Air purifier including bi-directional fans having different discharge directions

Abstract

The present invention provides an air purifier including a plurality of bi-directional fans, which are arranged to be misaligned in a vertical direction such that the discharge directions of discharge ports are different from each other.

Claims

1. An air purifier comprising: a plurality of bi-directional fans, which are arranged to be misaligned in a vertical direction such that discharge directions of discharge ports are different from each other; and a flow path provided on one side of the air purifier and in communication with an upper discharge port positioned on an upper side of the air purifier and a side discharge port positioned on a side of the air purifier, wherein the bi-directional fans include an upper bi-directional fan and a lower bi-directional fan, wherein a discharge port of the upper bi-directional fan faces upward, and a discharge port of the lower bi-directional fan is inclined from the vertical direction to face towards one side of an upper portion; the discharge port of the lower bi-directional fan is in communication with the flow path; wherein air discharged from the upper bi-directional fan is discharged toward the upper discharge port; and wherein air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan is selectively discharged toward the upper discharge port or the side discharge port depending on an operation of a flow path switching member provided on the flow path, wherein the discharge directions of the discharge ports of the plurality of bi-directional fans are different from each other, and bi-directional intake ports of the plurality of bi-directional fans are positioned on left and right sides of the air purifier.

2. The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein, when the flow path switching member is in a first position, the discharge port of the lower bi-directional fan is in communication with the upper discharge port, and when the flow path switching member is in a second position, the discharge port of the lower bi-directional fan is in communication with the side discharge port.

3. The air purifier according to claim 2, wherein, in the first position, the flow path switching member closes the side discharge port.

4. The air purifier according to claim 2, wherein the discharge port of the upper bi-directional fan is in communication with the upper discharge port.

5. The air purifier according to claim 4, wherein, when the flow path switching member is in the first position, the air from the upper bi-directional fan and the air from the lower bi-directional fan are discharged through the upper discharge port, and when the flow path switching member is in the second position, the air from the upper bi-directional fan is discharged through the upper discharge port and the air from the lower bi-directional fan is discharged through the side discharge port.

6. The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein RPMs of the upper bi-directional fan and the lower bi-directional fan are independently controlled.

7. The air purifier according to claim 6, wherein, in the air purifier, the flow path switching member is controlled such that the air from the lower bi-directional fan is discharged to the upper discharge port in fine dust purification mode or remote purification mode, and RPM of the upper bi-directional fan is controlled to be further increased.

8. The air purifier according to claim 6, wherein, in the air purifier, the flow path switching member is controlled such that the air from the lower bi-directional fan is discharged to the upper discharge port in a large dust purification mode or a near-zone purification mode, and RPM of the lower bi-directional fan is controlled to be further increased.

9. The air purifier according to claim 6, wherein, in the air purifier, the flow path switching member is controlled such that the air from the lower bi-directional fan is discharged to the side discharge port in a multi-room purification mode or a cooling mode.

10. The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein the flow path switching member is controlled in accordance with RPM of the lower bi-directional fan.

11. The air purifier according to claim 10, wherein, when the flow path switching member is operated upward to cross the flow path, RPM of the lower bi-directional fan is increased.

12. The air purifier according to claim 1, wherein a first intake port of the upper bi-directional fan and a first intake port of the lower bi-directional fan are positioned on the one side of the air purifier, and a second intake port of the upper bi-directional fan and a second intake port of the lower bi-directional fan are positioned on another side of the air purifier.

13. The air purifier according to claim 12, wherein any one of a dehumidification module and a humidification module is positioned outside the first intake port of the upper bi-directional fan, the second intake port of the upper bi-directional fan, the first intake port of the lower bi-directional fan, and the second intake port of the lower bi-directional fan, respectively.

14. The air purifier according to claim 12, wherein a flow path blocking member is positioned outside the first intake port of the upper bi-directional fan, the second intake port of the upper bi-directional fan, the first intake port of the lower bi-directional fan, and the second intake port of the lower bi-directional fan, respectively.

