Patent ID: 7161789

Claim:
Ion chip comprising an ionising structure having a plurality of corona forming ionising electrodes, in electrical and physical contact with the surface of a metal conductor said ionising structure being selected from the group consisting of conductive fibers, ionising needles and mixtures thereof whereby when sufficient high voltage is applied to said conductor by a high voltage generator said ionising structure generates ions, said metal conductor is a bare uninsulated wire and lies in a channel having opposed insulating side walls and an insulating back wall and said conductor lies along said back wall of said channel and extends from side wall to side wall, said metal conductor providing surface to surface electrical contact to said ionising structure over the entire area of contact between said structure and said surface of said conductor, said conductor additionally providing an electrostatic repulsing field to direct said ions into a stream, generally perpendicular to said conductor and said high voltage generator is an electronic ion generator comprising a printed circuit board housed in a strong insulated box, with a uni-polar negative output, with full wave rectification and a miniature step-up instrument transformer of limited short circuit capacity to ensure minimum ignition energy cold sparking under fault and limited threshold CD value of about 7 kV to ensure limited ozone considerably within the EDA recommendation of 50 parts per billion.