Air cleaner for vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to an air cleaner for a vehicle which can be installed on the rear of the vehicle, which includes a suction pipe provided with a slit having a length corresponding to a width of the vehicle, an air pump connected to inside of the suction pipe by a guide pipe, and a filter means connected to the air pump. The air cleaner is operated in a way of sucking exhaust gas and fine dust generated from an exhaust line of the vehicle together with fine dust and dust particles generated around tires of the vehicle during driving of the vehicle, removing them, and then discharging purified air to the atmosphere. The air cleaner can effectively remove the fine dust and various-shaped dust particles directly and indirectly generated from the vehicle, and remarkably reduce generation of fine dust by considerably suppressing diffusion of fine dust into atmosphere.

Claims

1. An air cleaner for a vehicle, the air cleaner comprising: a suction pipe provided with a slit extending in a lateral direction from a left tire of the vehicle to a right tire of the vehicle; a guide pipe disposed on an upper part of the suction pipe; an air pump connected by the guide pipe to an inside of the suction pipe; and a filter connected to the air pump, wherein the slit of the suction pipe is disposed to face an end-muffler and the left and right tires of the vehicle, a pair of assembling brackets for fixing the suction pipe to a rear side of the vehicle are joined to opposite sides of the upper part of the suction pipe, the air pump is operable to cause polluted air to flow through the slit into the suction pipe, the guide pipe, and the air pump to supply the polluted air to the filter to obtain purified air that is discharged to the atmosphere through an outlet in the filter, the air pump and the filter are disposed on the upper part of the suction pipe and between the pair of brackets in the lateral direction.

2. The air cleaner for the vehicle of claim 1, wherein the filter has an inlet connected to the air pump, the outlet through which the purified air is discharged to the atmosphere, a mesh filter, an activated carbon filter, and a high-efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA filter), and wherein the mesh filter, the activated carbon filter, and the HEPA filter are sequentially disposed while being spaced apart from each other between the inlet and the outlet of the filter.

3. The air cleaner for the vehicle of claim 2, wherein the filter further has fitting holes on an upper part of the filter, and filter guides protruding below the fitting holes and inside the filter, and wherein the filter guides are configured to guide the mesh filter, the activated carbon filter, and the HEPA filter to be removably installed through the fitting holes.

4. The air cleaner for the vehicle of claim 3, wherein the mesh filter, the activated carbon filter, and the HEPA filter are in direct contact with the filter guides.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an air cleaner for a vehicle according to the present invention.

(3) FIG. 2 is an installation view showing a vehicle in which the air cleaner for the vehicle according to the present invention is installed.

(4) FIG. 3 is a rear view showing a truck in which the air cleaner for the vehicle according to the present invention is installed.

(5) FIG. 4 is a side view showing the truck in which the air cleaner for the vehicle according to the present invention is installed.

(6) FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional view showing a filter means of the air cleaner for the vehicle according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) Hereinbelow, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(8) FIG. 1 is a general perspective view showing an air cleaner for a vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an installation view, as an example, showing a vehicle in which the air cleaner for the vehicle according to the present invention is installed. FIG. 3 is a rear view, as an example, showing a truck in which the air cleaner for the vehicle according to the present invention is installed. FIG. 4 is a side view, as an example, showing the truck in the air cleaner for the vehicle according to the present invention is installed.

(9) As shown in the drawings, the air cleaner for the vehicle according to the present invention can remove from fine dust directly discharged from the vehicle to fine dust indirectly generated by driving of the vehicle, through the following process. The process proceeds such that the air cleaner collects exhaust gas discharged to the atmosphere from a muffler of the vehicle, i.e., an end-muffler which is the end of an exhaust line and also collects tire dust and road dust generated around tires during driving of the vehicle, and then, removes debris and soot from the collected exhaust gas and discharges purified air to the atmosphere.

(10) Accordingly, the air cleaner for the vehicle of the present invention has a rectangular suction pipe 10 having a length corresponding to a width of the vehicle. In the suction pipe 10, a slit 11 is formed in the lateral direction on a side of the suction pipe toward the end-muffler and the tires of the vehicle, a separate air pump 20 is provided by fixing to an upper part of the suction pipe 10. The suction pipe 10 and the air pump 20 are connected to each other by a guide pipe 12.

(11) In addition, a separate filter means 30 with an empty inside space is installed on a side of the air pump 20, which has an inlet 32 connected to the air pump 20 on a first side of the separate filter means and an outlet 31 through which inside air is discharged to the atmosphere.

(12) Particularly, assembling brackets 40 and 40′ formed by bending a metal plate are joined to opposite sides of an upper part of the suction pipe 10, so the suction pipe 10 may be fixed to a rear and under side of the vehicle using the assembling brackets 40 and 40′, and thus the slit 11 of the suction pipe 10 faces the end-muffler and the tires of the vehicle.

(13) In addition, the air pump 20 is connected to an electric device of the vehicle. Thus, when the vehicle starts, power is applied to the air pump 20 so that the air cleaner can immediately suck the exhaust gas discharged from the end-muffler.

(14) When the air pump 20 is operated, polluted air including the exhaust gas is sucked into the suction pipe, and moves along the guide pipe 12 into the air pump 20. The polluted air is supplied to the inside of the filter means 30 along the air pump 20 and the inlet 32. Then, the filter means 30 filters various debris and fine dust from the polluted air and discharges purified air through the outlet 31.

(15) In particular, as the air cleaner for the vehicle of the present invention can efficiently remove dust or debris generated around the tires as well as the soot and exhaust gas of the vehicle. The above-mentioned tires generates much tire dust due to friction with the road surface during driving of the vehicle, and dust, fine dust, and various debris on the road are scattered during driving of the vehicle, so that such fine dust, debris, etc. can be removed by the air cleaner while being sucked into the suction pipe 10.

(16) In addition, the air cleaner for the vehicle of the present invention may use the filter means 30 with multi-stage filters, as shown in FIG. 5. On an upper surface of the filter means 30, a plurality of fitting holes 36 is sequentially disposed apart from the inlet 32, so that a plurality of filters may be inserted through the fitting holes 36 into the filter means 30.

(17) Here, on a under surface of the fitting holes 36 and a lower inside of the filter means 30, filter guides 37 protrude so that various filters inserted through the fitting holes 36 into the inside of the filter means are guided along the filter guides 37 and divide the inside of the filter means 30.

(18) In particular, a mesh filter 33, an activated carbon filter 34, and a high-efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA filter) 35 are sequentially inserted into the filter means 30. The mesh filter 33 formed by synthetic resin or a metal mesh removes relatively large particles in the polluted air supplied by the inlet 32, the activated carbon filter primarily filters the dust and fine dust from the polluted air passing through the mesh filter 33, and the HEPA filter 35 completely filters the fine dust that is harmful to the human body from the primary filtered polluted air.

(19) Then, purified air passing through the HEPA filter 35 is discharged through the outlet 31 to the atmosphere. Therefore, the air cleaner is a more eco-friendly device which can quickly and effectively remove indirect pollutants such as tire dust and road dust as well as direct pollutants such as exhaust gas and fine dust generated from the vehicle.

(20) In addition, the filter means 30 is very convenient for use because the filters can be periodically cleaned or replaced by being separated from the filter means 30.

(21) Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, they are not intended to represent all of the spirit of the present invention, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.