Patent ID: 7166259

Claim:
An air purifier, comprising: a housing with an ambient air inlet and an air outlet and defining an airflow path therethrough for treating ambient air; a fan for moving the air from the air inlet through the airflow path and out the air outlet; a filter disposed in the airflow path and having an air permeable media for communicating air therethrough while retaining particles carried in the flow of air; an ultraviolet light source attached to a chassis in the airflow path for treating the air with an emission of ultraviolet light, the ultraviolet light source comprises non-quartz glass through which ultraviolet light emits; a photocatalytic screen configured to be exposed to a light from the ultraviolet light source to create hydroxyl radicals for reacting with and neutralizing organic compounds in the flow of air; a pair of spaced-apart arms extending from the chassis at an oblique angle relative to the air flow, the arms slidingly removingly receiving the photocatalytic screen; a purification plate disposed in the air flow, the purification plate made of a dielectric material and opposing metal mesh screens in electrical communication with a supply of electrical current to generate an electrical spark for creating ozone in the flow of air; an ionizer for generating a plurality of ions inserted into the airflow; a controller for operating the air purifier; a photocell mounted in proximity to the ultraviolet light source for being exposed to light from the ultraviolet light source, and the controller responsive to a signal from the photocell whereby the air purifier is operative during detection of light from the ultraviolet light source; and a current detector configured to sense electrical flow to the metal mesh screens of the purification plate and to signal the controller if the electrical current is below a first preselected threshold and to signal the controller if the electrical current is above a second preselected threshold, whereby the air purifier is operative if the electrical current to the purification plate is within the preselected range.