passing the particles penetrating through the front filter  11  to an electric charge area, such that the air particles carry positive and negative charges. An electric field is provided for attaching and collecting larger particles to achieve the electrostatic dust collection effect. In particularly, the aforementioned technique can collect smaller dust mists and powder particles with a size of 0.2 microns. 
         [0028]    To improve the air circulation efficiency, an exhaust module  13  is installed at a rear section of the gas channel  20  inside the casing  10  of the multifunctional air purifier for achieving the air exhaust effect, so as to expedite sucking the air particles in the kitchen into the air purifier and passing the flowing air particles through the front filter  11  and the electrostatic dust collector  12  into the exhaust module  13 , and guiding the air particles into a next purification equipment. In the aforementioned purifying process, the photocatalyst module  14  is installed at a rear section of the gas channel  20 , wherein the photocatalyst module  14  is comprised of a UV disinfection lamp  140  and a photocatalyst filter  142 . After the photocatalyst is excited by ultraviolet light, peroxide molecules, superoxide molecules and strong oxide molecules with free radicals and having a strong reactivity are produced to decompose organic gases and odors into carbon dioxide and water. In addition, after microorganisms are in contact with a photocatalyst surface, the strong oxide molecules will destroy the outer membrane of the microorganisms and kill the microorganisms. Further, the photocatalyst filter  142  keeps degrading the attached gas molecules, and the cycle is repeated for re-adsorption and re-decomposition to achieve a permanent air purification effect. Unlike the general activated carbon which will lose the deodorant effect after the surface of the activated carbon has absorbed the odors up to a saturated level, the present invention does not require replacing the activated carbon to maintain the absorption function. 
         [0029]    When the processed air particles are outputted from the air outlet  104 , the processed air particles are passed through the vitamin C filter  15  installed at the air outlet  104 , and then discharged from the vitamin C filter  15  to release vitamin C into the air, so as to achieve the effects of beautifying and moisturizing skins and inhibiting skin aging effectively. 
         [0030]    In summation of the description above, the embedded multifunctional air purifier for kitchen of the present invention achieves the effects of isolating and collecting dusts, powders, fumes and dust mites in a kitchen, decomposing allergens and molds in the air to control and reduce the occurrence of allegoric diseases, and inhibiting and eliminating odors effectively. In addition, the air filter by the air purifier of the present invention and then discharged into kitchen environment further includes vitamin C to moisturize our skins and prevent skin aging. The invention provides a health and safety environment for kitchen users or housewives who usually work in a kitchen for a long time.