15. The air purifier according to claim 12, wherein one filter is positioned over the first intake port of the upper bi-directional fan and the first intake port of the lower bi-directional fan, another filter is positioned over the second intake port of the upper bi-directional fan and the second intake port of the lower bi-directional fan, and a filter frame is positioned only on outermost sides of the filters.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 schematically shows an air purifier according to the present invention. For the sake of explanation, flow paths are not illustrated, while a dehumidification module and a humidification module are briefly illustrated.

(2) FIG. 2 schematically shows an upper bi-directional fan and a lower bi-directional fan used in the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view schematically showing an air purifier according to the present invention. For the sake of explanation, a flow path switching member is not illustrated.

(4) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an air purifier according to the present invention.

(5) FIG. 5 shows a dehumidification module and a humidification module that can be provided in an air purifier according to the present invention. For the sake of explanation, a body of an air purifier is not illustrated, except for a dehumidification module and a humidification module.

(6) FIGS. 6 to 9 show various modes of an air purifier according to the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR INVENTION

(7) Hereinafter, “fine dust” refers to dust having a particle diameter of 10 μm or less, and dust having a particle size larger than that of the fine dust is referred to as “large dust”. The term “dust” as used herein is to be understood as the concept that includes not only dust, but also various pollutants suspended in the atmosphere.

(8) Hereinafter, “RPM” of the fan means rotation per minute of the fan, and controlling the RPM of the fan comprehensively means controlling the rotation of the fan by controlling the power of the fan or using other members.

(9) Hereinafter, by “upper” or “upper side”, it means the upper direction or side with reference to the paper on which the air purifier is illustrated, and by “lower” or “lower side”, it means the lower direction or side with reference to the paper, and a direction connecting the upper and lower portions is referred to as “vertical direction”. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(10) 1. Description of Air Purifier

(11) The air purifier according to the present invention includes a plurality of bi-directional fans arranged to be misaligned in a vertical direction such that the discharge directions of the discharge ports are different from each other.

(12) In this example, when the “discharge directions are arranged to be misaligned in the vertical direction”, it means that, while the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the lower bi-directional fan 120 are in a substantially similar structure to each other when viewed individually (see FIG. 2), the two bi-directional fans 110 and 120 are not disposed in the same direction when actually disposed, but arranged to be misaligned to cause the discharge directions of the respective discharge ports 114 and 124 to be at a predetermined angle from each other. That is, the discharge direction of the discharge port 114 of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the discharge direction of the discharge port 124 of the lower bi-directional fan 120 are disposed to form a predetermined angle with respect to each other, instead of being in the same direction with reference to the vertical direction.

(13) In the drawings, the air purifier including two bi-directional fans 110 and 120 is shown, but there may be three or more bi-directional fans. Note that, in the above case, the discharge directions of the respective bi-directional fans also have to be misaligned from each other in the vertical direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the bi-directional fans have to be disposed such that, when the discharge direction of the uppermost bi-directional fan faces upward, the discharge direction of the bi-directional fan disposed below the uppermost bi-directional fan is inclined laterally away from the vertical direction instead of facing upward, and the discharge direction of the bi-directional fan disposed below that bi-directional fan is inclined laterally at a further distance away from the vertical direction. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiment will be described by referring to an example in which two bi-directional fans are provided.

(14) 1.1 Arrangement of Bi-Directional Fans and Structure of Air Purifier

(15) As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the air purifier includes an upper bi-directional fan 110 and a lower bi-directional fan 120. The bi-directional fans are arranged to be misaligned in the vertical direction such that the discharge directions are different from each other, in which the upper bi-directional fan 110 is positioned such that a discharge port 114 thereof faces upward, and the lower bi-directional fan 120 is positioned to be inclined from the vertical direction such that a discharge port 124 thereof faces towards one side of the upper portion.

(16) As shown in FIG. 2, the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the lower bi-directional fan 120 may be configured with the same structure. The upper bi-directional fan 110 includes a fan 111, a first intake port 112 and a second intake port 113 positioned on the left and right sides of the fan 111, and a discharge port 114 through which air is discharged. Likewise, the lower bi-directional fan 120 also includes a fan 121, a first intake port 122 and a second intake port 123 positioned on the left and right sides of the fan 121, and a discharge port 124 through which air is discharged.

(17) The discharge port of the air purifier includes an upper discharge port 130 positioned on the upper side and a side discharge port 140 positioned on the side.

