U.S. patent application number 10/211748 was filed with the patent office on 2003-01-30 for air deodorization device with a detachable cartridge.
This patent application is currently assigned to The Procter & Gamble Company. Invention is credited to Kvietok, Frank Andrej, Stiros, Paul.
Application Number | 20030019362 10/211748 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22788202 |
Filed Date | 2003-01-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030019362 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Stiros, Paul ; et
al. |
January 30, 2003 |
Air deodorization device with a detachable cartridge
Abstract
The present invention relates to air deodorizing devices for
removing malodor from the air. Such devices are useful for example
for storing and preserving food in closed compartments such as
refrigerators. The air deodorizing device of the present invention
comprises a cartridge member and an air moving member whereby the
cartridge member is detachable from the device.
Inventors: |
Stiros, Paul; (Cincinnati,
OH) ; Kvietok, Frank Andrej; (Cincinnati,
OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DIVISION
WINTON HILL TECHNICAL CENTER - BOX 161
6110 CENTER HILL AVENUE
CINCINNATI
OH
45224
US
|
Assignee: |
The Procter & Gamble
Company
6090 Center Hill Road
Cincinnati
OH
45224
|
Family ID: |
22788202 |
Appl. No.: |
10/211748 |
Filed: |
August 2, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10211748 |
Aug 2, 2002 |
|
|
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PCT/US00/02907 |
Feb 4, 2000 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
96/134 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01D 2253/102 20130101;
A61L 9/014 20130101; F25D 2317/0415 20130101; B01D 2253/342
20130101; A61L 9/122 20130101; B01D 2257/90 20130101; B01D 53/0415
20130101; F25D 17/042 20130101; B01D 2259/455 20130101; B01D
2253/202 20130101; B01D 2257/702 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
96/134 |
International
Class: |
B01D 053/02 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An air deodorizing device having an air flow path from an air
inlet to an air outlet, said deodorizing device comprising: a
cartridge member removably attached to said deodorizing device,
said cartridge member comprising a filter member having an air
inlet and an air outlet, said cartridge member being arranged
within said deodorizing device such that said filter member comes
into contact with the air flowing along said air flow path of said
deodorizing device; and an air moving member for moving air along
said air flow path, said air moving member comprising a fan
connected to an electric motor wherein said electric motor is
powered by a source of electricity and wherein said air moving
member displaces at least 100 ml of air per second through the air
inlet of said deodorizing device.
2. A refrigerator air deodorizing device according to claim 1.
3. An air deodorizing device according to claim 1 wherein said
cartridge member is directly accessible from the outside of said
deodorizing device.
4. An air deodorizing device according to claim 2 wherein said
cartridge member sits on top of the air moving member.
5. An air deodorizing device according to claim 1 wherein said
source of electricity is a battery, wherein said battery is located
within said cartridge member and wherein said battery and said
filter member have a substantially equal lifetime.
6. An air deodorizing device according to claim 1 wherein said
filter member comprises activated carbon.
7. An air deodorizing device according to claim 6 wherein said
activated carbon is supported on a support member, said support
member comprising a foam, a woven, or a nonwoven web material.
8. An air deodorizing device according to claim 7 wherein said
activated carbon is supported on a polyurethane foam having a
carbon density of between 0.01 and 0.3 grams per cm.sup.3.
9. An air deodorizing device according to claim 6 wherein said
filter member comprises between 5 and 30 grams of activated
carbon.
10. An air deodorizing device according to claim 1 wherein said
filter member is located between the air inlet of said deodorizing
device and said air moving member such that substantially all the
air aspired by said air moving member is forced to flow through
said filter member along said air flow path.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation of International Application
PCT/US/00/02907 with an international filing date of Feb. 4,
2000.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to air deodorizing devices for
removing malodor from the air. Such devices are useful for example
for storing and preserving food in closed compartments such as
refrigerators.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Nowadays, refrigerators have become a common appliance in
virtually every household and typically are used for storage and
preservation of food, in particular of fresh food such as fruits,
vegetables, dairy products, and the like. It is desirable to keep
the food items fresh as long as possible in the refrigerator.
