AN AIR PURIFIER DETECTING ERRORS

Abstract

The present invention relates to an air purifier (1) comprising a body (2) having an air inlet (I) through which the air in the environment is sucked and a clean air outlet (O) through which the cleaned air is released to the environment, a first CO.sub.2 sensor (10) which is disposed at the air inlet (I) and a second CO.sub.2 sensor (11) which is disposed at the clean air outlet (O), a CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3) which chemically adsorbs the carbon dioxide in the air by supplying a basic solution, a pump (4) which delivers the ambient air to the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3) through the air inlet (I), abase tank (8) which supplies the basic solution to the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3), an acid tank (7) wherein the air of which the carbon dioxide is adsorbed is treated with an acidic solution, and an electrodialysis unit (5) which separates the salt components formed after the ambient air is treated with the basic solution and the acidic solution into acid and base.

Claims

1. An air purifier comprising a body having an air inlet through which the air in the environment is sucked and a clean air outlet through which the cleaned air is released to the environment, a first CO.sub.2 sensor which is disposed at the air inlet and a second CO.sub.2 sensor which is disposed at the clean air outlet, a CO.sub.2 adsorption unit which chemically adsorbs the carbon dioxide in the air by supplying a basic solution, a pump which delivers the ambient air to the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit through the air inlet, a base tank which supplies the basic solution to the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, an acid tank wherein the air of which the carbon dioxide is adsorbed is treated with an acidic solution, an electrodialysis unit which separates the salt components formed after the ambient air is treated with the basic solution and the acidic solution into acid and base, characterized by at least one sensor which is disposed at least one of the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the acid tank, the base tank or the electrodialysis unit, and which measures at least one of the parameters such as pH, turbidity, vibration, conductivity, air amount, liquid level and current, and a control unit which, if the carbon dioxide amount measured by the first CO.sub.2 sensor is equal to the carbon dioxide amount measured by the second CO.sub.2 sensor, compares the data received from the sensor with the data predetermined by the manufacturer, which is expected under the normal operational conditions, so as to detect errors.

2. An air purifier as in claim 1, characterized by a sensor which is disposed in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit and which measures pH and/or turbidity and/or vibration values.

3. An air purifier as in claim 1, characterized by a sensor which is connected to the pump and which measures the air flow.

4. An air purifier as in claim 1, characterized by two sensors one disposed in the acid tank and the other in the base tank, which measure the liquid levels in the acid tank and the base tank or the pH values of the solutions in the tanks.

5. An air purifier as in claim 1, characterized by a sensor which is disposed in the electrodialysis unit or which is connected to the electrodialysis unit and which measures the current value.

6. An air purifier as in claim 1, characterized by a control unit which receives data from the sensors in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit in this order, and compares said data with the operational data, predetermined by the manufacturer, the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit under the normal conditions, so as to detect the source of the error and warn the user.

7. An air purifier as in claim 2, characterized by a sensor which is connected to the pump and which measures the air flow.

8. An air purifier as in claim 2, characterized by two sensors one disposed in the acid tank and the other in the base tank, which measure the liquid levels in the acid tank and the base tank or the pH values of the solutions in the tanks.

9. An air purifier as in claim 3, characterized by two sensors one disposed in the acid tank and the other in the base tank, which measure the liquid levels in the acid tank and the base tank or the pH values of the solutions in the tanks.

10. An air purifier as in claim 2, characterized by a sensor which is disposed in the electrodialysis unit or which is connected to the electrodialysis unit and which measures the current value.

11. An air purifier as in claim 3, characterized by a sensor which is disposed in the electrodialysis unit or which is connected to the electrodialysis unit and which measures the current value.

12. An air purifier as in claim 4, characterized by a sensor which is disposed in the electrodialysis unit or which is connected to the electrodialysis unit and which measures the current value.

13. An air purifier as in claim 2, characterized by a control unit which receives data from the sensors in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit in this order, and compares said data with the operational data, predetermined by the manufacturer, the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit under the normal conditions, so as to detect the source of the error and warn the user.

14. An air purifier as in claim 3, characterized by a control unit which receives data from the sensors in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit in this order, and compares said data with the operational data, predetermined by the manufacturer, the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit under the normal conditions, so as to detect the source of the error and warn the user.

15. An air purifier as in claim 4, characterized by a control unit which receives data from the sensors in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit in this order, and compares said data with the operational data, predetermined by the manufacturer, the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit under the normal conditions, so as to detect the source of the error and warn the user.

16. An air purifier as in claim 5, characterized by a control unit which receives data from the sensors in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit in this order, and compares said data with the operational data, predetermined by the manufacturer, the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the pump, the base tank, the acid tank and the electrodialysis unit under the normal conditions, so as to detect the source of the error and warn the user.

