Cabin air filtering and dehumidifying apparatus

Abstract

A vehicle cabin air filter apparatus for dehumidifying air within its vicinity prior to filtering particulates from air that flows through it along the normal path of flow from the HVAC system into the vehicle passenger cabin.

Claims

1. A cabin air filtering and dehumidifying apparatus comprising: a vehicle cabin air filter configured to remove particulates from air flowing therethrough enroute to a vehicle cabin; a dehumidifier configured to attract and remove moisture from air; and wherein the dehumidifier surrounds the perimeter of the air filter to enable it to dehumidify air even without such air flowing through the air filter.

2. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 1, wherein said dehumidifier comprises a plurality of desiccants.

3. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 2, wherein said plurality of desiccants is disposed within at least one air permeable enclosure disposed adjacent said air filter.

4. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 2, wherein said plurality of desiccants is disposed within at least one air permeable enclosure disposed in spaced relation with said air filter.

5. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 1, wherein said air filter is planar.

6. A cabin air filtering and dehumidifying apparatus comprising: a support frame; a vehicle cabin air filter configured to remove particulates from air flowing therethrough enroute to a vehicle cabin, wherein the air filter is mounted within the support frame; a dehumidifier configured to attract and remove moisture from air; and wherein the dehumidifier is disposed outside of and surrounds the perimeter of the frame-mounted air filter to enable it to dehumidify air even without such air flowing through the air filter.

7. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 6, wherein said dehumidifier comprises a plurality of desiccants.

8. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 7, wherein said plurality of desiccants is disposed within at least one air permeable enclosure disposed adjacent said frame.

9. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 7, wherein said plurality of desiccants is disposed within at least one air permeable enclosure disposed in spaced relation with said air filter.

10. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 6, wherein said air filter is planar.

11. A cabin air filtering and dehumidifying apparatus comprising: a support frame for stably orienting the apparatus within a vehicle ventilation system; a vehicle cabin air filter configured to remove particulates from air flowing therethrough enroute to a vehicle cabin, wherein the air filter is rectangular with four perimeter edges, wherein the air filter mounts within the support frame such that there is spacing between at least one perimeter edge of the air filter and the support frame, and wherein screening material spanning between at least one perimeter edge of the air filter and the support frame forms an enclosed space; and wherein a plurality of desiccants is disposed within that enclosed space and surrounds the perimeter of the air filter.

12. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 11, wherein said air filter has an airflow entry side and an opposing airflow exit side, and wherein said screening material comprises: entry screening spanning between the airflow entry side of said air filter and said support frame; and exit screening spanning between the airflow exit side of said air filter and said support frame.

13. The air dehumidifying and filtering apparatus of claim 12, wherein said support frame comprises inner and outer retaining walls, and wherein said air filter fits within the inner retaining walls.

14. The filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of claim 11, wherein said air filter is planar.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an inflow side perspective view of a cabin air filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of the present invention, the apparatus being shown absent its desiccant-retaining mesh;

(2) FIG. 2 is another inflow side perspective view of that apparatus, but with the apparatus being shown with its desiccant-retaining mesh absent only along a portion of its length; and

(3) FIG. 3 is an inflow side perspective view of another cabin air filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of the present invention in which the support frame has both inner and outer retaining walls, the apparatus being shown absent its desiccant-retaining mesh along half of the inflow face placement thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(4) This disclosure, as defined by the claims that follow, broadly relates to an apparatus for dehumidifying and filtering vehicle cabin air in which the dehumidifying function is performed by a component of the apparatus that is distinct from its component that performs the air filtering function. These functions are separated, both physically and sequentially, so that: (1) effective air dehumidification can occur without the corresponding accumulation of retained moisture within the air filtering component that eventually impedes the flow of air through it, and (2) mold and odor producing condensed water accumulation in the ventilation system is thwarted. Preferred embodiments of such an apparatus are described in the discussion that follows.