(18) As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 to 9, the upper discharge port 130 is in communication with the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the flow path 150, and the side discharge port 140 is provided on one side of the flow path 150. Accordingly, the air discharged from the upper bi-directional fan 110 is directly discharged at a high wind pressure toward the upper portion of the air purifier through the upper discharge port 130, while the air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan 120 is selectively discharged together toward the upper discharge port 130 toward the upper portion of the air purifier through the flow path 150 or discharged toward the side discharge port 140 toward one side of the air purifier through the flow path 150.

(19) In other words, the air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan 120 flows into the flow path 150, and then is discharged through the upper discharge port 130 by the flow path switching member 155, or discharged by passing through the side discharge port 140. That is, by the operation of the flow path switching member 155, the direction of discharging the air from the lower bi-directional fan 120 to the outside of the air purifier is switched to the upper side or one side.

(20) 1.2 Flow Path Switching Member

(21) The flow path switching member 155 operates between a first position and a second position. As shown in FIG. 4, in the first position, the flow path switching member 155 closes the side discharge port 140 such that the discharge port of the lower bi-directional fan 120 is in communication with the upper discharge port 130, and in the second position, the flow path switching member 155 crosses the flow path 150 such that the discharge port of the lower bi-directional fan 120 is in communication with the side discharge port 140.

(22) In the drawing, the flow path switching member 155 is shown as a flap that pivots about a rotation axis fixed on the air purifier, but it goes without saying that it may be any structure that is capable of changing the direction of flow in the flow path.

(23) When the flow path switching member 155 is in the first position (see FIGS. 6, 7, and 8), the discharge port of the lower bi-directional fan 120 is in communication with the upper discharge port 130 through the flow path 150. As a result, the air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan 120 is discharged to the upper portion of the air purifier. In this case, the air from the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the air from the lower bi-directional fan 120 are discharged together through the upper discharge port 130. As described above, the air discharged from the upper bi-directional fan 110 is discharged at high wind pressure since it is not passed through the flow path 150, and the air passed through the lower bi-directional fan 120 and the flow path 150 is added thereto.

(24) When the flow path switching member 155 is in the second position (see FIGS. 4 and 9), the discharge port of the lower bi-directional fan 120 is in communication with the side discharge port 140 through the flow path 150. Accordingly, the air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan 120 is discharged to one side of the air purifier. In this case, only the air from the upper bi-directional fan 110 is discharged through the upper discharge port 130, and the air from the lower bi-directional fan 120 is discharged through the side discharge port 140. That is, the air purifier discharges air through both the upper side and the side portion. Of course, when the upper bi-directional fan 110 is controlled to not operate at this position, the air purifier will discharge air only through one side.

(25) In an embodiment, when the flow path switching member 155 is in the first position, the flow path switching member 155 itself may be configured to close the side discharge port 140. In this case, without requiring use of a separate closing member, it is possible to prevent the external air containing contaminants from flowing into the air purifier through the side discharge port 140.

(26) In another embodiment, the RPMs of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the lower bi-directional fan 120 may be independently controllable as described below, so that a motor required for operating the flow path switching member 155 may be omitted or power thereof may be reduced by using the RPM of the lower bi-directional fan 120. As a result, it is possible to reduce power consumption, remove or reduce noise, and prolong the lifetime of the motor.

(27) For example, when the flow path switching member 155 is operated upward so as to cross the flow path 150 (operated from the first position to the second position), the RPM of the lower bi-directional fan 120 may be controlled to be increased accordingly, so that it is possible to reduce the power required therefor, by allowing the flow path switching member 155 to be operated upward naturally.

(28) For another example, increasing the RPM of the lower bi-directional fan 120 alone may cause the flow path switching member 155 to be automatically operated upward to cross the flow path 150 by the wind pressure. That is, a configuration may be provided in which, when it is necessary to move the flow path switching member 155 upward, the RPM of the lower bi-directional fan 120 is increased, thereby causing the flow path switching member 155 to be moved upward to reach the second position by the wind pressure, and at this time, the flow path switching member 155 is locked into a locking member (not shown) to be fixed in the second position.

