Abstract:
A vent booster is provided which includes a filter array and a fan. The vent booster is integrated into the cold air return of a home ventilation system. The filter array includes a series of filters which remove particulates and odors from the air. The integrated fan assists in forcing air through the filters. A reservoir for dispensing deodorizers or odorizers to the air is included within the vent booster.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/545,366, filed Oct. 10, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Home furnaces provide some, but not much, filtration. Their structure is often not conducive to good filtration. Typically, air is drawn down cold air returns into the furnace. The cold air returns are located in various rooms throughout the house. At the end of an inlet duct, to which the cold air returns are joined, there is a filter ahead of a blower. The blower on a furnace is usually a large and sometimes multiple horsepower motor that can easily distribute air through the house. The filter on a furnace typically serves only one function, and that is to remove large particulates. 
     Small particulates and odors are more effectively filtered out of the air in a multistage process. Odors are not often dealt with in an ordinary furnace filter. The treatment of air, such as distributing chemicals, medications, aromas, or other deodorizers is not possible through an ordinary furnace filter. Some filters which claim to be able to filter small particles or odors from the air are unsuitable because most standard furnaces do not have sufficiently powerful blower motors to move air through the tight weave patterns of these filters. As such, an improved furnace filtration system is needed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In an existing furnace installation it is desirable to have a retrofitable device that can be placed in the location of an ordinary cold air return to assist the furnace with additional filtration and disbursement of desired chemical treatments. The present disclosure describes a vent booster which is positionable within a cold air return and includes a fan and a filter array. Such filter array aids in cleaning the air which is drawn into the cold air return and removes odors and particulates therefrom. An air flow sensor is integrated into the vent booster, which the sensor adapted for integration into the vent booster, with the sensor adapted for actuating the fans on and off and also providing an indication when the filters in the filter array are due to be replaced. A reservoir is included with the vent booster to provide deodorizers or odorizers to the air stream for treating the air in the house. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of the invention with the first filter removed so that the fans are visible; and 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the booster shown in  FIG. 1  with the first filter installed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present invention is a vent booster  10  for use in place of a traditional vent grille. The booster has a front plate  12  that is connected to a housing  13 . Louvers  14  span the front plate  12  as would be done in a traditional grille for a furnace cold air return. The front plate  12  also has a mounting flange  15  that is offset rearward from the front plate  12 . The louvers  14  are pivotally connected to a linkage rod  16  at their rearward edge. The linkage rod  16  is also pivotally connected to an adjustment wheel  18 . The adjustment wheel  18  is located in the approximate center of the front plate  12 . As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , there is an adjustment wheel  18  on either side of the louvers  14 . As the adjustment wheel  18  is turned, the louvers may be opened or closed. 
     Behind the adjustment wheels are two fans  22 . The fans  22  draw air inward from the room and into the vent booster  10 . Vent booster  10  includes a filter array, preferably the filter array includes a first filter  24 , a second filter  30 , and a third filter  38 , each described in greater detail herein. The first filter  24  is spaced between the fans  22  and the louvers  14 . The first filter  24  is a corrugated filter used to remove large particles from air taken into the booster  10 . The first filter  24  is corrugated to have a relative large surface area so that it will not clog too quickly and will also serve as a first stage of filtration for subsequent filters. A first set of channels  28  on the top and bottom of the first filter  24  retain the filter in the vent booster  10 . 
     Behind the fans  22  is a second filter  30 . The second filter  30  is an activated charcoal filter which serves the purpose of removing odors from air drawn into it, and also removes finer particulates than the first filter. This is particularly useful for removing smoke from air taken into the booster  10 , as well as many other common irritating odors or airborne volatiles. The second filter  30  is retained in the vent booster  10  by a second set of channels  32 . 
     The third filter  38  is located behind the second filter  30  and retained in the vent booster  10  by third channels  39 . The third filter  38  is a treated filter that may include chemicals such as medications to assist breathing, aroma therapy, further deodorizers, or any other desired chemical to be dispersed into the air leaving the booster  10 . Initially, the third filter  38  will include the desired chemicals and these chemicals will be depleted over time as the chemicals are dispersed into the air. The life of the third filter  38  may be extended through the use of a reservoir  40  that is located above the third filter  38 . The reservoir  40  is connected to a nozzle  42  located in front of the third filter  38 . As air moves toward the third filter  38  it will blow the chemicals contained in the reservoir  40  onto the third filter  38 . The reservoir  40  may be pressurized through use of a plunger or other device to dispense the correct amount of chemicals at specific predetermined intervals or when needed. 
     The air, after passing through the third filter  38 , will then enter an air flow sensor  48 . The air flow sensor  48  serves multiple purposes within the invention. A first purpose is to signal the unit to start the fans  22 . The vent booster  10  of this invention is installed in a cold air return duct  50  in the same manner as conventional louvered vent covers. When the furnace turns on, air is drawn into the furnace through the cold air return duct  50  shown in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  shows the cold air return duct  50  formed by studs  51  located between drywall  53  used to form the exterior of the wall  55  in which the vent booster  10  is installed. The moving air in the duct  50  will cause the blades  49  of the air flow sensor  48  to move, thus, indicating to the booster  10  that the furnace is on. The booster  10  is only intended to boost airflow through it, and would not have sufficient power to distribute air throughout the entire duct system of a home, so it is important that the vent booster  10  only be on when the furnace is on. As such, air moving past blades  49  of air flow sensor  48  causes air flow sensor  48  to send a signal which activates fans  22 . The fans  22  and unit may be battery powered, but it is preferable to use the electrical system of the home to reduce the necessary maintenance of changing batteries. 