(5) Although various embodiments of the cabin air filtering and dehumidifying apparatus of the present invention may include additional discrete components to be discussed, fundamentally, the apparatus is formed by two components; a dehumidifier 20 and an air filter 10. In the preferred embodiment, the dehumidifier 20 is formed by a multitude of ball-shaped desiccants that are retained, at least in part, by air permeable mesh screening 32, and the air filter 10 is a commonly constructed paper, cotton, or foam cabin air filter that is rectangular, but of slightly smaller length and width than its standard-sized counterparts. Desiccants in other forms can be utilized within the spirit and scope of the present invention, though, and virtually any type of cabin air filter can be employed as well. In fact, using an activated carbon air filter could even enhance the dehumidifying and odor inhibiting effects of the overall apparatus.

(6) Nevertheless, what is important regarding the dehumidifier component 20 employed, be it the preferred grouping of desiccant balls or something else, is that it functions to attract, absorb and, thus, remove moisture from air that is merely within the vicinity of the apparatus 1—and does so prior to that air flowing through the air filter 10 component. What is important regarding the air filter 10 component is that it functions to remove particulates from air flowing through it and into the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

(7) Nevertheless, preferably, and as is shown in FIGS. 1-3, the desiccants 20 are positioned around the rectangular perimeter of the air filter 10. It is also preferable that the apparatus 1 include a rigid frame of some configuration that provides structural support for the other components to mount to. More specifically, the air filter 10 is to mount within the frame, and the dehumidifier is to mount around it (or also within it, depending on the frame configuration). This preferably unitary, preferably plastic frame structure should feature some measure of bottom horizontal (“bottom” and “horizontal” only given the viewing orientation of the apparatus in FIGS. 1-3, but will be considered neither bottom nor horizontal when the apparatus is actually installed in vertical orientation within a vehicle) surface area (not shown) that undergirds a small, near perimeter portion of the air outflow face of the air filter 10 (the outflow face is not shown, but is a mirror image of its shown inflow face), as well as vertically oriented (“vertically” only given the viewing orientation of the apparatus in FIGS. 1-3) [inner] walls 30 within which the air filter 10 press fits.

(8) As best discerned in FIG. 2, air permeable mesh screening 32 spans short distances outward the frame walls 30 along the planes of the inflow and outflow faces of the apparatus 1. In a preferred embodiment, that mesh 32, in cooperation with the frame walls 30 and even more mesh screening which forms the top, bottom, left side, and right side edges of the overall apparatus 1, form a breathable desiccant retaining enclosure surrounding the air filter 10. Alternatively, and as shown in FIG. 3, the frame can feature inner walls 30 and outer [solid, non-permeable] walls 36 between which the desiccants 20 are positioned and are retained by the combination of the inner perimeter frame walls 30, outer perimeter frame walls 36, and mesh screening 32 spanning perpendicularly between them along the inflow and outflow face planes. With either desiccant retaining enclosure construction, air permeable screening 32 allows the moisture absorbing desiccants 20 to be freely accessible to air flow and moisture vapor.

(9) In addition to the alternative embodiments of various apparatus components previously described, within the spirit of scope of the present invention, there can be further variations to aspects of the present apparatus. For example, the dehumidifier component may not necessarily need to completely surround the perimeter of the air filter. In fact, desiccants could be adjacent only three, two or one side of the air filter if such positioning is deemed sufficient to adequately dehumidify vaporized air within the ventilation system. Furthermore, the dehumidifier element need not even be directly adjacent the filter at all. Rather, it could be spaced some distance from the filter (presumably, such that it is positioned even nearer the area where undrained, condensed water vapor would deposit) by way of a tether or other connecting means.

(10) In any case, the preferred filtering and dehumidifying apparatus 1 is to be frictionally slid horizontally within the cabin air filter positioning guides existent in a vehicle as would a typical cabin air filter and such that the present apparatus is oriented in a [mostly] vertical plane.