[0004] It is a well known problem that many food items tend to
release malodors into the air which are then captured in the
limited air space in a refrigerator. Not only are these malodors
unpleasant and offensive to the user of the refrigerator, they can
also have a negative impact on the quality of other foods in the
refrigerator. For example, it is known that some foods emit strong
odors (e.g. fish, boiled eggs, onions, etc.) and that these odors
can transfer to other nearby foods and hurt the taste and freshness
of those foods. A common example is transfer of odors into an open
container of orange juice or of milk resulting in a noticeable
degradation in their taste. It is also well known that malodors
from some vegetables (onions, garlic) can transfer to other foods
stored within a vegetable drawer. This problem is aggravated when
the vegetable drawer is sealed such that there is very little air
exchange with the larger compartment of the refrigerator (herein
referred to as the "fresh food compartment") and when vegetables
have been cut or are stored without any outer wrapping. This
problem of odor transfer is particularly acute in the case of ice
cubes where odors from the fresh food compartment of the
refrigerator can be transferred to the ice in the freezer
compartment of the refrigerator. This is especially true in the
case of refrigerators in which there is air exchange between the
fresh food and freezer compartments, and especially in the case of
refrigerators with built-in ice-makers.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,548 discloses an activated carbon
absorbent to be used for example in refrigerators, shoe boxes,
closets, toilets, cars, cupboard, or the like. The activated carbon
absorbent is applied in a gas treating apparatus comprising an air
inlet, an air outlet, a cylinder housing the activated carbon
honeycomb, and a fan aspiring malodor through the air inlet. Change
of battery and withdrawal of the cylinder housing the activated
carbon are achieved by dismounting the cover of the apparatus. The
gas treating apparatus may further comprise an action member for
alerting the user to the event that the useful life of the
activated carbon adsorbent has run out. This gas treating apparatus
has the disadvantages that exchange of batteries and withdrawal of
the activated carbon require a multitude of steps including
dismounting of the cover and that exchange of battery and activated
carbon are carried out separate from each other.
[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide an air deodorizing device which overcomes the disadvantages
of the prior art devices.
[0007] It is a further object of the present invention to provide
an air deodorizing device comprising a replaceable cartridge member
housing a filter member whereby the cartridge member is directly
accessible from the outside.
[0008] It is a further object of the present invention to provide
an air deodorizing device comprising a cartridge member housing a
replaceable filter member whereby the cartridge member is directly
accessible from the outside.
[0009] It is a further object of the present invention to provide
an air deodorizing device comprising a replacement cartridge member
housing a power supply and a filter member.
[0010] It is a further object of the present invention to provide
an air deodorizing device having a replaceable power supply and a
replaceable filter member, the lifetimes of the power supply and
the filter member being of the same magnitude.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present invention provides an air deodorizing device
comprising a cartridge member, the air deodorizing device having an
air flow path from an air inlet to an air outlet. The cartridge
member comprises a filter member and is arranged with the filter
element in interaction with the air flowing along the air flow
path. The air deodorizing device further comprises an air moving
member for moving air along the air flow path, and is characterized
in that the cartridge member is detachable from the air deodorizing
device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0012] The device of the present invention is intended to deodorize
air, in particular air in confined compartments such as
refrigerators, trash bins, cars, closets, and the like.
[0013] The cartridge member of the present invention housing the
filter member is detachable from the device. The term "detachable"
as used herein refers to members which can be easily removed, in
particular where no tools such as screw drivers are needed.
Preferably, no excessive forces are need for detaching the
cartridge means, the cartridge means is directly accessible from
the outside, and the cartridge member can be removed by holding the
device of the present invention in one hand and by removing the
cartridge member with the other hand.
[0014] Deodorization of the air in the device of the present
invention is achieved by adsorbing the molecules constituting a
malodor onto a surface of a filter member. The term "adsorption" is
well defined in the art and refers to the adherence of molecules to
surfaces which effectively reduces the mobility of these molecules
to the two dimensions of the surface. Those molecules remaining in
the air will then diffuse so that further molecules come into
contact with the surface and subsequently will be adsorbed.
Consequently, most of the malodor molecules will travel into the
proximity of one of the surfaces at some point in time so that
finally most of the malodor will be removed from the air.
[0015] A suitable filter member comprises activated carbon for the
adsorption. Activated carbon is known to be a very effective filter
medium due to its high specific surface area. Whilst activated
carbon is very effective as such, the filter member of the present
invention may further comprise agents supported on the activated
carbon to specifically attack certain malodors such as those
comprising S atoms or N atoms. A wide variety of activated carbon
based filter media is known in the art. Preferably, the filter
members of the present invention comprise at least 2 grams, more
preferably at least 5 grams, and most preferably at least 10 grams
of activated carbon. Preferably, the filter members of the present
invention comprise less than 100 grams, more preferably less than
50 grams, yet more preferably less than 40 grams, and most
preferably less than 30 grams of activated carbon.