Description

[0023] The model embodiments that relate to the air purifier realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention are illustrated in the attached figures, where:

[0024] FIG. 1—is the perspective view of the air purifier in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 2—is the perspective view of a section of the inside of the body of the air purifier where the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit, the acid-base tanks and the electrodialysis unit are disposed in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 3—is the perspective view of a section of the inside of the body of the air purifier where the pump is disposed in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 4—is the perspective view of the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit in the air purifier in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 5—is the view of the electrodialysis unit and the sensor connected to the electrodialysis unit in the air purifier in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 6—is the view of the base tank and the sensor disposed into the base tank in the air purifier in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows: [0031] 1. Air purifier [0032] 2. Body [0033] 3. CO.sub.2 adsorption unit [0034] 4. Pump [0035] 5. Electrodialysis unit [0036] 6. Sensor [0037] 7. Acid tank [0038] 8. Base tank [0039] 9. Control unit [0040] 10. First CO.sub.2 sensor [0041] 11. Second CO.sub.2 sensor [0042] I: Air inlet [0043] O: Clean air outlet

[0044] The air purifier (1) comprises [0045] a body (2) having an air inlet (I) through which the air in the environment is sucked and a clean air outlet (O) through which the cleaned air is released to the environment, [0046] a first CO.sub.2 (10) sensor which is disposed at the air inlet (I) and a second CO.sub.2 sensor (11) which is disposed at the clean air outlet (O), [0047] a CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3) which chemically adsorbs the carbon dioxide in the air by supplying a basic solution, [0048] a pump (4) which delivers the ambient air to the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3) through the air inlet (I), [0049] a base tank (8) which supplies the basic solution to the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3), [0050] an acid tank (7) wherein the air of which the carbon dioxide is adsorbed is treated with an acidic solution, [0051] an electrodialysis unit (5) which separates the salt components formed after the ambient air is treated with the basic solution and the acidic solution into acid and base.

[0052] The air purifier (1) of the present invention comprises [0053] at least one sensor (6) which is disposed at least one of the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3), the pump (4), the acid tank (7), the base tank (8) or the electrodialysis unit (5), and which measures at least one of the parameters such as pH, turbidity, vibration, conductivity, air amount, liquid level and current, and [0054] a control unit (9) which, if the carbon dioxide amount measured by the first CO.sub.2 sensor (10) is equal to the carbon dioxide amount measured by the second CO.sub.2 sensor (11), compares the data received from the sensor (6) with the data predetermined by the manufacturer, which is expected under the normal operational conditions, so as to detect errors.

[0055] In the air purifier (1) of the present invention, the control unit (9), if the carbon dioxide amounts measured by the first CO.sub.2 sensor (10) and the second CO.sub.2 sensor (11) are equal to each other, receives data from at least one sensor (6) which is disposed at least one of the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3), the pump (4), the acid tank (7), the base tank (8) or the electrodialysis unit (5), and which measures at least one of the parameters such as pH, turbidity, vibration, conductivity, air amount, liquid level and current. The control unit (9) compares said data with the data predetermined by the manufacturer, which is expected under the normal operational conditions of the device (1). For example, the pH value of the basic solution taken into the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3) must be between 8 and 14, and if the data received from the sensor (6) measuring the pH value is outside said value range, the control unit (9) detects that there is a problem in the basic solution in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3).

[0056] In an embodiment of the present invention, the air purifier (1) comprises a sensor (6) which is disposed in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3) and which measures pH and/or turbidity and/or vibration values. The control unit (9) compares the data received from said sensor (6) with the values predetermined by the manufacturer under the normal operational conditions. For example, the refractive index predetermined by the manufacturer under the normal operational conditions is between 1.3 and 1.5. If the data received from the sensor (6) which measures turbidity is outside said range, the control unit (9) detects that there is an error. Thus, the chemical efficiency of the basic solution in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3) is determined or it is determined whether the basic solution and the air are properly mixed in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3).

[0057] In an embodiment of the present invention, the air purifier (1) comprises a sensor (6) which measures the air flow connected to the pump (6). Thus, it is determined whether the sufficient amount of air predetermined by the manufacturer is taken into the body (2) by means of the pump (4) or not.

[0058] In an embodiment of the present invention, the air purifier (1) comprises two sensors (6) one disposed in the acid tank (7) and the other in the base tank (8), which measure the liquid levels in the acid tank (7) and the base tank (8) or the pH values of the solutions in the tanks (7, 8). Thus, it is detected whether the tanks (7, 8) contain sufficient amount of acidic and basic solutions predetermined by the manufacturer for the operation of the device (1), and whether the pH values of the solutions in the tanks (7, 8) are suitable for the operation.

[0059] In an embodiment of the present invention, the air purifier (1) comprises a sensor (6) which is disposed in the electrodialysis unit (5) or which is connected to the electrodialysis unit (5) and which measures the current value. Thus, the control unit (9) detects whether the salt formed as a result of cleaning the air is separated back to acidic-basic solutions in the electrodialysis unit (5) and supplied back to the acid tank (7) and the base tank (8).

[0060] The air purifier (1) of the present invention comprises a control unit (9) which receives data from the sensors (6) in the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3), the pump (4), the base tank (8), the acid tank (7) and the electrodialysis unit (5) in this order, and compares said data with the operational data, predetermined by the manufacturer, the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3), the pump (4), the base tank (8), the acid tank (7) and the electrodialysis unit (5) under the normal conditions, so as to detect the source of the error and warn the user. Thus, all the units are checked one by one according to the operation order starting from the CO.sub.2 adsorption unit (3) which is the unit where the air and the basic solution are processed first after the operation of the device (1).

[0061] By means of the present invention, an air purifier (1) is realized, wherein any erroneous unit can be detected.