(29) Meanwhile, in the example described above, it is shown that the flow path switching member 155 is operated only in one of the first position and the second position, but in another example, the flow path switching member 155 may be operated to its intermediate position. In this case, the air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan 120 may be discharged through both the upper side and the side portion of the air purifier.

(30) 1.3 Intake Ports

(31) The bi-directional intake ports of the plurality of bi-directional fans are disposed to be commonly positioned on left and right sides of the air purifier. In the embodiment illustrated herein, the first intake port 112 of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the first intake port 122 of the lower bi-directional fan 120 are commonly positioned on the left side, which is one side of the air purifier, and the second intake port 113 of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the second intake port 123 of the lower bi-directional fan 120 are commonly positioned on the right side which is the other side of the air purifier. Since there are two intake ports commonly positioned on the left and right sides, respectively, only one filter 160 is required for each of the left and right sides. That is, one filter is positioned over the first intake port 112 of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the first intake port 122 of the lower bi-directional fan 120, and the other filter is positioned over the second intake port 113 of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the second intake port 123 of the lower bi-directional fan 120.

(32) The filter 160 preferably has a filter frame positioned only on the outermost side so that there is no filter frame crossing the center. That is, rather than being formed in a shape “”, the filter frame is formed in a shape “” and the filter is positioned inside. In the related art where one filter is used for one intake port, the filters are often replaced while the filter adjacent to the filter frame is not fully utilized. However, by configuring the filter frame as described above, the entire area of the filter is utilized evenly by the two intake ports, and as a result, the unused space is reduced, and the lifetime of the filter is increased.

(33) In addition, the dehumidification module 193 and the humidification module 198 may be freely selected and positioned outside the first intake port 112 and the second intake port 113 of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the first intake port 122 and the second intake port 123 of the lower bi-directional fan 120 (that is, outside the four intake ports).

(34) As shown in FIG. 5, one dehumidification module 193 may include a heat exchanger 192 provided in a dehumidification module housing 191, and one humidification module 198 may include a humidification filter 197 provided in a humidification module housing 196. It goes without saying that various dehumidification and humidification modules may be implemented, such as, a heat transfer module may be provided instead of the heat exchanger, an ultrasonic humidifier may be provided instead of the humidification filter, and so on.

(35) In FIG. 5, although it is shown that the dehumidification module 193 is provided on the two left intake ports, and the humidification module 198 is provided on the two right intake ports, as described above, various modifications are possible, such as, a dehumidification module may be provided at the upper two intake ports and a humidification module may be provided at the lower two intake ports, or provided to cross each other, and so on.

(36) Meanwhile, the flow path blocking members 199 may be positioned on the outermost sides of the first intake port 112 and the second intake port 113 of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the first intake port 122 and the second intake port 123 of the lower bi-directional fan 120 (that is, on the outermost sides of the four intake ports), respectively. In this case, a total of four flow path blocking members 199 are controlled to enable intensive air purification.

(37) For example, when the flow path blocking member 199 blocks the two left and right upper intake ports, intensive air purification at the lower portion is possible, whereas, when the flow path blocking member 199 blocks the two left and right lower intake ports, intensive air purification at the upper portion is possible. That is, when the flow path blocking member 199 is used, air inflow into one of the fans may be controlled without requiring the operation of a power member for applying power to the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the lower bi-directional fan 120.

(38) 1.4 Independent Control of Bi-Directional Fans

(39) In the air purifier according to the present invention, the RPMs of the plurality of bi-directional fans with the discharge directions being arranged to be misaligned in the vertical direction may be controlled independently. In the illustrated embodiment, the RPMs of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the lower bi-directional fan 120 are controlled independently. This is possible by independently controlling a power member (not shown) connected to each fan, or by opening and closing the flow path blocking member 199 described above.

(40) With this, it is possible to implement various modes, such as a mode to intensively purify the fine dust at the upper portion, a mode to intensively purify the large dust at the lower portion, a mode to discharge the clean air farther, and so on.

(41) Various modes with the independent control are described in detail below.

(42) 2. Various Air Purification Modes

(43) In the air purifier according to the present invention, the operation of the flow path switching member 155, the on/off control or RPM control of the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the lower bi-directional fan 120, the operation of the flow path blocking member 199, and the like may be combined to provide the user with various air purification modes.

