Disclosed is an air filter and a method of manufacture for an air filter which is much more cost effective and provides greater operational effectiveness than state-of-the-art air filters. The air filter includes an outer metallic shell which may be used to attach the filter in line to ducting of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The filter may further include a filter unit made of activated carbon material. The filter unit may have one or more sections and may have a honeycomb cross section.

Disclosed is an air filter and a method of manufacture for an air filter which is much more cost effective and provides greater operational effectiveness than state-of-the-art air filters. The air filter includes an outer metallic shell which may be used to attach the filter in line to ducting of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The filter may further include a filter unit made of activated carbon material. The filter unit may have one or more sections and may have a honeycomb cross section.

The honeycomb structure body has a dense part having a change ratio of porosity calculated by the following Expression (1) that is 1 to 5%. The honeycomb structure body also has an outside-diameter decreasing part in which the outside diameter decreases from the inflow end face to the outflow end face. The honeycomb structure body has a change ratio of average diameter calculated by the following Expression (2) that is 0.2 to 3%.

(1−P.sub.x/P.sub.y)×100,  Expression (1): in Expression (1), P.sub.x denotes the porosity (%) at the center region of the outflow end face, and Py denotes the porosity (%) of a circumferential region of the outflow end face other than the center region.

(1−D.sub.x/D.sub.y)×100,  Expression (2): in Expression (2), D.sub.x denotes the average diameter (mm) of the outflow end face, and D.sub.y denotes the average diameter (mm) of the inflow end face.

A honeycomb structure includes a honeycomb segment bonded member including; a plurality of prismatic columnar shaped honeycomb segments; and a bonding layer bonding the segments, wherein one honeycomb segment has a bulge on one side face, extending in an axial direction, another honeycomb segment has a recess on one side face, extending in the axial direction, the one honeycomb segment and the another are disposed adjacent and bonded to each other via the bonding layer with the bulge inserted in the recess, length of the bulge is smaller than length of the one side face of the one honeycomb segment, length of the recess is smaller than length of the one side face of the another honeycomb segment, a base part of the bulge is defined with a bent side face, an angle between an imaginary bottom face and the bent side face of the bulge being 60° or more.

A honeycomb structure includes honeycomb segments each having a porous partition wall defining a plurality of cells, and includes a porous bonding layer containing a crystalline anisotropic ceramic and disposed so as to bond side surfaces of the honeycomb segments to each other. A ratio of a pore volume (cc/g) of a fine pore defined as a pore in the bonding layer having a pore diameter of 10 μm or more and less than 50 μm with respect to a pore volume (cc/g) of a coarse pore defined as a pore in the bonding layer having a pore diameter of 50 μm or more and 300 μm or less is from 2.0 to 3.5, the pore volume of the fine pore is from 0.15 to 0.4 cc/g, and the pore volume of the coarse pore is from 0.05 to 0.25 cc/g.

A honeycomb filter includes a pillar-shaped honeycomb substrate including a porous partition wall that defines a plurality of cells extending from an inflow end face to an outflow end face, an inflow side plugging portion disposed at the inflow end face of the honeycomb substrate to plug open ends of outflow cells and an outflow side plugging portion disposed at the outflow end face of the honeycomb substrate to plug open ends of inflow cells other than the outflow cells. The honeycomb substrate includes the partition wall that defines two of the inflow cells by division. An average of the plugging length L.sub.IN of the inflow side plugging portions disposed in the outflow cells of the honeycomb substrate is larger than an average of the plugging length L.sub.OUT of the outflow side plugging portions disposed in the inflow cells of the honeycomb substrate.

A honeycomb filter includes a honeycomb structure body having porous partition walls defining a plurality of cells which become through channels for fluid, plugging portions disposed in open ends of the cells, and a protective layer disposed to cover at least the surface of the honeycomb structure body, each of the honeycomb structure body and the plugging portion has a structure constituted of aggregates made of silicon carbide and a bonding material which bonds the aggregates to one another, the protective layer is a layer in which silicon is present as much as 40 mass % or more and oxygen is present as much as 40 mass % or more and a thickness is 0.5 μm or more, and an outer end face of both end faces of the plugging portion has an exposed region in which the protective layer is not disposed.

A honeycomb filter includes a pillar-shaped honeycomb substrate including a porous partition wall that defines a plurality of cells extending from an inflow end face to an outflow end face, an inflow side plugging portion disposed at the inflow end face of the honeycomb substrate to plug open ends of outflow cells; and an outflow side plugging portion disposed at the outflow end face of the honeycomb substrate to plug open ends of inflow cells other than the outflow cells. The honeycomb substrate includes the partition wall that defines two of the inflow cells by division. An average of the plugging length L.sub.OUT of the outflow side plugging portions disposed in the inflow cells of the honeycomb substrate is larger than an average of the plugging length L.sub.IN of the inflow side plugging portions disposed in the outflow cells of the honeycomb substrate.

A plugged honeycomb segment includes a honeycomb segment having a quadrangular prism shape which includes porous partition walls arranged to surround a plurality of cells and an outermost circumferential wall, and a plugging portion, wherein a porosity of the partition walls is 30 to 70%, in a cross section orthogonal to the cell extending direction, an inflow cell surrounded by the partition walls is a hexagon, and an outflow cell is a square, one outflow cell is surrounded by four inflow cells, the cell located at the outermost circumference includes a complete cell and an incomplete cell, and a thickness of the outermost circumferential wall in contact with the incomplete cell (T1), a thickness of the outermost circumferential wall in contact with the complete cell (T2), and a thickness of the partition walls (WT), satisfy 0.200 mm<T1<T2−(½×WT) and T2≤0.700 mm.

A honeycomb structure including a plurality of porous honeycomb block bodies bound via joining material layers A. Each of the porous honeycomb block bodies includes a plurality of porous honeycomb segments bound via joining material layers B, each of the porous honeycomb segment includes: partition walls that defines a plurality of cells to form flow paths for a fluid, each of cells extending from an inflow end face that is an end face on a fluid inflow side to an outflow end face that is an end face on a fluid outflow side; and an outer peripheral wall located at the outermost periphery. At least a part of the joining material layers A has higher toughness than that of the joining material layers B.