     A second function of the air flow sensor  48  is to provide notice that one or more of the filters  24 ,  30 ,  38  needs to be changed. If the large blower motor on the furnace causes the air flow sensor  48  blades  49  to rotate, and subsequently the fans  22  in the booster  10  spinning do not cause the blades  49  to rotate by a predetermined higher rate than before the fans  22  were on, it will serve as an indication that one or more of the filters are clogged. Clogged filters may be indicated individually as clogged by filter indicator lights  50 ,  52 ,  54  or if the vent booster is suffering from a generally sluggish air flow, all three indicator lights  50 ,  52 ,  54  may illuminate. Indicator light  50  shows the first filter  24  is clogged,  52  for the second filter  30 , and  54  for the third filter  38 . Each filter  24 ,  30 ,  38  may be found to be individually clogged by a light and sensor located on opposite sides of each filter or other signaling device that determines that each filter is sufficiently full of particulates to warrant replacement. Air flow sensor  48  may be calibrated to calculate the duration of time each filter  24 ,  30 ,  38  has been in the vent booster  10 , and to provide an indication with indicator lights  50 ,  52 ,  54  when it is time to replace one or more of the filters according to a defined replacement schedule. Such schedule can be related to total time the filters are present in the vent booster, or amount of time the filters are present while fan  22  is active. 
     The vent booster  10  also includes a hazardous gas detector (not shown) suitable for detecting smoke or carbon monoxide. The hazardous gas deterctor, which is not shown, may be located immediately behind the louvers  14  so that the hazardous gases are not filtered before reaching the sensor. A speaker  60  is located on the front plate  12  so that it will produce an audible tone upon detection of smoke or carbon monoxide. 
     A display screen  61  is located on front plate  12 . This digital display screen  61  provides information on how the booster  10  is functioning. The display shows when the booster  10  is dispensing the chemicals contained in the reservoir  40 . It will also display the type of chemical being dispensed into the system, which may be an air freshener, medication, or other aroma-type chemical. The battery life will be displayed in the case that the unit is a battery-powered unit. The display screen  61  will also show how much of the chemical remains in the reservoir  40 . The display screen  61  will also show if chemicals are being dispensed from the reservoir  40 . A user of the booster  10  may chose not to dispense chemicals, or chose to dispense chemicals. The display screen  61  will indicate which mode the booster  10  is in at all times when it is on. The fact that the booster  10  is on will also be displayed on the display screen  61 . The levels of carbon monoxide and, if present, smoke will be displayed on the display screen  61 . The temperature of air in the room is displayed on the screen  61  as well, such temperature measured by an integrated thermometer (not shown). 
     A power switch  62  is located on the front plate  12 . The switch  62  does not immediately start the fans  22  running, but readies the unit for when the air flow sensor  48  indicates that fans  22  should activate, such as when the blower motor of the furnace draws air through the cold air return duct  50 . Once air is drawn in by the furnace, the fans  22  will start. This enables a user of the vent booster  10  to be free from constantly having to manage settings on the booster  10 . 
     An electrical box  66  is located inwardly of the front plate and recessed into the wall  55 . Within the electrical box  66  are the components used to control, power, and connect the various functions of the booster  10 . A portion of the flange  15  of the front plate  12  is spaced away from exterior wall  55  to provide additional room for electrical box  66  to be housed in air vent booster  10 . In this way, flange  15  is offset rearward of the front plate, providing additional room behind the front plate for the housing. In most homes there is a limited amount of space in the wall, typically the width of the lumber from which the frame of the wall is constructed. Thereby, having flange  15  offset rearwardly from the front plate effectively adds additional space for housing  13 . 
     In one embodiment, vent booster  10  includes an integral hinge which allows front plate  12  to rotate to open vent booster  10 . Thereby, front plate  12  is hingedly connected to the vent booster  10 , which allows the filter array and fan assembly to rotate with front plate  12  to a position generally perpendicular to the orientation when housed in the vent booster. Thereby, front plate  12  is readily openable to allow replacement of filters  24 ,  30 ,  38  or refilling of reservoir  40 . 
     The vent booster  10  described herein allows for significant increases in the filtering efficiency of a home furnace. By providing additional filters, more and smaller particulates will be filtered from the air, while also removing odors from the air. Further, fans  22  provide increased air flow, which helps to force the air through the filter array—it is the lack of such additional force that is the failing of other filter-only solutions. Additionally, the reservoir  40  allows dispersal of substances which either deodorize or odorize the air. Further, by integrating a smoke and/or carbon monoxide detector into the air circulation system, the chances of catching a hazardous condition are greatly increased since the natural flow of air in a home is through the cold air return. Further still, the vent booster  10  is self-contained, meaning that it will cycle on and off without needing to be wired to the furnace or home temperature controls, as such, fan  22  will cycle on and off as the furnace&#39;s blow motor is cycled on and off. 
     The vent booster  10  described herein is discussed with reference to an associated furnace. This reference is merely an illustrative example of one use of the vent booster. Of course, the vent booster  10  is also suitable for use with an air conditioning unit, or other unit which circulates air throughout a home. 
     The vent booster  10  includes an air pathway, whereby as air passes through the vent booster the air is guided along a path where the air first passes through the louvers  14 , then passes through first filter  30 , then passes by fan  22 , next passes through second filter  24 , then passes through third filter  38 , and lastly passes through flow sensor before continuing to the furnace. Wherein, the louvers  14  serve as an inlet to the air pathway and the flow sensor  48  serves as an outlet to the air pathway. 
     It is understood that while certain aspects of the disclosed subject matter have been shown and described, the disclosed subject matter is not limited thereto and encompasses various other embodiments and aspects. No specific limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred. Modifications may be made to the disclosed subject matter as set forth in the following claims.