(44) FIG. 6 illustrates a general mode in which the upper bi-directional fan 110 and the lower bi-directional fan 120 are controlled at substantially the same RPM, based on which various modes are possible as described below.

(45) 2.1 “Fine Dust Purification Mode” and “Remote Purification Mode”

(46) FIG. 7 shows a “fine dust purification mode” and a “remote purification mode”.

(47) In general, fine dust has a smaller particle size than large dust, and so floats to a certain height without sinking in the vicinity of the ground. Therefore, in order to intensively purify the fine dust, the upper bi-directional fan 110 is operated with a higher RPM.

(48) On the other hand, since the air discharged from the upper bi-directional fan 110 is discharged directly through the upper discharge port 130 without passing through the flow path 150, the air flows relatively far compared to the lower bi-directional fan 120 controlled with the same RPM. As a result, the purified air may be blown to a farther position in the space and convected.

(49) Therefore, even when the user wants to implement the “remote purification mode”, it is possible to operate the upper bi-directional fan 110 with a higher RPM.

(50) Further, in this case, the lower bi-directional fan 120 discharges the air through the upper discharge port 130 rather than the side discharge port 140, thereby contributing to the remote purification.

(51) 2.2 “Large Dust Purification Mode” and “Near-Zone Purification Mode”

(52) FIG. 8 shows the “large dust purification mode” and the “near-zone purification mode”.

(53) The large dust sinks in the vicinity of the ground due to its particle size. In order to intensively purify the large dust, the lower bi-directional fan 120 is operated with a higher RPM.

(54) In an embodiment, the air purifier includes a fine dust sensor, and may be implemented in the “fine dust purification mode” described above when the amount of fine dust is greater than a predetermined reference value, and may be implemented in the “large dust purification mode” when the amount is less than the predetermined reference value.

(55) Meanwhile, conversely to the remote purification mode, the lower bi-directional fan 120 is operated with a higher RPM, thus enabling implementation of the near-zone purification mode. In this case, for the convection effect, it is preferable that the lower bi-directional fan 120 discharges the air through the upper discharge port 130 rather than the side discharge port 140.

(56) 2.3 Multi-Room Purification Mode and Cooling Mode

(57) FIG. 9 shows a “multi-room purification mode” or a “cooling mode”.

(58) The difference from the modes described above with reference to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 is that the flow path switching member 155 is operated such that the air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan 120 is discharged to the side rather than to the upper side.

(59) That is, unlike the purification method of the conventional general air purifier in which the purified air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan 120 rises high in the space and moves and then descends to convect the air in the space, or unlike the “remote purification mode” and “near-zone purification mode” described above, in the “multi-room purification mode”, the purified air discharged from the lower bi-directional fan 120 is directly discharged through the side toward the user.

(60) In this case, when it comes to the ability to convect the air throughout the space as a whole, the “multi-room purification mode” is relatively inferior compared to the general mode of FIG. 6, but is suitable for discharging the purified air to the vicinity of the air purifier in a crowded space with a higher speed, thus enabling implementation of the “multi-room purification mode”.

(61) In addition, by directly spraying air toward the user, the air purifier may be used as a fan during the summer, thus realizing a “cooling mode”.

(62) While six modes have been described herein by way of examples, various modes which are not described are applicable.

(63) For example, a “left air intensive purification mode” or “right air intensive purification mode” that opens only the intake port on one side by using the flow path blocking member 199 may be possible, or selective or automatic dehumidification/humidification modes, and the like may also be possible. In these cases too, the dehumidification or humidification may be automatically performed in accordance with a predetermined humidity.

(64) It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims and their equivalents. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(65) 110 upper bi-directional fan 111 fan 112 first intake port 113 second intake port 114 discharge port 120 lower bi-directional fan 121 fan 122 first intake port 123 second intake port 124 discharge port 130 upper discharge port 140 side discharge port 150 flow path 155 flow path switching member 160 filter 190 dehumidification/humidification module 191 dehumidification module housing 192 heat exchanger 193 dehumidification module 196 humidification module housing 197 humidification filter 198 humidification module 199 flow path blocking member