[0016] The filter member of the present invention comprises an air
inlet, an air outlet, and an air flow path through the filter
member from the air inlet to the air outlet. The filter medium is
disposed in the filter member of the present invention such that it
comes into contact with the air flowing along the air flow path.
The filter medium may be arranged as a flow by filter or as a flow
through filter. The filter member of the present invention may
comprise a support for the filter medium for example in the form of
a foam, a nonwoven material or a woven material. Preferably, the
activated carbon is supported on a polyurethane foam having an
activated carbon density of at least 0.01 grams per cm.sup.3, more
preferably of at least 0.05 grams per cm.sup.3, and most preferably
of at least 0.1 grams per cm.sup.3 and having an activated carbon
density of less than 0.3 grams per cm.sup.3.
[0017] The deodorization of the air in the device of the present
invention is enhanced by increasing the air flow through the filter
member by means of an air moving member. Preferably, the air moving
means moves at least 100 ml of air per second through the air inlet
into the device, more preferably at least 200 ml/s, most preferably
at least 300 ml/s. There are known in the art a wide variety of
suitable air moving members such as for example fans and blowers. A
particularly suitable fan is a centrifugal fan. A suitable member
for driving the fan is a small motor, for example a DC motor
available from MABUCHI MOTOR CO., LTD., Japan, under the
designation of RF-330TK. The air moving members of the present
invention may be powered electrically. Many electrical power
sources could be imagined including domestic AC electrical power or
power from a static power supply. Alternatively and preferably
electrical power may be supplied by means of a battery, preferably
a dry alkaline cell battery, or a rechargeable battery. The
electrical power may also be received from a solar cell. Any
replaceable power supply preferably is designed to last at least
one month, more preferably at least two months, yet more preferably
at least three months, most preferably at least four months.
[0018] To improve the malodor removal performance and to simplify
the mechanical construction of the air deodorizing device of the
present invention, the filter member and the air moving member are
preferably arranged such that substantially all air aspired by the
air moving member is forced to flow through the filter member
before it penetrates the air inlet of the air moving member. In
other words, the air inlet of the cartridge member is unitary with
the air inlet of the air deodorizing device. In this setup, only
one air path connection is needed between the filter member and the
air member and hence complexity is decreased. Furthermore,
withdrawal of the cartridge member is greatly simplified if only
one connection has to be disengaged. Any disengageable air flow
connection may of course comprise sealing members to improve air
flow performance. Any such connection may further comprise a
mechanical engaging members to stabilize the connection.
[0019] The filter member of the present invention may be replaced
by detaching the cartridge member from the device of the present
invention and inserting in a new one. It is to be understood in
this context that the present invention includes embodiments in
which the cartridge member as a whole comprising a filter member is
replaced and further includes embodiments in which the cartridge is
reused and contains a replaceable filter element.
[0020] Preferably, the cartridge member of the present invention is
directly accessible from the outside of the device without the need
to unmount any covers or the like. More preferably, the cartridge
member can simply be lifted off from the device. For example, the
cartridge member may simply be sitting on top of the air moving
member only held in place by gravitational forces whereby the
surface topology of the interfacing parts of the cartridge member
and the air moving member match each other such as in a
hemispherical design.
[0021] Optionally, the cartridge member of the present invention
may further comprise the power supply for the air moving member. In
this case, the interface between the cartridge member and the air
moving member needs to comprise electrical contacts connecting the
power supply with the drive member of the air moving member. In
this context, it is to be understood, that the
[0022] Preferably, the lifetime of the filter member and the
lifetime of the power supply are substantially equal so that both
members may be replaced at the same time intervals. In this case,
an empty power supply would also signal that the filter element has
to be replaced.
[0023] The air deodorizing device of the present invention may
comprise a signal member to indicate if the life span of the filter
member has run out. The signal member may be slaved to the time the
filter member has been exposed to air or may be slaved to the
overall runtime of the air moving member. In case the power supply
for the air moving member is included in the filter member and
accordingly is replaced with the filter member, the signal member
may be slaved to the remaining charge of the power supply thus
indicating that filter member and power supply needs to be
replaced.
* * * * *